Robert Hall

A buddy of mine IMed me this morning (whom I've argued with about the importance of Detroit, the quality of the Big 3 cars, etc) and asked 'So now are you going to wake up and get a Toyota?'. Argggghhhh.... I ignored him.

Fun...I've been diagnosed with mild IBS before, usually treat it with Immodium and cutting back on the good stuff (I do love spicy Indian, Thai, etc). A buddy of mine that has colitis had to go through that prep process for a GI exam a few months ago, didn't look like it was much fun. Good thing is I rarely have constipation, I usually have 4-5 good BMs every day (with the occasional screaming, burning diahrehha if I eat too much spicy food).

And of Shelby is from Alabama, which has a Mercedes plant, a Hyundai plant, and a I think a Honda plant now. F*cking red staters.

The '71-72 Sixty Special was unusual in that it had an exposed B-pillar between the doors like old cars did in '30-40s (lengthened the wheelbase relative to the deVille but not the doors?--deVille/etc was 130, Sixty Special was 133 or something like that)... in '73, they must have lengthened the front edge of the rear door to go over the B-pillar..

By the description, that's the vote list for HR7005-A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide alternative minimum tax relief for individuals for 2008. Something unrelated.

Saw a '79-85 Eldorado, pale yellow w/ white 1/2 top, in clean shape, on the side of a busy street w/ the hood up.

Not Good. I want to see a list of which Senators voted against it.

That's why I said GM '73-77 A-bodies...if I'm not mistaken, all of them were like that (Chevelle, Century, etc). I did forget the Fleetwood..those were cool, esp. the '71-72 that had also had a unique design feature not seen since the '50s or so.

Lots of coupes have had them (like any '70+ F-body or the current Mustang, BMW 3 series, etc), but on 4drs and wagons, I could only think of the ones I listed... First gen Olds Aurora also. As far as import models, IIRC, the first couple generations of Lexus ESes were like this also. As is the Mercedes CLS.

Yes, the frameless door glass w/ a B-pillar. Fairly uncommon on 4dr sedans and wagons. I can think of the '73-77 GM A-bodies, '73-78 Ford and Mercury full sizers (Galaxie, LTD, Monterey, etc), '72-79 Ford and Mercury mid sizers (Torino, Montego, LTDII, Cougar) and the '61-79 Lincoln Continental sedans.. can't think of any others right off, I'm sure there are some.

Happened to think of this one today..what design feature do most Subaru 4dr sedans and wagons have that is shared with some '70s Ford and GM models? Name the feature and what Ford and GM models had that feature.

The Rabbit has 5 cylinders, though...

board

Chrysler. 1970?

Yes, that's what the masses want..they want their Camry, Accord, whatever...a functional, dull but reliable and well put together appliance.

The Regal and '10 LaCrosse should give Buick some decent cars to compete w/ the Milan, MKZ, Azera, Avalon, etc but I would like to see a RWD V6/V8 top of the line model to compete w/ the Genesis.

Not necessarily. I was pointing out the two tone aspect that you said you couldn't see.

The Republican party today seems to be a wierd coalition of the wealthy white fiscal conservative CEO class and suburban/rural white conservative evangelical social conservatives (Bible Belt) and gun nuts. It's a very strange combination that I can't relate to. The Democratic party seem to be the only party rational, diverse, and modern enough for me to embrace.

Dark gray upper pieces and light gray lower pieces in the TSX. The Regal interior looks like a good Aura interior, would follow on nicely from the interior in the current model.

Nice sunny day here in Phoenix..high around 70, down in the mid 40s last night...

I love that A4 interior...love that seat color, the use of wood, and the assymetry of the upper dash.

I would assume they are going to be sourcing components from an existing car makers and suppliers, seems like it would be extremely expensive for a tiny unknown company to develop something like this from scratch. Those look like Acura headlight clusters, for example.

Same problem I have w/ the C- and S- class.... great front end design let down by weak rear end designs. The C- and E- have esp. generic rear end styling... nothing distinct about the rears, and the S- looks too Maybach-ish behind.

SAAB and Volvo also. Yes, that's where the a large chunk of the entry-premium market is.. the higher-end stuff (Audi, BMW, MB, larger Lexuses, Infiniti) is all RWD and/or AWD, of course, but at the volume end, FWD sells.

Ya...that's pretty far south for snow...