Robert Hall

And the SL55 is gone for '09, replaced by the SL63 AMG. No supercharged AMGs for '09 AFAIK. The M156 engine is an impressive piece...M-B claims it's the world's most powerful naturally-aspirated V8 engine. AMG V8

Interesting detail in how the fender trim extends into the side mirror..

I saw a '79-81 Chrysler Newport or '80-81 Plymouth Fury a few days ago from a distance...I don't know how long it had been since I had seen one...those R-bodies are cars that seemed to dissapear from the face of the earth (90% were demolished in '80s TV shows like TJ Hooker, probably..)

Cool..looks like it has ordinary side glass instead of the funky glass of the concept, but I didn't expect that detail to make it to production. Looks like it has ordinary FWD proportions rather the wheels-forward look of the concept. Oh well. Between pic 1 and 2 you get a pretty good feel for how it's going to look overall. I'm wondering about the black roof and the area at the bottom of the hatch...is that black paint or glass?

The two-tone paint is slimming perhaps? The Traverse is the largest Lambda, isn't it..longer behind the rear axle I thought...

I think HHR stands for 'Heritage High Roof' (i.e. supposed to look like a scaled-down '48-54 Suburban), rather than 'Heritage Hot Rod'..

Makes sense...also reminds me of people screaming while suffering from the horror of explosive diarreha.

That description reminds of the drive on I-25 from Colorado Springs to the south Denver metro area through Castle Rock.... when the weather is clear, it's usually 2 lanes in each direction (widening to 3) at a steady 85 mph or more during rush hour---SUVs, Camrys, BMWs,pickups, semis, etc...people doing the 60 mile commute north...then it repeats in the afternoon in the opposite direction. Lots of tailgating and drafting. The posted speed limit is 75 (65 within metro parts) but the traffic is usually 10 mph over in clear weather....with a 7500 ft pass in there, wierd weather stuff can happen from Oct-Apr. I don't miss that commute (did it back in '02 for 4 months, when gas prices were alot cheaper).

Yes, I would think all the screaming and 'barking' would be hell on the vocal cords...keeping it going for a couple decades is no doubt quite difficult. I can't recall which band it is, but a friend of mine always described some metal singer--it may be Wayne Static--as having a 'demented Cookie Monster' voice... I'll have to give the new Metallica album a listen..I haven't listened to them in years...I did listen to them a lot in the Load/ReLoad/S&M era, after my mid '90s NIN period...also listened to Static-X and Powerman 5000 quite a bit back in the turn-of-the century period when I working crazy hours at dot-bombs, and Rage Against the Machine, NWA, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg around then. After age 30, I mellowed out and went went back to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Who, U2, and my '80s and early '90s favorites...

1997 was a huge life transition year...from academia (U. of Michigan) to corporate America, moving from Michigan to Colorado. It was quite a year... I had the '87 Mustang GT and an '88 Bronco II then. In going from working as a research assistant (grunt) in a university research lab to a developer in a cube in a major telecom company, I more than quadrupled my income, which very nice. Interesting about that Tahoe ad..never thought anything about it...figured they were prairie birds or something.

case

Yes...I was shocked when I first saw the concept...I had assumed it would have the same trunklid, rear quarter shape, roofline, etc of the sedan, but noooo...they went bold. Can't wait to see it in person.

And the beltine definitely is sloping downward from the rear to the front...it's a wedgy shape.

Wierd. I'm sure it's just that the website hasn't been updated.. if the 2 main party candidates weren't going to be on the ballot in the 3rd (4th?) largest state, it would be all over the national media by now....

Heh-heh....maybe they will do something off the wall like a album of Lawrence Welk covers...that could very interesting. I really liked the S&M album.

Someone was arrested around here for that a few months ago, they were stuck under a car trying to cut the CC off..

Ahhh, you know you want it...it's a forbidden fruit... never sold here.

Heh-heh... the coupe would be a nice 40th birthday gift to myself. Though a Camaro SS convertible would be awfully nice also. We will see come June 2010.

Forth, the new album from The Verve.

I got broken into in a well lit movie theatre parking lot last summer...argghhh.... I had left my iPod adapter plugged into the cassette deck (white cable in plain sight), which must have been what attracted them--otherwise, why break into a 2000 Jeep in a parking lot full of newer and more expensive vehicles? They left that, and took an empty Foo Fighters CD case and a Pink Floyd CD that I had between the seat and the console. I never leave anything laying out visibly now. At least it was just a broken window. A few years ago, a coworker had his 2000 Jeep (Cherokee) broken into while he & his wife were having dinner at Olive Garden--they drilled out the lock cylinder and cut a 2x3 area around it to get into the door release...stole an Alpine head unit from the dash. Had to replace the door.

Interesting... Tacuma was the name of the Daewoo model they had in Europe and elsewhere. I would assume for NA they will call it something else (Tacuma sounds too much like Tacoma).

I would assume by 2011 there will be a new, 4th gen MX-5....it's been very popular, so I'm sure it will evolve.

Toyota Mega Cruiser...built from '95-02. Had front, center, rear differentials, four wheel steering, 4.1L 4 cyl turbo diesel. Toally badass. They should have sold it here with a Hybrid Synergy Drive as the Prius Green Beast or something..

Hard to believe it's been less than 3 years..just seems longer. I was thinking 2005 NAIAS.

Yes, lots of delusional folks around here, I think you will find.