Camino LS6

Trunk's fine, sunroof that is optional on Monaro is available in the US, the rest of that crap doesn't interest me. Real musclecars have 2-doors and a manual trans.

Agreed. That showcar was a stunner. Productioncar a yawner.

I've always found Lexus to be totally unappealing, the brand always seemed somehow... dishonest. Now I'm not much for luxury cars in general, but Lexus would be at the very bottom of my list. I would absolutely choose an Infiniti over the big "L" if I had to stick to Japanese makes. Infiniti always struck me as a brand that had its own identity at least. Lexus always pegged my bull$h! meter in the red zone. The brand is a great Pretender, if it's not pretending to be a Mercedes, it's pretending to not be a Camry. I just can't imagine someone plunking down 40k for this car. My first impression of it is that it's cross-eyed. My second is that it is as bland as a Camry. To each their own, but this does nothing for me.

I admit that the subject matter is only tangent to the topic. However, we are talking about the Ridgeline and this was the first owner's account I've seen that references the real world towing capabilities of Honda's truck. I found it interesting so I posted it.

It did not crash on takeoff. The plane took off from Dover and developed engine trouble, they turned around to go back and crashed short of the runway in a field. Last I heard, all 17 were injured but only 3 remain hospitalized. The plane had a full load of fuel at the time as it was headed for Spain. No fire or explosion due to serious fire-supression systems in the fuel tanks(wings). Damn, 68, I knew what that pic was before I even scrolled down. Strange how a hole in the ground could look so familiar. I believe that flight 93 nosedived, whereas the C5 bumped,bounced and skidded to a halt.

I have been generally pleased with the recent translation from concept to production GM has done, the G6 is a glaring exception. The production cars don't share the perfect proportions and just right lines of the concept at all. The concept is the best looking FWD GM car I have ever seen, the production cars don't even resemble concept IMHO. They are just another OK FWD offering when they should have been a grand slam.

Ugly rice. After seeing the original G6 concept the production cars are soooooo disappointing. This one is worse than anything I've seen from GM lately - NOT the direction Pontiac needs to go. Pontiac needs to have some class and refinement, this thing looks like a clown car.

OH, so the women are to blame. ducking and running

"Sweet dreams and fine machines in pieces on the ground"

It crashed into a field and broke into three pieces. Weird to see such a massive aircraft lying on the ground. No fire, 17 people on board, some injuries.

Excellent piece. Very well balanced and fair, it addressed the problems and the implications of a GM Bankruptcy well. This is by far the best, most honest piece on GM I've seen in a long time. It made the long ignored point of just how significant to the overall economy GM is, and addressed the unsupportable nature of labor costs/benefits in a thoughtful and realistic fashion. It also made clear the reality that GM is truly building cars of great quality. I got the distinct feeling that people will get a new perspective on GM,its cars and its problems from this segment. For such a short segment, it gave an honest, comprehensive and fair overview of the current realities of GM.

Happy Birthday, OCN! You are the lead wit of C&G and I'm happy to be wishing you a good one. Now go out and scare the local Amish. :AH-HA_wink:

Found this on an RV forum: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseacti...0812/page/4.cfm

It's inexcusable for anything that pretends to be an off-roadable truck to burn to the ground because debris got caught around the exhaust. And, being suseptible to destruction by fire due to improper wiring and oil residue from an oil change make me suspect both quality control and engineereing mistakes.

Look! There's a Honda in the driveway! Someone grab the marshmallows.

I'm not loving it - at least in those pics.

Damn! Sorry i missed this one, I knew it halfway through the clue. Some guy in the Midwest (I think) has collected a ton of these cars. Anyone else remember hearing about that? I can't remember where I saw the article.

I had to think this one over for a while before responding. First, I don't believe that GM will ever declare chapter 11. If they did, the initial public reaction would be a near fatal blow as the press would jump all over it. Eventually, it would be seen as a good thing by investor types but GM would be forever marginalized and we would lose so many promising programs that this new ,"healthier" GM would not be recognizable. Second, a prolonged strike by the UAW and subsequent GM bankruptcy would be a suicide move for the UAW. They need to give-in now or be rendered irrellevent permanently. I can't see them being quite that stupid. Third, the impact of a GM bankruptcy would have far-reaching and disasterous effects on the rest of the domestic auto industry and the national economy as a whole. The current administration would realize this too late to be effective in heading-off the damage. They would then proceed to interfere, making matters worse. My conclusion: The UAW needs to realize that the days of the gravy train are long gone and that the best they can hope for is to slow the erosion of their influence and power. They will have to give concessions not only to Delphi, but also to GM,Ford and Chrysler over the coming years in order for the industry as a whole to survive and become competitive once more. Negotiating the rate of implementation of these concessions is where they need to concentrate their efforts now. That and making inroads into organizing the Asian shops in this country - Toyota has the fattest wallet around and they would be target one if I were running the UAW. The unions have to stop

No point in judging it yet, we haven't seen the real Holden let alone the Buick version.

More than any other nation in the world the US is a country on wheels. We have the best and most extensive roadway system and use it to its capacity. We travel all the time for business and pleasure. Our economy is based upon this reality (right or wrong). Even the make-up of our towns and businesses, shopping malls and government installations and most completely, our suburbs Rely on the automobile. These parameters are deeply entrenched and unique in the world. We have no other way to function as a society. We have no effective national public transit system. We have a high standard of living and love our vacations and leisure activities. Think about these points and then try to put the SUV into context. Yes, CAFE changed things dramatically in favor of the SUV craze. When SUVs and trucks really made inroads into the former client base of station wagons and large cars the cars were so heavily impacted by CAFE and other regulations that they simply couldn't do the job any longer. We still wanted to tow our boats, and trailers and a Taurus wagon was never gonna cut it. Then the more financially saavy among us discovered that SUVs fit into the over 8600# truck category for tax write -offs. This accellerated depreciation was intended to benefit those who need these vehicles to make a living but Doctors and lawyers and other professionals discovered that this was a great way to get a huge tax deduction. This, of course, caused SUVs to become more luxurious and expensive which made them even more popular. Additionally, often the only way to get a powerful RWD based V8 powered vehicle for the family was to buy an SUV. And guess what ? We really do want that. My conclusion: SUVs became hugely popular mainly because government regulation led to cars that sucked and cars that sucked led to an SUV/truck boom.

This is an artist's conception of the car Lutz was talking about, or at least the Holden version. Hopefully, the actual car looks considerably better and the Buick version better than that.

I'm fending them off as we speak

This is an artist's conception from an Australian Car Mag. It's the WM or long wheelbase Holden. People who have actually seen the car say that it is pretty accurate. Also that it is Audi-like in many ways, especially the interior.

Pretty cool pics you have there, Lord Viper.

Funny stuff