Robert Hall

Aren't the BMW Intelligent Dynamics i products (i3, i8) supposed to have a lot of CF in them?

I could see SAAB as an entry-lux FWD brand for BMW, functioning like Acura, Buick, and Lincoln do today for their owners....

Everything had CB radios as optional in the late '70s....IIRC, my Dad's '79 Lincoln Continental had one..

Nice...don't see these very often in any condition...there are a couple ragged ones I see bombing around occasionally but that's about it. Always liked the proportions of these cars...too bad they didn't do an Eldorado 2dr version..

PSA has JVs already w/ Fiat for MPVs, Mitsubishi for SUVs, and Toyota for minicars..sounds like this could be something like that for unspecified hardware or product.

BMW has plenty of spare cash and really needs a brand that would allow it to sell more small to medium-sized front-wheel drive cars without diluting the brand image of Mini or BMW and without over-crowding the BMW portfolio. Saab could be that brand at a fire sale price, provided BMW presents a solid buisness plan. Medium-sized cars aren't a good fit for Mini and small front-drive cars are a bad fit for BMW. In fact, I don't think BMW is exactly happy about their decision to make the next 1er a front-wheel drive model, only making the choice light of new fuel economy regs. I see your point yet, why not pull a Scion then and have BMW badge their FWD auto's on a new name and sell it through the BMW or mini dealership. They could easily have built a show floor within a showfloor for this market. No differance than a GMC/Buick Dealership or Toyota/Scion dealership. I do not see enough good karma in SAAB to buy it up even at fire sale prices and try to bring it back. I see it as a black hole, but then I coud be wrong. Would not be the first time. SAAB is an existing brand with existing dealers and existing customer base...probably much cheaper to pick up an existing brand than try and create one from scratch...and SAAB has manufacturing facilities and people w/ experience in midsize FWD models.

Sort of an E 'Green Series'. Now what would be interesting would be a E-superlight w/ the AMG drivetrain...2800lbs + 500hp...

Carbon fiber chassis and body, and possbily a fuel cell powertrain. They expect to only make 20,000 globally per year. So it will probably be $150k...back down to earth, we could expect a normal $50k E-class to be 3500-3800lbs or so?

M-B has been working on active suspension for 25 years or more...I remember reading articles on in the late '80s...good stuff.

Saw a red Scion iQ this mornign...strange tiny car. Also saw a very clean pale green w/ black top '74 Olds 98.

Speaking of odd badging, was behind a current style F150 today that had Z71 decals on the rear fenders...

They'd better offer it with a manual...

depends if the new CTS wont be out for five more model years MY 2014, I think..

Nah, Swiss car builder Franco Sbarro...responsible for such wild ideas as these..

Rinspeed always has something wild to show...often as nutty as the concepts from Sbarro...

Hmmmm.....a Mini/SAAB/BMW/Roller range actually sort of make sense...

I just ran the same search for your area within 50, 100, and 200 miles and couldn't replicate the madness I'm seeing out here on the East Coast. What the hell is up with that? I guess dealers out here must be extra-super evil or something. Well, the East Coast has rust, fewer in clean condition (assuming all the pricey ones are very clean). And they are less common (less demand) here (a lot more Hondas and Toyotas in general out here).

Checked AutoTrader locally (Phoenix area): 77k miles, $6999 105k miles, $5100 120k, $3988

Edmunds isn't what I'd exactly call the best pricing source out there. Here are some Auto Trader listings that I searched for within a 300 mile radius of my zip code. I searched for a Chevrolet Cobalt with over 100,000 miles and brought up the highest mileage cars first. Here's what a few dealers are demanding for their high-mileage Cobalts. 2005 Cobalt Sedan, no options, 186,211 miles, $4,500 wig-wams, location: Michigan 2005 Cobalt Sedan, no options, 194,971 miles, $4,988 bucks, location: Kentucky 2005 Cobalt Sedan, no options, 149,518 miles, $9,995 big fat, filthy dollars, location: South Carolina Madness....all are very high mileage for a 7yr old car and outrageous pricing...

Depends if it's miles or KM, but 175k miles is a lot for an '05....Edmunds estimates shows trade in value as US $994, private party price of about $1800, dealer price of about $2700 in 85014. In Canada the numbers would differ, no doubt, eh.

Was sitting at a light and glanced to my right and spotted a dark red Jensen Interceptor coupe and a white British convertible of some sort in a fenced in lot behind a strip joint...

Noticed the front row at the local Chevy store this morning--2 '13 Malibus--one white and one dark red (like the magazine road test cars), a bright red Camaro LS, a black Camaro SS convertible, and a black Volt...

I think they can do it..the current CTS is fundamentally a very good product, and I expect the next one will be also..

I suppose GM just couldn't use the LaCrosse to compete w/ the MKS and ES, which is a more natural competitor for those models than something from Cadillac... True- look at the 'Steering Wheel to A-Pillar Base' of each. The old cab-forward idea which hasn't gone away..unfortunately, with that stubby, sloping hood and lights coming half way up the fender, the XTS nose in profile looks like it was inspired by the Yaris..it needs at least an extra 6 inches of wheelbase, with at least 4 of it ahead of the firewall...111.7 is way too short for a fullsize.

I like these Cruze paint schemes better...it's pretty cool that a Cruze has won the WTCC the last 3 years...