Robert Hall
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Everything posted by Robert Hall
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I'm not sure if they need another brand..they just need to bring more A-class and B-class variants to the US if they want to cover the entry level market. Outside the US, they have long been a broad-spectrum car maker from A-class to S-class and beyond, and then they have the whole range of commercial truck and bus models... -
How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
Reminds me of my family a bit..everyone liked to drive w/ a stick shift...my Mom even drove cars with manual steering, manual brakes and manual shift often well into the 1980s... my sister had multiple cars with manuals--3 Datsun/Nissan Zs, and a SAAB 900 Turbo...my Dad, brother and I have all had many cars w/ manuals, fun ones and practical ones.. -
How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
I had a professor in college at Kent State that drove a real Cobra occasionally... a 1967 427 Cobra, dark green, CSX number PI..Dr. Kenneth Batcher, creator of the Batcher sort algorithm...looked like a thinner Santa Claus w/ big white beard, former Goodyear Aerospace researcher. He had bought the Cobra new when he was a young PhD. When I was at KSU in the early 90s he usually drove a black mid 80s Crown Vic, but often drove the Cobra...would see it sitting in the lot near the Computer Science labs, with a fair bit of patina...wonder where it is now... -
The main reason I left was during the early '00s tech downturn was the job market seemed too thin compared to Denver and Boulder in the high tech field...so much of the CS job market is dominated by DoD and military-related work. It's cheaper than the Denver area, and all the amenities of Denver are only an hour away... it's a pretty conservative area politically, but with a strong hippie/leftie angle in Manitou Springs that gives it that funky Colorado mountain town feel... The close proximity to the mountains was always a plus for me..
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I miss my pool..weeks like this I would get in it in the evening for a couple hours every night....Colorado Springs has a great climate, IMO..big spring and late fall snows, but dry and sunny...I lived there 5 years, '97-02, then Denver from '02-08.
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I liked my sister's old Benzes, even though they were high mileage money pits. When they were in good running order, they had a bank vault solidity about them.. Of today's Benzes, the only ones I really like styling-wise are the CLS and AMG GT coupe. Maybe they should buy the Chrysler brands from FCA---have the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and RAM brands below M-B...wait, they already tried that...
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How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
The Challenger has the most appeal to me of any of the 3 Detroit 'pony' cars.. I don't care if it's the oldest or the worst handling of the 3, something about the combination of retro-modern '70s styling and the size and heft deeply appeal to me...I think in 3 years for my turning-50 midlife crisis, I will have to get one....SRT 392 w/ a manual, ideally in dark brown w/ a tan/brown interior.. -
I've been listening to Pink Floyd's 'The Division Bell' over and over the last few days in the car....this was my favorite album in the mid 90s, it just hits all the right notes for me. Tracks like 'Coming Back to Life' and 'High Hopes' fit my mood currently so well...
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I did 9 years in Arizona, 9 years too many....too many months where the average day is over 100F, too many days of hazy silver skies, dust everywhere, endless beige. Some great scenery in the touristy areas and up north (I like Flagstaff, Jerome and Prescott in particular), great restaurant scene in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe, solid tech job market, but ultimately too many negatives for me. And the old it's a 'dry heat' thing gets old--an oven is a dry heat also..try sticking your head in an oven for 6 months...one good thing is I should be able to get a good price for my house there when I sell it. I'm happy being back in the Great Lakes region..72 and sunny today, went out twice today w/ the windows down and sunroof open..I think in my heart I'm a cold weather person...the triple digit heat just totally saps my energy and is very depressing/demotivating.
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The 370 is kind of a forgotten sports car...I think I've only seen one in the last 6 months, not in Arizona but here in NE Ohio..was bluish-purple and modified w/ a flared fender Liberty Walk or Rocket Bunny style body kit and huge rear wing,...
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Cadillac News: 2018 Cadillac XTS Puts on A CT6 Face
Robert Hall replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
The styling has grown on me..I like the fastback roofline, at first thought the nose was too tall and stubby. -
It does seem odd to do a 2nd sedan off the A-class platform, unless the distinction is that the CLA is the 4dr 'coupe' and the new sedan will be more sedanish--more upright and have framed door glass...
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Cadillac News: Spying: Cadillac CT6 Gets Some Escala
Robert Hall replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
Perhaps through data mining Google Analytics and search traffic.. -
How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
I have ridden in a couple of the current Mustangs, haven't driven one yet..the odd thing to me is they seem big on the outside--about as big as my '69--but the interior seems very tight, smaller than my '87... -
How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
The poor outward visibility kind of kills the Camaro for me...feels like being in a pill box, and my head touches the headliner. I like the new Mustang a lot, but of the 3, the Challenger really appeals to me the most..it's the '70s styling and heftiness that appeal to me... -
How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
As an aside, it is funny how you get familiar with a particular model or brand's controls then when you change cars or in a rental it takes time to get used to them....muscle memory and all that. After 2 months, I'm still hunting for the missing right stalk and missing center console parking brake in my '14 JGC. My '00 JGC had all the lighting features on the left stalk, all the wiper ones on the right stalk, and a center console parking brake. The '14 has a dash knob for lighting, a stalk on the left w/ wiper functions, and foot operated parking brake... all locations that show M-Bs influence on the WK2, I think. -
How do you separate preference from bias?
Robert Hall replied to A Horse With No Name's topic in The Lounge
I grew up in a Ford family, my first 3 cars were all Ford products...but from an early age I had an awareness of other car makers, from reading Car & Driver, Road & Track, Motor Trend, etc, and interest in a variety of cars internationally, through my fascination with model cars and die cast. My older brother was into Chevys and Pontiacs also besides Fords, and my sister's first car was also Ford but once she got out on her own got into Datsuns and later other imports. I'd consider another Ford at some point, but am happy w/ Jeeps for now. As far as hating on brands or disliking them, there are brands I've disliked or perhaps not been attracted to, but never something I would consider as strong as 'hate'...I save those stronger emotions for more important matters. -
Saw a clean '68-69 Skylark 2dr sedan in silver blue w/ a white top, Buick road wheels on I-77 in Canton, OH. in a yard off of I-77 near Strasburg, OH I saw what appeared to be a '68 Satellite or Belvedere 4dr or wagon converted into an El Camino type thingy...was matte black..
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Random anecdotal stuff...I have a buddy I worked with a few years ago, he's a young 'un (35)--when I started working w/ him he drove a late '00s Hyundai Sonata...it got totaled in front of the office, he replaced it in '14 w/ a Veloster...caught up w/ him about a month ago, had nothing but trouble w/ it over the last 3 years..recently traded it on...a '17 GMC Acadia (has 2 kids now)..
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Heh-heh.. I'll be wintering here in Cleveland for the foreseeable future, since I'm (almost) done with Arizona. Maybe in 20 years or so when I retire, I'll be wintering in the Florida Keys (where I spent my teenage years).
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Since I've already had a couple Mustang coupes (notchback and hatchback), if I got another Mustang I'd want a convertible. Convertibles are for summer fun (winter fun in AZ), so practical concerns go out the window..
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Ultimate Dream Garage: $100K Ceiling Toy Edition
Robert Hall replied to Frisky Dingo's topic in The Lounge
Hmmm...ok, 5 off the top of my head. All in stock form, but with modern tires. For twisty Ohio backroad fun: '90s Acura NSX. '90s Porsche 911 993...any spec--base, S, Turbo... For classic land yachting: '69-70 Ford XL coupe or convertible '71 Buick Riviera '71 Ford LTD 2dr ht or convertible
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I also had to put a county number sticker on the front and back plate. IIRC Oregon or Washington has something similar to that..I recall noticing stickers on the front plate when I was up there a few years back..
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Oh yeah..and the plate frame on the rear. The red on the frame has faded to pink over the last 18 months in the vile AZ sun.. On my Jeep, I didn't put the rear chrome metal plate from the AZ Jeep dealer on w/ the Ohio plate--- bottom of it covered over the registration stickers--completely! (AZ puts it's stickers in the top right, Ohio bottom left and bottom right).
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Arizona doesn't require a plate, so the Jeep dealer in Phoenix didn't add one. Funny thing is my sister's Trax came from a Phoenix Chevy dealer, and they had added a front bracket w/ a dealer logo plate.
