Robert Hall

A Cobra like Solstice with the Corvette Z06 drivetrain would be interesting...or how about a hybrid turbodiesel 4cyl for an Sky Greenline?

I had an '06 Grand Prix for 6 days in Oregon last week.... a pain to parallel park (with the high belt line and long overhangs), but very enjoyable on windy country roads...maybe the best handling FWD GM I've had the experience to drive. Excellent foul-weather traction, also (I got stuck in one heck of an ice storm on I-5). Though I thought the interior plastics were a bit cheesy, I thought the ergonomics/layout was excellent--loved the steering wheel and liked the faux-aluminum interior trim. The speedometer was HUGE. I'll be picking up something at Avis at LAX tommorow...maybe another GP, an Impala, or a LaCrosse...

Wow...that is very, very GREEN. As far as green Buicks go, though, a nice dark British racing green or something like the Mustang's Legend Lime could work well on the PA, I think..

Those 17-inch wheels look awfully tiny on the H2....why not some factory 20s or 22s?

I think it was a '76 (rectangular headlights). I'll have to add it to my Netflix queue..pretty good movie, saw it when it was first out.

Much, much, much milder...very sunny here, very little snow (except for a big blizzard once a year, usually in March or April), and very dry.... it was in upper 60s with about 20% humidity and sun last week. It's normally sunny and dry at least 6 days out of every week here.. the cold dampness is what I don't miss about Midwestern winters.

I love the '80s S-class face... the old Benzes with the big grilles just looked so much more imposing and 'get out of my way, Big Dog coming through' in the rear view mirror than today's aero-smooth faces...

Limiting it to cars actually in my budget...and it's hard to limit it to just one, as there are multiple contenders that I find appealing in each segment. Small 2-seater: Miata (the usuable trunk and better interior does it for me) Coupe: GTO or Mustang GT 4 seat convertible: Mustang GT Sedan: Acura TL, Audi A4, BMW 3-series, Lexus IS, or maybe a Caddy CTS Wagon/Hatchback: Audi A4 Avant or Subaru Outback SUV: Jeep Grand Cherokee, BMW X5 or VW Touraeg Van: N/A Truck: N/A Used: Mid '90s NSX, '90s Porsche 911 (993), 2001 or so BMW M5, or an '02 M3..

I definitely prefer urban.....I live in downtown Denver currently. I like suburban also, though. I've done rural--my parents loved it--I hated it...lived 5 miles from the nearest town (and it was a dreadful podunk Ohio town of 250). As a child, it was great, as an adult, I'm bored to death there...(imagine places where driving 20 min. to McDonalds constitutes dining out). My mom and my older brother still live there and love it. It doesn't work for me...(no decent job opportunities for me within 100 miles is a big part of it). I've lived in a small Florida resort town also, which was nicer (Marathon, about 3000 people), but still too small for my tastes... I've also lived in a few smallish (10,000-30000) Ohio towns, a Michigan college town (Ann Arbor), bigger cities (Columbus & Cleveland, Ohio), a really big city (Chicago), suburbia (Phoenix, Colorado Springs) .. I loved living in Chicago, though the climate seriously sucked. There are just so many things about living in a major metro area that I like that I wouldn't want to do without....the shopping opportunities, dining choices (I love to experiment a lot with ethnic cuisine like Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, etc), good bookstores, an international airport, entertainment--going to an occasional NFL/NHL/NBA/pro baseball game, local bands, big-name bands, movies, coffee shops, local brewpubs, a good independent BMW mechanic, etc. I don't want to have to drive 20-40 minutes to get to them either... I'm not sure where my next move will be, though..getting restless..thinking either the Denver suburbs (trade my 1200 sq ft loft up on a nice 3500 sq ft house--both about the same money) or maybe Portland (in the city or a suburb like Beaverton). I wouldn't mind owning a weekend getaway someplace semi-rural, though..I've thought about buying a condo up in the mountains.

It will be interesting to see how GM's stock goes... I have been buying more lately...I have some in my portfolio, along with Ford and DCX. (I like to hedge my bets in the market, so I have stock in a variety of companies in a segment---HP, IBM, Dell, Oracle, Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Sun for example).

Christmas was good..quiet. Spent it with some of my family (mom, sister) and my g/f here in Phoenix. Not a white Christmas..the bad part is that I've been sick since Christmas day...not feeling too great..(nasty cold/sore throat)...just lounging around the pool doing nothing.. No rental car, my sister is shlepping us around in 'Das Boot'--her trusty old Merc S-class. I don't know if I'm sick because I got wet last week in Portland (I was visiting friends there for a few days). Had a Grand Prix rental there... that was a fun trip. Flying out to LA tomorrow to visit friends (and Chrismakkuh w/ my g/f's parents in Redondo Beach), then we are getting some beach time in Pacific Beach, San Diego for New Years weekend then back home to Denver on the 2nd, and back to my American Cube on the 3rd. (don't know what I'll have from Avis at LAX, probably another W)...it's been great taking 2 weeks off, except for being sick..

'Teh' for 'the' and 'the' for 'they' or 'then'. I'm guity of typing faster than I think sometimes...I'm fanatical about spelling and grammar, and usually catch myself, but don't always. At one time, I could type 90wpm--less today. I've found that being a proficient typist has come in handy in my profession (software engineer--where so much of my work is typing in complex code in an editor program).

The high SUV-like H-point (hip point of the seats) was an early marketing point for the 500/Montego, so Ford definitely is playing them up as a car alternative to SUVs... I've gotten so used to driving an SUV that it's really awkward when I drive an old style lower-longer-wider car... I had an '06 Grand Prix as a rental last week--- really bad visibility out the back and rear 3/4s, and trying to parallel park it was a pain--you can't really sense where the edges of the car are..

I've always thought GM tried to get too much functionality on one stalk... I like the DC approach---the stalks in my Jeep GC work quite well...lights on the left stalk, wipers on the right, cruise control on the front of the steering wheel, radio/CD controls on the back of the steering wheel.

Maybe GM needs to go the Scion route (new brand) to attract the kiddies to the dealers...

Maybe GM can do a JV with Toyota on this one.... it could be the basis of a new Pontiac Aztek that GM could peddle to the kiddies...

Yep..visiting family in Phoenix from Xmas eve through Wed then heading to LA to visit friends there and then down to San Diego for New Years..back to Denver on the 2nd. I always enjoy visits to Phoenix...I'm going to turn on the pool heater and go for a swim later...

The '67-70 are my favorites, esp. the '67. crisp and clean...massive and sleek. My favorite GM era of styling and design has be the early '60s to the early '70s..so many beautiful cars during that era--the Riviera, Eldorado, Toronado, and many, many more...

It's been 50s-60s here in Colorado the last few days...took my Jeep to the carwash yesterday for a wash & wax...going to leave it at home and take a cab to the airport tonite, I think..

I was up in Oregon and Washington for about a week visiting friends, sight seeing, etc...interesting place...hadn't been there before.... the coastline is beautiful, the mountains great, waterfalls, gorges, etc... I really like what I've seen of Portland..I stayed in Portland, did a day trip to Seattle, so I saw more of Portland..loved Powell's City of Books (huge bookstore), Thai restuarants, went to a couple jazz clubs, a number of brewpubs, a U2 concert, and got stuck on I-5 in an ice storm...I'll have to go back in the spring or summer to tour wineries in the Willamette valley. Had an '06 GP as a rental from Avis...pretty nice, overall.. I liked the interior layout quite a bit (nice steering wheel, the gauges, HVAC, radio, etc all well-placed...some of the plastics were hard and cheap-looking, though...I liked the faux aluminum trim. It handled pretty well on twisty backroads, maybe the best driving Dubya I've sampled.. great traction in the ice storm as well (it took me 5 hours to go 35 miles on a freeway of terror). Well, I'm off to the Valley of the Sun for Xmas and then on to San Diego for New Years..

I doubt if entry level buyers count # of gears.. :)

Looks good..big improvement over the old G-class, which was pretty dated looking.

Nah, it's because we have a lot of people here that are fit and really into outdoor activities (hiking, biking, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, etc...)

Good point.... my dad always said the best thing about the past is it's gone... I try and live in the present and keep moving forward into the future...

I've had pretty much the same problem off-and-on for the last 4 years...I get a call at least once a month (from different sources) for a Joe Hightower...I usually never answer my cell if I don't recognize the number, and then they leave a voice mail. One caller was a lawyer trying to reach Joe Hightower and he called me three times in the same hour--just couldn't understand that I didn't know Joe and when he irritattedly suggested that I change my number, I suggested that he please go f*ck himself and hung up. :)