balthazar

In my wife's Malibu, we have a couple of those heavy cardboard 'flats'; around 18" x 24", helps when you go shopping to keep things from a-rollin' / shopping where they have no bags (Costco). Or, you could fashion a 'U' shaped barrier the width of the interior, to retain items from rolling out. Only needs to be about 3" high at the rear.

^ Fits 2/3rd of a bicycle turned 45-degrees. 24 MPG combined, owners are reporting over 30 MPG on highway trips. ?

It is a looker. I would be interested to see some shots in the open hatch, with the rear seat up & down.

Had my son's GF sit in my '64 GP a couple days ago. When she settled and look to her right, she exclaimed 'Look how wide it is!' I doubt I'll ever drop down to a mid-size or compact-size vehicle. Then again, the smallest daily driver I've had was within a few inches of an S-class (length)... and everything else has been larger.

I can't find ANYTHING new with tailfins.

Actually, I had a falafel wrap and fries from down the street last night. It was just last year I tossed the ignition key I had pulled from the dash of a black/pink/purple '56 Dodge Royal 2-dr in the same junkyard in that same timespan, it was parked about a 3rd of the way up the same row.

SOME stuff, not ALL stuff. I was clear in my descriptors. That's fine, we're not solving anyone else's problems. ?

My shop door:

You going to hand-shovel a ton & a half of wet stone into the back of a Suburban, trying to tarp the carpeted bottom & plastic sides of the interior to keep it from getting torn apart? Really? Re-read my post- people don't put LOOSE material of any considerable volume in a vehicle like a Suburban. Is it physically possible? Sure - but does it happen? But a lawn mower or a potted shrub or a few bags of mulch- a roofed SUV could handle as well as a 4-ft bed trucklette. The overlap in cargo capability of a 4-ft bed and a mid-size SUV is a LOT more than between a Suburban and a full-size pickup.

• IDK... my friend with the Infinity doesn't have to "hose out" or vacuum it whenever he hauls something around. Mulch is bagged at the HomeDepot, not loose- why are people vacuuming up after bagged items? A few pieces drop off, you shake off the blanket (or tip out the cargo liner), fold it up & you're done. It's not a major calamity. Same with the 'spilled fuel' (don't you have an electric snow thrower yet?? ) - how is that readily happening? • Full-size SUV's (say; a Suburban) has the interior length, but there are a number of things I mentioned earlier that it's not well suited for. Loose material is one, dumped material is another, actual dirt (for the 'dirty' aspect), leaking/significantly odiferous material, and anything involving -say- demo'd building materials studded with nails or vastly-irregular pieces - these pose actual damage hazards to the interior, whereas a lined pick-up bed can carry extreme lengths, dirt, garbage, stone, 90 cubic feet of brush/grass clippings, mouse-contaminated goods, propane tanks, etc etc. I would not peg the capability of an enclosed SUV vs. a pickup at anywhere "98% overlap". Maybe 70%. SUVs do offer 2 considerable aspects over pickups: security and weather protection. But this discussion (full-size pickups vs. full-size SUVs) seems to be another discussion. • The whole pitch about leaving the tailgate open is a rubber crutch for a 4-ft bed, no two ways around it. "Ledges", please. If dropping the gate means a 4-ft bed is practically a 6-ft bed, then the 6-ft bed is now practically an 8-ft bed and the 2 no longer compete.

mid-'80s : I can remember one of these in my favorite junkyard haunt, esp that peaked center section of the decklid. It was a '67 Fury 4-dr, very dark blue, and someone had painted (very well) 'BUILT TO' and 'BOOGIE' in the large flats to either side of that peaked center. It was at the end of one of the 2 rows the arrows point to, nose facing 'south'. Now ask me what I had for dinner last night.

Princeton MN 1929 ~

Yard projects: • One shouldn't be trying to transport -say- 4x4-8' timbers in a 4-ft long bed. • If you're getting bagged mulch, it's no problem to stack that in the back of a SUV with a piece of tarp or a blanket down. • Buying 6-8' trees is certainly uncommon, but either : grab a rental truck for $20, call a friend or see if you can lean it out the hatch window. • A boxed lawn mower or snow thrower will fit in just about any SUV. Not seeing much else in the 'yard department' that a 4-ft bed pickup can handle and a SUV can't. Large appliances (fridge, water heater) can be laid down in the back of a SUV. IMO, a 4-ft bed pickup isn't competing with a mid-sized pickup, it's competing (in terms of cargo capacity / usage) with a similar-sized SUV. While some consumer may well prefer a pickup 'just because', it's not as versatile and I don't expect it to upset the segment or become a huge seller.

My buddy has an older Infiniti SUV. He keeps it meticulously clean & preserved, but he has no issue 'making Home Depot runs' / house projects; he has the Infiniti 'Weathertech' cargo area liner with about 2" tall walls, plus he has blankets for any situation. He also hunts, tho there he uses a hitch-mount for the carcass. Also tows a fishing boat with it. He's looking at finally replacing it, but has zero interest in a pickup; says he prefers the security and protection of an SUV, and it does everything a similar-size pickup does. Plus, when you lower the 2nd row, it's far longer than a mere 4'. IMO, that's a major reason there's a pitiful compact pickup market- and SUV does the same job with more room. Really makes me doubt some significant compact pickup market is lingering just around the corner, waiting to explode. Now... once you go to a 6-ft bed, the table turns...

You could get the same MPG (possibly better on the highway according to some real world tests), have a 50% larger bed, tow thousands more for $8 grand less.

Wife & I got our first Moderna shot today. Rode an hour 1-way to get it. My one son who works in a NY hospital got both his shots maybe 2 months ago. Other son doesn't have an app't yet, his GF got the J&J shot Monday.

Maybe 'they' have no interest BECAUSE of the bed length...

And I understand preferences, for sure, but there is a HUGE range of differences in "1960s-1970s American car rides"; too huge to generalize. A Ford Falcon in original, worn spec and a Wide Track Pontiac with modern shocks/radials would be wildly different. And ykX may STILL not like the latter's ride personally... I just wanted to weigh in on the generalization. There's loads of bouncy, heavily-leaning Euro cars with 8 turns lock-to-lock in the same era. Hell; I've encountered significant differences in the same era/brand, ride-wise. My buddy has a '67 Catalina I drove last year; it was beat and it wallowed. I had my own '64 Catalina set up so nice; gas Monroes, 70-series radials, dialed in alignment- it rode great and back then- I really used to hammer on my cars.

That's a good question, Mr. 5-HP-more-than-a-HT4100.

As a person who’s ‘average model year owned’ number is 1968, I can attest that ‘60s cars do not drive either ‘horridly’ or ‘like crap’. The longer wheelbase, wider track in general is smoother, if you get a car with all coils (most of mine) and put radials & good shocks on it, it’s both controlled and firm as a driver. Now, if it has original- spec bias plies / worn out suspension, then yes; they can be not pleasant- just like a modern vehicle with overly low-profile tires an worn struts. ’60s Pontiacs are excellent drivers with the minor upgrades mentioned above.

RE the Ferrari vs. Corvette discussion, in plucking out 2 adjacent pics I can sum up what I see design-wise right here. Corvette is completely cohesive; it's lines and surface transitions have excellent 'follow thru' - where the rear quarter top line just has a beautiful, gently-varying radius thru the taillight, sharper thru the bumperette, yet still continues down to the bottom edge of the car. The lights are flush and fluid, the exhaust is both neatly concealed yet is located in the brightwork of the bumper port. It's 'hidden' until you spot it as an 'Easter egg'. The bumper, in wrapping around the rear quarter, seems like it may echo the radius of said fender line to the bottom edge, just rotated 90 degrees. Just tons of thought in the design. One can argue against the '58-only chrome moldings sweeping forward up the deck (and many do). As much as I like chrome I could do without them (but I also could live with them). There's no ill-fitting / low-hanging exhaust, no out-of-place rectangular reflectors, no tacked-on bumper with heavy bumper guards, no sudden sharp edges in the middle of the flow of the deck. I also get a strong VW Karman-Ghia vide from the Ferrari's tail lights- there's nothing wrong with them, they just look like they come off of something decidedly pedestrian. Corvette here is head & shoulders above the Ferrari from a standpoint of design. - - - - - That's not to say the Ferrari is not without merit. The general proportions are very nice, and I do love the front fender grille that echoes the shape of the fender's curve. The silver accent there is also peachy against the dark blue. The rear 'bustle' is a tad overly tall, but it still works. And I generally prefer some sort of wheel well lip accent -as seen here- vs. the 'sheer' look at the 'wells... but the Corvette has enough eye candy to do without them here. I do think the Ferrari's rear bumper might look a tiny bit better mounted about 2-in higher on the body... but the front bumperettes are very low and I would not advise increasing that (minor) disparity.

• Prepped the fuel filter bracket for paint • straightened the valve cover rails • took off the water pump. Some interesting sub-oceanic formations in there :

I’m aware.