Robert Hall

I observed a random or not so random pattern today. Beautiful sunny 72F today, so the yard services were out in force...my yard service, the guy across the street's service, and one down the street...3 different companies. All have black double cab 2016-2018 GMC Sierra pickups towing their trailers. All w/ chrome wheels. At least one is a Denali. So I guess black Sierras are the pickup of choice of suburban Cleveland yard service proprietors. (admittedly a small sample size of one street). On the next street over, I spotted another yard service w/ a red 14-15 Silverado...

My favorite of the '72-79 BOF Ford & Mercury midsize models...the '72 Gran Torino Sport..love that roofline and the big grille and bumper. Interesting how much the styling had changed by the end of the run of that generation. Squint and you can see the windshield is still the same (as was the dash and other interior bits). the outside was squared off for '77 when the Torino became the LTD II.

IIRC my Dad's '70s and 80s Continentals/Town Cars had power vent windows in the front doors, but they weren't the pivoting style--little glass triangles that went up and down..rarely used them IIRC as those cars had AC.

Yeah, power windows must have been an option...but that was almost 60 years ago..weird to think of a car with a luxury image w/ manual windows. One thing I've noticed on some photos are two window cranks, and some with no window cranks. I'm guessing the second crank was for the vent windows? Never been in a car w/ a crank for vent windows, used to them being manual, though I've seen some cars with power ones (though not the swivel style). W/o power windows: w/ power windows:

The Challenger Demon with 770 ft/lb of torque gets by with a ZF 8spd auto. As far as aftermarket GM product, the Hennessy Exorcist has a stock 10 spd auto with 800+ ft/lb tq.

As with any appliance, a burnt out motor means it’s time for recycling and replace with a new appliance.

Burnt Telsas usually melt down and aren't reparable, presumably because they are aluminum and the batteries burn pretty fiercely.... As far as that COPO Camaro, would be neat if they could make a street legal version of that car, something like the Hellcat Demon... but with a modern transmission (a 3spd auto wouldn't make sense on the street, it's not 1969).

That's a novelty for drag racing, though...not a real world daily driver type car like the Model S or Taycan.

On my way back from the grocery this morning saw a sharp red w/ white top '62 Catalina convertible backing out of a driveway...rumbled off with a growl. Had big (maybe 20 inch) chrome blingy wheels which seemed out of place w/ the gray haired boomer driving it... Also earlier at the pet supply store saw a row of a dozen or so Mustangs lined up at the distant edge of the parking lot...ranging from a '68 coupe to a current GT350, with several modded Fox and SN95 ones...must have been a car club cruising somewhere..heard them rumbling off as I came out of the store.. At the Dunkin drivethru saw a new Kia Carnival, first I’d seen. Kind of looks like crossover between a minivan and a crossover…

The dash of the last Riv reminds me a bit of the original Riv...it had a prominent console and center stack and leaned back dash, big gauges, etc...

Lucid seems pretty far along with their product..

Anyway, we got pretty thoroughly sidetracked...back to the original topic, it will be interesting to see how Tesla does against larger, established competitors and the plethora of upstarts in the coming years.

My current house is just over 2000 sq ft on 3 levels, and with the finished basement, about 2700 sq ft total over 4 levels. I could do with another 1000 or so sq ft, preferably all on one level. When I bought it 4 1/2 years ago, I hadn't lived in a house w/ stairs in almost 30 years. Stairs not good for knees and hips.

Yeah, I'd love to have a place like that in central Colorado in the mountains...a pipe dream also, but fun to speculate. For the winters, I'd want a few SUVs in the garage. There is another place for sale that popped up in the last year in Colorado on the Front Range w/ a 100 car garage, but the house was huge and horrifically blingy. I'd want something more subdued alpine ski lodge style w/ about 5000sq ft on one story.

If money were no object, I'd live here (https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a36291053/montana-50-car-garage-mansion-for-sale/) and fill that garage w/ a variety of 80s-90s cars and some modern ones, and some older...

Agreed, what's the point in having a luxury car without some excess? Leave the gray plastic despair interiors to the rental cars and econoboxes. These are what I would consider proper luxury interiors, circa 2021....way more welcoming and comfortable looking than a Tesla interior..

Saw a clean CTS4 coupe outside Home Depot. Always liked these funky angular coupes, haven’t seen one in a while.

Listening to one of my favorite electro/synthwave artists, Kavinsky who is French....

The Subaru ad I liked didn't have dogs driving...it was a couple that had a Subaru wagon, got a puppy and showed them w/ the Subaru as the dog aged until the last scene where the dog was a white muzzled senior... hit 'all the feels' as the Gen Zers would say.

I seem to recall reading the Riviera was originally intended to be a Cadillac. (Named LaSalle II?).

Ambitious. I like the plan for a performance Dodge EV car and the return of the fratzog emblem. And the GC 4xe sounds it will be a good product. I notice the 4xe is the first I’ve seen of the upcoming 2 row WL GC, basically looks the same as the current 3 row but with a shorter wheelbase and less rear overhang.

GM is only about profits from trucks and SUVs anymore. I suspect within 5 years the Corvette will be the only car left that they build. The rest of their products will be forgettable trucks, CUVs and SUVs. Speaking of the Telluride, last month when I was at the Jeep dealer I noticed they had 4-5 low mileage Tellurides on the lot. Wonder what the story was with that. Traded on GCs or Durangos?

The ‘63 Riviera was GM’s real response to the Thunderbird by being a unique model like the Thunderbird, IMO. The Starfire and GP were based on existing models (88, Catalina). The Starfire and GP were GMs entrants into the sporty full size bucket seat coupe niche, like the Ford Galaxie XL and Mercury S-55. A non-GM competitor to the Thunderbird was the Studebaker Hawk. Chrysler Corp didn’t really have a unique Thunderbirdish PLC until the Cordoba

I remember Subarus being very popular in Colorado, esp. the Outbacks. I do like some of their commercials, esp. those w/ the dogs...the one with the dog where the ad starts w/ a puppy and ends w/ a senior dog is a tear jerker. I think for a 4x4 wagon, though, I'd be more inclined to look at a Volvo Cross Country (V90 CC). I still think it would be cool if there was a modern Jeep Eagle 4x4 wagon based on the Charger/300 platform...

Went to my office yesterday to meet my team after almost 6 months of working remote...it's a 40 min drive, so I won't be going in often, but maybe once a month or so as needed. The office is downtown Cuyahoga Falls along the river, lots of nice restaurants and brewpubs nearby. While walking to lunch, went past the Clifford Mini Auto Museum--going to have to check it out when I have more time. It's an old gas station and garage that's been made into an automobila museum w/ an Oldsmobile focus--saw a yellow '56 2dr ht and a tan '60 4dr sedan in the bays with the roll up doors open (beautiful summer afternoon). Saw a sharp aqua '67 GTO roll by... also saw a yellow early 50s MG TC being driven. Museum: https://cuyahogafallshistory.com/2013/06/cliffords-mini-auto-museum/