Robert Hall

I can't imagine much of a market for a 55k FWD car...FWD is fine for subcompact, compact economy cars and midsize family sedans, but inapropriate for luxury cars beyond the entry level.

I didn't get anything.

The roof crush on rollover issue is more of an issue with trucks and SUVs, though, most of which have a high center of gravity, are obese, and lack upper body strength--they roll easily and the weight of the obese lower structure collapses the weak roof structure. It's less of an issue with hardtops, because of the low CoG, they are less likely to roll. A bigger issue for hardtops (and convertibles) is side impact resistance--without a B-pillar, the doors and quarter panel are more likely to collapse inward on impact.

I can't recall when I've seen ANY early '60s Olds or Buick compact... years. I did see, though, a sharp red '62 Le Mans ht in traffic about a week ago.

Hmmm...I don't think I've ever seen that roof either...I believe Buick and Olds C-bodies used it also. The '61 de Ville in my neighborhood has the regular4dr ht roofline.

For his repetitive, delusional, narrow-focus rants: 68

Yes, not to mention the billions (trillions?) that have been pissed away over the last 6+ years on 2 pointless wars..

That's been the reality for the most part for the last 25 years...GM has been predominantly a maker of mediocre FWD generics.

QUOTE(VenSeattle @ Sep 15 2005, 06:52 PM) [snapback]14914[/snapback] The GM EV1 The only time I have ever seen them was about 5 years ago, in Sacramento in a downtown parking garage--4 of 'em in a row. I assume they were probably state government vehicles of some sort.

Cheapness and settling on 'average' rather than building 'outstanding'. Instead of building segment leading world class products, they built too many mediocre generics that sold only on price.

Yes, they pissed away untold development $$$ on the trucks and SUVs, right before the market for them fell off a cliff...brilliant. I can't believe no one saw that their wasn't much of a future growth potential for 5000-6000lb bloat beasts.

Looks custom..massive perimeter frame, probably home built from 2x4s. Packard Website

I wonder what the prototype is based on...the windshield and A-pillars look like an '80s full size of some sort.

Also, there are income cutoffs...people that make above a certain amount got nothing, which excludes a lot of people and two-income households. * For a single individual, the income cutoff level is $75,000. * For a married couple filing jointly, the cutoff is double that: $150,000. People who earn in excess of those amounts may receive reduced stimulus rebates according to a sliding scale which cuts the rebate $50 for every $1000 they receive in income over the established top income limits.

Speaking of people confusing cars, my buddy with the '91 NSX has had so many people over the years think it was a Fiero, a Ferrari, or a Corvette. Ironically, his next door neighbor has 4 Fieros, in various conditions.

I'd still rather have the new car...and to build something like that out of a '69 would be more like $50k, not $30k. Old cars are neat, I like looking at them at car shows and driving mine occasionally ('69 Mustang, '87 Mustang), but I'd rather have a modern car..

The problem w/ something like that, is it may be fast, but it's still a crappy worn-out Fiero.

Yes...as much as I usually hate remakes, a modern Bullitt with an '08 Charger chasing an '08 Mustang GT could be fun..

I love convertibles, but have yet to own one. Sooner or later I'll have one. I love driving convertibles w/ the top up and windows down...like a hardtop. I've also driven them top down w/ windows up (useful on a freeway so I can still hear the stereo).

Isn't it illegal in Mass. to have kids under age 5 in anything but a minivan, SUV, or Camry ?

Actually, they were '68-70. The '71-74 was a different style Charger (fuselage body). Personally, I hate seeing vintage cars destroyed in movies..there are so many generic FWD '80s-90s GM, Chrysler, Ford,Toyota, etc cars out there that movie makers could be destroying instead. And what is it with '71-72 Rivieras? Nearly every movie or TV show in the last 25 years with a boattail Riv has ended up destroying it...AUGGGGHHH.

You can't really compare cars from ancient times with modern cars. Different worlds. I still prefer the McLaren over the Bugatti...it's more a pure sports car.

Huh? Those have B-pillars, aren't BOF, and don't have carborated pushrod V8s.

To succeed, the Volt has be futuristic and non-mainstream....it has to be distinctive, like the Prius. The hybrid Camry doesn't sell as well as the Prius, for example. Early adopters want a car that looks futuristic and like an electric car rather than yet another rental. I hope the Volt does look distinct and not be just another GM FWD rental car.

Yes..I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks finished. It's kind of neat thing to build your own car from the ground up like that.