Camino LS6

Here it is, dfelt: Dreaming of an eased burden, I popped the latch. It made almost no sound in the still and quiet night. Above the sky went starless and sapphire as it neared the horizon, and I took a deep and silent breath. Such a small thing, popping that latch, a minor betrayal. But it wasn't so, the betrayal was huge and I knew it. I would leave, and They would come. They would enter by my facilitation, and then do evil. No one would be hurt, and I would get my cut. Insurance would cover the victims I was to hand to Them, and we would all benefit. So went the lie. The need to survive through these times of want and deprivation drove me like a goad. Always short of what was required simply to go on, and watching as each unexpected setback added hungry days to the month. I had learned to live on close to nothing, and how to do without, but hunger is a hard thing to ignore. The grinding oppression of thankless toil and no hope for a return to better days drove me into Their trap. On a warm and steamy late summer evening with no hope of sleep, I decided that a few drinks tonight would be a fair trade for one less meal tomorrow. Gathering the shreds of pride and a glimmer of independence, I put on my least shabby clothes and walked to the bar. Beer has a way of making a man feel whole when he really isn't, and I am not immune to the effect. The exiled smokers outside the front door were just shadows, each with its glowing ember moving in a repeated arc as they smoked. The scent of burning tobacco set my receptor sites screaming for the nicotine I could no longer afford to buy. I began to turn back, to abandon the small comfort of a beer and a smoke, to try again to accept this new reality. The reality that said things would not get better this time, and that I had to get used to it. Always I had been able to tolerate reversals and defeats, to grimace and move on. But now the game had changed, no one still believed that the nation would recover and opportunity would begin to knock once more. No one talked about it, but we all knew that we were living through the irreversible decline of empire. Even the smiling politicians had abandoned the fictions of hope they had preached during the first decade of the fall. From behind my turned back, a hand appeared holding out a pack of cigarettes - Marlboro reds, or the local counterfeit version more likely. "You look like you need a smoke, Dude", said a voice. I turned to the voice and looked into a smiling face. "Go ahead man, take one". "Thanks" I managed. " No sweat, I have plenty. If you need another later just find me", he said through a smile that didn't know his eyes. I thanked him again and moved off to smoke in my own shadow. Things like that just don't happen these days, so I watched The Smile and his friends as they went back into the bar. The light that spilled from the open door showed that they were five in all, and too well-fed, and well-dressed for young men in their twenties. And something else was wrong, anyone so fortunate would not spend time at this bar with its watered-down beer, and "local" whiskey. I should have listened to that voice that told me to run, but I did not. I followed them into the bar. That Marlboro had been real. If I had money, or looked like something the local predators wanted to play with, I would have been afraid. But I was broke, and looked the part, and the grey in my hair wouldn't attract the sickos. I was still cautious though and went to the far end of the bar away from where the gang of five were swilling beer around a pool table. I ordered a cheap draft, and tried to disappear into my collar. The Smile kept looking my way, and I noticed something else - they were drinking out of bottles! I recognized the brand, one that I had once been partial to before the collapse. But this little shack of a bar didn't stock anything in bottles. Then, I began to know fear. The Smile must have sensed that I was ready to bolt, and in a moment, I was surrounded by the whole gang. They laughed and slapped me on the back and told me that it was my lucky night. The Smile stuck another Marlboro between my lips and threw my glass of draft swill against the wall. "You're drinking the good stuff tonight, My friend!" he bellowed. And I did. For hours they clustered around me as the bartender retreated as far as he dared and the other patrons slipped into the night as quickly as they could. I'd been chosen for something, and they didn't want to see what that might be. I was thinking about how hard the morning would be with a cigarette hangover as well as a beer hangover from all that I had been 'encouraged" to consume that night when they dragged me outside. They hustled me off into the empty parking lot that once served the local McDonalds before it went belly-up. I felt my back up against the bricks in the little offset of wall by the old drive-through, firm grips on my arms and shoulders. The Smile did all of the talking. "You've had yourself a pretty good night, haven't you you old f@#k?", he began. "Now, that we've given you a gift, we want one in return. We know who you work for, and you are going to get us into that house. Tomorrow night, you are going to open the latch on that back door by the kitchen, go back to your place, and go to sleep. And, you are going to take a double dose of these to make sure that you are asleep", he whispered, shoving a bottle of pills into my shirt pocket. I slid down the wall to the ground as they released their grip on me and just stared up at them in silence. The Smile continued, " You do as we want, and there will be a bonus for you, more than you make in a year licking their boots. We do our homework, and know what's in that house". He paused, I suppose to give me time to think about it, or reply. I stayed silent. A darkness came into his face then, and knives suddenly glittered in their hands. "You WILL do as we say, or die right now. And you will get it right tomorrow night, or die then. Make your choice", he sneered. I made that choice, and convinced them that I was all for it. Pressing to know what my share might be, and that they wouldn't be stupid enough to kill anyone. In fact, I was so convincing that I became willing. After all, what did I owe to those who stole my labor and felt no guilt that I couldn't survive on the pittance they paid me? Those pills would hide my complicity, and my share would be enough to escape this place and begin again! I went home, slept soundly, and had no hangover in the morning. So here I stand, the latch is popped and I've done my part. But I'm frozen in place, not moving away, not letting things play out. Somehow I know that all of it is a lie, there will be no share for me, and no mercy for those inside. And it is wrong, and it does bother me. I had asked the wrong question when I asked what I owed my employers, I should have asked what is was that I owed to myself. And the answer came to me at once, I owed it to myself not to foul my own life with a crime like this. Not to betray a trust I had earned honestly. Not to allow my circumstance to dictate my morality. Not to fall with empire. No, I would die tonight, but I would do it with an intact soul. And maybe, with a bit of luck, the bottle of pills would take me before the knives. I've secured the latch and written my story on this scrap of paper bag. I know the place to leave it now, may it shed light on the cost of empire gone bad.

Black one sounds best to me.

1971 Chevelle SS convertible, white with black stripes, cruising my road with the top down. Looked and sounded fantastic!

I remember the silver leather ( '78 Vette pacecar, 10th Ann. Trans Am), but I don't recall seeing it in vinyl. I really like the simplicity and originality of this car, and having a 10k standing offer is a great thing for your friend and his family. Good story from all sides. Hope you do get better pics (the paint looks chalky in the shot you posted).

The right plan was the one that made Pontiac a niche brand and dumped all of the FWD appliances - they never belonged at Pontiac anyway. But some pin-headed functionary in the gov't decided that Killing the brand entirely was a bailout condition. Rotten bastard.

No delete option - but very popular mod with GTO owners (for good reason IMO). These cars are so well-loved it's almost pathological, and I'd have another in a heartbeat. GM really wasted alot of goodwill this car and the G8 and Solstice built up. Killing Pontiac was such a bad idea.

Absolutely. This is so simple even a beancounter should get it. And the notion that we all should just accept a stupid way of doing things just because " the market has moved on": or some such drivel is absurd. When you are making the second largest purchase of your life, there is nothing wrong with expecting some personalized service. If you accept less, you are a fool.

That "Corvan" looks pretty solid - can't be many left.

That, my friends, is a problem.

Love the looks of this car, and think a performance variant is a fine idea.

I fully approve!

All the more reason for GM to work harder in this critical segment. In fact, if they screw this up, it threatens the whole company - trucks are crucial.

Well, the two extra doors make it a non-starter for me of course. It also looks very narrow, very tall, and very long - odd proportions. But it does stand out in traffic, not so well as say a Solstice does, but it does stand out. You not like a 4 door go on! The Stood out as a impractical roadster and that is ok in a roadster as something is wrong if it is practical. This is a sports sedan that has to be made to live in a daily enviroment. It also was built to live in and outside the North American market. So what does that mean. Well it means it will be narrower and taller to give comfort but to fit more markets as most other cars already do. Not everyone wants American Bulk. Also the size is key for the 3300 pound weight. GM is now starting to build real Global cars and things will have to change. You can not expect to buld a modern copy of the last Fleetwood and expect people in China and Europe to ever accept it. The car will do well and the headroom will be a plus to most buyers. While the Show Car vehicles GM built like the Camaro,. SSR and Solstic/Sky were fun they were not very good well thought out cars. They played so much to style that they left a lot on the table for people who have to live with them. Even my HHR has blind spots that would scare most that are not used to driving one. I am ok with it but most average buyers would hate them. The A pillar can lose a Mack truck in them. I think the ATS has hit the just right balance for what most buyers want. This is a car for everyone and not just a small segment. If GM every plans to move ahead they have to appeal to most buyers not a chosen retro few. You read far too much into my comments. No, I am just used to you going to unrealistic extremes for the present day market. Oh please, I haven't even edged close to anything like that - only you brought up anything that might belong in that category. Don't be so fast to spin everything into a "GM can do no wrong " diatribe. My even- handed observations were all that I offered here.

Starter is pretty easy, if a bit awkward.

The stacks running through the bed of the first one are... unfortunate.

The proper way to do this is to group line-item options together in logical packages, and then offer them as a reduced cost group. That way, the consumer decides if a package makes sense to them and GM gets real data on what buyers want. Doing this while still offering the options as stand-alone items is the best approach. If "most" people want what is in a package, that package will be popular, if not then it needs to be re-thought. Done properly, this would benefit everyone. EDIT: It is far better to encourage people to do a thing by giving them a reason to do it than it is to force them into it.

Well, the two extra doors make it a non-starter for me of course. It also looks very narrow, very tall, and very long - odd proportions. But it does stand out in traffic, not so well as say a Solstice does, but it does stand out. You not like a 4 door go on! The Stood out as a impractical roadster and that is ok in a roadster as something is wrong if it is practical. This is a sports sedan that has to be made to live in a daily enviroment. It also was built to live in and outside the North American market. So what does that mean. Well it means it will be narrower and taller to give comfort but to fit more markets as most other cars already do. Not everyone wants American Bulk. Also the size is key for the 3300 pound weight. GM is now starting to build real Global cars and things will have to change. You can not expect to buld a modern copy of the last Fleetwood and expect people in China and Europe to ever accept it. The car will do well and the headroom will be a plus to most buyers. While the Show Car vehicles GM built like the Camaro,. SSR and Solstic/Sky were fun they were not very good well thought out cars. They played so much to style that they left a lot on the table for people who have to live with them. Even my HHR has blind spots that would scare most that are not used to driving one. I am ok with it but most average buyers would hate them. The A pillar can lose a Mack truck in them. I think the ATS has hit the just right balance for what most buyers want. This is a car for everyone and not just a small segment. If GM every plans to move ahead they have to appeal to most buyers not a chosen retro few. You read far too much into my comments.

I could see that as it moved down the road.

What got my attention most was the way it moved - you could tell that the suspension/handling was very well sorted just by the way it darted around traffic.

Well, the two extra doors make it a non-starter for me of course. It also looks very narrow, very tall, and very long - odd proportions. But it does stand out in traffic, not so well as say a Solstice does, but it does stand out.

Yes, and that's exactly the wrong strategy in this economic environment. It will just chase customers away. It chased me away from the Avalanche.

My first impressions are these: - It's a bit bigger than I expected. - It sure looks nimble when an impatient driver is behind the wheel. - It's quick off idle.

Really, do tell. Where & when do you see gas prices spiking to in the future? Diesel is still about 75% of it's historical high that I've paid, that's close enough to 'spiked' IMO. • • • Again: substituting structural steel for backup cameras is the WRONG direction to work toward. Half-tons still need to hold up to long-term use above & beyond their spec- thats a key component to how they've earned the loyalty they enjoy. As soon as they become 'powder puff' trucks, there's another domestic segment lost. Absolutely. Take the tough out of trucks and you can kiss the segment goodbye.

Brand-spanky new in silver and boogeying up Rt. 252.

Lots of these. One example would be the 70-72 Chevelle. The base car and Malibu used a rectangular cluster with a long sweep-style speedometer and no gauges - just idiot lights. The SS models had a an available dash cluster with circular gauge openings for all dash instruments.