Robert Hall

I saw an early '50s Packard 4dr sedan on the freeway earlier this evening. Black, goregous condition. Shocking to see a car that old in traffic...rolling along smoothly at about 60.. looking at pics online, I think it was a 53 Patrician..coming up beside it from a distance, it took a while to figure out what it was.. A few miles down on the 10, the traffic was all backed up...someone had wedged a Z4 roadster under the rear bumper of a bright yellow raised F350 Super Duty crew cab bloat beast. Ouch.

Isn't that pretty common on OHC 4cyl engines? I believe Hyundais, Hondas, etc use timing belts.

Yes...the MDX looks slick and premium...the Pilot looks like the bland family hauler it is.

Seems high for a GM FWD midsize.

Cool..I think that is the new F150 XFE...supposed to be very fuel efficient.

Yes... my sister's driveway and garage circa 1981 was bizzaro...battered blue '76 Pinto (her first car), a bronze '78 Datsun 280Z w/ wire wheels, a gold TR6, a silver TR8..usually with the hood open, and a beige '73 Matador 4dr.

Yes, cars like the Element, Aztek, B6 Tribeca (which I always thought was an homage to older SAAB styling) were intentionally ugly..

The electricals (Lucas) and carburators seem to be nightmares on those cars... my ex-brother-in-law #1 had a TR6 and then TR8..he was always working on them, the were always broken down in the driveway, and they were only 5-10 years old at the time..

And for the Mopar fans, there are the F-, J- and M- bodies (Volare, Aspen, Le Baron, Diplomat, etc)..but most of those rusted away long ago in salty climes.. these cars seem even scarcer than any of the Fords and GMs Camino listed.

Hmmm..I wonder...because it seems like hybrids usually have 'lower resistance tires' and they usually seem narrower than regular tires.

Of course, in reality, most drivers don't see the EPA estimated mileage... I really doubt if people will really see a 1mpg improvement. I'm skeptical...they will probably still get a combined 15mpg or so...

It seems absurd to pay $500, even $100 for a trivial 1 mpg increase.

It seems absurd they would charge anything extra for this... these improvements should be standard.

I love those '80s SECs...I was a teenager in the mid '80s, and the S-class coupe and sedan were some of the cars I lusted after...

Hah-hah..I do the same thing..I like salads, but I find veggies on a burger distracting... beef, cheese, bacon, bun, fries, ketchup, milkshake. Mmmmmm..

Hmm...odd they only had 9 cars to choose from..CDE's normally have a lot larger turnouts, at least the ones I've been to before. I went with the Miura S/V...love the design.

Yeah, the '80s into the 90s were pretty blah overall...I esp. hated the composite headlights that so many cars used in the late 80s...and they turned beige after a few years. Overall, I like of the styling of today...not too much of a fan of the Bangled BMWs, though the 5 has grown on me, as have the 3 series coupes..my favorite Merc design is the CLS--love the shape... and a lot of the high end stuff is incredible (Ferraris, Porsches, Maseratis, Aston Martins, etc..). Much of the mass market FWD generics from Korea, Japan, and US are pretty dull stylistically, IMHO.

After seeing it on Top Gear and reading the Motor Trend article about driving a Challenger SRT8 there, the Stelvio pass in Italy is on my to-do list...but with something more exciting than the Vectra diesel or Merc A-class diesel I've driven previously in Italy.

Hmmm.... I'm sure there are other points in history that were really ugly also...ugly is the eye of the beholder, after all. To me, 1947 cars were way uglier than anything of 2009, for example.

I would never compare it to a Jetta.. the Jetta is a decent FWD compact, but BMWs are the real thing...RWD. I'll admit, though, even as a former BMW owner, I'm avoiding the new 3 series...it's just such a predictable purchase, and looking at the prices with options, the CTS to me seems a better buy....so I'm leaning towards a CTS for my next commuter car/daily driver. But on the other hand, with the June 2010 midlife crisis looming, part of me keeps thinking about a convertible of some sort. Auggghhh.

In a car, it just seems to me to be a gimmick. Like digital gauges were a gimmick. I like clear, conventional gauges.

If they are going to improve the mileage, make the changes across the board...no special edition, just standard equipment.

I have no idea..I was only being semi-serious about Japanese cupholders... it would be interesting to trace the history of cupholder technology in cars. I know the Germans were late adopters, and their efforts in the '90s (particularily in Porsches and BMWs) were pretty weak.

No. FWD/AWD, like Audis usually are.

Hmmm...purple and yellow. Yuck..sounds like the LA Lakers colors or Barney the Dinosaur..