Robert Hall

Good point. Even more recently, this engine makes more power and torque than any of GM's short-lived Atlas family of truck and SUV engines.

Hmmm...well, the 5.3 is pushrod..can't imagine making a pushrod 4cyl in 2018, but stranger things have happened...

On the way to dinner, saw a sharp dark green '69 Camaro Z-28 w/ white stripes and a black vinyl top. On the way home, saw a turquoise '66 Pontiac full size nose peeking out between a hedge and van in a driveway...that's all could see from the road; bumper/grille and front fender and hood looked nice and shiny... Got home, walking in the back yard w/ my dogs and see my next door neighbor in his backyard applying bondo to the rear quarter panel of his daughter's wrecked Jeep Compass with a trowel... hope it dries fast, looks like rain..

I think that was the JDM spec, US were a bit less power. I drove an Integra Type R once and rode in an S2000 once, those were fun little cars.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_K_engine Somehow I suspect in a 5000lb truck w/ an automatic a turbo 4 won't have to rev quite that high for power... So I wonder if this is of the same engine family as the 2.0T that's used in so many GMs, or something new for truck applications?

Not a turbo, but the old VTEC K20A series engine had a 8400 rpm redline and max power at 8000 rpm. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/vtec-just-kicked-in-yo

That's what it looks like..standard engine for two trim levels.

Spent the morning down in Kent, wandering around my old school campus and the downtown...a lot has changed in the 25-30 years since I was a student there. Campus looks great, lots of new buildings and ongoing construction. Saw a few interesting cars---a new Regal Tour X at a gas station in a dark red, a bright red Solstice w/ top down, a black w/ black wheels C7 Z06 w/ personalized license plate 'CTHULHU' (great HP Lovecraft reference for an evil looking Vette). The most interesting car sighting, though was while I was walking downtown..very quiet on a Friday morning in a college town between semesters--no one around...so I hear this very loud rumble coming down a street to my right--a noise bouncing off the old brick buildings--sounded like a freaking Pro Stock drag car idling---a loud, raucous rumble w/ crackling...what can it be....when appears a very clean black mid '90s Buick Roadmaster...looked stock, though had big rear tires and deep black steel wheels with tiny chrome center caps. I wonder what was under the hood...seemed very unseemly and out of place for a grandpa car..

Wow..a 2.7..thats a big 4. More power and torque than Chevy V8s had 30 years ago.

Couldn't get away with that here..Ohio always tickets for non-compliance w/ plate laws..

I thought about doing that with my Jeep last year when I moved to Ohio, since it didn't have a front license plate bracket. But it didn't have the optional tow hooks either, so I didn't want to have to drill or anything so I went with the OEM plate bracket..

31 states require 2 plates. Oddly, Ohio is a 2 plate state, yet is surrounded by 1 plate states. Only 13 states allow one only, I've lived in 3 of them.

I'd go for the offset license plate mount in the tow hook hole.

Like w/ tow hooks on SUVs, never know when you might be in a sticky situation and need to get a pull out.. get stuck in a muddy ditch, off the road in a blizzard, etc.

That would be a good place to mount a license plate. I've seen kits w/ license plate mounts that screw into a tow hook hole.

At least not wrapped around a tree.....probably 75% of these will be stored away as collectors items, the remainder crashed within an hour of purchase.

^ its weird but I kinda like it (and it's brown). Imagine what a production normalized pickup sedan could be like...(they were a thing in Brazil for decades). Here's some funky '60 Brazilian Ford pickup based ones... http://www.curbsideclassic.com/cc-global/cc-global-the-brazilian-ford-truck-sedans-how-about-an-escalade-sedan/

Yep...I think I saw this same car in Scottsdale a couple years ago...looks well built.

Saw this 1st gen Corvair convertible at the tire store earlier today..

Neat..those old trucks have a lot of charm...'64-66 looks like. May have a V6.

How about a Ram based sedan? Truck based sedans or SUV based sedans are clearly the next niche to be exploited, with traditional sedans going away.. https://www.carscoops.com/2018/05/aznom-atulux-coachbuilt-ram-doesnt-know-truck-suv-sedan/

I'm really surprised they haven't released Hybrid versions of the CR-V and Pilot yet..

^ So instead of 'rollin' coal', red Super Duty man is 'rollin' poles'....

Ya..been there done that... when I was a teenager in S. Florida in the late 80s, alcohol was easy to come by, along with much stronger recreational products. Flash forward 30 years, I do enjoy a good microbrew or glass of wine w/ dinner. I've been enjoying checking out NE Ohio's brewery/brewpub scene and doing winery tours of Ohio's wine regions over the last year...

I have dabbled in fantasy football w/ coworkers some years ago, but I found it was too time consuming and tedious if you really commit to it. I have been playing fantasy F1 for 15 years or so, though..it's pretty low effort.

They are good... I used to like the Bellagio buffet. Digression--as far as music, the Rolling Stones at the MGM Grand, U2 at the MGM Grand, and Prince's 'Club 3121' at the Rio were some of the best concerts I went to in the '00s... Though this is an unrelated tangent, my favorite concert of that decade was probably David Gilmour at the Gibson Amphitheatre in '04 (a venue in Studio City, LA that no longer exists--was razed to put in Harry Potter crap a few years ago), though his later show at the Hollywood Bowl was fantastic also.... concerts could be a fun thread all of it's own.