Robert Hall

Wow...that is clean. Hopefully it doesn't end up a lowrider or donk.

Saw an uncommon but once common car today--a Ford Tempo, from around 1985. Very clean shape, white 4dr. Haven't seen a Tempo in any shape in years. Saw a Lexus Avalon in traffic...a late model Avalon that someone swapped out the front and rear Toyota badges for Lexus 'L' badges. Strange.

No, but I if had a 3-series I'd want a 6 or V8, and an S-class a V8. I wouldn't want a 4cyl in either model.

Interesting... sounds like they are putting a lot of effort into the NVH of their new 4 cyl engines. I have driven a few recent cars w/ 4cyls that seemed pretty smooth and quiet (Malibu, Fusion, Mazda6 in the last year or so) so I know it's possible...I still can't reconcile 4cyl and a smooth, quiet luxury car in my head, though....

Fore-aft driver's side power seat motor for an '00 Grand Cherokee? J/K..congrats!

Finished my xmas shopping over the weekend (online for family and myself) PetSmart for the dogs' gifts, and mailed all the cards this morning. Made the reservations today for Christmas brunch at a nearby resort, tickets for the symphony for New Years Eve. Work done.

Because not everyone needs or wants a race car. Why is Mercedes offering a 200hp 1.8 Turbo? Well, the 2.0 T hardly makes the ATS a 'race car'..it's still just a 4cyl. and? there is another engine above that. How hard is it to understand Small/Medium/Large and eventually XXL? It will be interesting to see the sales #s for the engine choices in a couple years.

Because not everyone needs or wants a race car. Why is Mercedes offering a 200hp 1.8 Turbo? Well, the 2.0 T hardly makes the ATS a 'race car'..it's still just a 4cyl.

As far as the 2.5 goes, I just don't see the point of offering 2 different 4 cylinder engines in the ATS. As far as the EU market,a diesel is what is needed.

Yes...I'd really like an American RWD fullsize car for my next new car. The Charger and 300 are my only choices, since the Panthers are gone at Ford w/ no replacement and GM is FWD only for larger cars. I like the Charger and 300 quite a bit..the hard choice for me would be the V6 or V8..the V6 w/ 8spd sounds like a great choice for a daily driver.

I like...sounds like something Roger Waters would have written....

So MB is going to be emulating Cadillac then by introducing more FWD models? No....MB has already had FWD models for over a decade...but they are only in the subcompact entry-level niches. All their serious cars remain RWD. I don't see that changing...they aren't going to have a FWD SUV, or a FWD S-class, or a FWD SL. They have FWD where it is appropriate--the bottom end city appliances.

not.going.to.happen. Cadillac needs to be itself and not try and emulate M-B in every detail. Unfortunately, being part of GM means there will be FWD volume models because GM is a mass-market FWD car maker. So Cadillac's product mix is going to be closer to Lexus in the near term than BMW or M-B...

Hmmm...the SAAB cat may have used all 9 lives.

Wow..you actually spelled Mercedes correctly for once. Quite the achievement. And the 125 years is in reference to the company as a whole. A Spark-based Cadillac is inevitable...remember the luxury city car concept that was shown last year?

Sweet...never seen a '74 H/O...saw a white '73 a few years ago at a car show.

Nothing wrong w/ rentals....I've rented a CTS and an STS from the Enterprise store about a mile from my house...

Chrysler was different...by the 60s, they didn't have brand specific engines...they had common corporate engines across the 3-4 brands.

Still seems like vaporware to me, about as unlikely to happen as Aptera was..

I suspect BMW will be (if not already) sharing engines w/ Mini...and their upcoming FWD stuff will share w/ Mini. A big part of the BMW/M-B superiority is the RWD..(M-B only has low-end FWD models, and not in the US yet--unfortunately, both BMW and M-B are going to polluting their lines with FWD inferiority soon..

Well, it's not 1975 anymore...in 2011, GM can't afford to have exclusive engines for Cadillac...unfortunate, but that's just the way it is. At least the ATS will have an exclusive platform for some window of time, and Cadillac still has an exclusive platform in the Sigma. And the Chevy 250 6 was not a 'stovebolt', the Stovebolt was a nickname for the Chevy 6 from a much earlier era.. Still hard for me wrap my head around the idea of a 4cyl Cadillac, but such it is in today's market. I doubt if many potential ATS buyers will remember the FWD/4cyl $h!box Cimmaron.

Classic land yachts...love 'em.

Actually, they probably will..isn't a 4cyl the standard engine in the LaCrosse?

I've been working on my cards this morning...got a company holiday party and dinner to go to later at a resort. Still not really in the Xmas spirit other than putting red and green holiday sweaters on the dogs..

I haven't seen one of those in many, many years...remember car shopping w/ my Dad around 1981 looking at those...