balthazar

smk4565 ~ >>"Cadillac doesn't charge $25,000 less to not gouge the customer, they charge $25,000 less because the car isn't as good and no one will pay $90,000 for a CTS-V."<< How do you KNOW this ? This segment is all about performance, and the CTS-V is the highest performance sedan in it's class. Why else would anyone pay the most in this class if not for the most performance ?? Still, if you actually believed this (>>"they charge $25,000 less because the car isn't as good"<<) & were consistant, you would never mention the hyundai V-8 genesis, since it costs $25K less than the CTS-V. >>"BMW and Mercedes charge what they do because they have a good product that people are willing to pay for, not to gouge customers."<< Really? What is the per car profit on an M5 ??

^ It wasn't that long ago that Harley Earl posted here regularly. His appreciation was not bound by being "modern" (whatever that may mean), and I of course value that. Henry Ford, Henry Leland are correct! The third man the piece I got the opening from suggests is .... Henry Royce (Natch; of the Rolls fame). Interesting piece (too long to transcribe here), but all 3 grew up similarly; not wealthy, began machinist's apprenticeships while young, and had both strong work ethics and mechanical aptitudes. Their professional approaches differed: Ford (duh) wanted to build an auto for the masses, Royce knew how his car was to be built and was very demanding & particular, while Leland fell between the 2- he determined that a high quality car could be built to a consistant high standard of material & precision that allowed a certain level of mass production.

Correct- the doors on the (brick) coal shed were too narrow- he supposedly had not considered such before that moment. The door on the right is the one that was widened.

>>"GM was not bankrupt in fall of 2007 when the CTS came out, or at any time in 2008. The CTS coupe could have been out in summer of 2008, 1 year before bankruptcy."<< That would be: 1 year before bankruptcy was declared/filed. The conditions that forced bankruptcy (ummm: no money) didn't spring out of the ground like a winter crocus the day before, you know. >>"They have to sell it at a $25,000 discount compared to the competition, what does that say about Cadillac?"<< That they do not feel gouging the customer is neccessary ?? Fact remains that the competition must answer 'why do they have to charge $25K MORE for a car that's no better ???'

This one should be easier ~ The great Henry Ford spent a good deal of time building his first car. There really was no choice- the automotive components we have long taken for granted (spark plug, carburetor, wheels, etc) to build one with did not exist and the science was still 'in labor'; not 'born' yet. Other major components (crankshaft, camshaft, pushrods, bearings, etc) had to be designed, then machined from scratch, from materials certainly not envisioned for use in a motor car. In addition, Ford had a full-time job and a small family. Having spent some of his teen years repairing watches, Ford was a known perfectionist, and he also took time to study (what little) work was being done by others. His first gas engine was completed in the family kitchen in Dec of 1893. He successfully ran it for a half minute, then never ran it again. Nearly immediately, he began building another engine in the shed behind his house, and the car to put it into. He worked in his spare time, machining, testing, building, a LOT of trial & error, all thru 1894... 1895... and into 1896. With a best judgement pegging the date as June 4th, at about 2AM and with a light rain falling, he was finally ready to test drive his 'Quadracycle'.... except for one, final adjustment that required perhaps the LEAST precise instrument he had used yet; an axe. For what.... ?

No more takers ?? According to research published in the SAH journal, the first fatal vehicle accident occurred on July 29th. {Tee-hee- I still left off the year!} There was an established line of steam coaches traveling regularly (for 4 months at this time) between Glasgow & Paisley. Apparently, for reasons unexplained, officials at the Glasgow end put a thick coating of loose stones on the road in order to cause an obstruction. This was done repeatedly, and by mention, assumedly was instrumental in causing one of the wheels to break. The carriage nearly overturned, and the weight of the entire vehicle came to rest on the boiler and caused it to burst, killing 5 passengers. And the year was . . . . 1834. I would have guessed 1870s just because of the point of the question, but '34 is amazingly far back.

Hm-mmm...... OK...... they shared... 1st names.

RE: cargo - is there not a sort of 'hidden' roof rack also? (As tough as it is getting used to a RPO Cadillac wagon, the idea of roping suitcases down to the roof of this one is beyond my capacity to visualize it).

I see Cadillac had no issues with centering the pair of exhaust tips.... unlike the decade or so BMW stuck their single pipe out the rear.... MADDENINGLY off-center by about 6-7 inches (I guess this was early '80s??) God that used to annoy the hell out of me.

'You have all overbid' -Bob Barker

Olds Guy does win! Apparently B&S took over production of the Smith FLyer ('17-20), produced it themselves from '20-23, then still later it was known as the 'Auto Red Bug' ('23-28). Wiki says it was $125-150 - seems appropriate when you learn that the wooden planks they're sitting on are both the 'car' floor AND the "suspension".

They did, sales-wise, but they had zero reason to, engineering-wise. That was the most pleasant surprise of the ad for me.

^ Nothing serious to my knowledge; that's not it. MORE: I don't believe this was misleading (certainly not intentionally) but what they shared was not 'similar', it was 'exact'.

Overall, a dynamic, exciting car, and so refreshing to see a new 2-dr coupe in 2010! Lower, wider, lighter = faster. Only thing that bothers me design-wise is the extended spoiler/ CHMSL; the way it protrudes so. The rest has a real nice balance between 'sleek' and aggressive. Reminds me a bit of the 1st gen GPs (clean smooth sides, detail & aggression in the front & rear fascias). Oh, and: >>"Classic hardtop styling, with no conventional B-pillar (visual impression with all windows in the fully-raisied position only) "<<

^ Quite the opposite, at least WRT 1 of them.

I checked one of the 3 and he did lose a parent young.... but that was not what I was alluding to as the 'very personal similarity'. Another of the 3 did NOT lose a parent when 'young'.

Today, the names are known via product ownership by many millions worldwide annually.

Written by another, slightly edited~ >>"There were 3 men who had more influence on the automobile business than anyone else. These 3 created & nutured automobile manfacturing businesses & concepts that live today, and their ideas continue to affect the way autos are built & marketed. They were all born in the 19th century, but their vision gave life to the legacy of the 20th. There were a number of similarities in these men's lives, but their differences lay in the way each approached the business of producing autos. The contributions to automotive perfection & advancement of these 3 cannot be overstated."<< There was one very personal similarity the 3 shared, and if you get get this, you are given a big shove toward identifying the 3.

Of course, at some point in time; the first fatal auto accident occurred. Of note perhaps, is that not 1 person died, but 5. Also, this occurred not as a result of a single, pioneering trip in an unproven claptrap, but 'just another' run in a regular journey. Guess the year (within a 10-yr range if you must).

Bird cage lining ? Fish scaling wrapper ? Something to 'fill out' the garbage can load so you can feel better about maximizing the garbage truck's efficiency (more bulk/weight per can per stop) ?? -- -- -- -- -- If CR came out with a full recommendation of an American car, they'd run the risk of offending the purchases of their predominently-import buyer subscribers, who dote on the getting that reaffirmation of their decision with every auto issue. Ahh, the quandry for CR.....

Absof*cklootly amazing !!! I can hardly believe this, esp from the POV of a guy who's lucky to work on something for which repro weatherstripping is available. I'd seen finished examples of the '55 before, but they look like any other restoration/rod - this is the first time I've seen the starting point. You could easily spend $7500 for rust repair on a 50-yr old car and still risk waves, misalignment... or you could buy a 100%, real steel repro ready for paint and do a 'catalog' build. It's all there! DAMMNIT- why didn't I develop a taste for Chevys ??? Camino- IMO, and coming from the same East Coast rust belt.... those prices are completely worth it for what you get.

{checks..} Do not believe so.... every locale mention I can find RE their lives is NOT from PA. Further info: the vehicle pictured was built by these 2 guys for about 3 years, and 1 source claims it was the cheapest US vehicle ever in price.

The 2 gentlemen pictured below are seen sitting on a 'flyer' (self-propelled) named after both of them. Tho their intention was serious for automobile production, such was quite brief, yet their names are well known today, and many of you have no doubt utilized product -in part- manufactured under those same names. Which is...?

"Yes, I will attend (weather permitting)"

I'm almost certain the '55 body is also being reproduced. Interesting to ponder the degree of interest to reproduce an entire vintage automobile BODY, eh? BTW- wheelbases ARE the same '55-57 Chevy : 115".