Robert Hall

Got back to it in the evening. Got the seat all bolted in, all the power connections connected. Everything seems to work. Took for a test drive, seemed solid. Glad to have it back on the road. The Merc is starting to have problems again--seems to have an exhaust leak now. Rob

Took today off and waited at home for Fed Ex. The package came, the seat is in the good condition, most importantly, the track and frame have no cracks, bends, etc. It shipped with the track separate from the seat, that's the first challenge. 4 nuts fasten the track bolts to the seat frame...all hidden, have to reach inside the bottom of the seat with a wrench and blindly tighten them...got started...waiting until evening when the temps drop. Humid and 100 now. May have to wait for the weekend when I have a smaller hand available. Rob

Such a car could definitely have been interesting, but I don't think it would sell anywhere near as well as the Camaro may sell... the Camaro is a much bigger image product for Chevy. Rob

Ford is the only maker of such cars (Panthers) today, AFAIK. All full size imported cars are unit body construction, AFAIK.. Those are high end models, though.... I specifically meant GM mass market midsize coupes like the Cutlass, Monte Carlo, etc. I don't expect to see new GM coupes of that sort, RWD or FWD. Rob

No hair now... Rob

Nothing wrong with the Big 80s...I still love a lot of the music, cars, and movies of that era...growing up then, it was an important time of my life...still enjoy my '80s cars. But I also enjoy the here and now.. Rob

Just like their will never be another RWD full size BOF GM car, there will never be another personal lux coupe. That world is gone. Rob

At least they sold to enthusiasts, unlike the mediocre W-Grand Prix which was 77% fleet when it went out... Rob

Well, Saturn would likely have had a next gen Astra had they continued as a GM brand. Referring to it as an Opel Astra would have confused Americans, most of whom have no idea what an Opel is. Rob

That's kind of a PNW thing, AFAIK... in Colorado, Outbacks and Foresters are mainstream family wagons for outdoorsy folks that don't want the bulk of an SUV. Back 30+ years ago, I've that the NE and Colorado is where Subaru first caught on. Rob

Subaru drivers into the outdoorsy stuff seemed to be into LL Bean in the past. Though the outdoorsy Subaru (and SUV) fans in Colorado seem to be heavily into The North Face and Columbia clothes and gear, both those brands are quite popular there... I've had a couple Columbia jackets.. Rob

Medium for steaks, medium well to well for burgers.

Ok...I remember it looking gray in some pics a while back. I think Jeep had that same color in '99-01 or so. My Jeep's Patriot Blue (dark blue) looks great when it's waxed on a sunny day, but up close, I have many chips and scratches.. Rob

Never had much LL Bean product (though my folks always got the catalogs)...I was more of an Eddie Bauer fan in the big 80s as far as bags, etc went.

Yeah, it looks great from the pics...wish my Jeep's finish was that good after 100k. Is that your original paint? For some reason, I thought your car was gray or that goldish-gray (I think what Chrysler called Taupe) but maybe I'm confusing it with my buddy Steve's wife's '99 Intrepid (hers is that gold-gray). Rob

Sharp...what are those wheels? Don't recognize them..aftermarket?

I'd rock it with some huge glue-on sideburns, aviator sunglasses, plaid suits with ultrawide lapels, and some fine Banlon slacks. And some 8 tracks w/ mid '70s music, incl. the theme from Shaft. Rob

I've never done tent camping...a few years ago, buddies of mine used to invite me to come camp w/ them up in the Rockies..should have gone for the experience. As a kid growing up, my folks and I went camping all the time--in motorhomes. We'd drive up to lakes in northern Michigan, Ontario, drive out to Arizona or down to Florida, park the motorhome in a campground, disconnect the tow car, and drive into town for dinner. Rob

I need to take a vacation...other than a 4 day weekend in San Diego for July 4th and a trip back to Ohio at the end of May, I really haven't done anything this year. Got to do something fun for 4-5 days at Labor Day. Haven't taken a real vacation since a week in Hawaii in April '07. Rob

Here's a sweet '79 Mark V in Mississippi w/ only 30k miles, white w/ white & red interior also.. ebay 79 Lincoln Totally impractical and huge, but I've always liked these since childhood...rode in a few when my folks were test driving Lincolns (my Dad was a serial Continental/Town Car buyer for his last 20 years).

The Lincoln definitely has it's charms...the interior looks great, needs a few trim items on the outside. It would make a neat weekend or once in a while driver, probably gets 10-12 mpg. I've always liked the more angular Mark V over the Mark VI (pretty much the same inside, though).

Or you could CFC trade the Buick on a new Yaris or Corolla--those would go nicely w/ your Prius.

Probably not...but maybe Cadillac could do well with a 3000lb 5 seat SUV, smaller than the hefty SRX, esp if BMW is going to do an X1 and Lexus is going to do the small hatchback. Rob

They will probably be like how they differentiate the Traverse and Enclave in the full size CUVs, and the Equinox and Vue in the compact/midsize... Chevy gets the mainstream models, Buick the more upscale one, differentiated substantially inside and out. Instead of having to do up to 4 variations of each line for 4-5 brands, now they just have to do 3 (Cadillac will probably get a variation to fit below the SRX). Rob

The Patriot seems decent, at least it's not a Compass. I'm waiting on the '11 Grand Cherokee before I consider another Jeep, though the prices on '09 GCs and Commanders now make them tempting... oddly, the Commander has grown on me. Rob