balthazar

That's all well & good. BTW- try and buy & restore a vintage Challenger to like-new condition for only $20K! But plenty of people want vintage looks with brand new equipment & powertrain and a warranty. For years I idly thought about just how successful it would be if Chevrolet offered a carbon copy '57 Bel Air- every one would sell for years and years and years. The new Challenger isn't for you, fine. But if you walk into a Chrysler/Dodge dealership with a fat wallet and a hankering for a new sporty car (you don't want something vintage), and you have a choice between a striped-up Sebring and the Challenger,... I at least would take the one that in 200(9) is the unique one, which would not be the Sebring.

Polish aircraft may not be the among the best in the world, but it's people generally are.

Thanks evok- but I didn't ask for the definition of 'entire'. What I did want to know was if enzl was sure that's what he felt was either/or neccessary or possible from GM. But say; while we're here, what's your definition of "some large portion"... or are you from the Entire Camp?

So this Mr Snoop is the first or only person to ever customize a Cadillac? That he should be named in a pop culture-esque reference on a completely different vehicle? And if he customized a Deville, how is that relevant to an article on the Escalade? And can you tell how badly I think this 'journalist' sucks?

We must be reading from two, parallel C&G universes. In mine, Spock has a goatee. What is your definition of "some large portion", enzl? A third? 51%? 66.667%? What? I'm curious. And would you care to reexamine "entire", by chance??

Sorry: how is 'Snoop' connected with Cadillac again?

Camino LS6 = >>" Toyota purchases are largely based on cold, analytical justifications and reputation for reliability and quality(rightly or not)."<< The O.C. = >>"Camino.....that's an ignorant statement for you to make.....unless you have cold, solid, hard facts to support your opinion.....and I know you don't."<< Likewise, in order to call Camino's statement "ignorant", you must have "cold, solid, hard facts" to support your contention: the opposite.

Camino LS6 = >>" Toyota purchases are largely based on cold, analytical justifications and reputation for reliability and quality(rightly or not)."<< The O.C. = >>"Camino.....that's an ignorant statement for you to make.....unless you have cold, solid, hard facts to support your opinion.....and I know you don't."<< Likewise, in order to call Camino's statement "ignorant", you must have "cold, solid, hard facts" to support your contention: the opposite.

Those are catchwords of the investor; they don't interest me to a great degree. I am 'here' for product, not the annual report. 'Marketshare' is greatly overemphasized and almost without fail taken out of context. What do I mean? Only the investor would compare current marketshare to the modern historical peak instead of the historical average. Peak, by the way was 60.1%, tho no one bothers to find out when. I did; it was 1931, the first year GM was #1 in volume, not the late '60s as any 'journalist' will try and tell you. By '46 it was 37.5%- was there unending journalistic teeth-knashing & hair-pulling about the "death spiral" then like we're all enjoying now? Again since no one bothers to find out: no; there wasn't. Yes, marketshare has been declining for many years. Frankly I don't care up until the point it affects profits and curtails reinvestment/future planning. Yep, it's done that some years ago. But far too many believe the link is tangible and direct, ie: the worse marketshare is, the worse the vehicles must therefore be, yet the opposite is closer to the truth, yet many here prefer to ignore that. Which is where my objection comes in. No one who harps on marketshare and profit statements ever bothers to give credit to vastly improved quality & reliability, far outpacing the industry average there. Naysayers love to gloss over the turnaround of Cadillac, who has undoubtedly & soundly increased their marketshare of the luxury segment. 1996 entry-level Cadillac sales: 0. 2000 Catera sales: 17,290. Aren't recent CTS sales in the 50,000+ unit range? What has happened to the 3-series marketshare in the last 10 years- we never hear those numbers. Who would disagree that those figures would be MOST REFRESHING to learn? Cannot this possibly be considered one of many 'absolutely positives'? Or is it all just 'bla bla bla / wordsmithing'? Nevermind; already know the 'answer'; there is only The Big Picture That Is General Motors, Where Everything Is Absolutely f@#ked and Nothing Good Can Ever Shine Forth From The Blinding Darkness That Is Marketshare Now Shutup About The Individual Examples Of Progress And Goodness And Get Down With The Sickness. f@#kin' A, Manny.

Been on dialup for 6 years now (no cable: satellite TV, no DSL lines on my street). You won't be able to stay away....

Right... and "absolutely nothing positive" isn't exactly that.

Cliche'd analogies aside, those here with shall I say... pessimistic viewpoints might have better luck attracting converts if they addressed the facts less editorially. In other words, to me "absolutely NOTHING positive" means exactly that: nothing. However, I cannot agree with that allegation and it unintentionally casts dispersions on everything else written. The discussion would be much more balanced if credit was given where due once in a blue moon. -- -- -- -- -- -- On another front, what exactly are these same opinion-holders really looking for from General Motors? What would make you happy WRT GM? I am truely interested in knowning.

FWD citroen traction avant came out for '34 (as noted above), however, the FWD Cord L-29 came out for 1929, not '34. Citroen had no influence on the '66 Toronado, but the Cord had a lot. FWD in modern times was heavily popularized by foreign imports; as of '79 the only domestic FWD vehicles were a half-handful of luxury coupes, but there were a number of FWD japanese imports. These were what spurred on domestic FWD models en mass. It was, of course, carried far too far.

Who's all those other brands/corporations standing right behind GM in the "can't figure it out" line?

General Motors is the world's largest automaker and has 8 divisions. Daimler Chrysler has no where near the volume GM has and has 6 brands. Somewhere, are avocates of consolidation pleading for DCX to reduce their "way too many divisions"? 'DCX brands are much better differentiated than GM's' is a possible response to the above. And I would reply 'instead of eliminating divisions, why not differentiate them better? You know- like they used to be when GM lead the market?'

Yes, but has the fire department scraped it's remains off the asphalt of a NY highway? Guy I know is ready to buy his 4th Chevy truck in as many years, and he could buy Chevy's entire catalog if he wanted to. No problems with any beyond a fuel injector recall.

I would be simply terrified owning this car; if VW cannot get a jetta-level car reliably engineered, this one has to be a rolling nightmare. No word on any problems in the piece, tho that doesn't mean either there aren't plenty or plenty aren't on their quick & sweaty way. And people, please note: that supposed "flop" according to Websters, the Edsel, sold roughly 32% of it's first-year projected volume (Let's not mention it did reach into it's 3rd model year, too). The phaeton sold 8%. That blows greasy chunks. Oh, and mention should also be made about the overall theme of this article. It's not a review, it's an attempt at a revisionist theory that the flop is, in fact, NOT a flop, because this snowflake likes it.

And since someone already mentioned mazda, also about as exciting as the mpv and b2000. Then, as you allude to, the problem is not the Pontiac Division but Pontiac dealers. Why not deal with the cause instead of the symptoms?

The camry outsells the accord (with a LOT of fleet sales); does the accord go "toe-to-toe" with the camry?The accord outsells the Impala, does the Impala go "toe-to-toe" with the accord? Where is the line drawn and how is that distance measured? Are you saying that just because a vehicle has 'heritage' styling that it's interior is automatically "crappy"? Lots of modern vehicles have 'modern' styling and still have crappy interiors. I don't see any connection. Again I ask- at what sales level does a vehicle within class become 'competitive'? And how could the ravenous demand & near-record volume of the Charger/Magnum/300 be explained in light of the "well-designed" accord? Why would anyone be (snapping them up) at all if they are so awful cheap?

One has to read deeply and analytically into publications to learn just how ingrained & pervasive the bias runs. This is one, minor example, and I've seen it countless times. >>"...BMW's E85 Series..."<< >>"...Chevy's so-called GMT800..."<< There is no legitimate reason to use the phrase "so-called". Both manufacturers supply their respective technical data and product sheets. All a 'writer' has to do is read it and reguritate it for the article. To read 'GMT800' and then write "so-called" implies -at the very least- doubt on some level. Yet I have never EVER read this sort of wording in a BMW (random import make) article. It's as if the 'writers' are ravenously into the BMW and eagerly accept anything & everything presented with the test car as Complete and Utter Truth (or maybe it's just that all-expenses-paid junket to the wine-soaked Bavarian countryside).... while over in Detroit it's 'probable' the Chevy/GM suits have no idea what the platform/generation is actually coded as. Either way, PRODUCT has absolutely no bearing on the choice of wording. Yet there it is, and it's only one of the most minor of journalistic transgressions.

With a 'street' car I would say most would start in 1 in order to hold low gear a bit longer, putting you more in the 'fat' part of 2nd gear when it shifts. By 'street' I mean a vehicle with moderate modifications, if any. For a dedicated drag car (one that is much quicker than street cars), the auto would shift faster in D or OD than being shifted manually, plus commonplace trans mods at this level only increase the performance of an auto. When a particular vehicle falls in the grey area betwen the 2, only experimentation will reveal the best method.

A '66 Chevelle is the only A-Body Chevy I would consider owning: I seldom see them relative to other Chevelles and I really do feel Chevy nailed it's lines 100%. A 2-dr hardtop or an El Camino... if I had to own a vintage Chevy car.

Well, I am going to answer all my own questions it seems. Code LLY DuraMax (MY 2004.5 and later) is returning 15-18 locally, the bulk in the 15-16 range. Code LB7 Duramax (2004.5 and older) is returning 17-18 as the bulk, with the 2nd tier falling into the 15-16 range and the 3rd tier in the 19-20 range. Other source claimed 17-21 empty and 9-13 towing. I have to really think this thru today, as the seller is going to pressure me for a decision tomorrow; he's foaming to get a '07 Tahoe. I'm not crazy about the price in general- that's an awful lot of 'green quarters'.

Looks like a 2nd gen '54-55 Kurtis 500M, tho the front fender vents were throwing me. Initially I was thinking of the Multiplex, but that was built in PA.

Found this online (to answer part of my own question): The 2001 or newer Duramax equipped trucks have a 5-year or 100,000 mile engine warranty, while the powertrain is only covered for the first 3-years or 36,000 miles. However, GM has extended the Duramax fuel injector warranty for the 2001/2002 models to 7-years or 200,000 miles.