Robert Hall

ichiban

Nice color...if you want to go wild with mods eventually, maybe something like this: or this:

A single national ID for citizens, resident aliens, green card holders, etc would be a step in the right direction. The closest thing to that now is a passport, which a lot of Americans don't have.

The future: Cop: "Papers please" driver: hands over drivers license, registration, birth certificate, passport, etc Cop: "Your papers are not in order"

I've wondered about that angle..I think the problem is there isn't enough volume of legal workers willing to work cheap enough for all the low-end jobs the illegals do...here (in AZ) they have them for the day labor jobs, yard work, fast food restaurants, farm labor, etc. I don't think legal citizens are willing to work 10/hr a day for $1/hr or whatever the illegals get paid. It's a supply and demand thing...employers want an infinite supply of disposable resources to work cheaply and illegals provide that.

Therein lies the problems w/ a law like this---how do the police question people's status w/o the potential of racial or ethnic profiling? Ask everyone they stop regardless of appearance or accent for 'papers, please'...? It's a sticky situation. I was in Target and Wal-Mart here in central Phoenix last night, heard a lot of people speaking Spanish...what percentage are here legally? No idea.

Not very many model-specific emblems anymore..the Mustang, Viper and Corvette are the only current domestic ones I can think of right off...(the Impala doesn't have it's anymore, IIRC).

The stock cars reminds me of something I saw at Target this evening...a Hot Wheels 5 pack w/ an early '80s Grand Prix stock car..don't recall seeing that tooling before. Almost bought it, got distracted and didn't..

Probably 9/11 and the Challenger explosion. Was on vacation in AZ when 9/11 happened, got up in the morning and turned on the TV...was glued to it and the Internet for hours. I was in a high school current events class in Florida and saw the Challenger explosion live on CNN. Will never forget that date since it was on my Mom's birthday. Closer to home, another Big Event I remember from childhood was the Three Mile Island accident. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a big deal also.

Apparently, Buick's last straight 6 of it's own was in 1936...wow...list of GM straight 6s from Wikipedia, don't know how accurate it is: * 1908-1912 Oldsmobile Limited six (acquired as part of the founding of GM) * 1913-1923 Oakland Series 60 six * 1913-1915 Oldsmobile Series 50 six * 1914-1916 Buick Series 50 six * 1916-1923 Buick Series 40 six * 1916-1927 Oldsmobile Series 30 six * 1923-1930 Buick "removable-head" six * 1923-1928 Oakland six * 1926-1927 Pontiac "split-head" six (also modified for GMC Truck models) * 1928–1936 Chevrolet "Stovebolt" six * 1928-1950 Oldsmobile F-Series six (also used in Marquette) * 1928–1954 Pontiac GMR six (also modified for GMC Truck models) * 1930s-1966 Opel OHV six (as used in large Opels like the Kapitän) * 1936–1962 Chevrolet Blue Flame six (also used in some GMC Truck models) * 1939–1962 GMC Truck six * 1948-1985 Holden six (see note below) * 1962–1990s Chevrolet "Generation 3" six * 1963–1969 Pontiac Tempest six (derived from the Chevrolet "Generation 3" six) * 1966–1993 Opel * 1999-present Daewoo XK six (marketed as E-TEC; acquired via GM's purchase of Daewoo Motor) * 2001–2009 GM Atlas six (marketed as Vortec)

I have an affection for straight 6s myself..having had both BMW and Jeep inlines.. Now for some trivia---I know about the Pontiac OHC 6 that lasted through '69, but when did Buick and Olds last have their own straight 6s? Sometime in the '50s?

I was curious when the 250 ended, it looks like 1979 for NA cars, 1984 for NA trucks and vans. But in South America, the Tahoe had it through '99 and the Silverado through '01!!

I wondered about the trucks...I wasn't sure when they went to V6s....if it was '88 or before.

About the only GM vehicles that I recall that went from the inline 6 to a V6 in the same platform were probably the RWD B- bodies and X-bodies...IIRC, Chevy switched from the 6 to the V6 in '80 for Impala and Caprice...and the '78-80 A/G bodies didn't have the straight 6 at all, just V6s, IIRC. Re: the X-body--didn't the RWD Skylark use the Buick V6? Also, the '73-77 A bodies had V6s (some Buicks) and straight 6s.

I'd rather have the 3.6 DOHC DI V6, since it's available in current models. (of course, my daily driver has a 4.0L pushrod straight 6 and my seldom driven fun car has a 5.0 pushrod V8. But most anything new I'd want has a DOHC or SOHC engine...)

Sweet car...love the extra gauges.

The problem with Benzes w/ high miles miles is they often require frequent $1000-2500 or more repairs. Nothing is cheap to fix on them, speaking from experience...(My sister has an '84 500SEL w/ 180k and a '91 300CE w/ 115k in her driveway). The only way I'd buy a used Benz would be a late model CPO w/ under 50k miles and an extended warranty. Buying an older high mileage car, esp. a luxury car, is opening up a world of pain and misery for yourself...something I'd rather avoid.

MY '96 is when the W210 generation E-Class began, the first w/ the 4 oval headlights. They are regarded as the point where MB started cheapening their cars, building to cost. The previous W124 (1984-1995) were still solid tanks. For the S-class, things started going downhill with the 1999 W220, it's predecessor (W140) was over 5000lbs w/ double glazing on the side windows..the last of the overengineered Panzer-class cruisers..

Found myself behind a dark green G6 GTO coupe today. Not a GTP or GXP, but a GTO. Hmmm... Saw a clean red '67 Chevelle 2dr ht on the freeway yesterday. Saw the dark blue w/ white stripes '67 Mustang GT 350 at work again yesterday and today...beautiful car.

A van version w/ a raised roof could make an interesting GM NA competitor for the Transit Connect.

'The price is wrong, Bob'... - Happy Gilmore

If I were buying for myself w/ those as the choices I'd go for a Camaro, since I already have practicality covered.

It will be interesting to see what engines the competitors in the compact super sedan market will have in a few years. Audi currently has a V6 in their S4 IIRC, BMW has a V8 in the M3 but the next will be back to a 6 from what I've read, Merc has a V8 in C-class AMG63, and Lexus currently has a V8 in the IS-F.

I was talking about my coworker that totalled a 3-series, following up to pow's post. Yes, the car in the ad the was a manual.

The Caddy Ecto-1 ambulance looks cool. Most of the Hot Wheels I've found lately have been repaints of existing tools, like the Vega now in white. The last new tool HW I've found was the '71 Maverick Grabber in yellow I found a few weeks ago. I've mostly been collecting GL and M2 diecast this year, w/ selected Matchbox, Hot Wheels,and JLs.