Robert Hall

I get the Hemmings email newsletter, thought this was interesting.. Packard

Yeah, you have to wonder..the Flex is quite close to a wagon, if it were lower in height it would definitely be one...the Freestyle/Taurus X are wagons, IMHO. The Venza is more wagonlike than ©(S) UV like...

Yeah, to me, those states (Texas, Oklahoma, Ark) are part of the South. Southwest to me is Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, southern Utah, the desert parts of southern California..

I put a set of Futuras on my Bronco II back in '99, the previous Goodyears were worn out and I was planning on selling it within a year, so I wanted something cheap. As far as tires go, I've been very happy with Goodyears--the factory Wranglers on my GC lasted 48k miles..I replaced them with a set of Dunlop Radial Rovers, they only lasted 35k miles. I have a set of Goodyear Fortera GTriple Treds on there now, $750 for a set of 4 installed, but they are extremely good in the kind of rain/snow/slop we get in the Denver area and in the mountains....of course, this winter in Phoenix, they didn't get much of a work out. I've taken a liking to Michelins also...my sister's 2 Mercedes that I've been driving a lot lately have Pilots, very quiet, good in rain.

I really have never spent any time in that part of the far Midwest, Oklahoma seems more like a extension of Texas to me. Though I've lived in Colorado for 11+ years, I've never been thru Kansas or Missouri, only flown back to Ohio (drove out in '97, but through Iowa and Nebraska). The Midwest I know and am most familiar with is Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Though eastern Ohio where I'm from has more in common w/ W. Pa than with the rest of Ohio---rolling hills, lots of brick buildings, forests, coal mining, steel..

Yeah, that's a weak point of the current model..it seems the Germans just don't take cupholder design seriously enough.

I have a couple friends that are from Minneapolis...they loved it there...both have lived in Denver for years, but one (who is originally from North Dakota) moved back last year to the area be closer to his wife's family (living now in Mound, says it's a pretty nice town in a laky area to the west of Minneapolis). One of my friends from high school now lives in St. Paul, quite a change from S. Florida. When I left grad school in Michigan, Chicago and Minneapolis were two places I considered moving to stay in the Midwest--had a couple job offers in the Chicago burbs, but ultimately ended up in Colorado.

Never been there, heard it's quite nice..I have a friend that was in sales for HP up there before moving to Denver...the only real negative is it's kind of far from everywhere else.

Probably not..different time, different place.

They way I understood it was it specifically was a 3dr wagon based off of a 2dr coupe...like the Volvo P1800. It's a British term. A conventional 3dr wagon like a '50s Chevy 210 Handyman, '64-65 Chevelle wagon, Falcon wagon, Pinto wagon, etc wouldn't be considered such.

I really liked that bodystyle... for GM, I think the Aura and Malibu would look great in 5dr hatchback styles..the 5dr hatch is better looking of the new Insignia bodystyles, IMHO. I've always preferred hatches to trunks in cars where their is a choice.

I meant the 6 hatch, not the 3.

Yeah, it could have been interesting if it had been lower and sleeker. For example, even though they were known for crapalicious build quality and reliability, I thought the Sterling 5dr hatchback was great looking. The Mazda6 5dr hatchback (which looks quite different from the Mazda6 wagon) looks great also, IMHO.

Noooo..the window part of the hatch is all slopey/slanty, much more so than the Magnum. 3dr or 5dr hatchbacks often have rooflines that could be called 'fastbacks' to use the '60s vernacular. Some hatchbacks, though, like the Golf, Mazda3, Focus, etc have more vertical hatches, but have less rear bodywork than a wagon/estate. Now a 3dr wagon (or shooting brake), is another animal all together.

meh

Wagon. Just like there is a Golf 5dr and a Golf (Jetta) wagon. Wagons usually have a longer rear, and are more squared off than a hatchback. A hatchback version of the Magnum would be cool, though (with a slanted rear hatch and triangular quarter windows, something like the back of a Rover SD1).

Yes, but a 5dr hatchback has always been considered a distinct bodystyle from a wagon...wagons have a more vertical rear window and a longer roof, while a hatchback has a longer, more sloped rear window. Think of the 5dr Vectra vs a Vectra wagon. or a Focus 5dr vs. a Focus wagon. (I've never heard of anyone confusing wagons with hatchbacks)

The vertical part of the hatch sort of looks like the tailgate of the 1st gen X5... it would look sexy if it were a few inches lower and sleeker...but this is intentionally tall and practical...they are doing the same high H point thing Ford did with the Five Hundred, Taurus, etc.

Yeah, but those are wagons. This is a 5dr hatchback. Like the old Rover SD1. Or Ford Sierra (Merkur Scorpio).

Of the current HD models, I like this Ram HD styling and the Sierra HD. The Silverado HD would look better without the strange bumper with huge chrome blocks on the corners. the Super Duty front end is hideous, IMHO, and the rest of it looks like a slight update of the '99 version.

Wow.... a RWD luxury 5dr hatchback. When was the last time something like that was built?

Speaking of Model As, there is a two-tone green 5-window coupe parked in fenced in lot downtown w/ a For Sale sign that I see everyday on the way home.

And then you have the OPEC countries right in the middle..

Therein lies the problem...if the Nano is a hit in India, the demand for oil will go up...

It's the Model T of this century, for mobilising India. If they could federalise it with airbags, etc this could be an entry level $5k car in the US. Could sell it here at Wal-Mart, as the Wal-Mart Sam's Choice or at Costco as the Costco Kirkland Generica.