balthazar

>>"People keep forgetting. McCain has little to no executive experience. He's been a Congressman and Senator his whole career.... Palin is the only executive decision we have to go on to judge his fitness for the office. Do you really want that level of competence and thoroughness in the White House? In wartime? When making decisions about Iran and Russia? The prospect is terrifying."<< The laughable thing about this tack is that BO has far far far less experience; he has less than JM, he has less than SP. BO's actual time in office as a U.S. Senator- 143 days. Thats 6.5 months... of no executive experience. Zero. Oh; he's claimed he has plenty 'running my presidential campaign for 18 months' , so we're all supposed to "ignore that man behind the curtain" (David Alexrod). The Messiah's VP choice for the 'Party of Change & Hope' is a man (a mere 6 years younger than JM- but his age is never mentioned as a detriment) who's been a senator since Nixon was President. No one sees that as a hypocritical choice on Alexr.... BO's part WRT to the party's bumperstickers ?? Where's the 'change' in Biden ?? Where's the hope: that'll he'll be off playing golf on yet another tax increase vote or 2 ?? It was reported today that the mainstream media has called McCain's campaign demanding a paternity test on Palin's newborn son ! 'Unmitigated gaul', I believe the term would be... and since it's blatantly obvious the media is in the tank for BO.... let's not hear anymore about R mudslinging. Or has BO come out condemning that attempt and I missed it ? Yeah- didn't think so... yet his stumping & speeching wife "should be off limits". He should be a good speech receiter; his tongue's hinged at both ends.

>>"...think two 1/2-scale SBCs fused together."<< Please stop wording it this way. V-16s, V-12s were never built by 'putting 2 V-6/V-8s on a common crank'. The portrayal is goofy, the descriptor isn't necc, and of course... I have only ever read this loose description in connection with GM multi-cylinder engines- implying, naturally, a degree of cheapness. Take another look at your IC hero, the 452, and tell me there's any 'GM cheapness' there. Thank you for your support.

>>"It's now a very good looking car..."<< So... where's the 'after' picture ? That is one ugly mess of details!

I'm not so sure "drying up" and complacency aren't the same thing. So far from what I've heard, DM sounds.... rejuvinated.... but Het's voice has not been as good for me (his nuances changed.. and to a degree hi style) since AJFA and back to RTL. He never killed me with his technical ability (I'm not a snob that way anyway)- but a sharp edge has been amiss for many albums now. UPDATE.... Have now listened to The Day That Never Comes 8 times in a row, it gets better & better each time.

>>"Is the average consumer so stupid as they cannot develop their own opinion of what they have just read, and they need the editor to tell them? ...And unfortunately it's rampant."<< This is the wretched, unfortunate current state of modern 'journalism'. Leading the reader by the {eyeball} "is what our readers want". So much garbage...

hyperv6' ->>"I agree that prior to 1977 there were more differances but the GTO was a A body. They may have called it a Fisher body then and today they call it a corperate platform. Times change but other the engines and rear ends they are no different for the most part than todays cars with some styling changes and and different suspension tuning."<< My issue is completely with your choice of wording and the misleading impression it gives. Yes, of course the GTO was an A-Body, so was the 442, Gran Sport & SS. And to openly claim Pontiac has long been a "handed-down Chevy" and site this as an example of that is ludicrious and factually incorrect. Thusly, I must call that out. >>"But everytime I... pull out a Small Block Chevy that was a streaight bolt in to replace the 400 boltin with mounts and bell housing it remind me just how close these cars really were."<< Lemmee get this straight: the cars were really close because a SBC will bolt into a Pontiac engine bay except for all the points that actually bolt it in (motor mounts & bellhousing) ?? You know you can 'bolt in' a Packard V-8 just as easily.... { OR were you trying to say a Chevy engine will bolt up to a Pontiac-pattern trans & Pontiac mounts ?? } >>"I am not saying Pontiac did a bad job on their versions in the 60 but they were still a shared car to a greatr degree."<< To a "greater degree" than what ??? More than 50% = greater degree ?? You need to be straight on this issue for posterity and credibility, man, and it sure doesn't sound like you're very familiar with the cars of example here. >>"The 55-57 Nomad and Safari are good exaples of cake with different frosting. The different fenders and engine did not hide the roof line and what it was based on."<< What what was based on? The Pontiac being based on the Chevy? Different fenders & engine, and that was it? The Nomad rode a 115" wheelbase while the Safari rode a 122". I'll bet you thought they were on the same frames, right? A roof stamping does not make for one vehicle being 'based' on another by a country mile. I own a '59 Buick, been working on it for a number of years now; on the downside of a frame-off resto-mod. I've been thru hell & high water hunting parts and chasing other GM division repro catalogs. Care to guess exactly how much interchanges with a Chevy? And I ask this while offering this factual tidbit: all the other GM B-bodies were.... to use your words... 'based' off the Buick (no; not the other way around... but bear in mind I am using your words here).

Until you said 'woman', I thought you were talking about someone else.... tho of course there, there are many more than just 1 alleged instances of association with extremism & 'union dissolving'.

>>"She has the huntin', fishin', gun worshipin' credentials that will appeal to the rural folk, I think...but isn't remotely qualified to be VP, IMHO."<< >>"Don't be dissin' Hillary..she's infinitely more qualified than a right winger NRA hockey mom from nowheresville..."<< Whoa. The 'hockey mom' is infinitely more qualified than a radical socialist left winger with 6 months federal experience, who never had to make an executive decision in his entire life. At least she's accomplished positive things in her career... as opposed to..... nothingsville.

hyperv6- >>"I agree as Pontiac has been nothing but a hand me down from Chevy even farther back than some want to admit. The great GTO's were all Chevelle A body based. The Firebird whould not be if there was no Camaro. The Large Pontiac cars were all based on the GM full size platforms for years. They got different trim and for a while different engines but they still were based on the other lines sold by GM in the states."<< You know I'm going to hit you on this one, right? I'm willing to admit that Pontiac has been a "hand me down from Chevy" since... hm-mmm.... I'm gonna say 19....15. Which is really saying something since Pontiac wasn't introduced since 1926. Let's get real. GTOs were not 'Chevelle-based'; these cars were co-developed off of a quantity of corporate & Fisher Body parameters- never was a Malibu/Chevelle re-engineered into a Tempest/GTO. Fallacy. It's equally as correct to say a given Chevelle was GTO-based. Big Pontiacs were not based on "GM full-size platforms" (nevermind that the term is an anachronism in the BOF years), again; they were co-developed simultaneously as were the other divisions' full-size cars, using the same sort of parameters, using proprietory engineering & powertrains. The only factual thing I quoted from you was that the Firebird WAS engineered off of the Camaro, but this was entirely due to the fact that the Banshee was denied by the 14th floor and PMD was tossed the 'Camaro bone'. There may not have been a Firebird otherwise, but there almost was a Banshee- and that was all Pontiac yet again. At SOME point, yes; inter-divisional sharing increased to the point a major percentage of interchangability was possible. It wasn't in the 1940s, '50s, or '60s. I would strongly tend to believe it did not happen for the big cars until the downsize of 1977. '77 was a major design/engineering contraction. A-Bodies started considerable component sharing in GM, but it did not spread to the big cars until almost 20 years later. So when exactly do you feel Pontiacs became "handed-down Chevys" ? Why beat around the bush on this damnation- let's get it out there. This sort of broad-brush over-simplification does no one any favors, nor does it represent the truth. It only serves one end, that those who have not researched the facts assume this: All Pontiacs thruout the Division's history have been Chevy rebadges. Is that something you truely believe?

Was at a car show Sat. Saw 1400 cars. Will list them all, one by one, in my next post. All right, I won't. My buddy had his B-59 LeSabre flattop there, beautiful Silver Birch original cruising around. These cars have the weirdest seating postion- the seats are real close to the floor, and the front floors aren't dropped, so your legs go pretty straight out in front of you. I like it, but it sure is unusual. Someday mine will be done (as I sit here, wasting time, poking buttons that aren't connected to my car). Drank way too much beer.

Funny how you NEVER read anything harping & moaning over future hyundai resale in any articles, eh? Rental this, generic that, piss-poor resale.... Everyone's all breathless how the offerings have gone from abyssmal to mediocre... annnnd; that's it- the rest is all good.

My wife was on Lipitor a few years ago- she had to stop because she had bad muscle spasms/pain. She takes Zetia now. She does not recall any changes you are asking about, but I believe she was on it pretty briefly. Medications can cause all sorts of wackiness in different individuals.

Hopefully the errant aerodynamics that caused the original car to spin out (remedied by the tacked-on spoiler) won't again be an issue.

I've yet to see anything made in China built better than anywhere else.

C'mon Northie- could you be a little closer to the truth than that ("just rebadged Chevys")?

That C10 is red hot. Buddy just sold his SS454 for funds for his '38 Chevy coupe. Good luck with the expanded responsibilities.

I feel a great deal less automotive stress consigning myself to grooving on the vintage greats and never growing attached to the modern utilitarian ilk. Whatever happens, happens; the peak has past.

I revel in the chaotic and the mad, I prefer to dig deep, lacing my fingers thru the very roots of insanity and locking on tight, teeth clenched. Ah-ha, hoo-hoo. For relaxation, I chew ice cubes.

>>"I guess Anita gets paid for creating chaos - imagine all of the dealers that will be inundated with phone calls within the next couple of weeks"<< That assumes anyone actually pays any attention to anything a lienart says.

Yeah; one would think that ad was put together by Saturday Night Live's prop's dept (and they must've all been dems). The grenade and the Seville have nothing in common besides paint color.

smk4565- DOHC: >>"Rev higher"<< CL65 AMG ~ 612 HP @ 4800 CTS-V ~ 556 HP @ 6100 Nope. >>"smaller displacement usually means better fuel economy"<< CL65 AMG 365 CI DOHC V-12 ~ EPA: 11/18 CTS-V 379 CI IBC V-8 ~ EPA: 16/25 Nope. Good thing you didn't say performance: CL65 AMG ~ 0-60: 4.3 top speed: 155 MPH CTS-V ~ 0-60: 3.9 top speed: 191 MPH 'cause that'd be another... Nope.

Just saw those on a Hummer H2 SUT today. I do not like the rim designs (as above) that break the visual 'hoop' of the rim- they always remind me of some 'gear/cog' ala Legos and they kill the forward visual momentum of the rolling wheel/tire for me. I do not like whole genres of wheel designs; there are very few aftermarket ones I like. Anything with rivets studding it is out, and needle-thin spokes are out (they look weak). American Racing's Salt Flat Special is one in particular I do like, the Pontiac below is wearing them ( or a knock-off) most handsomely.

Oh, snap. A client of mine has an '08 bmw 535xi (indifferent fit-n-finish on the exterior, BTW). I approached it with the above post in mind, fully expecting to find a metal grille. After all, {cue angels singing}; it's a bmw. As usual, bmw never fails to disappoint me. Nostrils are all vacuum plated plastic, vertical bars are plastic. I suspect every bmw is the same way. Bars were black with vacuum-chrome edges, but the black paint makes all their cars look like the grilles are missing on the road. Not a better treatment, to be sure. Not to mention, it's wretchedly tired. BTW II : CTS-V and (previous gen) Sport models have stainless steel wire mesh grilles.

Wait; so a clean-sheet hybrid car doesn't have to have the shape of a humpbacked sea tortoise ??

@ everything here.