balthazar

>>"Perhaps that wasn't so much something explicit as it was that one had to assume that the money/effort could have been put towards actually making a competitive smaller car."<< That's a mile-wide assumption, IMO.

>>"And there's no B-pillars "<< Actually, since there's no place for a B-pillar to go, and pillars are so designated 'alphabetically'... I would say an El Camino DOES have a B-pillar... but the good news is there's no C-pillar to muck up the lines.

>>"The struggling auto maker must now try to rapidly reduce its dependence in North American truck sales, once seen as the key to its turnaround. The abrupt shift, outlined at GM's annual meeting, is an acknowledgment that Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner miscalculated in 2005 when he bet big on trucks. As far back as 2005, when gas prices were rising past $2 a gallon, SUV sales were falling, and many in the industry were saying the SUV era was coming to an end. Mr. Wagoner disagreed. That year, he accelerated the launch of the company's new trucks and SUVs by six months."<< When has GM EVER stated trucks were key to any turnaround plan? And accelerating the launch of a series of trucks ALREADY DONE in the face of rising fuel costs was the only thing TO DO; the alternatives would be: DELAY the launch past when originally due- debuting the models under even HIGHER fuels costs, or scrapping the redesign totally and continuing the old models indefinately and flushing all that R&D money straight down the drain. Yeah.

I am NOT in the market for another major project, so the true answer to #1 is no. Were I, I just might cut up a rough but restorable wagon, yes. #2: It would be easier to use a B-59 wagon w/ B-59 quarters & tailgate already in place, a scenario which would not involve any frame issues or front- or rear-clip grafts... than to splice B-59 quarters on an El Camino, in my experience/opinion. The Caddy frame makes no sense unless it was shortened- C-59 Elky wheelbase: 119 B-59 coupe: 123" '62 Cadillac: 129.5. Something is up, here.

Hummer is NOT exported to india or china, correct? With the boom still going on in those countries, I would think the demand there for a Hummer-type vehicle could be considerable.

C-@-tell. A bit far. I would seriously be tempted to jump on this one if it didn't have a CHEVY rear end on it. And right off the bat, my jumping would be at the risk of ignoring the fact that a Buick-clipped Chevy body is somehow, inexplicably, mounted on a Cadillac chassis. I make a point of avoiding that level of automotive monkey business. A B-59 wagon would make a logical starting point to build one of these, but I've yet to see one in person.

>>"...drivers unwilling or unable to fill 'er up..."<< WTF? 'Unable' ?? 87-octane is exactly 1 dollar/gal more than on 06-02-07 (nat'l ave), when no one was moaning & bitching in the least. $1 x average tank of (say) 16 gal = $16/fill. Have mass quantities of citizens really been running SO lean that $16/week (say) vs. last year has so many "unable" to fill their tank they're stranding the,selves on the sides of highways??? C'mon.... I used to run my gas-engined F-150 down so there was black showing between the 'E' mark and the needle (south of the mark) every tank. It helped to have dual tanks, tho. As the Silverado is a diesel, I don't run it down quite that far, but I do fill it to capacity and run it down to a day (or 2) with the low fuel light on; not at all as low on the gauge as the Ford. I figure the less time of my life I spend at the gas station is that much more time I have for something more enriching... or at least more productive.

>>"I don't think I've ever seen one of those.... "<< This is an '83, first yr for the package (paint/trim, wheels/tires, suspension, injected 2.0L, 5-spd, more standard & optional equipment). Cimarron was the #1 import conquest vehicle in '82- nearly 40% would've bought foreign otherwise. I agree wholeheartedly with XP-715's post above; this generation has precious few future collectibles, and the Cimarron is NOT one of them, and you'd never get me to even consider this for a millisecond, but among small 4-banger '80s cars, this presents itself easily as well as most others.

Beaten mercilessly with the ugly stick.

I gravitated towards Cadillac because of the design & image... but once I got within spitting distance of the age I could own one, I realized the ones I liked were not affordable to a broke kid. About the same time I realized my father owned Pontiacs ('63, '70, '77) continuously from '66 thru '95, and his father bought a string of Pontiacs ('55, '57, '63, '66, '69, '72, '76)- putting me in line to be a 3rd generation, multiple Poncho owner. Of the 20 vehicles I've owned, 7 have been Pontiacs ('64, '64, '64, '65, '65, '65, '66) and my brother has had a string too ('63, '68, '71, '72, '84). Pontiac won me over with styling, innovation, power and their outlaw, rebel streak that often had them thumbing their nose at Corporate. I would rather own & drive a Pontiac from '55-65 than any other division's cars (tho various Cadillacs are a close second).

I believe early '80s was when they switched to the 'box' signage. I have a Star Cars (1922-1928) dealership sign: double-sided porcelin, hanging in my shop. Star was part of Billy Durant's 'second empire' and they were built in Elizabeth NJ.

I have to say- I remember the D'Oro package at the end of production, which was a black car with a gold grille/trim- they really didn't look bad at all, but I've never seen one outside of pics- must've been very rare. google/altavista doesn't return any pics; tho I have a few in my files.

>>"Funny thing is that they are usually thought of as bad cars that the car mags hated, but I have an old Motor Trend from 83 and they liked the Cimarron a lot."<< Car & Driver LOVED it- they borderline gushed. Once it became popular to bash it, they did a 180.

Dude- it's the DeLorean that needs to hit 88 MPH- not you to take a pic- slow down !! Property manager/rental office should know where the DeL 'lives'... find out, go over one weekday evening at a decent time (6-7 PM) and knock on the door. Be pleasant & relaxed, say you were driving by and asked at the (rental office), and they told you (Mr. X) owned the DeL- was it by chance for sale? If the rental office doesn't help, you're next bet is to put a note on the car itself with your contact info on it- hopefully either the yard is accessible or at least they'll let you do that much or relay the message. I know you're not a kid, cm... hope this doesn't come off as talking down to you; seems pretty straightforward to me. I've knocked on countless doors/approached countless people asking about cars, haven't been shot yet (tho -ahem- I'm not in Detroit (anymore) either). It helps immensely if you have at least a working knowledge of what you're asking about; people like to know they're not dealing with a Rube wanting to do who-knows-what with their specialty car.

Not the greatest as it's just a still, but fits the criteria:

The problem with real change (not the candidate's hot air version) is that it hasn't been even possible in decades and decades. Intrenched vested interests won't allow it and no one is willing to step up and put their public service job (president, congress, etc) first. I'd do it if they asked, but I'd expect an 'accident' once I got steam-rollin'.

As you might guess- there are many older years that talk louder to me, but the '69-70 by itself is a sweet car. How about lowering it 1.5"? No? Oh well. I haven't yet had an Autronic Eye car- I'd put an affordable setup in the B-59 if I could get my hands on one.

I have been working 6 days a week and haven't been on the B-59 in a good 3 weeks. Damnit. I have a new centerlink (my 3rd), in the hopes I can rebuild mine- which is at a standstill. I have to get back to this car, a factory 2-tone Invicta : I've taken about the last few parts left; need to go back & get the spindles & forged wishbone A-arms- it's got a date with the crusher in June. Hmm, I should also take all the stainless- they're not making that anymore.

>>"Yes, because giving us a three-decade old design in an overweight, overpriced package (and an interior that could be shoved into any other Chrysler product) is EXACTLY what consumers want. "<< Lessee: Here's a vehicle who's original version has sold repeatedly in the multi-6-figure range and whose '08 version is already completely sold out. Not sure how else one could define 'a vehicle consumers want'...

Oh hell; I wouldnt know!

>>"...locally focused sort of way."<< This has been lagging greatly, and for far too long. I would support (in theory at least) a 'new sort of isolationism' that prioritizes U.S. issues over that of foreign concerns. I cannot see any validity in doing the opposite.

One does not have to over-compensate for the other, Df; sometimes 2 things of beauty harmonize & complement each other. Does a chef plate an exclusive culinary creation on a paper plate? And yes; you are weird, but don't let that discourage you. :wink:

>>"Rolls Royce will end up building a V8 powered Sixteen clone and GM is still sitting with their thumb up their @$$ & continues to insist there's no market."<< There's no market for RR, either; isn't it still firmly in the red?? Nothing quite instills brand confidence as a cut-rate jr car when the flagship has been sinking since Day 1. And it's a sketch- nothing more. One rag on the newstand had a pic of both boated behemoths- must've been CGI if BMW is only at the sketch phase. I seriously doubt they will echo the Sixteen that blatantly...

>>"Right now, wall street stocks are mostly owned by like 2% of the population..."<< Figures from 2002 were that 49% of U.S. households owned individual stocks or stock mutual funds, up over 1% from 3 yrs earlier. Population may not be a clear indicator here, but either way: it's far greater than merely 2%. 2% of 300M is only 6M people invested. >>"...and they are only taxed 15% on the money they make. It is time to bump that up to 50% or more because there is NOTHING good that comes out of stocks except for growth of personal wealth."<< Long-term capital gains federal rate right now is 15% (for those over the 15% bracket), tho the short-term CG rate ranges up to 35%. The U.S. already has among the world's highest CG tax rates. Indivdual wealth (which of course enables private consumption) plays by far the largest role in driving the economy forward (68% of GDP in '97). Reducing individual wealth, esp when that money goes toward enlarging an already bloated & grossly inefficient/inept government- is a receipe for serious economic downturn on top of whatever the present situation is, via reduced private consumption. Further taxation of individual wealth will inevitably slow the growth of the U.S. economy, and we all know what that feels like right about now. We'll know it more acutely come 01/01/11 when the rates revert to 28%. Medicare/Medicaid fraud is running right around $110B/yr - let the federal gov look to itself for more money- not the individual. California's Tax-Freedom Day is April 30th (7th highest in the U.S.). In other words, you work for 4 straight months ONLY to pay taxes, after that, your income can be used for you & your family. Apparently you don't feel you're doing your part; perhaps you'd like to move to Jersey where you can work an additional week to support the government (NJ rank: #2).

Lincolns: '33, '37, '39, '42, '42, '42, '42, '46, '46, '46, '55, '55, '58, '59, '59, '59, '60. Fords: '40, '46, '54 DeSoto: '36