FUTURE_OF_GM

Caption this photo: Photo 1, Caption 1: "What?..." Photo 1, Caption 1 "Make room for fanny!" (Google it if you don't get it) Photo 2, Caption 2: "STILL HERE!" Photo 2, Caption 2: "Do I see a smudge on that bumper?!? Grrr......"

LMAO... I think it would be a lot more angry though.

Man, I had forgotten about all of those except the Jeep... Ford DEFINITELY should have sent that Bronco straight into production!

That sure is an ugly little bastage

The new global theme seems to be about as consistent as themes of the past 20 years... On some cars it works (Cruze, Malibu, Equinox) and n some it looks like barf (Spark, Sonic, Traverse)

Wow, it has been a decade... 11/11/11 was my 10 year mark.

If the concept to production transition is anything like the Colorado, this thing will be hideous.

and of course, these: I also think the Borrego was a great IDEA (in an ugly package)

Compared to the trash we're getting these days, I think it was.

A 'close to perfect' '55 Bel Air http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/inventory/1955-Chevrolet-Bel-Air/132711 Actual Ford LTD police car http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/inventory/1984-Ford-LTD/132709 The GMC I was talking to GMTruckGuy about http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/inventory/1955-GMC-100-Suburban-Carrier/132557

Even as recently as this we had somewhat inspired design... You don't see this level of cohesive detail in production (or concept) today.

Production: The GT500 for sure... Honorable mentions: Cadillac XTS, Buick GL, Focus ST Concept: That jag is simply sick! Honorable mention: Fiesta ST Trends I don't like: 1) black wheels.... Yes, some cars look great with black wheels, but damn; does every frikkin' debut these need to have black wheels with machined edges?!?! It's almost as if the suppliers DESIGN the cars. 2) The 'fat lip syndrome"..... It seems that every design now is an organic body with a fat mug that is extremely disproportionate. 3) The lower front lip spoiler.... SUPER HOT on sports cars; SUPER DUMB and pretentious on SUVs and econo crap boxes. I dunno man, I never thought I would get to the point where automotive design just frustrates me and pisses me off in general, but that's pretty much where I stand now. It's a TERRIBLE time for automotive design right now. (with a few exceptions) EVERYTHING looks generic, organic, boring and cheap.

You know, I have to admit that I've been secretly wishing GM might announce something like a single model Pontiac line. I.e. just produce a Trans Am or Firebird and bill it as the Pontiac Firebird available through Buick/GMC dealers. I never put much thought into it, but given the rumors a while back about a "new Chrysler sold Plymouth Barracuda" I started cooking the idea more. Probably wouldn't be too difficult to pull off... And you know they'd likely get a pretty good ROI on a flagship model like that. (as long as the business model wasn't outrageous) At the auto show yesterday people were ALL OVER the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger.

I've thought about this topic a lot... And I think I've come up with this: Taken at surface value, they're not that impressive to most people. But when one considers what they meant to me and thousands of others, they become much more significant. If you're a fan of 'stock car' racing now, you're not really a fan of RACING at all. Back when I was a kid, I spent some of the best nights of my life 'down on the river' watching the locals go at it in cars like this. These drivers would work late nights all week, stretch their bank accounts thin and pray that their families understood all for the sake of an unquenchable passion for speed and cars that WE ALL SHARE. It was no BS, no PR and no pretty 'show for the fans' crap; they went out there drove like hell and hoped that the stars aligned for a perfect Friday night celebration in victory lane. The smells.... The noise.... The glare of the lights on the cars.... I guess I'm overly sentimental, but I miss the times when a working man could build an empire and achieve a dream through a passion such as this. (That's why I'm such a huge Dale Sr. fan -- the man BUILT his life through years of determination to win) That is where the root of my passion lies and it's reflected through my love of vintage and 'unsophisticated' cars with a lot of personality... See, I'd like nothing more than to throw a big motor in a sheet metal body and race (or knock) you (out of the way) to (get to) the next stop light. I was actually planning to build a car and start right before they closed our local track down... Now I'm thinking about doing it again (just building a street or vintage car to have some fun in)

Well, the Toronado sold before it even made the email blast this week. But we posted this today: http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/inventory/1968-Oldsmobile-Cutlass-Hurst-Olds/132683

no need to check, I already know I can't :-( [WE FINANCE]

Back when GM wasn't afraid to be a design LEADER

An actual picture I snapped in our showroom a few weeks ago. I think the booth pix aren't dynamic enough. EDIT: didn't realize it was this big. Sorry if it causes anyone problems.

HA! I just finished the write up on the black and red Chevelle today! It's a sick car for sure! I was never a fan of the red on black paint scheme until I saw that car. It sounds amazing too! The Toronado is a sweet car. It's definitely another one that's captivated my attention. And the price is excellent IMO. You could probably even talk them down a bit.

http://www.rkmotorsc...Toronado/132684 *Not my write up but still an AWESOME car!

Yes. Damn, I'm just having all kinds of problems keeping the numbers straight in this topic -- (I guess it doesn't help that we have about 7 of these late second gens and 5 GTOs in inventory, AND I have to write and update all of them basically simultaneously.)

'79 Trans Am Special Edition sold for $68K Coincidentally, today is RK Motors Charlottes first anniversary. In just one year we have become the third largest retailer of specialty/classic cars in the US.

Was coming around one of these infamous North Carolina horseshoe on ramps (not sure why they're 'infamous' -- because they're everywhere) when the tail broke loose on the Mustang and I damn near lost it. At one point I was turned about 180 degrees and staring at the guard rail on the bridge. Luckily I have quick reflexes... I've always worried about somehow flipping the 'stang because it's a convertible and that day I was top-down headed for the side of a bridge. Doesn't help that the top of my head actually sticks up above the windshield. Was I pushing it too hard? Probably... But, in my defense, it's a super short ramp and traffic is doing about 70 MPH, so you have to 'pick a spot' and hit the 'go pedal'. PLUS, the pavement increases about an inch in elevation from the ramp to the interstate (where the interstate is more recently paved) and that's what caused the break in traction to begin with. That same week I was doing about 35 up the suicide lane (for those of you who don't know, that means passing traffic in the right hand lane) beside stopped traffic... It was perfectly legal, as this is a 4 lane highway where my lane was a right turn only. This guy in a Civic suddenly jumps right out in front of me! It was too late to stop, so I saw the hole and gunned it. I bet I threaded his car and the curb by about 2 inches on each side... (Those of you who have been in wrecks: you know that second where you see the sheet metal of the other car PASS your line of sight and you know it's only .02 of a second before you feel impact? DEFINITELY HAD THAT SENSATION!) The guy pulled into a gas station behind me and apologized (despite me throwing a few nasty words at him during the incident itself) Of course, I was super polite (though I had just been woken up with a serious shot of adrenaline -- it was first thing in the morning) and told him not to sweat it. A few weeks before that I was coming around I-277 which is the first 'loop' around uptown Charlotte. I was probably doing about 15-20 over (which is rare because I'm not a speeder) and merged to let a new CTS into my lane (he was coming up an on ramp) When I did, the elevation change in the lane put some Gs on the car (I was merging left in a banked left turn) and I was REAL close to biting the inside concrete wall... That one shook me up a bit too. With my record of totaling a car once a year for roughly the last decade (none were my fault) I almost EXPECT something bad to happen.

Oops... LOL (Blushing a bit) We had a '67 which was that same color (but wasn't a numbers matching car) Maybe I was thinking of it. Half the time it's a blur anyway

It's a dream come true in a lot of ways... Hell, part of the stress of my job is self imposed because I feel SO obligated to represent these amazing cars at the level they deserve. I've brushed off and fine tuned my technical writing skills. Now I'm trying to inject a bit more passion into the write ups and not be as boring. Example: IMO, the Bonneville write up is informative but too dry. The Grand Am write up is closer to what I'm trying to achieve now. (And the more recent stuff like that 60 Bel Air you saw is even better) We do a lot of 'investing' with cars, so that explains the prices. This is certainly some of our top iron. We also have 25-30K cars. We're predicting that the next hot market will be 2nd gen F-bodies, and we have amassed quite a collection (including a couple of survivor 76-80 Camaros)