balthazar

You guys all see the V-Series mesh grillework's origin on that '30 above, right?

>>"if he had taken a Camry or Prius instead, the trip would have gone smoothly and with no problems.. "<< They'd still be asleep in Sixty8's driveway come the 15th.

I like to pinch my helmet when I'm concentrating. Keeps me sharp.

UPDATE :: Just got off the phone with Sixty8 (10:30 pm) ~~ apparently the latest fix for the water pump is a no-go: 40 miles from home and the B-59 is red hot in the cooling system. Plan is to go back to home base, regroup, and perhaps take the Roadmaster. In that this may mean a 3-4 AM swing-thru here at the Ranch, I am now officially off the sight-seeing list. Another time. Gotta hand it to Sixty8 for his dedication on trying to get another set of fins there to greet the P-57 (I hear a contingency of Exner MoPars will be there). I had my B-59 rolled outside and waiting for a nose-to-nose photo op, expecting them maybe around 7pm... and at 8 when it started raining hard I paniced and ran back to my shop. Home alone & unable to push the 315/60-15s back up over the concrete lip, I had to push the B-59 in with my F-150. Did I mention I don't have the tie rod on it? Ahh, who cares; it's all good when you're ramrodding around vintage iron. I have to get cutting on the firewall ASAP anyway. It was good to see her outside in natural light again. Good luck, guys !! Vicariously & jealously looking forward to road trip updates here.

With certain things I'm concentrating on; yes.

Just because it's mind-numbingly popular doesn't mean it's great. Analogy: Paris Hilton

>>"Beauty is based on what you're used to seeing; something drastically different often causes a knee-jerk reaction. The 5er design was ahead of its time, and after so many years of conservative BMWs, I wasn't prepared for the surprise. "<< I dunno: I've seen automotive designs that were unique and new-to-me-@-that-moment and knew instantly that they were beautiful... to 'come round' to that opinion over time does not ring of true endorsement, IMO. The current 5-series does not strike me as 'dramatic' at all when you look at the entire industry styling-wise; but if all one concentrated on were BMWs, then I guess I could see that.

5-6 is fine. Give me a call about an hour before if you can- the schedule at Rancho Balthazar is always rather hectic.

'Packaging'... when weighted against real workable-gauge steel, nickel-iron, triple chrome and fins, is for pansies.

4 people... "stuffed" in a 1959 Buick??- a car that measures 81" wide at the doorskins?? Are ye daft, man?

^^ that's a very odd way of 'selling yourself' on an aesthetic you initially found distasteful... bringing up the question: for what purpose ?? What's 'in it for you' to convince yourself you like something you don't; is it somethig more than peer pressure? I ask because I want to know.

As some of you might imagine; nothing shown in the linked pics does anything for me. Rear is an undeniable mess of panels seams and cut lines- "Clean-up in aisle 535!". Interior just does not look high buck to me- esp the schizoid dual dash hoods. The rest of the dash just looks un-substantial.

>>"The night of the 12th, GM1 & Balthazar. Perhaps a phone call or two is in order."<< Any ballpark ideer what hour you might be Delta-Wingin' thru my neck of the suburbs?? Oh, and don't bother unless your ride has tailfins. No; cardboard & duct tape will not count.

I don't feel the XLR is where it should be; the Evoq is still superior in design, but I cannot call any current Cadillacs either 'bad' or especially 'ugly' from a design standpoint. But if the BLS was here, I could call that 'bad'. The rest beyond the XLR I grade as 'good': CTS - (current) still love it. SRX - they are a bit tall, but so are most of the smaller lux SUVs. STS - see a surprising number of them, recognize them immediately from the CTS and I find them upscale & 'tightly wrapped'. They're always hustling down the road, too. DTS - greaty appreciate it for the segment it's in, wouldn't mind owning one in the least. Esc - These are at the top of the segment IMO.

These always remind me of Neons from the rear for some reason. Good luck- hope it's reliable for you.

>>"The flexing rear frame was designed for NVH. ...if the structure was designed to flex in the first place? ...a structure designed to flex will be durable when flexed."<< I for one am not nearly so ready to assume the frame issue was 100% intentional: new vehicle, new segment, new frame, new plant. And legendary spin doctoring. Others may choose to accept manufacturer PR word-for-word...

>>"balthazar, I don't think I've ever seen you're B-59...got photos?"<< It's still in the building phase, unfortunately. When you take every 2 pieces apart (then lose most of your drive for 2 years)... it takes a while. This was taken last year:

$3,075,000 for a GM model? That kills the bugatti veyron for bragging rights...

Car looks great, but it's certainly not the first Hemi-powered shoebox Chevy. Love the waffle pattern in the sweep instead of the brushed horizontal stripes. but the machine guns barrels are just plain silly and frankly: distracting. Also love the 'Cloud' upholstery insert- that's a factory '57 pattern available in other colors (I'm familiar with 'Red Cloud')... it's an awesome pattern that temps me to put it in my B-59... except that if there's a chance that even 2 observers would recognize it as 'Chevy'- there's no way. Ford had a similar funky red-n-black pattern in '56.

>>"Anyone else experience something like this ... where daily driving has slowed your fire for "cruising"? Or, maybe it is something else ... some experience that has slowed your fire for a passion of yours?"<< My passions all require differing degrees of very hands-on work to even get to the point of 'cruising'... I wanted to get my '40 on the road last summer, and I am no farther along now than I was then, and I may only have 50-60 hours left. Chasing money is taking up all my time....

Friend of mine from HS's parents had a '76 Estate Wagon in that same color (with woodgrain sides)- that was a great car. What's your long-term plans for this beastie (besides the repaint), Fly? Ever get the hankering to get that 455 up to 5-600 easy HP, I can point you in the right direction.

Amazing that some of these agencies have held the accounts so tremendously long. I had remembered that McManus held the Cadillac account for decades... must be thinking of another division.

>>"what % of BMW owners actually change their own oil? "<< It is likely beyond the capabilities of the average BMW owner, yes.

>>" was told the proper way to check the oil is to return the car to your BMW dealership and it will put the vehicle on a rack, drain the oil, measure it, and then reinstall the oil in the car."<< Ludicrious... will this &#036;h&#33; ever end ??

Good = 4 points, Acceptable = 3, Marginal = 2, Poor = 1G6 : Acceptable (3) / Marginal (2) / Marginal (2) = 7 3-series : Good (4) / Marginal (2) / Poor (1) = 7 Headline fixed: Much betterer !!