Robert Hall

Oh yeah..took lots of pics... and ate lots of macadamia nuts for snacking...chocolate covered ones... wasabi and terayaki flavored ones.. (my favorite).. and guava chips. (also ingested lots of immodium and pepto-bismol.. Got to catch up on sleep tonight so I can be back to work tommorow.

I like Winding Road (online magazine)...for the print mags, I still subscribe to Car & Driver, Road & Track, and Automobile, with Automobile probably my current favorite....been subscribing to it since it's first issue in the '80s..

My girlfriend, my sister and her boyfriend, and I went to Hawaii for the weekend--flew out of Phoenix Friday morning to Honolulu, came back late last night then my g/f and flew back to Denver this morning..I'm a zombie (less than 3 hrs sleep last night). We went for the Pearl Jam/U2 concert in Aloha stadium--the last show on U2's Vertigo tour...incredible show. Pearl Jam was my favorite 'grunge' band in college and U2 is probably my all-time favorite band (behind Pink Floyd), so it was a very special night. We had an '06 Mustang convertible rental..a bit tight for 4 people, but a lot of fun for driving around the island. There were loads of Dodge Calibers and Saturn Auras (the first I had seen of them on the road--they look great)...rentals I presume, like all the V6 Mustang convertibles.. Crown Vics and Grand Marquis were pretty common also, many with sunroofs (something I've never seen on one on the mainland..) Ate way too much bbq pork, spare ribs, chicken, macaroni salad, Thai, etc. I had never been to Hawaii, but I'm going to have to go back for a week or two eventually...what a beautiful place...the beaches, the mountains, everything so GREEN!!!!

'00 Jeep Grand Cherokee-- since 8/00 '96 BMW M3-- since 6/98 '87 Ford Mustang GT-- since 6/87

Looks great...interesting, I didn't realize there was an Astra sedan. In Europe, I think only recall seeing the hatchbacks...

They'd still be owned by Renault and building 4th generation Alliances and Encores..

I've nearly been hit by phone users that aren't paying attention and drift over into my lane several times.. times like that are when I think 'If I had a rocket launcher..' (to quote a great Bruce Cockburn song) I try and avoid using my phone while driving...limiting its use to quick calls.

Cool pic...looks like an abstract scary green monster (big orange mouth and eyes)..

I couldn't imagine not having one... I've carried one for over a decade now. If I don't want to be reached, I shut off the ringer.. I always carry one when driving since you never know when the car might break down...and with pay phones pretty much gone in many places, a cell is a necessity IMHO...

IS500 would have been a better name, IMHO..but whatever.. I wonder if Infiniti will retaliate with a G35 performance model?

the article posted above said 'soft touch, low-gloss materials'...

That would have been cool if security had come forward and tasered and batoned that dude...

Hmm..what's a 'Winstorm'? The opposite of a 'Failstorm', I presume?

Boxers..

Some guy down the street from my g/fs condo got a 2wd Dakota backwards off the street down a hill and through a fence....driving a 2wd pickup on the snow and ice is insane...

Sweet car..don't see ones of that era in nice shape that often..the '73 was probably the best looking of the '73-77s, great rear end with the relatively small bumper..

I think a lot of people on here still want it to be 1970.. notgoingtohappen.

Yep..got all those..haven't seen the Camaro in purple though..it looks great in black, IMHO. I wonder if they will do a '69 coupe also. Their classic '68 coupe (kind of simplified, but it's one of the original Hot Wheels castings from '68) is back out now also, in black.

True enough..the rear ends are very, very similar, as is the greenhouse...the big styling differences are in the proportions--one a proper RWD and the other an awkward FWDer..

True enough...I was steering my Jeep with the throttle yesterday..kind of fun to drift a 4500 lb SUV when there is no one else around.. More snow here today..18 degrees right now.

Good question..since the 5.3 OHV is being used in the dubyas, it's a possibility for a FWD application..

By the way, Hot Wheels also makes the '70 in orange as well..I've got the new one and the '70 together on my desk at home..

Consumer Reports no doubt helps, what with Lexus' reliability/quality reputation golden and M-B's fecal brown these days...

Cool..I'll try and hit some of the local stores this weekend. Or snag 'em off ebay.

Kind of odd they are announcing it now for 9 months away, since the '07 MY just started...