Robert Hall

Saw a couple oldies at lunch today--one of the last of the C-body land yachts--a tan '74-78 Chrysler Newport 4dr ht in good shape, and a beige '49 Chevy Fleetline (fastback) 2dr, beautiful condition...shocking to see a nearly 60yr old car in traffic.

It's not the long overhang I find unpleasant about most FWD cars, it's the absurdly short wheel to front door length that makes many FWD cars look awkward, IMHO. Of course, most mid engined sports cars have that same short wheel-to-door length + long front overhang, but somehow those proportions look good on a sleek 2 seat sports car, yet those aspects look ugly on a vanilla FWD 4dr.

It looks good, though...it still has RWD proportions and a long hood...the front would look wierd if it the nose were chopped off.

Flying to Denver tomorrow afternoon...staying with friends, having a house party. Then back to Phoenix Saturday and back to work next Monday.

The summer in AZ is horrific, definitely. Winter is nice. I don't really care for the people around here...too many old folks, too much of a red state, not enough techies compared to Denver. Can't get too interested in the desert appearance either, too much dust and tan. Too smoggy and hazy in the summer, not enough clear, blue sky days (though plenty in winter). For Colorado, I love the weather, the mountains, and of course all my techie friends are there. Though sunny, it can be a bit brown and dry, though there is plenty of green up in the mountains. I'm renting out my condo in Denver currently, enough to cover the mortgage, so that's good. I do like S. Florida, though the humidity in the summers and the hurricanes would get to me. The ocean is great, though the beaches in the Keys aren't that great. I really like the coast from Miami up through West Palm Beach, though. I don't think I could live in Florida full time, though, no mountains and no twisty roads. My ideal is a big, diverse city with lots of tech jobs, close to mountains, forests, and the ocean or lakes.

As to the adding the leap second, it's 'Global Slowing'...OHNOZ!!! OMG! NOOOOO! Call Al Gore!! All said, it's been a strange year for me... * Moved to Arizona, which I really don't like * Despite the economy, worked 3 gigs this year--2 have been pretty dull, one was kind of interesting but didn't last.. * Only worked 9 out of 12 months, but still made more $$$ than I did last year when I worked 12 months. * Had a few car issues, still have the Jeep and gained 2 old Mercs, sort of. * Got a new puppy. 3lbs of terrier love. * Got two new computers. * Went to my 20th hs reunion in S. Florida, which was a lot of fun. Looking forward to 2009 and new adventures.

theatre

Yes...good list. Good to see Denver on that list also. Alas, Phoenix is probably on the 10 least literate cities list..

Lots of morons out there...but I will admit to doing the occasional burn out and power slide with my 5.0 back in the day when I was a teenager and it was new... Never did anything crazy with the '69, though. Though I'm sure my Dad did when it was new.

Interesting hood trim...an alternative to the portholes..

Oooh..difficult to come up with a list..there is so much that I really I like. Mostly classic rock, some alternative, some popish.. My top five--no particular order: Gimmie Shelter--The Rolling Stones Layla- Derek and the Dominoes All Along the Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix Baba O Reilly - The Who Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd Other favorites, in no particular order: Won't Get Fooled Again- The Who Who Are You- The Who Eminence Front- The Who Sympathy for the Devil-The Rolling Stones Satisfaction- The Rolling Stones Tumblin' Dice-The Rolling Stones Wish You Were Here- Pink Floyd Immigrant Song- Led Zeppelin In The Evening- Led Zeppelin Telegraph Road- Dire Straits Thunder Road- Bruce Springsteen Born to Run-Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town- Bruce Springsteen Crossfire- Stevie Ray Vaughan Back in Black- AC/DC Hysteria- Def Leppard Welcome to the Jungle-Guns N Roses Wishing Well- Free Bad Company- Bad Company Bad- U2 Pride- U2 any U2 Joshua Tree track Live Forever- Oasis Bittersweet Symphony- The Verve Jeremy- Pearl Jam lots more Clapton, Cream, Traffic, and Springsteen in my top 100 also...

I view RWD as part of the total package...all the great luxury cars (and SUVs) have traditionally been and continue to be RWD. FWD is for the mass market and has no place in vehicles that are $50k and more, IMHO. Great driving dynamics are a critical part of a luxury car or luxury SUV, IMHO, which is why I like BMWs, Mercs, Range Rovers, etc. They don't compromise with FWD mediocrity in their luxury cars and SUVs. FWD fundamentally connotes mass market. RWD is a luxury today. The fact that the SRX is going to be built on a mass market patform shared with such FWD models as the '10 Equinox, etc doesn't bode well for how much of a real luxury vehicle it will be. And the pics I've seen so far have poor FWD proportions--i.e. the short front wheel-to-front door distance, etc. I'm just disapointed to see Cadillac going with a lowest common denominator approach. I suppose I am a RWD elitist, so be it.

I've probably bought about 500 old models (58-80 vintage, 1:24/1:25th scale) from ebay in the last decade...I have about 1500 newer and older ones in my collection, mostly unbuilt..got to get around to building them eventually...but at the rate I build, it will take a while..

Maybe to the masses, but to me nothing about FWD implies luxury....FWD w/ transverse V6 is strictly mass market. All the good stuff is RWD (BMW, Mercedes, higher end Lexuses, etc). FWD w/ transverse V6 is lowest common denominator, mass market average.

Yes, everything on the front page is a month old or more. I don't know about other users, but I never go to the front page--I have the main forums page book marked and just do 'view new posts' when I visit the site and auto-subscribe to everything I post to..

That's why I'd rather GM let Buick do the entry-lux FWD, transverse V6 CUVs to compete with Acura and Lexus and focus Cadillac on competing with real luxury SUVs---the X5 and ML which are RWD/AWD w/ V8 options... Not all luxury SUV buyers are women...I like them, but I prefer legitimate luxury--RWD/AWD which BMW and M-B stick with..by making FWD generics, Cadillac is clearly stating they aren't big league.

'747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation' by Joe Sutter is an excellent book...Sutter was the project lead on the 747. I read this book last year when I was contracting at a Boeing subsidiary working on navigation charting software--fascinating stuff. I love jets, and really enjoyed working next door to an airport and watching planes take off and land everyday. Flying home to Phoenix tomorrow, reflecting on spending Xmas w/ my brother & Mom...not getting any younger--my Mom will be 78 January 28, my brother will be 60 next year. My sister is 50 and I'm 38...time flies..... I'm heading back home to Denver for a few days, going to spend New Years eve w/ some of my closest friends. Some simple pleasures I enjoy are quality time w/ family and friends, time w/ my dogs, just sitting with a fire going in the fireplace and some favorite music playing... Rob aka Moltar aka Cubical

Yes, it may do well in the entry-lux FWD/AWD CUV market against the MDX, MKX and RX, but it is the weak sauce compared to the real luxury SUVs--- X5, ML, and LR3. Real luxury with RWD/AWD w/ V8 trumps FWD/AWD V6 vanilla, IMHO. (FWD is fine for the mass market, but I can't take it seriously on a luxury vehicle).

I remember a couple winters back we had several big storms between Xmas and February in Denver..the city and some of the burbs ran out of mag chloride and started using salt. Their was a storm nearly every Thurs-Friday for about 6 weeks, and some smaller residential streets were never plowed. I was glad to have 4 wheel drive, never got stuck in the Jeep. Almost set a record, IIRC--something like 63 days w/ snow on the ground (very rare there, usually we get a storm, big snow, and it all melts off in a few days).

Buses are affected by icy roads also, though...there were two buses that couldn't stop on an icy hill and ended hanging over a freeway last week in Seattle..

I remember seeing a stock yellow one on the internet a few years ago...I assume someone reskinned a '61 2dr w/ '62 rear quarters, front clip, etc.

Translated from mm to US, it looks like the length is about 190 inches, wheelbase of 107 inches. 2.4 version is 3461lbs.

I've been IMing with a friend of mine who is in Tokyo for the holidays...his wife's brother lives there and works for the US government. Says it's hideously expensive and very crowded and busy all the time in the city.

Frazer (as in Kaiser-Frazer)

Yes, the low end/volume end of the premium market. They are aiming at RX, MDX, MKX. The higher end, serious luxury SUVs (X5, ML, GL, :LR3, Range Rover Sport, etc) are all still RWD/AWD with V8 available. Sadly, Cadillac isn't going to compete in that market. Even Infiniti is higher end with the FX. I thought FWD entry-lux was going to be Buick's domain and that Cadillac was going to try and compete in the big leagues, I guess not.