Robert Hall

I said nothing about the poor in those countries. Talking about regulations and mandated safety features. The absence of regulations results in the absence of safety features...

Or a muscle car....sports cars are more about the whole driving experience, not just simple straight line performance (which is such a one-dimensional measurement of performance).

I don't really get the high performance CUV/SUV niche...I'd rather have a Trailhawk over a Trackhawk. I like luxury SUVs with some off road capability...practical, rugged, yet comfortable.

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo S is probably in the same range as the BMWs...3.5/3.8 sec is pretty impressive for 5000-5500lb SUVs/CUVs, though... (it is amusing how 0-60 times in general have changed since I was a teenager in the 80s, thought my 5.0 Mustang w/ 6.2 sec 0-60 was fast then...)

The GC Trackhawk supposedly does 0-60 in 3.5 sec, but it's kind of pointless comparing a performance CUV/SUV with a sports car...different vehicles for different use cases.

Regardless of the invention of such features, without regulations requiring them in the US and other countries, no cars would have such features. Car makers wouldn't add such features without being pushed to do it. The development of ABS and airbags pre-dated their regulation, for example, but without regulation, they weren't being put in cars. Consider markets such as Mexico and India--they generally don't have many safety features, as their markets don't have such regulations (airbags are just now coming to some markets, I believe).

Escapes are popular in Parma...parked in a row of 4 plus one Rogue. The blue one is the restyled 17, I notice they moved the shifter down to the console. When I came out, they were all still there..joined by a black Rougue in the empty spot on the left. It's as if their was a subliminal 'compact CUV parking only' sign...

The Corgi Dual-Ghia I have is 1:43rd. It's an oldie.. somewhere boxed up in my latest shipping Pod w/ a bunch of other '60s Corgis and Dinkys.

I like that 6 series interior...the 6 series Gran Coupe is the best looking of the current 6 series, IMO...I like it's styling over the 5 series or 7 series..

Speaking of 'poop'

Some great choices there, @oldshurst442. I've seen at least one of each of those at Concours and auction events, except for a Dual-Ghia..never seen one, though I have the Corgi die cast. The Iso Grifo and Bizzarinni are incredible in person. Another car I like of a similar vein (European body, American engine) is the Jensen Interceptor...love the big glass rear window on those.

LoL...not heading that far south..staying in Cuyahoga County mostly (not going to East Cleveland), but heading down to the family farm in Tuscarawas County Friday afternoon to visit my brother. (just 89 miles down I-77)

Moi, and with a couple of my furkids. I've taken off about 20 pounds in the last year, need to take off another 40. Spend too much time being sedentary...

Surprised also...it has over 30,000 miles and a Tennessee plate. At Hertz Cleveland Saturday night, beside my name it said 'Five Star' on the Club Gold sign rather than a specific spot like they usually do, in the 'Five Star' row there was 1/2 dozen random vehicles--the Escape, a gray Rogue, and some midsize sedans...I picked the Escape as I wanted to haul a bunch of stuff from Home Depot, etc.

Back in Ohio for another week, another Pod to unpack. My rental car from Hertz for this week is a Ford Escape SE, first time I've driven one of Ford's cute utes. All in all, drives pretty well. Lots of headroom, outward visibility ok (though the rear window is small). There is an odd buzz and vibration when stopped w/ my foot on the brake, goes away when I release the brake.. The cab forward design results in a huge, deep dash and minivan like windshield. The base of the windshield seems so far away. Like the Fusion I drove last year, it has the neat retro center-meeting wipers. A few interior quirks, I found the rear wiper controls incomprehensible at first, couldn't figure out how to turn off the rear wiper (was fine having it on Saturday night when it was pouring, but not yesterday when it was sunny). The power port is on the center console, vertical opening. But there is no cubby nearby for the phone/etc. Unless you put it in a cup holder. There is a small coin-sized cubby beside the power port, managed to wedge my garage door opener there. I later did discover a hidden mesh pocket on the passenger's side of the center console; with a long enough cord I could put a phone there I suppose (but it is invisible to the driver). There is an odd loop in the seatbelt (seen in the attached pic). The shifter is on the center stack, at about 45 degrees to the horizontal, was awkward to find gears (kept going into neutral when I wanted reverse). The radio controls are very far away and nearly on top of the dash (I tend to drive w/ the seat all the way back). Plenty of rear cargo space, loaded up on household stuff at Target and Home Depot yesterday.

I don't think I've ever seen a Cadenza or K900 on the road. Haven't seen an Azera in a long time either..

Something like how Jeep uses the Trailhawk sub-brand for it's trail-rated variants...(now across 4 model lines).

Saw a black Bentley Benyagaga in traffic today, in black...looks like it has a similar greenhouse to the Cayenne and Q7.

Yes, the weird pinched trim floating roof trend where it appears the roof panel and rear quarter are separate. Like on the Maxima, Murano, etc. The XJ just has the rearmost pillar blacked out.

Lexus does have nice interiors, though. It's good you can't see the front end from the driver's seat..

Didn't think of the XJ, kind of different because the chrome side window trim loops around, rather than having a gap that gives the floating appearance with the others.

GMC should create their own styling cues rather than imitating Nissan and Lexus.

That's the Citroen/Nissan/Lexus styling cue I was referring to. Trendy outdated nonsense.

The floating pillar trim styling cue is overdone, looks like a 2015 thing now. First Citroen then Nissan and Lexus, now GMC doing it 3 years too late?

Took a stroll in my office parking garage, spotted a new Equinox. Didn't realize these were out yet. Looks good.