Robert Hall

blah blah blah blah blah...endless bench racing and pointless blather, nitpicking, etc. Why not celebrate the CTS-v for what it is...a great American performance car that is competitive in the big leagues.

I love those big boats...another '75 GM I like quite a bit is the '75 Grand Ville convertible..the thing I love about the '75 convertibles is that they still have the curvy body work of the '71s, except for the big front and rear bumpers. I like the '75 Caprice convertible also, but prefer the '76 front end with the rectangular headlights (too bad Chevy didn't change over in '75 as well). Likewise, the Buick LeSabre convertible...would have looked better w/ the '76 rectangular headlights also, IMHO.. Likewise for the Olds 88 convertible '71-72 are probably my favorite years for the B- and C- bodies, but the '75s still looked great, even with the big bumpers, IMHO.

Gray plastic interiors are one of my pain points with today cars... I can tolerate them for a couple days in a rental, but if had to drive something every day with a cheesy gray plastic interior I'd probably start riding the bus..

One of the best qualities of the cars of 1975, IMHO, is the lack of DEPRESSING GRAY PLASTIC INTERIORS. Lots of interesting colors, materials, and designs in '75.

Yes... a CTS-Z...take it to the next level.

Right...no doubt Cadillac has the Germans in their sights, but it's the press proclaiming it an M5 'killer'...

Peace and quiet...I plan to get plenty this holiday weekend...out on the pond, floating around in a little wooden boat, in the wooded foothills of Appalachia. Peace.

Autoblog...it's inevitable this car will get compared with the Teutonic 3 + the Lexus F. With the Germans, it will no doubt be compared against both the compact (M3,RS4,C63) and midsize (M5,RS6,E63) because of the price/size positioning.... Speaking of press hyperbole--the lead article on Inside Line calls the CTS-v an 'M5 Killer'... Road And Track has a CTS-v vs M5 article posted also.

Speaking of engines and usage, AMG is definitely spread the 63 V8 far and wide.... in at least 12 distinct models, I believe ---3 sedans (C,E,S), 3 coupes (CLK, CLS, CL), 3 SUVs (ML,GL,G), 1 CUV (R-class), 2 roadsters (SLK, SL). No A, B, Sprinter or Vito AMG 63s though... And I've read the GLK isn't getting one either. It is impressive--no other automaker has a dozen V8 high performance models, across a wide span of sizes and body styles.

But more importantly, are the cupholders heated/chilled/lighted?

I've read that the next M5 will have a twin turbo V8 instead of the V10.

Yes on the headlights..the '76-77 Cutlasses looked better than the '73-75 up front, at least...I like the rears of the '73 A-bodies, they had the smallest bumpers. I've always thought it was odd that GM went to 2 headlights on all the A-bodies in '73; most of them from '64-72 had quad lights, which look much better on a car of that size, IMHO.. For the Cutlass, I like both the regular and Cutlass Supreme front ends in '76-77..nice job with the waterfall grille.

Yes, it's pretty special....this summer, I've been asking myself why the hell I'm in Arizona. Flying back there for the holiday weekend.

Sounds nice....my family's barn in Ohio is a big, slate roof Amish horse barn...2 stories, built into a hillside so you can drive in the top and bottom. Room for up to 8 Mustang/Camaro sized cars up stairs (or 6 cars w/ a 33 ft Winnebago). Downstairs, there are probably 10 horse stalls on each side w/ room to store parts and stuff and a concrete-floored area down the middle (with sliding doors on each end) with room for 5 Mustang/Camaro sized cars end-to-end, with back-in spots for 2 more cars amongst the stalls. Currently, my Mom has 3 cars in there, I have 2 in there, my brother has 3 plus a John Deere tractor stored in the barn. Wood construction, with sandstone block on the lower part. Was featured in the 1978 TV movie 'Centennial' posing as a Lancaster, PA Amish farm. In addition, there are 2 late 1800's vintage 'carriage houses' on the property, each of which hold two cars parked end-to-end. Plus the house (also 1859), 2 guest houses, and 2 6 acre farm ponds on 150 partially wooded acres. Here's a pic from about 15 years ago..the barn, the Winnebago in front, my '87 Mustang GT and an '86 Mustang LX I had in college after the Escort. One carriage house garages is in the background (red building).

'4 years salary'??? Someone's paying waaay too much for a car... i.e. someone making $25k/year buying an $100k car? I don't think so! I couldn't imagine buying a car that was much more than 1/3 of my yearly salary...

Here's an article about the Trabant revival... it's a model car from Herpa, though...not a 1:1. New Trabbi

That is a neat beast...needs some TLC.

True...in many things, I've been called overly negative or pessimistic...I consider it realistic. I need to tone it down, but the automakers disappoint me so often with decisions that seem so wrongheaded to an outsider...

By the way, did you see Trabants when you were in Checkoslovakia? I heard someone is designing a new Trabant. I've seen the modern Skodas, but would love to see some old Skotas and Tatras in person....the Tatras were wild designs!

The description for Pontiac buyers reminds me of the really lame TV ads for the Acura TSX that have been running lately..

In the front seats of my '87 Mustang GT with the big side bolsters and the parking brake up was sheer pain...argggh... but I did have fun w/ my high school g/f in the back of her father's '86 Caprice Estate wagon..

Yes, Renault 8..those were badass in Gordini trim, I've read...

I bet the CTS-v will be $75k or so, what with the regular CTS topping out at around $50k.

That's funny..it was sold out the night I saw it also...it was a new theater, big one with stadium seating in Colorado Springs...the ushers were asking people to move in and not leave any seats empty..I liked the first one, 2nd was so-so (liked the cars, though). The third was not bad, the plot a bit overly implausable (not that the first two were plausable)...way too much CGI, though. Looking forward to the 4th, nice to see Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez back for this one to provide eye candy..

Speaking of fast cars, possibly the fastest (in a straight line) I've ever had the pleasure of driving was my brother's '68 Camaro SS 396...rough shifting 4 speed, loud, raw, brutally fast car.....a totally different sensation than my '87 Mustang 5.0 or my refined '96 M3. No cupholders, no a/c, only an AM radio, though...totally impractical. Le Mans blue w/ the white stripe over the front header panel and down the sides, chrome thingys on the hood..what a wild car. He should have kept it.