Robert Hall

Back in '02, they were running down the golden path of profit w/ trucks and SUVs, ignoring cars. Lots of woulda, coulda, shoulda...

Of course, with Chrysler, they've had an excellent RWD platform for 5 years now with the LX. GM has poorly utilized the RWD platforms they have left (Sigma and Zeta). They should have had planned and had several Zetas launched here when the platform was first launched in OZ instead of continuing the outdated W-generics.

I picked 1985 because GM still had a wide range of GM RWD models then, including an El Camino...

I'm afraid it will never be 1985 again no matter how much Camino wishes it would be. I on the other hand, want affordable, modern largish 4000lb RWD V8 cars like the Camaro and late G8, regardless of the # of doors, preferably w/ manual transmission available. A civilian version of the Caprice PPV is something I would seriously consider buying. I refuse to be one of the masses and buy FWD when I have no need for FWD.

NOS/NOX/WTF is drag racer stuff...no way would an OEM offer it as a factory option. Not. Going. To. Happen.

Don't forget a Spark SS. And the Regal wouldn't have an 'SS', but instead the GS that's in the works.

Sad. I'll believe in Alpha when I see it..it's still just talk and rumour at this point...

Picked up my rental Sat. morning at Oakland airport, a gold Malibu LT w/ black and gray cloth interior. Put 100 or so miles on it around the Bay area, driving from Oakland airport up to the hotel in Vallejo and over to the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma for Indy Car race yesterday, and up to Sonoma and Napa for some sight-seeing. I had wanted a Charger, but for a free rental, I wasn't going to complain. It was a pleasant and quiet car to drive, the interior materials pretty nice overall (soft touch on some parts of the dash), controls worked well and were intuitive, dash layout easy on the eyes and easy to use, car felt solid and well put together..doors shut w/ a nice solid thunk. It compared quite favorably to the 2 '10 Fusions and '10 Taurus I've driven this year so far. Visibility out was fine. Really the only nit to pick was the headrests, they seemed a bit too firm and lacking in padding. It drove well on a variety of roads, from dirt washboard back roads in the Sonoma area, to winding twisty roads, freeways and the broken, rough freeways of Oakland (parts of 880 were very rough). All in all, a decent rental and more appealing IMO than the last mid or large FWD GM rentals I've driven ('05 Grand Prix and '06 Impala).

A 1917 probably only produced 25hp, though? Couldn't have been much emissions from that..try something from the 60s that made over 300 for comparison.

I'd thought it was a Le Mans when I'd seen it driving around before, white w/ black top, some Cragar mags. But tonight I saw it in a parking lot, and saw the T-37 badge on the decklid. Cool.

Also a white '71 Pontiac T37..I've seen this car around the last couple years, but they recently took off the vinyl top, revealing evil rust around the back window...the car is solid and straight overall, though. Saw a faded but clean lt green '72 Buick Electra 225 4dr ht w/ white vinyl top..have seen this one before from a distance, parked down a side street..saw up close tonight. Also saw an absolutely worn out looking 1st gen CTS--dark gray paint faded out, heavy oxidation, cracked rear bumper cover, scuffed plastic on fascias...

Saw a black Audi A7 on the freeway today...very sharp. First one I've seen, much nicer than the BMW 5-series GT. Approaching from a distance, I first thought it was an A5 Sportback, but no, an A7. With an Arizona plate. Also saw a bright red SEAT Leon..neat looking compact.

I'm sure..coming from Ohio via Rt 22, it's very easy to get the airport. I usually use the Pittsburgh airport over Columbus or Cleveland, about 25 miles closer and easier.

Ouch.. I can get from my Mom's house in Ohio to Pittsburgh airport in about an hour and a half (75 miles approx). One thing I really like about Phoenix is the location of the airport, very central to the metro areaand surrounded by freeways..from home I can be at Sky Harbor in 20 minutes, and w/o traffic in the evening about 15 min. In Denver it took me 30-45 min minimum to get out to DIA which is way out east of the city on the prairie... Phoenix is similar in that respect for road trips to Las Vegas, LA or San Diego...weekend trips to So Cal are very common, though I prefer to fly over than drive..(I worry about reliability across the void when driving cars w/ over 100k miles)

Makes sense... my last similar trip should have taken 4 to 4.9 hrs door to door (Phoenix to OC Airport (John Wayne)) but with the chaos at the rental car counter (took an hour from the time the plane landed until I left the rental garage) plus getting lost, and ultimately taking a very long and slow(but beautiful) route to Dana Point/Capistrano Beach it took almost 6 hrs all in..I could driven from Phoenix to there probably in 8 hrs, but that would involved driving across some hideous, hot desert Alas, I doubt if a high speed rail line will be built from Phoenix to So Cal anytime soon.

I was thinking 500 ( or 400 for that matter) since Phoenix to LA is about 400 miles... 45 min to 1 hr flight "wheels up" to "wheels down" Add: 30 minutes runway taxiing total 1.5 hours at check in, security, and boarding (I'm being charitable here) 30 minutes rental car shuttle + pickup 20 minutes getting from home to Sky Harbor 60 minutes getting from LAX to Santa Monica(again being charitable) Now 800 miles is Phoenix to Oakland/SF area..which I'm flying on Friday..

From what I've heard/read is that a lot of the push for rail is coming from companies that want to move more freight via rails than by trucks and by the green lobbies..i.e. rail is cleaner than air travel and trucks for freight..

I'd say more than 500 miles and air is more time efficient, but that's a small detail.

110 mph isn't 'high speed rail', though. Modern high speed rail outside the US is 250+ mph in places..

It would be nice having high speed rail between Phoenix and Las Vegas, San Diego, LA, etc. But with AZ's red state nature, I doubt it will ever happen. They hate spending money on anything. Though I can see increased rail usage being beneficial in the more compact East Coast and Midwest regions. The interior West and Southwest is so spread out, it's hard to see it being more practical than air travel.

Butt Drugs It's for real!

Interesting. Looks like a brand new 21 yr old truck..wonder what the story is.

Cool..were you out there on vacation? I miss Colorado..got to go back for a long weekend soon.

Hmmm...typos. I-76 runs north/north east of Denver up to Nebraska and I-80. Not south of Denver. Probably heading down to I-70 and out to the mountains for high altitude testing, or down to Colorado Springs to drive up and down Pikes Peak to test brakes.

Maybe....sushi...is made of.. old people!!!!!