balthazar

XLR-V, red, cruising (not noteworthy IMO). '71 Challenger hardtop, panel-painted like some '70s race cars, custom grille over headlights, basically blue, perfect, parked. '71 'cuda hardtop, in driveway, project car, tarp hald blown off, green & primer. '68 Chevelle SS hardtop, metallic green, Magnum 500s, gorgeous, rolling.

Haven't seen sh!t all month, then today: a gorgeous '65 Coupe deVille, bright red, lowered & raked, with half decent but still inappropriate 20" rims. Love these cars.

Good to hear. I might try some of that out, but stuff like that doesn't ever seem to work on me. I'm curious about hypnosis- seems interesting if maliable, and I recently found out in a roundabout manner that I may be a good candidate. You should see the twisted, horrible thing I was watching earlier on youtube- my son pointed me to it and he couldn't sit thru it all. I could, nothing's too dark for me, but now I'm wondering if it is going to haunt meanyway- I have to go to sleep now, and that's seldom a balanced, happy, peaceful world. I usually have to claw my way out until my fingers bleed. Sorry, Olds; got carried away! Nighty-nite!

These involved threads where a problem is stated... never seem to get resolved WRT the OP's condition. 3 years later, Olds- how's it goin' ?? BTW- Camino's relaxation post is something I've been doing (on occasion) since I was around 20. I thought I invented it. >:/

^^ [b]If[/b] it were true that Pontiac ripped off BMW, I'd be really surprised they would rip off something as low-class as a BMW.

(Done right) that's a very warming theory.

^^ Ahhh- agreed. Basic (American) family sedans should sound like this IMO :

At least 1952, prolly earlier... This says "new" for '51 >>http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1949-1952-dodge-wayfarer4.htm<< but whether the trucks were different, IDK...

Wow. $333/block is a real decent price when you're talking about 396s & 427s. But I don't kno how many shops have a spare $100K laying around looking for inventory, and the logistics of moving 52,000 lbs of engine blocks would be interesting to say the least. I'd actually consider it if I had spare coin, like I said, you should be able to get $450 for a good 396, IMO, more for a 427. The tall-deck blocks aren't very sought after, tho.

>>"Most times once a team is dropped they will either go with a new brand or they will run the same car with out the brand and model name on the car."<< Theory : I can understand not advertising a brand you are not being paid to do so... but here they would be advertising.... a now non-entity.

I can see emphasizing the "Ram" name, but pulling 'Dodge' from the truck/ads I still don't get. There's a number of reasons NOT to do it, and I don't buy the reasons TO do it.

No complaints here on the Malibu 2.4 (6-spd HM). Good off the line, quiet (until 5K+ RPM), but even then, linear sound quality. Just turned 10K miles, average speed 28 MPH, average mileage: 25+. Had it up to 90 yesterday- very well planted & solid- felt like lots left beyond that (for those interested).

Here's hoping their marketshare hits 35% of it's peak !

Clean machine, esp for a 9-yr old orig! I don't tend to find the time to do cosmetics to my dailys. Maybe if I spent less time blowing time on the 'net... My F-150 was washed about 6 or 8 times in 14 years.

They're just tuckered out after approving massive funding bills for countless warheads and fleets of tanks, jets & subs.

Typical illustration of the World Condition: a friggin' mess.

Another modern car thing I hate : the way the dome lights automatically come on when you pull the ignition key, but haven't opened the door yet. Sometimes you instinctively pull the key... in case you have to make a break for it, yet you don't want to announce your position to others just yet.

>>"Tri-Power, Hurst Dual Gate, 8 Lug wheels, 421 SD, 455 HO, WS6, Ram Air, Royal Bobcat, Reverb."<< All well known. A complete '64 Tri-P set-up sits about 10 feet from me. -- -- -- -- -- >>"I think the truth is that Pontiac lost it's identity once Delorean left."<< Not it's identity certainly, but it's drive & spirit, yes. -- -- -- -- -- >>"If Pontiac had gotten the Radial tires. OHC V8, disc brakes and Fuel injection as he wanted in the 60's imagine what that would have said about GM as a real leader. "<< Well, Pontiac got FI in '57-58, and discs in '67- tho over at Buick discs initially performed worse than their (industry best) aluminum drums. Have to look into Pontiac discs (A-body) vs. the 8-lugs (B-body) as far as there being a performance advantage. -- -- -- -- -- >>"In the end we just ended up with a better styled Camaro and other restyled Chevys."<< Only arguable "restyled Chevy" in the '60s at Pontiac was the Firebird, so you can strike the "other Chevy's" charge in the context of your post (the 1960s). -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- >>"Problem is, those terms are mostly from over 40 years ago."<< More people than you'd think are able to remember, or have learned of iconic industrial/marketing things older than that. Who would kno that the mercedes s-clas is on it's 9th generation except for a TV spot- the car wasn't imported here until the 4th or 5th generation. Advertising IS able to re-educate...

Looks a lot smoother than the patent drawing interpretations here looked, but I expected that. Decent evolution, not radical, which is good.

'Express' up/down windows. For me, I usually only open the windows all the way when I'm parked; while driving it's almost never all the way. So with 'express down' windows, I'm forced to watch where the window is, because I have to push down for down, then pull up to stop it. Too touchy, I have to take my eyes off the road. With non-express, you easily learn to time it & never have to look. IMO- 'express' windows are for the lazy. -- -- -- -- -- Wife's Malibu has TapShift (or whatever Chevy calls it). In a conventional auto, to engine brake all you have to do is shift out of OD. With this, I have to shift to 'M' then paddle down-shift... now it's TWO operations instead of one.

^^ OK, cause for '09, 2 trims had non-alloys, 2 had alloys. BTW, our '09 2LT 4 has painted alloys, not polished.

I will admit- getting real alloys helped push us into a 2LT Malibu. I just don't know how the 'clad's would hold up over time. That said, it's her car and she really doesn't care either way.

Base Malibu rims, up close, are very well done as far as NOT looking like a cheesy hubcap. The chrome-clad steels are also very well done. Styling is of course, objective. The Malibu LS rims remind me of the Z28 rims of the 3rd gen Camaro- strong Chevy vibe. If you put the LTZ rims on the LS, what do you put on the LTZ and the 2LT & 1LT ?? Toyoyo is still pressing extremely cheap plastic hubcaps over visible, 20-hole stamped steel rims.

It truly is an amazing & fascinating study of human perception. Here, strong badge associations were thoroughly up-ended by --IMO-- the general impression that small = FWD. -- -- -- -- -- >>"Unless they own the ultimate driving machine on two wheels, it is "Bimmer"."<< Noted, and don't care.

But overall, the vast bulk of BMW drivers are not attending track days via their marque club, they're just clueless schlubs with death grips at 2 & 10, schlubbing their way to work and thinking they are totally fashionable because they drive a 'beamer'.