Robert Hall

Sixty8 waits patiently for response....

*crickets chirping*

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Check back in a year...maybe something then.. :)

So that size in sq. feet measurement is length x width? I would think curb weight would be a better measurement for classifying vehicles, since obesity is one of the big factors in poor gas mileage...

Their Astra and Vectra appear to be based on the previous generation models with some changes.... the Omega appears to be a Commodore. The Montana appears to be a ute version of the Corsa...interesting. I wonder what the Celta is..doesn't look like an Opel or a Daewoo..a .home grown variant? Not sure what the Classic is...

Looks pretty nice...interesting details...the headlight clusters remind me alot of the previous Grand Cherokee.

Hmmm...maybe GM is working on an aggro off-road package for the Colorado. I remember they had something 15-20 years ago with big tires, etc for the S-10...'Baja' or similar?

Damn.....it's good to know there is an Escalade mule running around here :P

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One of the things I do miss about living in Michigan are the mules/prototypes you can see on the roads, day or night...

When I lived in Ann Arbor in the mid-90s I saw all sorts of interesting prototypes around town and on the U of M campus....late at night, I'd see strange prototypes with Mfgr plates outside the main Engineering building...things like undisguised Renault diesel vans (idling in the lot at 2 am), the C5 Corvette (slightly disguised in fall '95), European Fords, etc... not to mention all the cool cars in the Car & Driver and Automobile magazine parking lots.. (I would cruise through C&D's lot off Hogback Rd at least a couple times a month to see what they were testing..)


I do see an occasional prototype doing high-altitude testing here in Colorado occasionally, though--I saw Monaro coupes (and Commodore sedans) 2 years before the GTO came out--crusing through a mall parking lot in broad daylight--with Chevy badges and Michigan mfgr plates, the Nissan Armada 6 months before it came out, an AMG CLS 65 and AMG R-class Merc recently, etc...

Yes.. I know. Read my original post. Toni edited out most of what I said for some reason. But, did you really think I, C&G's Fiero fanatic, wouldn't know that it was mid-engined? :P :lol:

Yeah...I missed your original post (I read the thread from the bottom up...) :)

Wasn't a previous generation years ago of the Equus based on an older Merc E-class? (or was that the Hyundai Chairman..). Yes, Equus means horse...BTW, there was a rather strange movie with this title made in the '70s with Richard Burton.

My favorite Buicks are the first 3 generations of Rivieras---esp. the '63, '66, and '71. Also, the Electras, Invictas/Wildcats, LeSabres from the early to mid '60s, and the early '70s Centurion convertibles...

So if you fill in the rear with a roof, windows, and B-pillar, you should have how the '07 'burban will look... Looks like a clean, modern design without clutter...I like how the front bumper is body color and I assume the grille and headlights will look like the Tahoe spy photo seen here a while back.... (i.e. no more ugly scowling headlights).

Sounds fun... I'm looking forward to Labor Day weekend...getting some beach time in myself--4 days in Hermosa Beach (went to Santa Monica for Labor Day last year).

Corvair was rear-engined... :D Not mid. ;)

The Fiero was mid-engined...

Yes, 2004-> 4 cars, 2006-> 2 cars...not good. 2007? 2008? 2009?

Yea, the Solstice plate mounting looks like a complete afterthought....maybe they should have integrated the turn signals/driving lights into the headlight cluster (or mounted them higher and shaped them differently) so the plate could be on the side (offset license plates have been used on various Pontiacs since the late '60s).

1 ANSWER.

1959.

Beautiful car.

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The '61 -69 SSes, esp. the later SS 396 and SS 427s...definitely exciting cars..muscular land yachts..

(Styling-wise, the '65-66 is probably my favorite--crisp and clean.)

I always like his posts of auto industry news stories in the morning...

I'll stick with Jeeps. Hummers are just overweight, oversized, overstyled nonsense, IMHO. My girlfriend's '02 Wrangler is just fine, but I keep telling her she needs to upgrade to a Rubicon and that I need to update my '00 GC to a new Hemi GC...:)

WTF? Since when do Daimler Benz and VW partner up?  :blink:

WEll, I guess if GM can sell 6-spd autopmatic trans. to Ford and call it a pertnership then why not.

Yeah...strange stuff... I wonder why they don't bring the Sharan here..they probably decided it was too small and lacked sliding doors.

I've never gotten into Christian Rock, but I did hear a CD by a South African Christian band called 'Benjamin's Gate' that I liked..

'Cause they're backwards, eh? Freakin' Hoosiers...

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Huh? What does Indiana have to do with GM Canada?

Thank You - Thats what Ive been talking about. RWD only has FWD by a few decimal points in the lateral G factor. Very few people ever push a car to its max lateral at any kind of speed. Especially the largest percentage of the driving population  ;)

Up here in the North we just cant have all those people in rush hour traffic out there in RWD cars on a snowy morning. We have 5 questionable months. Its hilly, so on and so forth.

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Nahh, they would be fine if they knew how to drive and used snow tires... :) I agree, though, FWD is better for the unskilled masses (driver's ed is a joke in the US)...too many drivers have no idea how to properly drive in foul weather. I used snow tires when I drove in nasty, hilly Ohio winters....makes a big difference.

We have some huge blizzards here in Colorado and the occasional nasty morning commute Oct through April (the biggest snows are in March and April usually). I either avoid going out (work from home) on really bad days or creep along in the SUV in 4WD... (though I inevitably get caught in a blizzard on a Sunday on I-70 coming back from the mountains at least once a year)...

What? My first question-why?? :blink:

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They probably want to have a minivan in the US with minimal investment. After all, neither VW nor Audi have any sort of minivan in their US line...

Their last minivan (for Europe) was a joint venture with Ford (Sharan/Galaxy).... kind of odd to see VW wanting to partner with Chrysler, though, considering how VW and DC are competitors...

Wouldn't any return to the U.S. by Renalut take advantage of the Nissan dealer network?

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Possibly...I'm wondering how they would spin it though...there isn't a gap between Nissan and Infiniti really...maybe bring in some small Renaults and market it as an entry-level brand against Kia or Scion maybe?

The biggest problem for Renault returning to the US is the lousy image their '80s junk had here (Alliance, Encore, Premier, etc)

My preference is RWD for luxury and performance cars and 4WD for SUVs...leave FWD for the mass-market and rental cars. I spent my early years driving in vile Midwestern winters with RWD and snow tires..I had no need for FWD. I'll stick with a BMW (or similar) with RWD and a manual transmission for daily driving in good weather and a 4WD SUV for winter driving (as long as I'm in Colorado--my next move will be to where there is no snow).

I'm just surprised they are moving production of the Saturn Ion.

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i suppose since the next Ion won't have the plastic body parts, they can build it on the same line as the Cobalt (are the G4 and Pursuit are also assembled in Lordstown and exported to Mexico and Canada ?)... I wonder what will become of the Tennessee plant.