Robert Hall

You think $h!boxes like the Volare, Aries, Sundance, Breeze, etc were 'badass'?

Of course, the sheetmetal was completely different...the '70-74 Barracuda/Cuda and Challenger shared the E-platform, but were not badge engineered. Much more different from each other styling-wise than the same era Camaro and Firebird, were, for example.

I never said Plymouth was the midrange brand. It was Plymouth then Dodge then Chrysler. Go back and read what I posted. Plymouth hadn't had any 'bad-assedness' since the early '70s. Dodge was equally 'bad ass' during the muscle car era.

I didn't say Plymouth was. Dodge and Chrysler moved down to cover it after Plymouth was axed.

They need to consult Michael Bay, the king of explosions. The nuke idea really sounds like an idea for a Michael Bay movie w/ Bruce Willis.

I've been obsessing on F1 this year..got back into watching it last season after several years away from it...also been reading about vintage F1 (esp. the late '70s-early '80s turbo era) and watching videos on Motorsport Retro, reading Motorsport magazine, and F1 Racing mag. I was really into F1 as a kid and growing up, drifted away from following it in the mid '90s. Started collecting F1 model kits and diecast lately... Also getting back into following Indy racing, after not paying attention for years..watched the Indy 500 this past weekend, plan to go to the Indy race at Infineon in August. If I could take off the next few weeks and go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 24hrs of LeMans, and British Grand Prix I'd be a very happy camper. I'd like to indulge more in my 1:1 car interests, but that's not practical right now.

The reality is that the 'mainstream' brands now cover a wide swath...I definitely wouldn't label vehicles such as a Mustang GT, Taurus Limited or SHO or Flex as 'basic transportation'. The Taurus Limited is what a Sable would have been in the past, for example. The middle ground has moved down into the mainstream brands (and somewhat up into the premium brands)...GM covers the mainstream with 2 brands now (Chevy and Buick), Ford will w/ one, Chrysler w/ one-- Dodge covers the lower end where Plymouth used to be plus the middle ground. Basically, the Detroit 3 are moving towards the 2 track model (mainstream and premium) that has been successful for the Japanese Big 3.

You mean just the RWD models, I assume...most of Holden's line is FWD generics that are sold elsewhere as Chevys or Opels.

Alfa, Citroen, Peugeot, Renault (though their newer designs aren't as dramatic as the were a few years ago). As far as Holden, I'd like to see more of their RWD product sold here..the G8's run was too short and the Caprice PPV hasn't materialized yet.

Thanks for the review. My 2010 Taurus brochures came in the mail today. Maybe I can rent one on one of my weekend trips this summer.

Nifty

That sucks. I had a small storage area in an apartment building I lived in for a couple years in grad school..was in a locked room in a basement, the individual storage spaces had plywood doors w/ locks. Someone ripped off all the doors. Checked mine, a few random things were missing, but nothing really of value. Strangely, in the one next to mine, there was a rusty straight 6 engine block. One of my neighbors must have been a gearhead. Since then, I've had secured, climate controlled storage units (Public Storage, Security Self Storage) w/ no problems.

Don't have much installed yet on my new Dell Studio laptop.

True..I wouldn't go 2 miles for a high mileage FWD compact like that, but it takes all kinds..

Sounds like you had fun...yeah, I-70 is an adventure...I've driven that stretch from Denver out to the Breckenridge/Vail/Copper Mountain area and back probably 100 times since 1997, in all sorts of weather...some of those grades are very scary, in dry or icy or snowy conditions. Further west on I-70, what did you think of the Glenwood Canyon stretch?

Saw a clean white '60 Buick LeSabre 4dr sedan in a carport w/ the rear axle off and the rear propped up about 4 feet in the air. I've seen this car for a while, was sitting on the street in front of it's house previously.

drowning

Anyone on here familiar w/ Infineon (Sears Point) raceway in Nor Cal? What turns are best for seating? Thinking about going to the Indy Car race there in August.

I went to a concert Saturday night, but it was a pretty mellow affair..a band w/ 3 famous singer/songwriters (one a great guitarist). All over age 60

Well, it was a 2010 w/ about 2000 miles. No noticable scratches or dents. I'm sure...I'm just not used to driving something that stripped down. Good thing it had A/C and the mirrors were in usable positions.

One of the better I've heard in person was a '66 Ford GT40 race car. Hearing the 427 fire up w/ the engine cover open whilst standing a foot from it was quite the aural experience. The sounds of a Ferrari F360 engine echoing off ancient stone walls in Milan 6 years ago was quite impressive also IIRC.

Looks like fun..Ohio River? About 15 years ago, I did a fun summer day trip on Rt 7 along the river in my Mustang, drove from Steubenville, Oh (my childhood home town) to Chesapeake, Oh....

Stayed at home today and watched 3 auto races (Turkish GP, Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600)..didn't go out. But last night went to a concert and saw a sharp white w/ wood grain '90s Roadmaster wagon in very clean shape, w/ a set of 16" chrome TTs..

One thing I did years ago that I'll never do again is an alone overnight drive...too dangerous. Left Denver at about 7pm, got into Phoenix about 9am, w/ a few stops. Nearly fell asleep on I-40 in NM.

Rented a truck today from U-Haul, drove 12 miles around town moving some furniture to the storage unit. Was going to rent a van, but was concerned it wouldn't clear going into the underground storage unit facility entrance (7' 6") Driving impressions--smooth, quiet around town. 1st time I've driven a full size pickup in years. Plenty of space in the bed. Forgot that Ford did away w/ the quarter windows and rear-opening doors on the regular cab w/ the last restyle. Huge C-pillars, slight blind spot in backing up. The tailgate when open must be 3 feet off the ground, had to use a stepladder when getting in and out of the bed loading sofas, coffee tables, etc. Ultra basic in the XL trim level--manual seat, manual windows, fixed side mirrors, manual door locks, rubber floor mat. Haven't driven something this basic in many years. Quaint. The dash design (rock hard plastics) is pretty unpleasant to look at--lots of rectangles and circles, in about 5 shades of gray w/ lots of cut lines and separate pieces. I'm sure it would look better in Lariat or King Ranch trim, but it's a very busy design. I think the current GM and Dodge dash designs are nicer, even in base form. But it does have a lot of useful cubby holes, incl. something that looks like a built in ashtray below one of the dash vents.