balthazar

Need to worry that the chinese makes will be competitive? Not initially. Worry that they'll be cheap and make inroads because people buy cheap crap all the time (look at how hyundai got going here)? Yes, absolutely. Worry that they'll make decent stuff eventually and really grab marketshare? Yes again. Hate the fact that they are even allowed in the U.S. market in the first place? Absolutely again. Hate the inevitable industry articles that'll bemoan the unavoidable marketshare slip of FoMoCo & GM because of a never-ending flood of foreign brands meanwhile NEVER attributing that slide to more competition and the very nature of statistics that compute marketshare? Absolutely cubed.

Thanks for the well-wished, guys. Yea Razor- I was messin' around with a japanese ho all day... an Hitachi EX-100 track excavator. I prefer the dozer in general (Komatsu D37P wide track)- I like to make things neat. I also run a skid steer (New Holland LS170) & back hoe (Ford 555D) when the job calls for it. I missed the reference: "F13"....?

That really is a truely dumbass comment. Where there a bunch of chinese cars there that really wowed her? Or is she just baa-ing along with the rest of the sheep and assuming because it comes from over the Magic Ocean Waves that it's flat out & amazingly "competitve" by default? You disgruntled Michiganers: find out what she drives. Personally, everything I've every held in my hands that wasn't literally 'china' has broken in 1/100th of it's expected lifespan or been defective from the git go. My sons know from experience not to get upset when something they have breaks... if it says 'Made in China' on the bottom.

I have no earthly idea if this poor (can't afford new pants??) woman actually drives this '57 Chevy, but then again, I don't care.

>>"...116 to 118 inch wheelbase and an overall length in the mid 200's."<< 'mid 200s' would be about 250", no? I like my car's stats: wheelbase: 123", overall: 217". Loads of room and no dreaded center console! I had a car for a few years, about the size you advocate (whl: 113, ovr: 201)- much smaller interior- small trunk, no like. >>"you can still see plenty of tarmac around all sides of the 90 degree spacehog engine"<< Now, Reg- if you want to talk about "spacehog" engines, you simply CANNOT overlook your beloved OHC jobs! Really really tight engine comparments are for those interested in paying $75-100/hr service department rates. Those of us who know the business end of a ratchet wrench like to be able to get a hand & partial forearm down to -God forbid!- change a radiator hose or something. nissan stuffed their oil filter between the engine & firewall on the older sentra 4-banger: you have to jack the car up high & get completely under it to change the frickin' oil. Yeah- that's really worth another half-inch of leg room. Come to think if it, if the filter was in a decent location to begin with, they actually MAY have been able to get another half inch of leg room!

Hey thanks 68! I saved that COE pic to my hard drive; hadn't seen that one befur. Got a cool, nice article in the mail today, too! Having a rough day of it today. Guess some numbers are 'harder' than others. Spent a sh!tty day by myself out on the job, cold, dank, misty, slingin' horrific mountains of mud for 6.5 hours (gee, I sound like BV there for a sec!). At least I had some good laughs with the family tonight at dinner. Have 2 possible car part buyers on the hook for this weekend, buying '65 Bonneville parts. More monies for the '59!

I thought bmw was moving all the 2-drs to even numbers and all the 4-drs would be odd numbers?

Ahhh, now a UB contributes to "performance", too eh? The myth grows wild.....

Just looks dowdy to me. In this size, I much prefer the styling of:

>>"The current CTS is to big. "<< Here we go again. Cite a fact that proves this is true. And no; simple overall lengths of the class don't prove anything.

I didn't say it was toyota's fault. I did question why the prius 'performed better' in the EPA run (especially as opposed to other non-hybrid toyotas). You did not address that. The powertrain has to be the prime factor. But as I stated: if the current EPA testing methods result in a hybrid getting labeled grossly higher MPG than the vehicle returns in the real world, such only hurts the consumer who may have based their choice on that MPG #. Assuredly the EPA is looking carefully into this.

First off, you are contradicting yourself: in your opening post you call their size a "flaw" yet above you call it an "attraction". Secondly, modern cars weigh FAR MORE per square inch of 'footprint' than anything from the '60s, and that's after making nearly a third of the vehicle out of cheap plastic. Too bad that as cars have gotten smaller (appealing to some), they have also gotten horrifically heavy. A lot of '60s cars were very well balanced, too, as opposed to later cars than grew increasingly nose-heavy partially because they had relatively no rear overhang. Actually, most successful manufacturers regularly look at past example for all sorts of inspiration. Stylistically however, not often... and the reason is that there was real measurable advancement & stylistic progress throughout the first 75 or 80 years of the auto industry. But cars have changed very very little in silhouette since the '80s... the stylistic progress has slowed dramatically. For a good example, look at the Corvette style jumps: '55/56, '62/63, '67/68, '82/84... then look at the restyles since. Look at '04/05 (do I have that break right?)- very little stylistic progress because there's very little left in the barrel. Minimal overhangs, super low profile, way-laid-back windshield, aerodynamically-observant... these things dictate the bulk of the design. It can't get dramatically lower or shorter, narrower won't accomplish anything, it's locked into a tapered nose with flush/hidden headlights and quad taillamps. Where to go???? So is the current horsepower war also an attempt to relive the glory days? 'Good stuff' will always be popular, whether it's power & speed or good design. Being inpirated from the past in no way demeans the present, it merely recognizes quality and appeal.Gotta learn: "New!" does not guarantee "better". You have way oversimplified the issue here. Thousands of contributing factors... and I will point to merely one: division engineering departments.

How does the prius "beat the EPA test" so 'well'? Could it be the nature of the powertrain allows a marked 'gap' to exist between EPA test methods and real world numbers? If so, a different standard of testing needs to be implemented on hybrids ASAP. That is, if the purpose of EPA testing is still to benefit the consumer.

1.) You'd think nissan would change the name to jettison all the baggage the sentra name carries, esp if they are going to so closely link it visually with the altima, a successful model. 2.) Terrible worm's-eye view from the rear, showing the unfinished fender panels & the lumpy chassis stampings. 3.) Giant sweeping flared fenders only make the small wheels look even smaller. 4.) I see the front bumper right under the DynaStar grille is already sagging, following tradition of the rear bumpers of past sentras. 5.) One would think the resounding revulsion over the quest's 'dashboard trashcan' would've killed the 'wastebasket' crammed between the seats of this job, but no. 6.) You can't polish a turd.

I dunno: I liked the Cheyanne- clean and smooth but yes: too fem. I also like this SC's exterior- also fairly clean (OK: the profile only), but really bold & dynamic, too. World's better than the uncomfortable Tonka concept, which I didn't like. It's too over-the-top for me to buy, but I don't find any fault with the styling.

LOL... Ahh, but mine is apparently an 'extention' phone: no bells. Has the 'cyclops' swivel dial on top.You could put some sound deadener on the bells in yours: tape or adhesive rubber strips or something...

I remember seeing a '49 in the junkyard with these 'accordian' wire-reinforced fabric hoses hanging down inside the fenders. Frankly, I was amazed. I have always been a bit miffed that my Buick of choice is one of 2 models years in a string of decades withOUT VentiPorts.

3 more shopping days until my birthday on Friday the 13th. Get me something chromey, automotive-related and at least 35 years old and I'd be happy.

Not sure I get your meaning behind "not their shining point"...Buick alone built just under 75,000 aircraft engines during WWII, built plenty more for WWI and jet engines for the Korean conflict. Guess there's some real weight to the '58 tagline: "Air-Born B-58 Buicks". Tons & tons of aircraft, aircraft engines & other parts built by different divisions of General Motors, and by the car divisions themselves directly.

Uhh no, that was not a flaw.

Is this crap really coming here??

TED: is that the new MDX? Blorf! Enclave looks damned impressive! No reason not to see 100% of it in the showroom when it does arrive. Nice job Buick- some of that ol Tri-Shield magic looks like it's comin' back!

I heard a guy calling in to a radio show last week. He said he drives a Chevy now but his next car "isn't going to be an American one". No problems with the Chevy, but he wants a car that "doesn't lose 50% of it's value as soon as you drive it off the lot" (>>bmw 7-series 3-yr residual: 43%<<). And he "wants something reliable". You're right BL: you cannot reason with these mindsets. This guy had no problems with the car he has, but he is going to go ahead and rule out 150 or so vehicles merely based on what countries their parent corporations are based in (USA). All of their vehicles... ALL OF THEM... are no good anymore tho they obviously appealed to him to buy previously... because. It's flat nuts. I agree with Flybrian: my grandmother's sentra is so mindnumbing awful, even my son said 'yuck- the buzzy car' when he was 6. Get mom in a sentra- the new ones can't be much better than those from a few years ago- tin can POS.

I really like the Cien, it's a smack-upside-the-head from Cadillac... but I do think were it to be greenlighted, it would be reskinned & cleaned up just a bit, improved even more. I feel Cadillac has moved beyond it's design at this point...

Damned pics won't load all the way for me for some reason, but the partials I can see look to incorporate what seems to be the new typical for lexus- misaligned pieces (remember the big gaps around the hybrid SUV's gauges?). And what's with the 'gunslit' clock- no one in the back seat can know what time it is? Plastic wood looks like crap (what's the point if it's real if it doesn't LOOK real?), the stylistic segmentation of the doors is annoying & pointless. We've been led to believe this is the supposed pinnacle of interiors.... bah- I don't see it.