Robert Hall

I remember the 3 years I went to the Detroit Auto Show it was fun..'95,'96,'97. Lots of changes since then in cars.

Sad..so the same all FWD $h! is happening in OZ also...

I couldn't go for a truck..I just don't need one.. but I do like SUVs, not weak FWD-based CUVs or truck based ones, but pure SUVs like the good Jeeps and a few others.. (though I do find the Ford Raptor strangely appealing)

That is a seriously cool design, even it is FWD.. As far as RWD, it's so frustrating that Australia and the Middle East markets get so many great GM V8 RWD bodystyles and we get zilch..sadly, we are now the land of the vanilla FWD sedan. What happened? America once led the world in V8 RWD cars.

V8 available, RWD, preferably over 4000lbs. It's a small niche from Detroit..about the only '11s that fit that bill are the Challenger, Charger, and 300C. I'd consider those, along with the Grand Cherokee, Mustang, Camaro and CTS. That's about it. For used, I'd consider Panthers. It's nice not having a car payment and my Jeep still makes the 50 mile daily commute w/ 125k, but sooner or later I'm going to need a new(er) car..

Rolling down the freeway this morning, right around sunrise, I see a white Impala 6-8 car lengths ahead of me, in my lane. As I get closer, I notice it seems oddly narrow. Then I get closer, and notice it's missing the gold bowtie, but has a blue emblem instead. A blue oval. D'oh. Turns out to be a current gen Focus sedan. Anyone else have a moment like this, confuse two different, unrelated models that up close really seem to be nothing alike, but from a distance.... similar taillights, decklid, fascia..

I see nothing wrong w/ the new Passat design..it's clean and simple, nothing overdone. The Camry is just plain ugly from some angles, esp. the vile grilles and bulging lights.

So the GMC Granite concept from last year didn't show up again? I guess that is a dead end.

Thanks for the write up..wish I had been there...looking forward to seeing the 300C and Charger in person. I saw the 200 at our local new car show a couple of months ago, really, really like the new GC..love the Challenger. I'm glad some people take pics at shows, I quit taking pics at car shows years ago, it's just too tedious and I don't enjoy looking at cars as much when I'm taking pics.

Admittedly, the only other FWD cars I've driven in the last 5 years (rentals) were a couple Impalas, a Grand Prix, a couple of current-gen Malibus, a couple of current-gen Fusions (which irritate me w/ their annoying distorted rear view mirrors), a previous gen Sonata, and a couple Cobalts. The other recent Fords I've driven (rentals) are Grand Marquis' and Town Cars. Old-school, but I like them for their RWD/V8 nature, size, great outward visibility (esp. the GM) and comfort. The downside is the stuck-in-the-90s cabin tech, an area where the Taurus was a great improvement. The rearward visibility out of the Taurus was bad compared to the GM.

IIRC, Ford tried selling the oval wierd Taurus from 1996 or so in Australia..it was a dud. Oddly, the '10 Taurus is the only FWD car I've really enjoyed driving in recent years...and I'm a staunch RWD fan. Maybe it was partially because I liked the interior so much..

Happy Birthday! Supposed to be in the 70s here this weekend...sounds like the East Coast is getting no break from the snow and cold.

Saw a really clean '65 Mercury Park Lane 2dr ht this morning. White w/ black roof, dark blue interior.

Random anecdote: A former manager of mine recently moved from Phoenix to Adelaide, went from a Prius and Matrix here to a used Camry and Hilux pickup there. Was recently tweeting about being surprised at how popular Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons seem to be...

Interesting..how is the FG attached to the birdcage? Bolted? On a coupe, does the 'b-pillar' part of the birdcage loop over and connect together? (i.e. is there any metal under the 'targa bar' of a '68-82 behind the T-tops?)

Durango? C-Maxes? Any of the police car concepts there (Caprice PPV, Taurus Interceptor, etc)? Detail pics would be neat of them if they are there...

Looks like an interesting site...will have to take some time to check it out thoroughly.

They should stand for cylinder count...like 2 for a 4cyl, 3 for a V6, 4 for a V8. Maybe in the '60s-70s, it was to separate the B-bodies (LeSabre) from the C-bodies (Electras) ?

Hadn't heard about an RS trim...what distinguishes it from a regular LTZ?

It's a step up from the Cruze LTZ, so it's niche is for people that want a fancier, more powerful Cruze..sort of where the 2012 Mercury Tracer was supposed to be relative to the Focus had it and Mercury not been cancelled. I suppose Chrysler will have an equivalent model from whatever it replaces the Caliber with. The name makes me think of Nissans and suburban subdivisions (there is a subdivision out here called Verrado). Not sure if their past compact names would have worked, though...Somerset maybe...Skylark, Special and Skyhawk sound dated...Century was a good midsize name that could have worked.

I've been very happy w/ my Dell Studio XPS. Love the backlit keys and battery life. Running 64bit Win 7 Pro...it's a great general purpose around the house laptop and also a developer machine...I'm enjoying it for development as much as my old Mac Book Pro. It's my 3rd Dell (have had a couple Inspirons). Only drawbacks are the heft and the glossy black lid that gets covered w/ fingerprints, etc. Another current laptop I like is my sister's new Toshiba Satellite Pro, I've used it a bit, seems quite nice also. She also has a 2006 vintage Satellite that still works great, albeit slower. I've had a couple Toshiba Satellites in the past (1995 and 2007 vintage) w/ mixed results.

On the subject of full size SUVs vs. full size CUVs, I'm wondering where Ford is thinking of going w/ the next Expedition...the Flex hasn't really been a big hit, maybe they are thinking of replacing it with a more SUV looking CUV to also replace the Expedition? Kind of how they replaced the Explorer w/ an SUV-looking CUV...

Inevitable, though...can't meet the CAFE regs by building 6000lb SUVs that get 15 mpg..

That would make sense, the Suburban isn't going anywhere..but I could likewise see the Traverse replacing the Tahoe.

I wonder if Cadillac plans to introduce a Lambda based CUV, either to replace the Escalade or to supplement it...