balthazar

Not dogging you, Fly, but....The crosshair grille design was 'borrowed' from Chrysler. Used on the 300 Letter Series cars: '60-65, other Chryslers in '66-68, plus the '79 300 had it. I know- no one but me remembers....

Is a 7-spd auto and 335 HP examples of "astonishing technology"? Cause they aren't. The mercedes doesn't even come close to one of it's competitor's 403 HP; get on the stick, DCX.And what diesels cannot run on the new low-sulfer fuel; I have yet to see any stations installing a 2nd set of diesel pumps and it went on sale last Sunday. Is this also supposed to be more "astonishing technology"? I hear sucky-sucky sounds....

Quibbles on the quibbles: >>"Aside from the very first use documented below on that '48 Roadmaster, they never, ever, ever, ever did."<< Not so fast, grasshopper. VentiPorts were functional halfway thru the production '49 run AND on the '87 GNX. >>"Buick's Signia carried them (1998) as well as Cielo (1999), LaCrosse (2000), Bengal (2001), Velite (2004), and Enclave (2005). They also were reintroduced into the production lineup in 2003 for the Park Avenue Ultra."<< As buickguy alluded to: Buick VentiPorts (production)~ 1949-1957 1960-1984 1987 1992-1996 2003-present Sorry- I like them & all, but the '92-96 Roadmaster's C-pillar vents just don't fit my definition of VentiPorts (primarily: they're not on the front fenders or hood). I included them above anyway. LOTS of VentiPorts on Buick concepts. LOVE how this lazy-ass writer missed twenty-five years of Buick portholes. What a pathetic miserable idiotic nothing. To clarify: Nickles' personal '48 Roadmaster convertible had amber lights wired to the distributor, and they flashed with the respective spark plugs. He was inspired by WWII fighter plane exhaust. Tho the '49s were only 7 months from production, they were ordered to be included. Without the lights, unfortunately. I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the fact that Ventiports are (primarily) decorative. Loads of 'decoration' & fake stuff on loads of cars, foreign & domestic. Who gives a sh!t if any of it's functional when you usually have to be told via press release when something IS functional. VentiPorts are cool- I am still thinking about putting them on my '59.

"Back in the 70s..." I'd like to hear this idiot's idea of what the 'bad transmission' was/is. GM "notorious" for bad transmissions? Boy has this dude got his uneducated snap judgements reversed.

Of course it's bad, because'OK" Jerry needs something to whine about under false pretenses. And the japanese makes can do no wrong. Cadillac had to have controlled far greater than a mere 50% of the market at one point. Historical top volume year was '78: 383,xxx units. But you are correct: the traditional annual volume is in the 250K range. Nonsense; just look at the car! Absolutely stunning.What I would like to see is mercedes' and Cadillac's volume divided by number of different models- merce seems to have an overwhelming quantity of models...

No dis, vipes, but you are simply too young to observe the change in kids over time. You haven't seen successive generations of teens grow up and looking at your parents as adults doesn't tell you much at all about what they were like when they were your age. You really don't have much (any) of a frame of reference on this one. Not that I'm advocating it, but sometimes an element of.... let's say reprocussions from parents can lead to the development of respect a bit later that can last a lifetime. You don't have to look much farther than a military boot camp for infinite example of that in practice. Yet most of today's parents are encouraged to.... let's say 'let things go' WRT their kid's behavior, and later they wonder WTH happened to Johnny.

In Princeton Township NJ, where I do a lot of work, that description --depending on extras and level of trim/finish-- would easily bring $2.5 million.

Difference being, HF never directly acted on his opinions. The 'worker abandonment' story sounds fishy; why would most of the workers be Jewish when he was anti-semetic? I've read a number of his writings on anti-semitism- they at least were not in anyway radical or sensational. They were merely personal opinions of one man. There are those that would attempt to tear down & discredit Ford's great many accomplishments in light of these opinions against Jews, as if an industrialist by nature must also be a unilaterally-diplomatic humanitarian.

Look at it this way- you're halfway to 60! HBD!

I like how Cadillac 'went for volume' yet mercedes has 9 SUVs and a minivan and a low $20K hatchback and tripled warranty costs and a fender-interchange program with mazda and yet it isn't ever on the pointy end of Flintstone's stick over the fire. BTW- did jerry omit clarification that the "now-shuttered Cadillac plant" was Clark Ave, 'shuttered' because Cadillac had built a brand new, thoroughly modern plant (Hamtamck) in 1985?..... giddy to leave the inference that it was "shuttered" to 'prove' his 'point' that Cadillac is in a 'decline'? Someone warm jerry's milk, it's wa-aaay past his bedtime. Oh yea, and he's an ass-clown.

>>"Hows that summary ?"<< You pretty much nailed it, razor. Don't forget- most here are far too young to have seen much change in their lifetimes. The long-term patterns are out of their range of vision. So are the cracks of today, apparently. I guess the fleeting hope that they'd clean up Tomorrow for this country are pretty much in the sh!tter, eh?

Was talking to a guy last month who owned an infiniti g35x but who had recently test-flogged an Aura XR- said it definately outhandled his infiniti. He spoke very highly of the XR. Maybe the Aura will make some real inroads among those who would not initially consider one.

If you are going from a factory clutch fan to electric fans, you will not notice any MPG or performance improvements- the increases are far too miniscule. I don't think there's been a non-clutch factory fan in many decades, but only in comparison to that might you see an improvement going to electrics.

Whoops- I typed "57"- didn't mean to. Poster text & image confirms model year: "Golden Anniversary' has to be merely 'poetic license' on the part of the scriptwriters....

It's not so much volume, but tone that's the issue. A Silverado should not 'freep!' like a mazda, it should 'FRONK!' like a truck.

Oh, I'm right there with you with the same question! For my '59 Buick, I'm using the low/high tone seashells from the '59, plus a mid tone seashell and a trumpet from the 4-note horned '72 Riviera. I rigged them up on the Riv I got them from and it sounded like a tugboat- unbelievably awesome. I tried putting a pair of mid-'60s GM H/L seashells on my '94 Ford, but it was like there wasn't enough juice to them or something- they had a sickly warble that prompted their immediate removal. I suspect the same result would be the case on a more recent Silverado/Sierra. Horn construction must be different- electronic?? There has to be something available somewhere...

More cheap sh!t flooding the streets. Can't wait.

It's history, and automotive history at that. FAR more interesting (and significant) than comparing lower dash plastic softness.....

In the event that you are being serious; you are talking -at least in General Motors' case- about Opel. GM purchased Opel in 1929. The German government siezed Opel's properties shortly after war was declared in 1939. From that point onward, GM had absolutely no control over Opel's facilities- it was operated to whatever capacity it was by the Nazis. Any tanks, trucks or aircraft assembled in those plants were built by the Nazis not General Motors. As the war drew to a close, GM was told they were still considered the owners of Opel's properties, tho in fact GM had no clear information on even the condition of the properties & facilities. On 12-1-1947, GM's financial Policy Committee appointed a study group to evaluate & assess Opel with the intent of regaining control over Opel. The report was mixed and the Financial Policy Comm was against resuming production. With further study/discussion and the support of Alfred Sloan, General Motors resumed operational control of Adam Opel A.G. on 11-1-1948. You now have full closure.

A buddy of mine picked up a used RX4 wagon years ago. It lasted exactly 1.5 days before the engine blew. He had perhaps a bit too much fun making the redline buzzer (!) go off. Don't recall it's actual redline #s. The redline runs we did in his numerous Pontiacs never seemed to end that way for some reason...

I've only ever heard "mazda" and "yay!" in the same sentence twice in my life before this thread. Both times were by the owners, rejoicing their mazdas were going away permanently.

In general I like this era Olds' interiors except for 2 features: the relative barren side of the dash in front of the passenger and the 'bottom-heavy' steering wheel design with the resulting 'hub' that sticks up. Makes me want to try and steer with the hub for some reason. I've never driven or sat in a car with a 'throttle' shifter, but I agree they're neat. I believe Buick had a version in the late '60s, too ('68-70 Riv??).

That's fine and as it should be. Even with only FoMoCo, ChryCo, AMC and a smattering of VWs, GM never achieved higher than circa 52% of the market. No car --no; not even the camry -- appeals to the majority of consumers. The level of homogenization & pasturization neccesary to do so would turn off more than it would attract, anyway.Frankly, 'we' don't want the 'unturnables' at all.

3rd entry down ("Texas Armoring Corporation"): http://www.car-nection.com/cadillacdatabas...t/prof87-up.htm