balthazar

Clarification: >>"...usually only top-line models from Chevrolet were available in hardtop form. "<< Not the case for Buick or Olds or Pontiac. Which is how I missed this one by so much (not a big Chevy fan).

>>"change will prove difficult, policy experts say, in large part because U.S. companies have become so dependent on the Chinese economy that tighter rules on imports stand to harm the U.S. economy, too."<< American businesses will adapt no doubt- the resultant re-direction of food raising & sourcing will only benefit domestic producers. The ONLY benefit we see from dealing with china is cheaper junk. The risks and loss of money on the backside aren't worth it. Severe the ties now. The chinese companies increasingly cement the ideaology that they simply do not care... about anything other than money. 75% of anything I've ever dealt with that's been chinese-made has been a complete waste of time & money. I avoid their products at all costs.

The bulk of the upcoming replacements, if this goes thru, would have to be camries, no? The others are either far too small or expensive (RX400H??). Going on that assumption, here comes greater & greater fleet sales (this will not remain a NYC-thing only), greatly reduced resale, and incalculable degredation of toyota's public image. I'm all for it.

>>"1939 was the year of the lowest regular productioin Chev. model. I have to check at home but the 1939 Master Deluxe (gotta check that designation) had fewer than 70 built IIRC."<< Yes: only 68 units of the '39 Master DeLuxe 4-dr sedan built. Did Chevy really build more than than 68 '83 Corvette prototypes ?? >>"The 40's-Speaking of convertibles-Chevrolet resumed Convertible production (after halting it) what two years in the 1940's?"<< >>"40's question-no regular Chev. ragtops were built in the USA so 1940 and 1946 (after the war)."<< '41 Special DeLuxe convertible coupe : 15,296 units '42 Fleetmaster convertible coupe : 1,182 units

Lots of people love the Italian exotics, but beyond that, mainstream Italian & French cars... for the most part.. are little more than curiosities here, if anything, in my observations. Those old enough to remember french & italian mainstream cars when they were officially imported here do NOT have fond memories.

Wild guess: 1972 EDIT: Officially shocked by the answer...

Most likely the intake is blocked off at the plenum ends rather than the runner ends to avoid turbulence & smooth airflow. Pretty sure that 'plate' where the intake meets the head is part of the original manifold- that's the way most all of these 'tunnel port' intakes are built to effectively seal to the block. Crank must have had a great deal of balancing work done to it. I would think it would be extremely tricky to get enough heavy metal in it to account for the missing rods, pins & pistons. The flathead-plate-SBC idea is some radical free-thinking. He could've cut the flathead down even further to save a few more pounds (flathead head is lighter than a OHV head), but keeping it whole invites all sorts of fun-to-watch head-scratching, no doubt.

I'm not going to look up or even verify anything, so these answers & guesses are all out of my head: Pre-Chevrolet Motors-Name Thee Companies whose cars the Chevrolet Bros. Raced... -- Little is one The teens-Chevrolet produced this innovation in 1917... -- V-8 The 1950's-First year for two door and foor door pillarless hardtops? -- 2-dr: '53, 4-dr '56 The 1950's again-Tri-power was first offered what year and on what motor... -- '58 348 The 1960's-On what car model line was the "Yenko Stinger" built? -- Corvair The 1960's Again-What was the last year one could buy a 2 door V-8 RWD station wagon? -- '65 The 1960's Again-First year for 4 wheel disc brakes and the Big Block v-8 on the Corvette? -- '63 The 1960's Again-What was the last year for the 409... -- '64 The 1960's again-I was Born on September 12, 1965. On or about my first Birthday General Motors thought I was so cool that they brought out this car...(Major G.M. car) -- '67 Camaro The 1970's-The 1973 Corvette is a unique body style for waht reason? -- first urethane/rubber bumpers front & rear The 1980's-In 1983-Chevrolet brought out this car (which sold rather well) as a special edition... -- MC SS The 1980's again-This was the last year for RWD on the Monte Carlo? -- 1987 The 1990's-Chevrolet brought back this name for a special Blue and white Corvette... -- Gran Sport

Damn- this is too late to catch you, GTG, but I wanted to suggest you break away from the tour, sneak to the most un-used & dusty section of the plant and see if you can find any crated parts date-stamped 1959...

Sometimes things shown in flyers are meant to be 'representational'.... isn't Perrine's a bit small to truck a few comcepts there? If you would, ping me a day or 2 before- I might have time to pop over.

Numbers look fine, but don't forget to figure in the initial price tag for the diesel. Friend of mine is running an old rabbit on veggie oil- 1 year and counting: fuel cost $0.

My '04 Allison 2500HD LS does not have a leather-wrapped shifter. Good thing too- not long-term cleaning-friendly in the least. One strong possibility in the toyt vs. GMC acceleration question is gears.

You know, Fly- I cannot disagree with a single word you said (well... I sort of like the fact that it has suicide doors; sorry). Overall, this current proposal is Not Good to the point of Completely Awful. BTW- is there some reason you might not be able to read PMs from me? I answered your PM to me from the other week, but for some reason I feel mine aren't getting thru...

What's wrong with paying homage to one of your own past models ?? I sure can see the quad, free-standing round headlights, the 'brow' above them, the horizontal grillework and the thin horizontal elements below the headlights on both Imperials. Looks like a logical progression to me.

It's not 'merely' a flathead V-8 with an OHV conversion on one side to facilitate the fit of the manifold/plumbing/turbo and still fit underhood? Strange...

Jim Baker.

My neighbor was farting around with a '97 maserati for a few months- you'd think on a supposedly no-compromises brand, a brand that perhaps out of sheer curiosity- the hood would get popped occasionally, that there would be at least a token effort to stylize the motor. WTF are you getting for your $70K anyway? Nope- a slab of plastic so huge and so formidable he couldn't find anyway to top off the radiator. More idiocy from overseas.

I would hands-down pick a '57 over a '58, but I love the '58s too. My grandfather (2-tone green Star Chief 4-dr hardtop) & my father-in-law (white over coral Chieftan 2-dr hardtop) both owned '57s, tho unforunately neither saved theirs for me. But I agree with Brougham-Holiday, which is why I've owned (3) 64s, (3) 65s and a 66 Pontiac. '64 is my favorite of them all.

I haven't been to this one yet. What is the focus, decade-wise; not to many '80s and newer, I hope. And if the bulk of the field is Chevys.... I think I'll save the diesel fuel for Fall Hershey.

CT- you indicated it may already have a newer motor... and if so- it'll have a newer trans too, most likely. If you are feeling bold tomorrow, pop the hood and get a few part numbers: heads, intake... anything, and I can at least tell you what year that component is... and eliminate a '63 389 from the git-go. Intake # especially would be good. God- I could tell trespassing stories all night... but I never harmed a car or did any damage, so I always felt like: what's the big deal?

>>"Chevy puts some exaggerated ads out there, too. They had a commercial showing a Silverado HD pulling a train. And train had several cars attached."<< A man has pulled a train car with his teeth- no CGI. I would think the HD absolutely could pull a few traincars weight-wise, tho the portrayal of doing so with it's tires on the rails is what's obviously a minor dramatization. But the toyota thing is blatantly physics-defying. Still, toyota-ists eat up false reality, so perhaps it's appropriate.

If the truck pulls 10,000 lbs INCLUDING itself and itself weighs 5,000 lbs, how believable is a commercial showing a metal shipping container that looks to be 40 FEET LONG getting pulled up?? Every container I've ever seen is made of steel, not aluminum, so the illusion is particularly doubtful and reeks of deception, regardless of how adamant toyota is that it's all true. For some reason I'm reminded of The Matrix where Neo slides across the rooftop, tethered to Trinity, then hops on the edge and holds her falling dead weight without going over. Looked real then, too. Meanwhile, Ford is advertising towing capacities of 24,500 lbs...

'65 Corvette convert, medium yellow, doing 75 on I-287. '70-72 Corvette hardtop, light blue, perfect, parking in driveway. '70-72 Corvette convert, med red, perfect, driving. '69-70 Olds Toronado, white, tired, on flatbed. '71 Riviera, gold, hauling ass on local street.

Well, push-starting was a feature of both manuals & many automatics since the beginning, so yea; I guess in that sense it was expected.

>>"GM has picked up the habit of putting dress up covers on their engines..."<< Here GM merely met the standard made commonplace by numerous foreign brands first. I agree- I hate every single one ever made- the idea blows; putting yet another square yard of wretched plastic into a car: here to thwart most efforts at self-service or inspection or just plain admiration/curiosity. >>"...which succeed only to:- (1) Make the build quality look cheap -- even Hyundai has nicer and higher quality (appearing) covers."<< Here we friggin' go again!! Know what's even worse? Even kia has a nicer finish on the underside of their ash tray inserts than GM! C'mon, GM- you're the worst at every single thing you've ever done since 1908 (butI'mstillabigbigfan!!)