Robert Hall

I've read about the Thunderbolt..had a lot of interesting details...fully integrated fenders in an era when cars still had separate fenders...hidden headlights, bottom-breather grille design, retractable roof (I think?)...

Kind of obscure, but these popped in my head from things I've read recently... A well-known 40-something American actor has been a long term owner of a Buick Grand National. It was stolen a few years ago, but recovered I've read. He's famous for his outspoken politics, was once married to a famous musician. Can you name this actor? A well-known 40-something American singer owns a '77 Pontiac Can Am. He has fronted a couple well-known bands, in particular a '90s band associated w/ the 'grunge' Pac NW scene. Can you name this singer? Bonus, easy one: Well-known young singer w/ a modified Caddy CTS-V. Can you name this singer?

Saw a silver Chevy Captiva this morning, first one I'd seen in the wild. In the last week, I've seen two '76-77 Chevelles, both 2drs, both white..one w/ a black vinyl top w/ Rally wheels, the other w/ hubcaps w/ no vinyl top..both in very clean shape...both had stacked rectangular headlights, but different grilles..

Cool...I haven't done any off-pavement driving in ages. I remember thrashing my Jeep around dirt and gravel trails in the Colorado high country about a week after I bought it..got into mud, tree branches, rocks, etc...

GME and GMDAT (or whatever it's called now) has been doing the majority of GM FWD development in recent years, it seems...

The question wrt Opel/Vauxhall in Europe is how is Chevrolet doing in those markets? Since replacing Daewoo in Europe and elsewhere, GM has been pushing Chevrolet to be the global brand (how Opel once was).... GM globally is Chevrolet, with Buick, Opel/Vauxhall and Holden being the middle regional brands, and Cadillac at the top as a regional-trying-to-go-global brand...

Opel = Buick. Got to have Opel to provide Buick w/ models... Nah, that was only for a short time while US manufacturing was set up. Opel is a cesspool of red ink in a dead market. Well, the 2012/2013 Buick line will be 3/5th Opel-derived models..

Interesting...the leaning b-pillar and quarter window shape on the 130 is reminiscent of that on the old business coupes, though I doubt if any resemblance was intentional.

Opel = Buick. Got to have Opel to provide Buick w/ models...

Holden as a brand has only 1 model line that is unique to them, though..the Commodore and it's variations (Calais, Caprice, wagon, ute)...the rest of the Holden line is just rebadged FWD Chevy and Opel models... So what wasn't clear in the article is if GM is considering closing Holden's Aus manufacturing or closing the brand and operations. One scenario I could see is GM replacing the Holden brand in Aus w/ Chevrolet, since the FWD models they have now are just rebadged Chevys (Spark, Barina (Aveo), Cruze, Volt..)

Happy Birthday!

That sounds like the Camry-sized Prius midsizer that is rumored to be coming at the top of the Prius line...

That was a great concept...

Interesting...I thought the Y-platform was revised w/ each generation....just realized, the Corvette is one of the last BOF cars in production..the last US one that I can think of...

Speaking of European Dodge vans, how about this cool UK Dodge Spacevan (Commer) from the '70s?

Nice..haven't found the IROC yet..found the new Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca the other day..

I like Porsche's long-established evolutionary approach to design...why mess with a good thing?

re Davesrs:-true...Chrysler has been a non-player in the biggest, most competitive market niches (compact FWD and midsize FWD) for soooooo long. The Dart should do well in the compact niche, now they need to build something competitive in the midsize niche.. I don't know...interested in seeing where they go next...

It's hard to see what the strategy with Fiat/Dodge/Chrysler is going to be at this point, but it seems like they are moving in the direction of the 3 brands together constituting a full line vertically w/ minimal overlap (plus Ram for trucks and commercial, Jeep for rugged and lux SUVs and some CUVs). I also wonder if there is truth of the rumors of the next gen Challenger becoming a Chrysler Barracuda (!). Speculation: Fiat for subcompact cars and CUVs Dodge for compact and mid-to-large sporty cars, mid-to-large practical sporty CUVs/SUVs Chrysler for mid-to-large entry-lux w/ a minivan

Interesting...seems similar to the thinking behind going to just one minivan. Are there still standalone Dodge/Ram dealers? Around here, there seem to be only combined CJDR dealers...

Some interesting detailing...particularly how the taillights and rear spoiler integrate. Interesting side surfacing as well, this is the first Boxster to not share doors w/ the 911, I think. We be interesting to see how the next Cayman comes out..

Happy Birthday! Have a good one..

That is cool...got to check it out next time I'm over there..

I think you are missing part of the conversation here... The Grand Prix, Regal/Century, Intrigue aren't branded as Impalas and have no effect on Impala sales numbers... but some would argue that all W-bodies are the pretty much the same car. weren't...they are no more. They were all similar cars on the same platform, but agreed, not the same--had cosmetic and mechanical differences. Likewise w/ the ES, Avalon, etc that share a platform w/ the Camry. The Solara was a 2dr Camry (badged as Camry Solara IIRC). Having the Granite and Encore in the same dealership would be no different than the Arcadia and Enclave...

Chevy is the right brand for an xB competitor like this.