balthazar

'68 GP production: 31,711. Of that, GPs with manual trans: 306. Manual take rate was way down vs. earlier years- it's not going to be a concern. I struggle to recall ever seeing a '68- maybe 1 at a Pontiac show- they're nowhere and this evaluation is going way back. Here's a sweetie, tho, and in that classic late '60s Verdoro Greeeen: http://ww2.collectorcartrader.com/details.php?adId=90282813

>>"I'm still on my quest for a 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix!"<< Ooo, now you're in my neighborhood. Need a 428 car or is 350 HP enough for you? I like the '68s, but they sure are good at hiding- I never see them. As a possible aside, I know of a real nice '70 wagon that may be available to tide you over..... GMTG- I think I have most all of the '80s Pontiac brochures handy, let me know if you get it & need info...

They've been on the downside of their peak for many albums IMO; which does not foster great anticipation of the next one, I must say.

I told this story once before. My buddy & I took his '65 Catalina up as high as it would go: needle passed 120 and was pointing to where '140' would've been, then it suddenly dropped off to the right side & out of sight (big horizontal speedo). Car had a 389 & 2.41 gears. Suddenly there was a bellowing noise and the car felt like an anchor was thrown out. After coasting down & pulling over, opening the hood and reeling back from the heat, we found that the steel air cleaner snorkel had sucked itself shut. I wish to hell he had saved that piece.

>>"...'69 Chrysler 300... just north of Toronto... no seatbelts..."<< Not mandated by '69 in Canada ???

An impeccable & imposing Cord L-29 convertible sedan in among a bunch of those plastic rollerskate lotus's (which were all bowing & paying homage to their leader).

Did you mean '1/8th-ton tacomas' ??

Here comes the nitpicker... :wink: : >>"richest history bar none (except maybe slightly older Mercedes Benz)"<< "Mercedes-Benz" only dates to 1926, prior to that they were 2 separate & independant companies. Which were you referring to, mercedes or benz? That's my bee-yoo-tee-ful bodyshell ('59 Invicta 2-dr hardtop).

'56 might be my #1 fav of the '50s (non-Eldorado) Cadilacs, too. I was gushing over one a few weekends ago- not a bad line or angle anywhere, plus lots of cool details. But toss E's into the mix and I reshuffle my favs. >>"The car also had twin 4-barrel carburetors and a continental kit, dealer-installed options that Hank may have added. They aren't listed on the window sticker."<< Funky: Cadillac didn't get a 4bbl until '52, yet his '52 had dual quads before Jan '53 ? Hm-mm....

This gas $ environment must really be (or going to) hurt toyota bad, with a brand new, over-budget plant to pay off and an uncompetitive, no-hybrid/ no-diesel, defective truck trickling out the door....

She's cooler as an automotive icon, IMO than actual eyecandy (a bit too... zoftig IMHO)...

>>"wait.,.... these were offered in hardtop form?!?!?! "<< All the '69-72 generation GPs were hardtops. I've seen a few over the years Hurst GP SSJs : '70-72. More @: http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/feat..._ssj/index.html

Not sure that air intakes & cat-back exhaust is considered 'hot rodding', but yea.

>>"...many move up to a Camry (often from a Corolla) in their late 20s to early 40s... (all the Camry owners I know are in that age range). "<< Ha! Average toyota Buyer Age (last I saw) is 46 and slowly climbing. avalon is not moving enough units to swing that number... undoubtedly the camry is the car that is offseting things like the yaris, prius & corolla and dragging the ABA up to 46. That means the ABA for the camry has to be in the neighborhood of the late 50s (not that toyota would ever publish that figure). Most every camry I bother to look at has someone at least obviously in their 40s, and often more like 60-70 behind the wheel. Only person I know who owns a toyota (camry) is an aunt I haven't talked to in about 3 years. If she still owns hers, she's 57.

My first smart (I was offended) '60 Corvair 500 4-dr sedan '63 Corvair convertible '64 Corvair Spyder Club Coupe '56 Hudson Hornet Hollywood 4-dr hardtop (w/ A/C) '57 Hudson Hornet Super 4-dr sedan '59 Edsel 2-dr hardtop '39 Packard 120 4-dr sedan '41 Pontiac 4-dr sedan '62 Coupe deVille '55 Packard Clipper Custom Constellation 2-dr hardtop '56 Packard 4-dr sedan '33 Franklin 4-dr sedan '58 Packard Hawk 2-dr hardtop '50 Studebaker 4-dr sedan some bentley lump some rolls lump I intend to go back to this personal collection liquidation next week and actively seek buying the '55 Clipper. There is also the balance of "50" cars to see at another location. Plus lots of parts. Shopping time!

Talked to my buddy today- his brother runs a plow/hydraulics business. My buddy reports via the bro than many tundra frames are cracking under any sort of work loads or plowing. I reported over the winter that initially toyota disallowed putting plows on tundras via a TSB or somesort, but then caved under pressure from owners who were led to believe they were buying, you know; a TRUCK, so toyota knew early these frames were under-engineered and weak... but of course, TMC can afford to pay to hush these owners up, too. Would be real sweet (you know: for the safety and ROI for the toyota truck buyers ) to get a public information ramp-up on this tundra issue, so it can goose-step down the information highway just like the tacoma news ISN'T.

If you actually accept as fact (and frankly, I seriously question the better alloys claim- there HAS to be far more recycled alloys these days, decreasing the percentage of virgin steel and decreasing the quality of a material, not improving it in many cases) then you have NO CHOICE but to place all the blame on toyota here. Your examples are all vehicles built almost 30 years ago or more; some of these toyotas are only 7 years old (vs. the 15 your '77 Bonneville was). Salt, as discussed earlier in this post, is not the cause- only a mitigating factor. 'Salt' shifts the blame away from where it is due, again- if you accept the theory of better alloys & rust prevention in 2000 vs. 1970

>>"This isn't the '70s any more. Honda, Ford and others should be embarassed for what happened in the '70s, but Toyota should be sued for this &#036;h&#33; in the TWENTY FIRST CENTURY. "<< QFT

I heard there was a huge crate of NOS chrome for a 1959 Buick in the Wilmington plant storage, too; it was crated to ship overseas to a wealthy repeat customer, and altho he paid for it, shipping arrangements were never finalized. If Wilmington is short on space, I'll get it out of their way for them.

Tee-hee !

I was neutral on this car for many years, but more recently more photos of it surfaced, and I now think it's a pretty cool little sport coupe! That roofline bubble is uber slick. I believe this is one of the '50s concepts that didn't make it- have not even read rumors that it may exist.... prolly perished in the '59 Mitchell Sweep. EDIT: GM's Motorama sez: 'Reported to have been scrapped'. :cry:

>>"Burried in the bowels of the Wilmington Plant, is a fully restored black 1947 Pontiac Silver Streak similar to the one pictured below. It was one of the 1st cars built at the plant and is considered a plant treasure. "<< say WHAT ???

>>"In 1981, I do not think anyone would have thought that there would someday again be a stock Corvette capable of breaking the 400 horsepower barrier again, let alone one capable of 620-plus. That, in a nutshell, was my point. "<< Well, sure; if you're gonna cherry-pick like that... :wink:

Isn't this also a '42 Century:

>>"Think about how the present prevailed over the past."<< Superceded, yes. Prevailed? Hm-mmm.... >>"I have to live in the here and now and not drown in nostalgia or sentimentality for the past. The past is gone, I can't go back. I have to keep looking forward..."<< How about some of the things we can go back to: common sense, decency, individual responsibility, self-sufficiency, sense of community, respect, - no legitimate reason these things cannot make a comeback, and they should. LOTs of lessons in the past- we cannot learn anything from the future.