A Horse With No Name

Exactly. Toyota needs to do something original here IMHO. Chris

I actually have a lot of faith in Lutz and a lot of faith in GM to build this car and for it to perform as claimed. There is too much at stake for GM right now to be making fishy claims they can't back. IMHO Lutz is too smart to write a check with his mouth that reality can't cash. Chris

I had a chance to buy a beautiful 94 Trans Am, red, 80k, never driven in rain or snow. Brother of a co worker owned it. $4500 but it had a slushbox. Begining to think I should hyave bought it even with the slushbox. Chris

You laugh, but my wife works for a local community college (Columbus State University). Lots of 20 year olds are graduating with an associates 50 Grand in debt for school and expenses. They then go to Ohio State or Kent state or Ohio Dominican or wherever and put themselves another 50 grand in debt to get a 4 year degree. The daughter of a good friend of mine just graduated from Wright State in Dayton 65k in debt for school alone. These people then borrow money for a car and clothes and meals out and then... I'd hate to see how far in debt Suzie McMansion is by comparison. Chris

This is smart, because real estate and hard assets will be amoung the few things to hold their value in the hard times ahead. See you bought a 96 Roadmaster Estate. Little bit of jealousy here, I always liked the looks of those. Almost bought one down in North Carolina right before I bought my GMC Safari van and I've kicked myself ever since for not buying it. Good luck with your new (old) car. Staying out of debt kicks ass. As soon as my tax return gets here I am going to be debt free other than a small car loan and my home mortgage. Glad to see you are doing the same. Chris

Not to brag...but I'm just a lower middle class Electrician/Tlecommunications worker and my banker says that I am in better shape than 95% of Americans. He says that such a huge majority of people have over-leveraged themselves it will be a long time before we are out of the woods. In his exact words "seven out of every ten people I see on the other side of my desk I just can't help because they are too far in debt to ever get out." Scary to think about where we are headed long term. Suzy McMansion may have just sold us up the river, given the amount of our debt that is now held my middle eastern or asian nations. Chris

Hyundai is a brand "on the way." For whatever reason they seem to appeal very well to females and older couples, I don't know why they fit that demographic but at least around here they do. Would be interesting to see what a Hyundai luxury car would be like. But if the Amanti is any indication, the Koreans have a LONG way to go to catch Lincoln, let alone Cadillac or Lexus. Chris

He lost a rare 66 K Code Mustang GT, a 52 Buick Special and a 55 Buick also. His Corvair convertible was somewhere else so it didn't get destroyed. I feel actually the worst about the two Buicks. Buicks of that Era are so rare and I so seldom see them. Bob is one of the nicest damned guys, too. Chris

Satan

Had a friend who had a 428 Pontiac that would rev to 10,500+RPM. He build an exhaust system that used backpressure to keep the valvetrain from floating. He had it in an 84 Cutlass that would run in the low 9's. Big V-8's will do some serious stuff. And Oldsmoboi, your wrong, a VTEC will blow up if you do that to it...and your right...it is amzing how wrong the "ricers" are... Chris

While I am not religous, several members of my family are continuing to pray for you and your family. Keep us posted, for real. Chris

nightmare

restfull

I live in Columbus, don't know what the market for anything is here right now. Just got laid off about ten minutes ago, so we'll see. Chris

Sounds good to me. Maybe it can lead a second life as a roundy-round car when your done with it. Our local track has a class for small cars like that. Chris

We were doing work for a client and got into a discussion about cars. Guy went into a rant about the US auto industry and how screwed up American cars are. He said... "...the problem is we haven't punished Detroit enough. We ought to ban Chevy, Ford and Dodge from Nascar and put Honda in instead, because obviously Honda and Toytoa are the only two groups of people who can build a decent car." This is the rant thread. Rant away about this gent's stupidity if you wish. Chris

Over at Miatanet one of our regular posters just had his barn/garage distroyed. In his barn were his 63 Corvette convertible and 70 SS-454 Chevelle. He lost quite a few other antique cars as well. OUCH! Chris

BTW, didn't mean to diss the CTS, which is one of my favourite vehicles. If the tranny is really that good I'll see if I can find my way behind the wheel of one to check it out! Also, agree with you 100% about the Toyota-best use of the Solera ragtop is to be purchased by our military as a rolling target for artillary practice. By the way, how is the CTS tranny in regular mode in the mountains or in really bad icy winter weather? IMHO this kind of driving seems to be the real test of an auto. Chris

A new Monte that would be that size would be cool. And while I am not a huge Mopar fan, enzl is right, why can't we just celebrate this car as something cool? Chris

Pushing Daisy's and Numb3rs are the only two I watch. Actually I am not much of a TV guy. For the first eleven or twelve year sof my marriage I didn't even own a TV set. Actually, in Feb. of 1990 I watched "the simpsons" at a friends house and didn't watch a full half hour of network TV again until about 2000. But Pushing Daisy's is a hell of a show. I also used to watch Joan of Arcadia. Chris

The economy of the whole midwest is slowing way down. In my neighborhood houses were selling at about $200-$235k a couple of years ago. Right now they are going for about 150K, and that 150k will buy a 4 bedroom 2200 sq foot house on a quarter of an acre. Does that tell you anything? Michigan is worse than Ohio. My cousin lives there and I have several friends who are from Michigan or have family there. Damn shame, as the midwest is a fine place to live. Dave87rs, are you doing ok, seriously? Sorry to see things are going so much to crap. Back when I was in college.went out a few times with a very nice girl who was from a detroit suburb (forget which one). Her neighborhood was going through the same thing. IIRC her parents finally got the hell out and moved to Arizona or something. I'm here in Ohio, let me know if you need anything, even if you just want me to drive up with a case of beer and help you polish the 'balt up a little bit. Chris

Forget the Cutlass, It's a GM product. I nominate my wife's Mazda! Chris

So what gives? Started on the shadow yet? Chris

The economy is falling on its face. Luxury cars will be one of the first things to go. Chris

That would account for a good bit of it. I wish the Astra well and may even end up with one in the driveway. Contrary to what a couple of other people have posted here, IMHO it is a wonderful car and a brilliant decision at GM. Just hope people with money in their pockets agree with me. Chris