Robert Hall

Looks faithful to the concept that was at one of the autoshows last year. Interesting the change from vertical to horizontal taillights after 3 generations. The taillights and chrome bar give the rear a strong Toyota vibe, unfortunately.

screaming (as in some days I just want to run screaming from work)

Gather all the parts for a particular car through various companies and put them in a big box, it would be like a metal body 1:1 scale model kit

Found this.. Cars Inc makes a '55 Chevy convertible body... 55 Chevy body Here's Dynacorn's list of GM bodies they offer.. Dynacorn No '80s Cavalier bodies that I can find yet.

ribs (I be grillin' some pork short ribs right now on tha Webah)

Cool name for a hardware architecture...'magny cours' like the French F1 circuit.

Probably a bad sound card.

hunger

I think all '55-57 Chevies have the same wheelbase, regardless of bodystyle. I wonder if Dynacorn or one of the others will make repro bodies for '55s..I think they are making '57 convertibles now.

Interesting how certain interior elements (the center stack and vent shape/placement, gauge pod, steering wheel) seem to be showing up on many different new GM models..

Ya. 6th gen Jetta coming for '11, supposedly not a 'Golf w/ a trunk' anymore..

The AMT '55 Chevy Nomad 1:25th scale model kit has parts to convert it into an El Camino style pickup. I built one that way once, makes a very nice looking El Camino...

A couple of the worst home-brew car-pickup conversions I've seen were genuine 'Keys Cruisers' (got their picture in the Saturday Keynoter newspaper in the Florida Keys)---a '72 Torino wagon that had been converted into a rusty 2dr convertible pickup w/ flat bed and a '73 or so Mercury Colony Park wagon that had been made into a 4dr pickup (the rear roof area cut off, sawed through D-pillars still sticking up a few inches)..

That reminds me, I saw a dark gold base '90 2dr Lumina (gray egg crate style grille) in really clean condition recently. Not something you see very often in any condition.

The Magnum would be a natural for conversion into an El Camino style vehicle. I plan to do that eventually w/ a Revell 1:25th scale model kit. An El Camino based off the last W- Monte Carlo could have been interesting..

Ya...driving in E/NE Ohio (6 winters) and SE Michigan (3 winters) really prepared me for winter driving. And most of the Ohio winters were in RWD cars w/ snow tires. The 12 years of Colorado winters in SUVs were mild by comparison (lots of snow, but much less of the sleet, freezing rain, ice storms, and general slop).

I don't recall ever naming one of mine...but I named my sister's '84 Merc 500SEL 'The Big Dog' years ago, because that's the kind of car the big dogs (doctors, lawyers, CEOS, Wall Streeters, etc) drove back in the Big 80s. My brother has usually always named some of his cars, incl. a sluggish 4cyl Mustang II he called 'The Silver Bullet'.

A Lumina based one might have looked pretty decent. So would have a 2dr wagon, IMHO.

That's where I first encountered a trunk like that. A buddy in college had a 2nd gen Jetta..just like my sister's Mercs, it had a button for the trunk release. That wierded me at first out that you could shut the trunk w/o locking it. The hatch on my Jeep (and the Bronco II before that) work that way, but w/ a handle.

There was the guy that ended up running a bowling alley in Michigan....Sloan or Durant, I think?

I don't remember looking for the inside release on the rental Cobalt I had a couple years ago, I just used the remote to open it when outside, IIRC. So I'm not following w/ the '10 LaCrosse..is this a button on the fob (like many cars have) or does the trunk automatically unlock when you approach it w/ the fob...there would still have to be a latch to release and open it. And does it lock automatically when you shut it? One of the things that took me a while to get used to w/ Benzes and BMWs is that the trunks can be shut but not locked...never seen an American car w/ that property.

Heh-heh..I had to get into my Mustang from the passenger's side once, some asstard had parked too close on the driver's side. Not easy clambering across heavily bolstered buckets, a center console w/ parking brake and manual shifter... A couple times, I've had to enter SUVs from the rear hatch and clamber forward into the driver's seat when sloppy parkers blocked me in on each side. Not easy when you are 6'0", 220+...

I thought about that comment then went back and read through and realized nothing was said about it being necessarily present day vehicles. I started thinking about the usage scenarios and it suddenly made sense. Now for some reason, I think I sort of knew this factoid, maybe I read it in Collectible Automobile or Hemmings Classic Cars in the context of a particular model...