balthazar

Flybrian: I hate you. If I had been let in there, either 1 of 2 scenarios would've happened: I'd still be there now, hiding and caressing. Or I'd have been thrown out in 5 minutes for licking. Any chance I could get a link to the imageshack album? 4th time trying and most of these 500 pics are not making it over my 56K hookup.

>>"Toyota has done the impossible....in a generation, they've overtaken the world's largest company as the #1 producer of automobiles. We can all debate how it was done, or critique Toyota's past, current or future, but, the bottom line is that this is a historic achievement."<< A generation is 20 years... toyota has been selling in this country since 1949; by my calculator that's HALF the timeline of the entire automobile industry (I realize the thrust here is global sales). Not sure that's quite so "historic" and I don't see where 'a generation' defines anything here. GM surpassed Ford to become #1 in only 23 years. - - - - - - There was an Associated Press pic with the article on this in my local paper yesterday, showing toyota pres Watanabe leaning against one of the (stolen ferrari tech) toyota F1 cars, looking slightly skyward with a teeth-splintering, &#036;h&#33;-eating, ear-to-ear grin, one clenched fist pumping the air above him. So much for worrying about market basklash (who here bought that bullsh!t story?).

Strange, classic headline, possibly from NY Post: "Headless Body in Topless Bar".

Looks very sharp, tho it also looks higher than the prev gen. Not sure if that's photo angles of suspension changes, but I'd like to see it lowered. >>"There’s been considerable gnashing of teeth from domestic pickup fans because Toyota’s remade 2007 Tundra was the first and only half-ton to offer a six-speed automatic gearbox and the most powerful gas engine in a standard duty pickup."<< No; there wasn't. Any fan of a GM truck that valued rated HP so highly would merely modify their GM for more- the aftermarket makes this a breeze. No GM fan bought a tundra just because it was rated a few HP more. >>"the Sierra Denali consistently ran 14.8-second quarter mile times at 93.9 miles per hour during three runs at Old Bridge Township Park Raceway in New Jersey."<< That's my home track. Thought it looked familar in the opening pic. Spring Swap Meet this weekend: 8 miles of walking, a mile of show cars, come on down for a good, hot, greasy, rusty time.

New design looks very nice. All Saturn cars should likewise feature very subtly-lit Saturn logos on the nose, both as a gee-whiz feature, and as a strong link to the new dealerships.

Bias plys are like that- inconsistant. I remember seeing high speed pics of the tread on BPs on a roller at like 50, 75, 100 and 125 MPH, the treads squirmed and rippled at higher speeds like you would not think possible. I have no exact scientific explaination, but I'm telling you- all undesirable ride characteristics will disappear with radials. MANY people have warned about putting radials on a car that does not have a 'radial tire-designed' suspension, but repeated discussion (often instigated by me) has failed to specify exactly why not. There is not much difference between a B-59 front end and a -say- '77 LeSabre front end (except for cheaper bushings in the '77). B-59 has a truck-like over-build in it's design. Just a warning about possible comments. Be very careful what size you put on the B-59, tho, heightwise for appearance-sake and width-wise for safety's sake. Factory rims don't have much of a Safety Ridge on them- high cornering loads are a debatable worry. A stock B-59 4400-4600 tire is a 7.60 x15. 4700-4800s rode 8.00 x15, which is a 205/78-15: 27.5" tall. It's getting harder to find 70-series radials anymore, but a 225/70-15 is also 27.5" tall. 205's are too skinny for such a large car, IMO. TO get a 60 that tall you'd need a 265/60. I would not go wider than 225 on a factory rim. I once stuck 225/60-15s on the front of my B-59 for a look-see, but at 25.5" tall, they looked ridiculous. I'm going with 225/70-15s up front.... unless I bite the bullet, switch rims and go to 16s.

>>"The tires (bias-ply) need to be balanced..."<< More than likely, what you are feeling is a regular and balanced ride; welcome to the world of bias plys. Good looking in many iterations, but they give a squirrely, vibrating ride. I had a new set on when I bought my '64 Cat- ripped those b!tches right off for radials: night-n-day, my friend.

Here's how they're not:> 'range' number is flush right, 'mpg' number is NOT flush left. > room for 'average' but only reads 'avg.' > linespacing for both is VERY tight. > what is "14.2" readout indicating? What is that tiny floating "A" indicating? no units shown. > "69 F" would look far better centered than offset toward the left. I could go on & on. Functional after getting used to it I suppose, but presentation, clarity and intuitivity are very very low. Graphically, the presentation would grade a C at best.

I've been studying this concept for a few days... I think I hate it. And I'm actually able to ignore the facts that it's a "Riviera" and a "Buick". The interior is really eye-popping, but of course it's completely non-producable to the degree that any RPO version is guaran-damn-teed to crush the crushes of this car's fans. Discussion here is irrelevant. The exterior has some really nice surface transitions and fluidity (woefully lacking in a lot of modern design), but the front end is a post-impact mess of oragami folds and creases and arbitrary holes. And of course- the grille is on the hood. The troubling trend of the headlight assembly stretching farther and farther back until they flirt with the A-pillar apparently is not ready to die yet, unfortunately. The nose is awful. Stance & rake are dead-on, tho. The rear is slick- just clean up the bottom 12" of the car there. My hat's off to the guy who resisted peppering the taillights with 98 exposed LEDs- hopefully a sign of more to come. Give it a complete nose job and I'd take another look. Right now I have to give it a thumbs down.

>>"And what are these missteps? I don't think you will be able to convince many people in the real world of that!"<< Many of the people you are referring to are not in the real world, but in BMW World. turbo200 : >>"As for the BMW, of course I lust after one. Haven't you ever read a post of mine? "<< Yes; but your mouthful-of-drool makes it hard to read your posts seriously.

Not that they're the same vehicle, but I was in a last gen cr-v last fall and the interior was mediocre junk; 3 different colors & plastic textures, strange ergonomics, merely decent fit-n-finish. Either honda has improved their interiors markedly or the cr-v was designed with a very different set of parameters.

The xb above is as cool as the class nerd with a brand new pocket protector. Why not show what it's usually decked out as: a rolling billboard fleet sale?

"Abyssmal" ?? C'mon. Never encountered nor experienced a whisper of poor quality for C-59, nor a disparity vs. C-58. All that I've been in/ ridden in have been very solid & reeked of quality... the only exception being that the Italian-assembled Eldorado Broughams ('59-60) could not hold a quality candle to the Detroit-built '57-58 EBs (those extreme rarities, alas, I have not yet experienced).I have no problem with the C-59. The fins are large, but they're relatively graceful- not the clunky '59 Dodge or '60 Imperial fins, nor the shorn lumps of O-59. The rest of the Cadillac is very much in line with the image of the marque- most would dare to say '58 is a farther departure... >>"The '57 Chevies are icons, too, but there are better-looking cars even within the same model year."<< I do not like '57 Chevies due to long-term chronic over-exposure... but there is not a bad line on the car. 'Better-looking' comes down to subtle subjectives, IMO. Give me a '57 Pontiac anyday- I like a little gravy on my potatoes.

>>"These have still been record sales years for GM. So it's not the number of units that's the problem, but all the share that has gone to the imports."<< 'Marketshare' is a media buzzword that paints a slanted picture. It's grossly over-emphasized. What was the 3-series marketshare in it's segment in 2000 and what was it in 2006? We never hear 'marketshare' there or in many places WRT foreign models or brands, only with domestic ones. Why- is it a meaningful marker or a down-n-dirty way to try and prove a point? Let's either use it unilaterally or drop the statistic entirely, because the manner in which it's used now is meaningless and arbitrary and agenda-driven. And since the media cannot be bothered to hold most of the foreign makes/models up to this light, let's drop it. BMWs in Jersey follow each other in groups of 3 or 4- they are as common as toyotas here. Central Jersey HAS to be one of the biggest concentrations in the country. Isn't their U.S. headquarters still here? They still fail to impress upon inspection, tho I have not hammered on one yet. However, a BMW remains the #1 most uncomforatble vehicle I've ever sat in. Was like plywood boxes with cheap vinyl covering stapled on. And I read saliva-dripping descriptions, many of them here, loaded with cliche terms to describe these cars and I approach a parked one expecting an enlightenment, an experience, a glimpse of nirvana thru the window.... but there's.... nothing but more of the same. Then it occurs to me: Loyalist-Vision. Must be the very same affliction that leads those so stricken to believe that every single consumer wants a BMW and everything else is junk in comparison. C'mon, admit it, there's a handful of BMWs you lust for, how could you not? After all, southern Californias just LUV them. Must be something wrong with me.... and everyone I know.

Man o man, buddy; you are hooked. In the thousand vintage cars I've been in, I've always been aware of of the olfactory experience, but I have not necessarily formed concrete theories about decade-specific smells. Oftentimes it's the 'foreign' matter that overpowers- namely: mouse nests. The seat bottoms of my COE were PACKED- I had to rebuild them in entirety and get new spring sets for them. But the other smell that's strong in vintage iron is hot steel & rust. Love it.

Keep me in the loop- S, I will be at Hershey and want to see 2 new-to-me B-59s.

Summer's comin', Sixty8 (even to Mass)- you need to get some chicks to flash your B-59! Start honking at them. Glad you're havin' a blast so far!

There cannot be anything near 3000 Buick or Pontiac dealers-- sounds way too high. But as the bulk of Buick & Pontiac stores are in the same building, and since B-P-G has been a combined sales entity for X years, the sales numbers do not need to be X per brand, but 1/3rdX. >>"mini is a model."<< Agreed- always paired with BMW, no? I also have to agree in general with Reg here- I think a NG G6 with FWD is worthwhile to develop, meanwhile the RWD Pontiac portfolio is fleshed out & established... then down the road perhaps it could be dumped. But as the first or immediate action- Pontiac's image will not be bolstered by the discontinuation of the FWD G6. Look at Cadillac- they've kept the Deville/DTS all along while completely revamping the rest of the lines, to their profit, sales and image benefit. At this point the DTS --like the G6: the volume leader-- could arguably be the sole detriment to a thoroughly competitive lineup- it's discontinuation or conversion to RWD is now on the front burner, developmentally. Bring on the G8, another GTO-esque coupe, continue development of the Solstice... establish street cred then RWD the G6 or discontinue it. But frankly I think there's room for it as a better, NG version, even FWD.

Not conclusively proven, according to what I've read. Again- in that there was a s-load of money to be made, who today is going to balk at 'a little white lie'? BTW: R-134 (at least when intially introduced) was likewise highly poisonous, not to mention corrosive and unstable. Some of the very things Freon was developed to omit.

Compact fluorescents reportedly contain high levels of mercury and need to be disposed of properly. I read a story where a woman broke one in her house, she called the store, who referred her to the bulb company, who referred her to HazMat. High readings for mercury dust. She got a quote from a private cleaning company: $2000. Her daughter's bedroom is still sealed. A ban on any product with no hazards attached to it is only motivated by one thing: someone stands to make a s-load of money from the alternative. This issue totally reminds me of the scenario over Freon- motivated solely by money.

GM stopped Corvair product engineering after "Unsafe" came out, but continued production until demand dwindled due to product age. R&D and tooling was already paid for; running assembly for 5 years only amortized those costs. Corvair was actually pretty well built- my buddy has owned 4 or 5 with no complaints.Economy of operation was not much of a concern with gas at 39 cents per or whathaveyou. Still, a 'Vair was good for low 20s MPG and there wasn't a big selection of cars that got better.

Guigaro has an impressive list of automotive flops credited to his name.

>>"Sounds neat... but a 455 would not have helped the GTO anymore than putting a 455 Rocket into an Aurora would have helped Olds."<< Agreed, but I'm not advocating a 455 in a modern GTO, just a true Pontiac engine- whatever it's displacement might be. Besides, no one engine will ever be the saving grace of an entire division. >>"Are they (MTI) using the aluminum block/heads Pontiac block that I read about a few years ago?"<< I believe you're referring to the IA aluminum block. I would LOVE for this to appear in a 'Judge-esque' package with about 600 HP. One early build of this block at 482 CI and on 40 lbs of boost produced 2,105 ft-lb of torque and 2,886 HP @ 7200 rpm. It's complete overkill... perfect. But no- MTI is using RPO iron 455 blocks for their builds. It's not so much the weight; block difference is only 50 lbs, just the strength of construction.

Actually, this guy is a neighbor of my inlaw's. I have been admiring his spotless black GTO from a distance whenever I went over. It's a 6.0L with scoops, but it's not the Sport Appearance package grille-wise. This car has single-handedly made me slowly appreciate the GTO's styling- it's slick and thoroughly modern- which is not something I usually gravitate to. Like I said- the car is flawless and sticks out in a rough urban neighborhood with narrow streets (he street-parks it- no driveways for many houses). Saw him checking his oil this morning and I stomped on over. Told him I liked it, asked if he had done any mods to it. "Only flashed the computer, but I'm going to put a 455 in this year." Making sure he wasn't referring to some specific computer part or NOOSSSSS system I would be unaware of, I begged clarification' "You mean a Pontiac 455?" "Yea, MTI will pick it up and flatbed it to Texas, they'll change all of this {here he gestured with both palms over the open engine bay} put a 455 that makes 693 HP." "Are you going to race it then?" "Oh no; it's just for the street". I was appropriately floored. I had never heard of 'MTI', but apparently it's for real > http://www.motorsporttech.com/print/mti_45...brochure01.html < , tho the site says 605 HP and 610 TRQ. Maybe there are custom options or other packages available. 700... even 600+ HP, a 2-yr warranty and a true Pontiac engine. Just what the GTO was missing from day 1, IMO. F'in' wOOt.

23 years of NJ/NY winters (usually mild, but have been in terrific snow & ice storms), never shied from driving in any weather, never used snow tires, FWD or 4WD, never got stuck.