balthazar

One automotive pioneer actually worked on the assembly line of the car he (in part) created (well after it was established, and yes; as his then occupation). You know the name; now- who be he.... ?

>>"I could see in olden days maybe having the only outside lock on the passenger's side, when cars had bench seats and people parked at the curb (get in from the sidewalk side, safer than in the street). Maybe a '50s 2dr car or truck?"<< Nice work there, Cubitar !! Saw a letter written in to Old Cars Weekly, where the writer was happy to have read in a previous issue exactly as above ('sliding across bench & exiting curbside'), which explained why his '46 Chevy pick-up was equipped this way. He too then mentioned 'the light going on' when watching movies from the '30s & '40s where people did exactly that. Perhaps you see why I said you 'brushed up against it' to a degree- it's something particular to an era. My '40 Ford Cab Over has locks on both sides, but that's a 2-pass 'bucket' seat truck with a doghouse; not condusive to exiting out the opposite side. Hell- you can barely fit a pair of work boots (on the end of one's own legs) in the respective 'floor pans'. My '57 F-250 had 'em on both sides (a relatively advanced truck). Don't kno when this lock scenario was dropped, but like I said, I was not aware of the practice until I read that the other day.

Back when I was in the Buick GS/GN club, I remember frequent mention of the 700R-4, so it must've been available with a BOP pattern. In fact, it would be quite extrodinary in the era of corporate powertrains, than any trans had restricted availability. 700R-4 can be built to handle over 1000 HP IIRC (as long as you can afford it). Back when I was spec'ing my B-59, I was leaning toward a 700R-4, but was told it was borderline WRT the TRQ. I was steering toward the 4L80-E, but that was a $5K set-up, built. So it'a back to a BOP THM400 ('70 Buick). Calculator says 2500 RPMs at 60- not bad for a 3-spd.

I don't like to be 'pinpointed' by these, since the questions are still too general, IMO. Me : 'You are a center-right moderate social libertarian. Right: 1.54, Libertarian: 1.22' I think I would be farther off center (more right, more libertarian) if the questions were more specific. It's a snapshot.

If a Satty gets beheaded snow-kayaking, will the message baords he frequents notice ??

The vehicle I know for sure that has this is a 2-door, and it's not in any way obscure. Camino- agreed- your list in post #16 I too would call 'special service' vehicles, and while this vehicle could be used as one of those, the feature is OEM. You're getting warmer in post #15. Olds- I like your train of thought, but no. Will give answer tomm evening.

Being in the bidnit, I would LOVE to buy a vintage house, renovate it & resell it. Have not seen a viable candidate, and -being tight- have not really looked. Soon.... Then again, a couple cars stick in my mind that I should grab before they are crushed. One may alrady be: a late '40s Buick converted into a tow truck.

The way things are going, COUNT on it hitting the fan. If I'm wrong- you lose nothing. But if I'm right...

>>"It's something like being falling-down drunk and trying to negotiate your way through a narrow hallway filled with priceless sculpture - that doesn't belong to you."<< I don't think this describes my situation ... My biggest obstacle is, just about everything I want gone is worth something, but the damned economy doesn't have many people buying. I can't bring myself to throw something away that's worth something, even if it's $5. On the other hand, made $101 at the scrap yard Wed. That's the ticket- get junk gone & get paid for it.

>>"You thinking about moving or something?"<< No, just thinking about moving around my own house/ garage/ basement/ shop more easily. >>"The thing about that booklet is... the next page tends to be worse than the previous."<< This the same 'Simplify Your Life' booklet ?? Do you mean clutter and teetering piles of stuff is GOOD for you ???? Hm-mmmm...

I have no specific complaints WRT 2009. I have this nagging shadowy feeling 2010 is going to cost me a lot more than 2009, in an unplanned sort of way, so my determination to make as much as possible is redoubled. I would also like to sell off / toss out a LOT of the flotsam & jetsum I have accumulated; I am logistically paralyzed and I need to simplify. Camino- you have that handy booklet handy (since you did this last year)?

At this point the house calendar is open on the 23rd. I can commit but for 1 exception- if it snows here 2" or more, I have to plow. I would REALLY like to catch a ride from anyone in Jersey or east PA tho. I'll meet you wherever...

I likewise wouldn't cry if there was no Chocolate World stop- Hershey is pretty much available every quarter mile in the U.S.. Give me vintage iron - that's my addiction !!

Ooo, this one is a harder nut than I thought it would be. I found this info out for the first time yesterday, so it's not like it's neccesarily easy. BTW- NO to all of the mentions above. And 'special service vehicle of some sort' is going down the wrong path. If anything, Cubitar has ssoorrtt of brushed up against a pointer, in a way, when he said this : >>"A lot of vehicles today have the exterior lock only the driver's door, quite common in this is era of fob ubiquity."<<

Incorrect, Mr Trap. In fact, Chevys had this feature, also.

I am a random American vehicle, one of many makes. My notable feature for today is: my driver's door features only an interior lock, while my passenger door features only an exterior lock. Why would this be so?

There's a '65 Impy hardtop coupe about 3 miles from my house- just sitting alongside a house garage. Not sure if it's an SS or not, it's pretty solid, may be drivable (I don't take that road often). The '65s have slowly grown on me over the years (from 'meh' to 'nice!'), I don't know why. I'll try and get a pic tomm. -- -- -- -- -- I too got to see the Gast Museum & their Tucker (the only one I've seen). They gave me permission to touch it (but not sit inside). I thought the museum had merely moved- I was talking to one of the Gasts (IIRC) 2 yrs ago at Hershey- he had a beautiful B-59 Electra 225 convert there. Either the guy was a Gast... or the B-59 was an ex-museum car.

>>"Is it right that I'm proud of myself?"<< Right is right! I have to make sure the vehicle in question is in my mind's eye- it's not like I don't have 25,000 pieces of car-related reference les than 10 feet from me....

Wow- Buick actually had mealy-mouthed George do the voice-over, too. I see NO REASON whatsoever that this sort of 'apple cart upturn' shouldn't happen again. F Chevy.

^ Why didn't you let a stranger, someone perhaps who went by the name 'Lefty', give you a hand ?

Camino ~ >>"Have to part company with you on the MCs, Balthazar."<< You kno what- I have to revise my earlier statement. These cars just don't stick in my memory! After reading your post I looked at some pics & ads- the dual headlight '79, the quad HL '80, the 'streamlined' '81... blech. Well, the '81 mostly fixes the 'charicature' design of the -yes- awful '78-80, but all these ('78-8whatever) have lost that planted, brawny, broad-shouldered look of the '73 gen. Now that my memory is refreshed, I could own a '73 gen (greatly prefer the circular headlight look), but no way would I consider a '78-80. Thanks for making me go look. ocnblu ~ >>"If we met Balthy, would he be in black & white?"<< That's not just an avatar- that's a pic of me. Yep; the color faded out of my parched, dried skin decades ago; I'm black & white all right! (grey... to be accurate).

iiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT'SSSSSS.......... JANUARY !!!

Of the MCs, I like the 1st gen best, but the '73-77s for me; the sweep of the pontoons always makes the car look like it's riding too high to my eye. I'd like to see a tasteful mild custom that's dropped a good 3 inches. But I actually like the '78-up MCs better- same flare as Gen2 but not as wild. Of the GPs, I LOVE the '69-72s, but Pontiac dropped the ball on the '73-77s- I never cared for the front end treatment and the Olds-esque split waterfall grilles. GP was always head&shoulders in aspiration above the f/s same-yr Ponchos, but for me- not after '73. Again tho- the '78 redesign was an improvement IMO. I never gravitated towards Olds, I like a handful from the early-late '60s, but the Toro after '69- just weird, the Cutlasses- too common, the rest, don't like. Then again, with in-person exposure to any vintage... anyone with an open mind can gain appreciation for most any car, in some measureable way. See, tho I grew up with '70s & '80s cars all around, I have very very few sentimental attactments to this era. The cars usually didn't 'speak' to me. In the years before I started owning my own cars, I spent countless hours drawing, reading & studying ALL vintages and my appreciation for the '50s-60s is based on --IMO-- merit and fact rather than emotion. Hope that doesn't sound too 'looking down on' anyone's else's opinion, --I'm not!!-- everyone is free to like whatever they like !

>>"riding in his third gen would convert even balthazar to a little 80's GM love"<< It's not necc the decade it was built in that determines what it is able to lay down on the road, esp when talking about a prepped car. I appreciate performance as much as anyone, regardless of what it comes out of... but that's not likely to make me show any more love for the actual car ... when the same performance can be wrung out of just about anything. But I hear you... -- -- -- -- -- The 3 commercials above are quite intersting & effective, esp like the Intrique one, but the GXP is good, too. Yet all I ever read opinion of, is, 'GM marketing is the worst in the world and has been for all time'.

An hour before midnight, I was outside in the snow (sans shoes) extinguishing a dumpster fire in my backyard. Melted/burned a 95-gal container to the ground and melted some siding. I managed to NOT burn my hands dragging it away from the house. Even tho I'm still up @ 2:40 AM, still mildly rattled, 2010 is already better than 2009. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy & lucrative New Year.