Robert Hall

That's all taken out of a recent ad. The reality is Hummers are driven around the suburbs...just silly overblinged toys...their natural domain is the Starbucks drive thru and shopping mall parking lots..they are too big and heavy for serious off-roading.

They have a '50 Chevy pickup also...

The problem is the manufacturing of many categories of consumer goods is by and large dead in US...I can't see all that has gone away (TVs, clothes, home electronics, etc, etc) coming back.. I just don't see how what has happened over the last 40 years or so can be undone.

Yes, lame but profitable.

I took 8 months off in '01-02... traveled quite a bit, hung out, got bored. I'm taking a month off this year (April)...in a few years, I want to take 6 months off, and go on a extended vacation in Australia and NZ. A consultant friend of mine takes off 3 months every summer to spend the summer w/ his family when his kids are out of school.

I have long wondered if things would be better in the US and Canada if we formed a North American Union (i.e. a structure like the EU).

What is funny, though, is that Toyota has been doing compact trucks well for decades..the Tacoma has certainly been a better truck overall than the Ranger or S10 and Colorado. I wonder why it was so difficult for them to build a decent full size?

IIRC, Phoenix's new light rail system that's under construction is going to be using European-built cars.

Would be nice to have more train service... the big hinderance to wide spread rail is how large and spread out the US is (compared to Europe, which is compact and more densely populated). Denver had done a good job so far and is continuing to expand it's light rail around the metro area. I see the potential benefit of commuter rail up and the down the Front Range here--such as Denver to Ft Collins, Denver to Colorado Springs, along I-70 into the mountains, etc...but it's been talked about for years with nothing happening so far. But as far as heavy rail, the nearest major cities are all 500 miles away or more, so flying is quicker to get to them.

I am a RWD fan, but I'll say that I still prefer the styling of the Intrepid, 300M, and Concorde over the Charger and 300...the 2nd gen LHs still look modern and slick, compared to the blocky LXes.

Autoblog Podcast #89.

Sounds delusional and isolationist. Wouldn't work in the modern reality. 1950 is gone and isn't coming back.

We need to find a fuel source that comes from something that doesn't have to be grown..something that is abundant and naturally available. Sand, rock, dirt, something like that...

I'm surprised they haven't started building the Prius in the US yet...maybe the next gen model will be built here.

They've been gone around here since around '99 when Carl's Jr bought them out.

I almost got rear-ended this morning in congestion...the light was green, but the traffic wasn't moving, and the driver of a Neon behind me didn't seem to comprehend why I was stopped at a green light... A couple of days ago on the freeway I had to lay on the horn when a zombie minivan mom on her cellphone started moving into my lane while beside me..

So demand for their newest bloat beasts isn't what they thought it would be?

Space exploration is a collasal waste of time and money, IMHO. But since Bush has been talking about Mars alot, I'd love to see him and Cheney take a one-way trip to Mars (or the Sun).

Or the Yukon Denali was already under development and then Caddy jumped in at the last moment (after all, the differences between the '99 Denali and the Escalade are trivial, probably took 10 min to come up w/ the Escalade changes..

Many people on this forum are disconnected from reality, so I wouldn't expect realistic responses from many.

He's the all-seeing, all-knowing oracle of knowledge about GM's future..he's a well-connected playa in the game. (Or so that's how he portrays himself in his PCS persona)

IIRC, Hammond owns a '67 Mustang 2+2...he drove it one of the episodes.

Swerving back to the original topic---10 years ago, GM NA had 8 brands. Now, GM NA still has 8 brands (-Olds, +Hummer). What was their US market share in '98 vs. now? How many models now vs. then?

I wouldn't compare the T-Bird/Cougar to Taurus/Celebrity...t The T-Bird and Cougar competed with G-bodies (Monte Carlo, GP, Regal, Cutlass Supreme) until they were dropped, and then their GM-10 replacements (GP, Regal, Cutlass Supreme) which were certainly personal-lux coupes in both their G-body and FWD forms.. It was interesting how around 1990 Ford had 4 ranges of 4drs (Escort, Tempo, Taurus, CV--the usual subcompact, compact, midsize, full size ladder) while GM had 5-6, depending on the brand (J,L/N,A,GM-10,H,C,B).. When the Taurus first came out, I suppose it's closest GM competitor were the lookalike A-body siblings... then the GM-10 sedans followed 4 years later. Of course, in retrospect relative the '80s thread, 1989-1990 is a period in GM history best forgotten...

Sex Farm- Spinal Tap