Robert Hall

Yes, in 1980, IIRC as the Rover 3500...had four round headlights for the NA market. I haven't seen one since about 1981.

What is a D3, by the way? I always thought the early '90s Camry also copied the look of the 1st gen Taurus. As far as mainstream Japanese family sedans go, I've always preferred the Accord...even in their most vanilla products, Honda has always had a measure of good driving experience in the mix...

'70s Japanese cars were severe rusters as well....I remember as a kid in Ohio, our neighbor's college-age daughter got a new '76 Accord coupe as her first new car...the last I saw of the car was around '83 or so, and it was horribly rusted out--doors, quarters, front fenders, hood, hatch...still running w/ 250k+ miles, but the body was shot. Then again, in the '70s in the Rust Belt, EVERYTHING rusted out...some very quickly.

My point exactly.... in cars, as in work and life, why accept 'average'? Strive for excellence.

An interior update would help...overall, I like the design of the regular G6, esp. the coupe....if the rear bumper could be recontoured on the sedan to look less thick, and some new tailights...

I'm happy in suburbia, and will probably buy a house in a gated neighborhood sooner or later (my condo in Denver is in a gated complex). But when I want to get away from it all (and enjoy the old cars that are there), I still have the family farm--150 acres in Appalachia, about an 1hr from Pittsburgh, that I visit occasionally.

I want an SRT8 in white. I hope they are still around in '10. I'd love to have one for my 40th birthday as a weekend toy. I've lusted after Challengers since seeing 'Vanishing Point' as a kid around 1980. Though I'd probably be happier w/ a CTS for a daily driver.

Yes, even mediocre can sell....a lot of buyers couldn't tell the difference or didn't care as long as they were cheap enough.

But you keep repeating the same rants (RWD, BOF, hardtops, blah, blah, blah) over and over and over again. How about trying to freshen up your schtick, find other subjects to discuss? Besides, you'll never buy a new car, so why bother posting in threads about subjects that aren't 30 years old?

Rust isn't a problem in Colorado or Arizona... but I still don't see very many '80s GMs FWDers like the J-cars around. They seem to have all gone to the crusher by now...

Taillights remind of recent VW designs...the rear door lower shape reminds me of the G8 and other recent GM designs...interesting. The greenhouse arc reminds me of the Ion.

Saw a new SL also the other day, dark gray...looked great. Saw a gray Maserati GranTurismo today..beautiful car. Saw a blue Smart FourTwo also.

pie

Aussie

I've never really cared for minivans, since I don't fit the demographic and don't have a need for one, but I thought the Ford Windstar Limited from around 2002 in black w/chrome wheels was a sharp looking ride... black minivans are a fairly rare sighting.

Is Invicta coming for MY 2010 or 2011? Anyone know?

True enough...I know a guy with an early '90s Prizm that has over 350k miles....still looks decent inside and out. One thing you have to give Toyota credit for, I think, is that they do know a thing or two about building durable small cars and small engines....

In 10 years in Colorado, the most common SUVs I knew my 20- and 30- something friends and peers to drive were Cherokees, Grand Cherokees (what I drive), 4Runners, Xterras, and Frontiers....the Liberty less so.. and in Colorado, a decent number go off road. Your couple car juxtaposition reminds me of my buddy Tony and his wife...when I first met them in '05, they had a late '90s Jimmy (his) and a '90s VW Golf cabrio (hers)...now, they've had their first child and he drives a Prius and she has a Highlander hybrid... For unusual car mixes, a couple whom are my closest friends in Colorado have an '02 Maxima SE (his), '91 Acura NSX (his baby), and a '99 Dodge Intrepid (hers, strangely, she's from So Cal and drives a Dodge!). She's thinking of trading it soon on something like a Murano, as they are trying to have their first child. His 40th birthday is coming next year, and the car he's looking for as a project? A '69-72 Grand Prix! (they have a 4 car garage, so that's doable).

I don't think anything's been announced since the show car, but that is the working assumption.

I never really got the market positioning of the Nova and Prizm... it seemed to overlap with the Cavalier and other GM compacts. There was also an Isuzu rebadged compact (Spectrum) that more-or-less replaced the Chevette. Another twist is that for a few years, the 2nd gen Cavalier (around 95-97) was sold in Japan as the Toyota Cavalier.

Before that, even...around 1985, they started badging a Corolla variation as the Chevy Nova... it was the first model built at NUMMI, IIRC.

CTS coupe? CTS wagon? G8 ST? I assume those 3 will be out before CY 2010...

Similar observations here from my experiences in the Denver and Scottsdale areas....I'm in my late 30s, educated (college and grad school) and in the computer industry, hang out with a lot of similarly educated tech industry people in their late 20s to early 40s, and it's pretty much the same....midsize family sedans are usually a Honda or Toyota with the occasional Passat or Altima; luxury cars--usually an Audi, BMW, Infiniti or Lexus; SUVs---Jeeps, 4Runners, and the occasional Xterra or Pathfinder (esp. in Denver, which is heavily SUV-centric). I notice very few pickup trucks or domestic cars of any sort. I'm trying to think of any modern GM owners in my circle of friends and colleagues in both metro areas--- I know one guy with a Tahoe as a family car, another with a late model Escalade, and another with a Trailblazer and a Rendezvous (wife's car). One colleague had a late '90s Cavalier coupe, but traded last year on an Infiniti G37. I've worked with a couple of guys with older Camaros and one with 6 '60s-70s GTOs, but both are north of 50.

One would think the interest in minivans would spike, since they are usually lighter and more fuel efficient (and more practical) than CUVs or SUVs.... which of course is ironic since Ford and now GM have gotten out of the market in the US...

I wonder how a turbo HF V6 would compare to the V8 in weight? (for that matter, how does a current regular HF V6 compare to a current corporate pushrod V8 in weight?)