Robert Hall

An outsider could help, look how Lutz helped...IMHO, GM has too many lifers in charge who seem to have little grasp of the state of the auto market outside of SE Michigan.

Wouldn't make much sense, though..with Hummer's lousy gas mileage, selling those gas hogs there wouldn't do anything to reduce consumption in those growing markets..

No FWD---I have an SUV for snow, though I'll be replacing it eventually, maybe w/ an AWD car (Audi A4 Quattro would be ideal). Manual is preferred, esp. in a performance car, but I can live with out it in a daily driver since most of my driving is city/freeway/suburbia. 2dr or 4dr, sunroof preferred, good cupholders, good sound system, CD changer, iPod jack, good interior plastics. Visibility is important, as well as good ergonomics, and good power seats. Good handling and reasonably quiet ride preferred. One thing that I've realized living in AZ is that leather interiors aren't always better....a light tan cloth interior would be great here...unfortunately, and cloth interiors are pretty much impossible to find in my price bracket ($30-40k).

I always fill up when it gets down to a quarter of a tank. Which is about $60 these days.

Looks like it would fit me and my 4 terriers (2 Westies, 2 Aussies).

So it's an April 1 post in May. Wierd.

I like them both... it's nice to see GM and Chrysler (and Ford w/ the Mustang) build cars with style instead of their usual generic, disposable FWD appliances.

I have a lot of relatives in Kentucky (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc), but really wouldn't want to live there. I've lived in eastern Ohio, SE Michigan, S. Florida, Chicago, Colorado and Arizona... for the near future, I'll be splitting my time between Denver and Phoenix/Scottsdale... not sure where I'll go next--after the next big life milestone (June 28, 2010) I may move back to Colorado full time or try a tech hub on the West Coast--- maybe Portland, Seattle, San Diego, or SF Bay Area, but I will always want to spend time in Colorado...

Yes...I'd like to have one of each. Even in a world of generic FWD daily drivers, and concern over gas prices, there is still a place for distinctly American cars...

A good quote for these times of high fuel prices, et al: 'Waste not, want not"... i.e. "If we don’t waste what we have, we’ll still have it in the future and will not lack (want) it."

Cello

I like....the upkick in the quarter window is a reference back to the original '70s Zs...

Went back to Denver for the holiday weekend...went to some of my favorite restaurants, went to a wedding in Boulder on Saturday, went up to the mountains to visit friends in Breckenridge on Sunday. Went to a BBQ Monday (though it was only in the 50s and rainy)...flew back to Phoenix late Monday.

Madness.

Looks like GM is being consistent with where they have been over the last decade...no RWD models except for a few from Cadillac and a few other niche models (1998--Corvette, Camaro, Firebird; 2008--Corvette, G8), and a sea of FWD mainstream cars, though the 2008 GM FWDers are certainly nicer than they were 10 years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More like $250-350k according to the article.

Autoweek has an article this week on the new 'baby' Rolls Royce sedan that may be coming...what I found interesting is that the illustration looks a bit like the Cadillac Sixteen concept. www.autoweek.com

I think within GM there is still a measure of the myopia/rose colored glasses that only sees the depressing gray skies and potholed roads of Michigan and not the world around it...

It would be nice, but I don't see it happening in the US in my lifetime...there's no commitment to spending on rail.

I paid $4.13/gal for 85 in Denver today, though I saw $3.89 at some stations...

I'd love to be able to take the Amtrak for trips...but it's just not practical from either Denver or Phoenix to get anywhere in a reasonable time by rail...the mountain West/Southwest is just too large--everything too far apart. I can see it being great on the east coast, though. I've long been a rail fan...I used to ride the L in Chicago, the light rail in Denver, and have traveled by rail throughout Europe... it's so much less hassle than flying.. unfortunately, the connectivity and infrastructure just isn't there in many parts of the US.

I'm back in Colorado for the holiday weekend. I saw my first ever G8 yesterday in traffic--red, looked very sharp. The driver looked old enough to have a bought one of a GTO new back in '64. Saw it twice, the guy must live in my 'hood. On Saturday, I had a very strange experience at an intersection down the street from home--felt like being in a TV commercial---call it 'It's a Toyota World'. I'm sitting a light at the intersection of two 4 lane streets---I'm in a 4Runner rental (more on that later), beside me is a goregous '82-83 Supra in black (one of the few Toyota designs I've ever liked), to my left is a Yaris and Avalon; across the intersection, a Camry and a Corolla; to my right, an FJ Cruiser turning at the light with a Highlander and Prius waiting at the light. UNREAL. I've never seen synchronicity like that before. I later took a 5-min loop around my neighborhood on some of the major residential (and one commerical/residential) streets, and played 'count the Toyota'---counted 35 Toyotas, 5 Scions, and 15 Lexuses. Back to the rental car...I rented an SUV for my visit back home, and drove a white 4Runner SR5. This was the first Toyota I'd ever driven, have ridden in many Camrys and Corollas and driven a couple of Lexuses, never driven a Toyota though. I liked the 4Runner...very smooth, comfortable.. I liked most of the details overall--nice size and plenty of space inside (and no 3rd row in the way), I like the power rear window, key on the dash, and controls (the stalk controls worked similar to my Jeep). As far as negatives, there were strange plugs on the console and dash for missing options--looked cheap, the console trim felt hard and cheap, only had a fuel and temp gauge, no voltage or oil pressure gauges, only 1 12V power outlet--and it didn't work, and the manual seat controls were wierd (maybe I'm too used to power seats, but when I came in late Friday night I couldn't figure out how to lower the seat (some wierd rachet level thingy). Someone short had it before me I ended up w/ my head into the sunroof opening. Overall, a very nice traditional style SUV... Paid $4.13/gallon for gas today...fun, fun.

I wouldn't compare a new car with a 40 yr old one...the new one will no doubt be a much better performer all around, and much nicer car to drive. Since you will never buy a new car, why do you even bother to post in these threads?

Unfortunately, not practical in my part of the country... Phoenix to LA, for instance, via Amtrak is a 3 hr bus ride + 11 hr train trip, compared to about 6 hrs driving on I-10 or less than a 2 hr flight on Southwest... I can see it being useful on the coasts, though, esp. the NE where the cities are close together and the rail lines well developed. In the Southwest, everything is at least 500 miles apart and the lines are not extensive.

About 3.75-3.80 here in Phoenix...I'm guessing the high here will reach $5.55 by Labour Day.