NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

He is thinking the right way. Short term sacrifices must be made for long term stability down the read. I hope you sell your vehicle and can move forward with your plans.

WOW! Congrats to you sir. Welcome to the Oldsmobile family. That is a great looking Cutlass. A paint job would really boost it. What work does it need? Nice photos too. Who will be driving the vehicle in the family? Congrats to you and your family sir... There is indeed a special feel in an Oldsmobile.......

New Small Saab, Crossover Coming the car connection.com In a bid to build up its global presence, the Swedish automaker, Saab, plans to expand its lineup over the next few years, while also launching a new all-wheel-drive system that could make it more competitive against better-known luxury marques. Despite ongoing concerns about the financial health of General Motors' Swedish luxury brand, things are looking better than ever, asserted Steve Shannon, the GM "lifer" who has been running Saab operations in the U.S.- its largest market - for the last six months. Saab faces a variety of challenges, Shannon acknowledged. For one thing, it is hard to gain traction in a market dominated by better known European and Asian brands, such as BMW and Lexus, especially with such a small lineup. But getting more product is itself a challenge when you're such a small part of the GM empire. "It's not easy, when you're a company that makes 9 million cars a year to figure out how to steward a company that makes 130,000," acknowledged Shannon, though he quickly insisted, "We're getting better at it." Saab has a major update of the 9-3, currently its smallest and lowest-cost model, rolling into dealerships for 2008. And it is finishing up work on a new version of the bigger 9-5 line, which has gone far too long without significant revision. The real test of the brand will come in little more than a year, when it launches its first crossover vehicle, which some sources have dubbed the 9-4X, though that name is far from official. The crossover is being designed with the U.S. in mind, though Saab hopes to break into the fast-growing global demand for crossovers. While some makers have experimented with radical alternatives to conventional SUV designs such as the Nissan Murano, Saab's offering will take a conservative approach. "We will not make the mistake of some other manufacturers," explained Shannon, "trying to make a 'tweener,' somewhere between a car and a truck. We will not take any risks with this." The planned crossover will make use of a new all-wheel-drive system. Dubbed Cross-Wheel Drive , or XWD, it will make its debut next year on the 9-3 line. GM has appointed Saab its center of excellence for future all-wheel-drive technology for use on all transverse-mounted vehicle programs. New entry-level car coming A year or so after the launch of the crossover, Saab will bring to market a new entry-level model, a replacement for the short-lived 9-2X, which was produced in a now-abandoned partnership with the Japanese automaker, Subaru. Expect a more stylish and distinctive vehicle, hinted Shannon. "We learned a lesson from the 9-2," he said, during an interview in Washington, D.C. "We need to add a design that's really a breakthrough. There are a lot of very pedestrian, over-priced players in that segment right now." Except for vehicles equipped with the XWD system, all future Saab products will remain front-drive, asserted Kurt Simonsson, the automaker's global marketing chief. While conventional wisdom might suggest that rear-drive is better for performance, the Swedish executive argued that it's really "all about execution," and indeed, as TheCarConnection.com reports in its review of the 2008 9-3, Saab has eliminated two of the most common complaints about its older, front-drive models: turbo lag and torque steer. Saab also plans to remain loyal to its turbocharged in-line fours and V-6s, meanwhile, rather than adopt the big engines favored by many other imports (with the exception of the V-8 in the huge Saab SUV, the 9-7X). If anything, "It's crystal clear," said Simonsson, that the market is shifting from "big engines to more efficient engines." But for the moment, there are no hard plans to adopt some of the hybrid technology starting to show up in other GM brands. That will likely change in the next decade, but as a small brand, Saab has to wait its turn. How much the brand can grow is unclear. Sales nudged 35,000 sales in the U.S. last year, and will slip slightly due in part to the changeover from old to the new 9-3. Globally, the figures have been improving, and are now running around 130,000 annually. That may be little more than a rounding error for GM, but it's more than acceptable for Saab, argued Simonsson. How much larger does the brand need to go? "One hundred percent, we can be sustainable at 200,000" sales annually, even 180,000, said Simonsson, and with the planned new offerings, Saab is betting it can reach those numbers. source: http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/...13308.html?pg=1

Congrats to you Sixty Eight! May your marriage last for many happy years to come. More power to you.. It is always good to hear of blessings as such as these.

A video of the STS with digital and analog gauges( previous generation):

I will have to respectfully disagree with you there. You are entitled to your opinions too. There are no cars with fender skirts anymore, but my car has them. I prefer digital instrumentation to analog because analog is so boring to look at, and if I wanted needles and dials I can look at a watch or clock. The digital is not distracting to me at all. Quick easy glance and reading. I hate analog so much you have no idea... They are not gone though. You can get them in Lincoln Town Car, Grand Marquis, Crown Victoria, DTS and Holden Caprice/Statesman and Commodore. They might be in Pontiac G8 too. I am not sure.

My list: Sedans with that "Impala" six window design. The Taurus has it too. Put rear quarter windows on the rear doors again Sedans without the quarter windows period. Sedans or Cars or Trucks with on head light on each side of the grille instead of two for a quad headlight design. The biggest offenders Cadillac DTS and GMC Yukon. It makes the cars look bug eyed and economy car cheap. No one putting the power seat controls on the door panels where they belong. It makes no sense to spend good money to stick your hand on the side of the seat. GM has become the biggest offender a long with others. The only cars with them on the doors or Lincoln Town Car, Grand Marquis, Crown Victoria, Mercedes Benz. Cheap fabrics for base models that look and feel like the jacket you wear in bad weather The fact every car maker thinks their midsized car needs to look like or act like a Camry or Accord. The Malibu and Aura and Fusion get away from that. Awkward styling proportions or angles that do not look right they try to ask as body or black trim( see new Chrysler Sebring coupe and sedan and convertible) The fact everyone puts a spoiler on the trunk, has bucket seats and floor shifters and analog gauges and think their car is special or different. Not every wants or needs these gimmicks. I welcome the new BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S Class and Jaguar because even though they have bucket seats, they put the shifter in a different for or place. Even if it is odd. The fact every car maker sees the need to get a wider trunk opening buy using triangular tail lamps. Too many cars with stacked headlights. This is not 1965... Too many cars old and new with venti-ports. Leave this to Buick please. Circular headlights in a plastic housing surround. The excessive use of black trim on interiors and gray plastics. de-contenting of vehicles. three spoke steering wheels. I hate them with a passion. Not everyone is speed racer and I prefer the 4 spoke designs. No original wheels anymore. There is more than a 5 spoke 5 lug nut wheel. Buicks and Cadillacs and midlevel or luxury cars cars that have no stand up hood ornaments. The hoods look bare and cheap.

I cannot see anything other than what has been posted. I know mid sized Suv's are pretty much dead except in other places like South America. That is why GM Brazil will be developing the next compact trucks for GM globally. Minivans will now die, but the numbers will be lower. The next full sized Fords will probably switch to unibody. They are the last Body on Frame vehicles. I expect the line between mid sized and full sized cars to blur even more. The imports keep growing in size and the American cars are getting smaller. There will be a middle ground. Impala is a prime example of that blurred line. If gas prices go up, we will see either less horsepower or smaller engines producing more power. Bench seats. There is only: Impala, Lucerne, LaCrosse, DTS( option), Crown Victoria, Town Car, Grand Marquis. It is a shame..

In agreement. There is that gap on the GM lineup now. You go from Impala straight to Lucerne. Ford has it covered with outdated models. Chrysler has it covered too. Personal luxury coupes from America. I looked at and read stories about the new Maserati Gran Turismo coupe, and the ones from other manufacturers, I often wonder what would the E Bodies be like today. The way that coupe is the way they should be. They say there is no coupe market here, yet the import companies keep introducing them. A roomy affordable coupe the size or interior room of Monte Carlo. The Cadillac STS should become one of those personal luxury 4 door coupe type vehicles. The Eldorado would be the coupe two door companion. Cadillac does not have all its bases covered yet either. A grand upscale "fullsized" BMW 7 Series /Lexus LS/Mercedes S-Class fighter from Cadillac. The CTS looks like the Sixteen in small ways. Why not make an affordable Sixteen like vehicle? What is wrong with Cadillac or Buick having the largest car like GM once had. A station wagon that is versatile that is like the Dodge Magnum and Volvo Cross Country and more refined. There are some things GM has too many of and something they either do not have or not enough of. My own personal one... Oldsmobile.

In agreement sir.. This is the very thing I was talking about in the Buick thread. To put it back on track: 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme commercial: http://youtube.com/watch?v=T1h5wgqrdFs 1995 Cutlass Supreme: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VbuN_yF-Qew 1988 Cutlass Supreme: http://youtube.com/watch?v=acKlpQmJghE&...ted&search= back to your regularly scheduled thread...

I saw that in my new Automobile that came in the mail... You posted this before I did.. I see it has not gone over well...

Thank you for sharing. Most impressive indeed. I like reading stuff like this too. I read other things like this for other GM cars.

GM drops Camry, Accord test drive program Customers were to be able to test new Malibu against Camry and Accord at dealerships. Program was working for Saturn, GM says. By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer August 31 2007: 1:50 PM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors has quietly dropped a marketing strategy it announced in May where it would bring other car makers' vehicles to its Chevrolet showrooms for customers to test against its redesigned 2008 Malibu The company was already running a similar program for its new Saturn Aura sedan where dealers were bringing Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys into the showroom and allowing customers to inspect and test those vehicles in comparison to the Aura. GM (Charts, Fortune 500) has also stopped marketing support of that program. The company is, instead, shifting its Saturn marketing dollars to the just-released redesigned 2008 Saturn Vue SUV. Dealers can voluntarily continue the program on their own, a GM spokeswoman said, but GM would no longer be advertising it. Saturn dealers, which are independently owned businesses, paid for the competitive vehicles themselves. For the most part, dealers either purchased or rented competitive vehicles for the purpose. Dealers who also owned Toyota (Charts) or Honda dealerships could "borrow" vehicles for the program. The Aura program was successful, said Matt Armstrong, GM's Saturn marketing manager. Aura sales increased 24 percent from June, when the program started, through July, he said. At the same time, the overall market for midsized cars went down 14 percent. July was the second-best month for the Aura since the car's launch in 2006, said Armstrong The Saturn test drive program had always been intended as a summer promotion to boost awareness of the Aura, Armstrong said, which was an entirely new vehicle and name for Saturn. "We made the decision to shift our resources over to Vue," Armstrong said. GM gave no specific reason for dropping plans for the similar program involving the new Chevrolet Malibu. "It's really been off the table for quite some time," said Nancy Libby, communications manager for Chevrolet. The Malibu launch will be marketed with some sort of innovative approach, Libby said, but not the one Saturn used, as had originally been discussed. "We really just didn't think that was the best approach we could come up with," she said. Chevrolet has about 4,100 dealers compared to about 400 for Saturn, Libby said, but the sheer number of retail sites was, while a complicating factor, was not the reason for dropping the side-by-side-by-side concept. The 2008 Malibu will be based on the same engineering fundamentals as the current Saturn Aura. The Malibu, which is expected to launch in November with a starting price of $19,995, is available with a base 4-cylinder engine that is not offered on the Aura. The Malibu's steering and suspension are also tuned to be somewhat lighter and more forgiving than the Aura's. The company recently invited journalists to its vehicle test center in Milford Mich. to drive different versions of the 2008 Malibu in a series of tests against the Camry. Participating journalists had to agree not to write reviews based on those test drives until November. Honda (Charts) recently revealed a redesigned 2008 Accord which is set to enter showrooms in September. The Saturn Aura's so-called "Side-by-side-by-side Test Drive" program had involved the 2007 Accord, not the new version. GM has called the Malibu the company's strongest offering ever in the competitive mid-sized sedan category. Currently, that vehicle segment is dominated by Toyota and Honda source: http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/31/autos/gm_v...sion=2007083112

That was interesting.. I remember that one. It had steering wheel controls. I hate when I see one with the buttons off the wheel. As for 5 speeds: This commercial has it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=spzvh2HE0h0 I thought they were neat with the heads up display too. They had those special seats too that were multi adjustable. Those wheels reminded me of the wheels from hot wheels. I thought it was cool when the coupes had them. Oldsmobile really put effort into the platforms they were given. I call it being creative on a budget. I wish you could get it Ted.... I feel you on that one too..

3 Enclave brochures in the mail. Two came yesterday.

Congrats to you and your friend... I am sure he will enjoy his vehicle...

This is one of the main reasons why I said I was going to posting less and I was not enjoying my time here. I have not been in on "the kill the brands thread" and every thread is turning into that. even when some offers a slightly different opinion on things besides killing brands on other threads, as you said it turns into a lynching and get a pitchfork. It gets nasty.... It makes it uncomfortable for others.. They have beat this to death. The only thing I said jokingly was I was watching with PCS to watch things play out. I do not want to see another brand die. The demise of Oldsmobile still haunts GM and it was a mistake. People still bring it up in their arguments. I have accepted my favorite brand is gone. GM has nothing that appeals to me or that I want. I accept that. I drive my cars because GM once built what I like to drive. While I do not always agree with GM politics or business practices, I still prefer their products over others. I do not believe everything GM says or does because of what went down with Oldsmobile. It is apparent PCS works for GM just like F Body Father( I do not know his name) and they see things differently. PCS does not like Holden. I accept that. I am not going to berate that point or attack him in every thread every chance I get. I read what the F Body father said and Griffon said. All were very good reads and very informative. People.. This is a forum. People are free to make choices. People are free to have opinions. While we may not agree with the opinions of others, we have to respect them. It is not any ones job to sway someone one way or another. There is another way to tell someone you disagree with out it turning into pages of debates and back and forth and on and on and cursing. Why? What for? In the end time will tell how things shake out at GM. There will be fewer cars I am sure. What is going on here? This place used to not be this way. The way people are carrying on is no different than the people carry on about their Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys and defending blindly.... Let me explain something. My cars I own are not cool at all in the gay community or to most buyers. Do you think I really care? They make me happy. I paid for them. In the end, why would I run out and buy a BMW 5 Series or Honda Accord to be approved of by people who really do not matter? Be secure with who you are and what you drive. That statement I made above is to say this.. if someones opinions do not matter, it serves no purpose going round and round page after page about what brand is going to stay... Here is the scary part.. All these arguments are started by articles, analysts, and outsiders who want to see GM fail. All that is done to excite, get others upset and more. The whole Oldsmobile demise thing got started because of one reporter based on speculation. This website is called CHEERS AND GEARS. GM'S BIGGEST FANS AND TOUGHEST CRITICS. no, it has become BOOS AND GEARS. GM'S BIGGEST COMPLAINERS AND EACH OTHERS TOUGHEST CRITICS. Thank you.

Yes, this may be true, but it comes down to perception and reality. Sadly, there are those that would justify this..

Hmmm..... It is just like Lay's potato chip.. Nobody can eat just one..

Blackviper... You take a lot of photos.. You ever think about going to school to get some experience and get a career dealing with photography or computer graphics. There are so many things you can do. Turn something fun into a career. I did. Sometimes your photos of GM cars look better than the ones GM does. Ever since they changed the fuel economy rules, and I see those new window stickers, I noticed the gas mileage on a lot of cars are not so hot anymore... This vehicle is one example... That suv has Cadillac gas mileage.

Well said sir. I did not sense you were coming off as woe as me. You can off as you are at a critical point in your life. You are seeking change. It may be time that you met someone. I do not know your sexual preferences... I can tell you this.. the whole club thing is a dead end. Those are not real friends as you stated, but ones you know on a social level. I used to do the club thing years ago. I do not know where any of those people are now. I am sure they are here in Houston somewhere. Life happened. Once the thing that held us together died, we all went our own ways. That club thing is for a season. That season is passing for you. You also want more to do in your life besides going clubbing. What you are experiencing is called life. I have no contact with anyone I knew from high school. I have no contact with anyone I know from college. There is one person I know from high school whom I was once close with. We do not socialize or hang out like we once did. We both work at the university. The reason for the change is "her God" does not agree with my "so called" lifestyle. I see her I say hi, and that is it... You want companionship. There is nothing wrong with that. You also want friendships of substance too. It is now all starting to appear meaningless what you have now. This is time for you to make that change and start investing into meaningful friendships and relationships in your life. There are people on here who have established relationships with each other. This is good for them. It grew out of a common interest. I do not have relationships like that from this site. A lot of people here do. I do not. That is not important to this, but what you seek is what you find. You may want to do something your life where you can meet people with similar interests or something that will bring you together.. There is nothing wrong with the way you look. If you are the one with the attractive photo. I hope this helps..

The photos are very telling about the area where he lives. It shows history, and life from an era long since past. He managed to bring an interesting perspective to the images. Some of them remind me of some of the movies we all have seen. Very good sir.

Exactly......

Very telling statement sir...

The performance version might be called Typhoon or Cyclone like the performance trucks of the early 1990's.