balthazar

According to the comments below, this 455 CI-based big block Buick goes from 2500 RPM to 7000 in 2nd on the rollers. Hope you're sitting down around the 18-sec mark... Now... picture 80% of that brawn in a car this angry:

Don't know if any of you have seen this in person- it's pretty disconcerting. Cap is very carefully spindle-mounted & the mounting tabs are cut off the back, rim needs to be perfectly straight. Tire turns, cap doesn't, weirdsville.

Yeah.

When or how common the features I mentioned are is irrelevant; the point was that some people will not buy a car without them. It's no different than someone else not buying a car that's not a hardtop bodystyle- it's an individual preference, end of story.

Voted.

moltar: >>"besides, he doesn't buy new cars, so why all the bluster? "<< Did you ever stop to think that 68 doesn't buy new cars BECAUSE there's no hardtop and that's a feature he values?? Hmmm.... >>"B-pillar this, FWD that, and modern cars blah blah blah."<< manual transmission this, soft-touch lower dash that, NAV, blah blah blah. >>"I remember being told in 2004 on this very forum over & over again, after bieng told for years elsewhere that I needed to "get over it" the Camaro was dead and that was that."<<

{sarcasm to 11} I'd like every single automaker to be available in the U.S. market; all the chinese, all european, South American (?)... absolutely every single brand in the world, regardless. Let's add to that by bringing back every single defunct automaker, too; they all had good points: DeSoto, Edsel, Imperial, Hudson, Duesenberg, Auburn, Whippet, Chandler, Jewett, Apperson, YUGO, the Grico Twin-Motor Truck Tractor, ALL of them! How can we not benefit as consumers with 8000+ makes available to chose from? If more is betterer, then even more is even betterer!! More features, more monitors, more weight, more wheels, moremoremoremore, I want it all and I'm entitled! Reading a car magazine would literally take all month- no more down-time! Platinum cars with diamond wheels, cars made out of reconstituted radioactive monkey &#036;h&#33; and every single possible variant in between- BRING 'EM ON and HURRY!!! Obviously, this dilution of the shrinking U.S. market will only make each manufacturer HAVE to build better & better vehicles since each is now only building maybe 1000 units/year, (look at how well all the independants have prospered in history) until they are so orgasmically wonderous, the 1 million drivers left who can afford a new car will have to take a pill in order not to faint in the driveway every morning! THERE CANNOT BE LIMITS TO ANYTHING, I SED SO!!!!!! LOOK how open-minded and continental and decidedly non-Communist I am! [/sarcasm}

The stance & rake are right on, but overall it's a thumbs down for me- too funky. Some details on it I simple hate...

How would 'DTS' and 'STS' fit that mold ?? The 'C' in 'CTS' does not stand for anything other than identifying the model series.

ocn's right: for the time they were... umm... 'hot', it's mostly in retrospect that they are weak. But the '84's Lightning Rods were pretty dang cool. Would be sweet if someone took a clean example and dropped a 350/425/455 Olds underhood.

B.I.H., izusu. * (Burn in Hell)

I see where the '58 Corvette got it's decklid 'suspenders' from. Cool pics, VS- did you shoot any of the Tucker?

Fixed. 1 down... (how many more) to go? Isn't mitsu on the same path (praypray) ?? How's suzuki managing to hold on?

>>"Chryler Lebaron Convertible (I know a guy who restores them, they were basically worthless new)"<< Talked to a guy about a year ago, stopped by because he had a B-58 & B-59 Buick in his driveway.... and 3 turbo LeBaron converts. He restores them, too, tells me nice ones are worth $20-25K, and he's sold at least one for that price ($25K). I still don't believe it, but then again; I've never checked up on his claim.

>>>"...what's the hazard lights button doing down amongst the hvac controls?"<< For as often as it's used, down low and being a black button is far preferable to a bright orange button up high in the middle of the dash, where every passenger can gaze at it helplessly. Actually, I prefer something so singularly utilitarian & infrequent in purpose/usage go back where it belongs, on the steering column, discretely out of general view.

This is the first '04 Model B, sans sheetmetal, during testing. That's BMC Chief engineer Walter Marr at the helm, and David Dunbar Buick's son Tom to the right. Above is a production Model B.

They are a bit bulbous, with tiny wheels, but FYI: Crosleys weighed in the neighborhood of 1300 lbs. If you get the chance to see one in person, you'll be hard pressed to believe it's even that heavy- there's nothing to them.

honda styling is usually more miss than hit, IMO. Current cr-v has a hideous mug, new accord is a dumpy mishmash, only thing I actually think is fine looking is the civic, and no doubt that'll follow the accord backwards in it's next re-do. Whatever.

The most excellent publication Buick, The Complete History has an appendix on the oldest Buicks known. I have the 6th edition from 2002, but the 1st was printed in '80. That research still states via 2002 that the oldest factory Buick is a Model C, which is a 1905. I have not heard of any earlier Buicks found, and I both find this sort of automotive archeology fascinating, and I belong to the Buick Club of America, where surely this sort of news would break first. Buick model timeline: 1900 : 1 built (Buick Auto-Vim and Power Co, Detroit) 1902 : 1 built (Buick Manufacturing Co, Detroit) 1904 : 37 built, "most or all being Model B" (Buick Motor Co, Detroit/Flint) 1905 : 729 Model C built (Jackson). There is some discussion on whether the Model B made it into the '05 calendar year, tho most evidence points to that not being the case. Oldest known Buick is the 1905 Model C in a Nebraska museum, thought to have been built in April, the 2nd month of 1905 production. A 1991 BCA call for Model B's did not turn any up, and so it stands until altered:: no Model B Buicks are known to exist, and only 2 Model B engines are known to have survived (altho a few other, earlier Buick engines are also surviving). But as is semi-frequent in the automotive hobby, there's more out there than meets the eye. The 'unknown', second '54 Bonneville Special concept didn't show up again until 1991- it's history between '59 and '91 is pretty much unknown. Altho the very construction nature of the earliest autos does not especially lend themselves to long-term survival, a Model B may yet still exist in hiding. What I would really love to see is the '00 or '02 models.

>>"And you'd be guessing very wrong about the visit to the cab... they did allow you to climb the stairs, 1-2 people at a time and sit in both the passenger seats and in the driver's seat."<< Can you feel the white hot hate pouring thru the inter-web-net at you, GMTG ?? :wink: I am going to go out to my shop and drop my COE off a jack onto my neck in self-discipline over this one - DAMNIT ! The Futurliner is one of my top 10 must-see-before-die vehicles, and I agree, it doesn't sound likely it'll swing back thru again. Where is this one's home per it's B-J buyer? I have one pic I snipped from you on the inside... would love to see more interior & detail shots if you have the time/inclination.

Z1 looks like the bastard child of a Mercury Capri and... something else unlovably ugly. Oofa.

The Vipe (1-st gen anyway) has this 'fluidity hiccup' where the doghouse meets the greenhouse; the hood comes in low & flat but the windshield takes a sharp angle upward and it's set real far back... I always had a difficulty ignoring this proportion/area visually. Vette has been more integrated, more 'whole', and by far. That said, I think the design of both kicks ass, esp the 1st gen Viper. Challenger issue takes me right to the GTO; a thoroughly modern coupe design... often greeted with yawns. No one is going to yawn at the Challenger, and if I'm gonna spend this caliber of coin, I'd rather have a design that polarizes than that's universally accepted and therefore; too conservative. That's not what this segment is about.

I checked out a '69 Polara 2-dr hardtop with the Super Light in '06, but for the condition, the guy was overpriced by 100%. Guess yer F'ed if the thing gets smashed or burnt out...

I laughed when I saw the pistons- GM Aire-Ride suspension compressor pump has pistons that big. >>"There's nothing under 7K"<< (RPMs) Who says honda has no heritage?

Yeah- I missed it, guess I can never skip another Hershey again... I wanted to ask since the Hershey pics of the Futurliner were posted: what's behind the right-hand door in the front? I'm gonna guess that no one was allowed up the stairs to the cab, right?