Robert Hall

I saw a Ford Mondeo, Ford Lobo (F-series), a Chevy Sonora (Tahoe), Chevy Vectra, Chevy Chevy (Opel Corsa) all in Phoenix this past weekend...all Mexico-plated.

Had a nice quiet 4 day weekend with family in Phoenix..did a lot of nothing...relaxing, playing with the dogs, grilling, getting a lot of pool time (the weather was perfect except for some rain). Found out Thursday afternoon that my company was being sold (2nd time in 2 years), so that was a nice start to the weekend (I'll actually make a few bucks on my stock options that are now 100% vested).

I'm more a map and compass fan myself.. when I'm in a rental car without a compass in an unfamiliar area is when I find myself getting lost. Though I'll probably get a car with a nav system eventually, it's not a selling point for me.

I wouldn't consider the '80 Cutlass (or Regal or Monte Carlo) front end to be significant--just a rather trivial 4-headlight and grille change from '78-79.

'73-74 was the end of 2dr hardtops and '76 were the last 4dr hardtops for GM (B- and C- bodies,the last A-body hardtops were '72)..

Pretty interesting... that would make a good Collectible Automobile magazine article. By the way, where did you find that fake Time magazine cover? I'd love to have that image by itself..

Hmm...one drawback to the demise of rain gutters... I guess rarely ever open my window in the rain (not much rain here), unless I'm at a drivethru, tollbooth, parking garage entrance without an overhang...

Why would someone want that? That would be as retrograde as wanting one with a 4spd automatic..

I doesn't make sense to list the Chery, as it isn't even sold in NA and no one on the board has probably even seen one in person..

midsize FWD family sedans aren't my thing, but if I had to buy one as a commuter car, I'd probably go with the Accord for the V6/6-spd manual availability.. it's interior is pretty nice also, and the reliability record.. I've driven an '05 Accord, ridden in an '06 Passat 2.0T w/ manual (pretty nice), ridden in a couple '06 Camrys (haven't been in a new one yet), and driven rentals of an '05 Malibu, Impala, and Grand Prix.. (while I am a software engineer, I refuse to drive the stereotypical teal green Camry).

Hmmm..Yaristic. Probably the new EU Corolla...likely to be different from the US model.

Wierd..I couldn't find that one in the W3C HTTP protocol specs..

That would be very cool..I'd love to see a CTS-v coupe and convertible. I wonder what engine the next v's will have...

I thought the 400 and 600 coexisted at least one model year. Chrysler did a lot of wierd naming things in the '80s..the Omni/Horizon 2dr hatchbacks got renamed a few times (024 to Charger, TC3 to Turismo to Duster?), and LeBaron was slapped on 27 different cars.. '71-72. Right. The Chrysler Voyager and Prowler also had the strange distinction of a model and name changing brands..not something that happens often...(though other names have been used across brands on totally different cars (and sometimes across totally different companies)--i.e. Calias, Celebrity, Sebring, Caliente, Pacer, Citation, , Phoenix, Challenger, Continental, to name a few..

Speaking of HTTP error codes, two friends got personalized license plates with error codes on them in the last month---one got HTTP405 (Method Not Allowed) for his Focus and another got HTTP410 (Gone) for his 911.

The Electric Company was an educational '70s kid's show on PBS.. and yes, that was Morgan Freeman..I watched this, Sesame Street and the Muppet Show avidly as a kid in mid '70s, before I moved on to prime-time fare such as the Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, and CHiPs..

Another one that is closer to the spirit of the orginal thread was the Dodge Demon, used that name only 2 years before being renamed the Dart Sport.

''68 had the distinction of a name change also, since the '67 was the Corvette Sting Ray, '68 just plain Corvette, and '69 was Corvette Stingray..

How about Stereotypical Indian H1-B Computer Programmer teal green? I know and work with quite a few Indian programmers that drive green Camrys...(or Corollas)...

It's a sub-subcompact truck. Diahatsu makes tiny trucks like that today, I've seen them on college campuses as facilities maintainance vehicles..they drive 'em on the sidewalks..

Hmmm..maybe the Honda 356cc V4 engine in T360 truck (the Ridgeline is not the first Honda truck, by the way).

Maybe something in the Japanese kei class 30 years ago.. or maybe a motorcycle engine?

The '80 Regal and '80 Monte Carlo were like that also..had a unique 4-headlight front end different than '78-79. Of course, back in the '50s-60s cars got heavy facelifts from year to year, and sometimes there were entire designs unique for 1 year--like the '58 Chevy. I'm not sure if I would consider the '63 vette a 1 year design, since the '63-67 was the same overall design--the split window was a different design detail, like the various louvers and hood treatments over the 5 year run...

I read also that it was dark out and the runways were not lighted (which seems surprising to me).

It was sad and hit close to home for me as it was a Delta Comair flight...I used to take the small Delta Comair jets on connecting flights from Cincinatti to Akron several times a year..and my mom still does at least once a year.. I love flying and travel and usually fly at least once every two months or so, but over the last 5 years I've made it a point to try and only take direct flights in the US (I hate layovers) and avoid smaller planes..