Robert Hall

I've heard a couple other people rave about Modern Family...I'll have to check it out...about the only sitcom I've watched regularly in recent years is 'Big Bang Theory'. I'm looking forward to '$h! My Dad Says' because, well, it has William Shatner...who makes any show 100% better (like he did w/ Boston Legal).

This weekend I've seen a few interesting cars... an '11 Ford Edge in dark blue, huge new grille.. For oldies--a gorgeous minty silver blue '66 Cadillac Coupe de Ville ht, a minty silver blue w/ white top '73 Monte Carlo w/ rally wheels, and a white w/ white top '72 Lincoln Mk IV in clean shape.

Which may be new territory for Chevy, but VW has been doing that for years with the Jetta (a small, well equipped car that's not cheap and nasty)...and oddly, they have now moved downmarket.

I've thought about trying one of these approaches on my Jeep....but I may just hit eBay for new headlight housings...

2012 Focus is supposed to have at least 2 bodystyles in NA--4 dr sedan and 5dr hatch.

Summer of '84, Port Washington, Ohio. Starting learning to drive around the family farm. Mostly backing in and out of the garages and barn, driving up and down the driveway to get the mail, newspaper, etc., and driving on our dirt well roads. It helped that the driveway is about 7/8 of a mile long and the well roads are over a mile, twisting and turning over the hills (150 acres of land). Had a variety of my parents' cars to practice in-- '84 Lincoln Town Car '84 Ford Escort diesel (learned manual shift with it's 5spd manual) '83 Ford Thunderbird '79 Dodge Power Wagon 4x4 pickup (scary numb steering, but great on the dirt well roads) '69 Ford Mustang Sportsroof '67 and '68 Mercury Cougars (most difficult--manual steering, 3spd manual transmission, manual drum brakes) '61 John Deere tractor.. (great for off roading.. I'd driven the tractor and the various Snapper riding mowers previously, as well as riding my Sears go-kart from age 7 until about 12, and steering in my father's lap when I was 7-8.. Didn't really do much practice during the school year when we are at our Florida house, but plenty in the summers..got my learner's permit the following summer.

Reality: bankruptcy. recession. Those events have slowed product development cycles.

bt's album 'These Hopeful Machines'

The air suspension must have been a weak point on those cars also...I see many of them riding low. There's someone on the westside of Phoenix that has a 1/2 dozen of 'em in his front yard, right off a major street... As for the Concorde, that car sounds like a great buy if everything checks out and the mileage is legit.

Today went to the emissions testing place after work (Jeep passed!), went home through some unfamiliar streets...saw a white 4dr early '60s Mercedes-Benz fintail sedan and a bright purple (!) Alfa Romeo 164 ( the last Alfa model sold in the US in the '90s)...

Toyota. Moving forward. (?)

Fuel economy will likely be the prime criteria in the next decade...power will be less of a concern as vehicles become lighter to meet the new CAFE standards.

Yeah, what's the point otherwise? For example, I'm sure someone in the aftermarket could build a RWD V8 powered Cobalt, but it's still just as irrelevant, since the subject of the thread is GM production engines...

A couple bizzaro sightings today-- A pristine, mint condition--unrestored, I think '82 Cadillac Cimmaron (or was that Cimmaron, by Cadillac? ) A gold Chevy Classic (Malibu from 2 generations back) with a giant aluminum Fast & The Furious wing (as high as the roof) and the Classic badge shortened to read 'CLASS'. Stock wheels, etc. I wonder if the driver realizes that the car makes him look like a complete dork.

LoL. Speaking of more numbers, it seems automatic transmission ratio counts keep going up and up....10 - 15 speeds will likely be here in the next decade. But manual transmission ratios seem stuck at 6.

Not relevant...what counts are production engines.

How effective are the cupholder ergonomics? Are the seats comfortable (I always read that Corvette seats suck).

Never heard of any...do any exist in the wild other than a handful of prototypes?

New for this generation, though. The '09 and '10 were V8 only.

About all I know of Baltimore is from watching The Wire on HBO. Lots of poverty, crime, corruption. But seriously, I was there for a few days in 1997 for a conference at a hotel in the Inner Harbor...took a harbor dinner cruise, went to some bars in Fell's Point. Seemed like some pretty nice areas mixed in w/ sketchy areas, not unlike Cleveland in the '90s that I was pretty familiar with.

5-10 years down the road, w/ higher CAFE standards and higher gas prices, M-B may likely sell both the A- and B-class in the US...maybe GM can respond w/ premium Cadillacs based on the Spark and Aveo. Something to look forward to.

I like the dark gray/titanium wheels and trim look also...even Ford is advertising their V6 Mustang that way...I've seen a great ad w/ a dark gray car w/ darker gray or black wheels. Definitely nicer than chrome wheels, which look out of place on modern cars, IMO.

Ok, change 'my lifetime' to 'last 40 years'..makes the same point...semi-recent history, esp. the last 20...how Mercedes or Cadillac was perceived in markets 50-60 years ago or more isn't relevant. Good question... I assume they are doing them in FWD to get economies of scale by sharing the platform w/ cheaper models (Mini, Smart).

Esp. on Nissan Versas for some reason. Looks better than cheap plastic wheelcovers.

Are you unaware of the AMG models? Among the best luxury sports sedans on the market.