Robert Hall

The mid-engined Corvette idea has been talked about since the early '70s..the idea of a Corvette brand (like Porsche or Ferrari, w/ multiple models) has been talked about since the late '80s.. . nothing new here.

Pretty harsh law.. I'm used to the 75mph limits here, even then, in heavy traffic, it's 80 or more in dry, clear weather...(4 lane freeway, clogged with commuters up and down the Front Range).. in the metro areas, it's 55 or 65 (6- or 8- lanes), though at rush hour it's more like 20..

I would assume so...and the Miata/MX-5 has been through 3 generations over 17 years...

Smarts have been sold in some areas in the US for a couple of years now, imported by ZapCars (which has since moved on to importing tiny Chinese electric cars since DC is now going to be officially bringing the Smart).

Nice neighborhood, Custom-S. I like all the trees... I'm a fan of gated neighborhoods... keeps the riffraff out.

Great band... I remember going to see them in Jan '97..in of all places, Toledo, Ohio... I drove down from Ann Arbor w/ some of my fellow grad students..was a fun show.

The internet made everyone stupid? It seems with all the text messaging, IMing, etc the kiddies do these days, they are incapable of proper spelling, capitalization, and punctuation..

I like it...I wonder what the US price range is going to be? Starting under $30k?

I've seen a few around here, in Douglas County and Greenwood Village livery...haven't seen any in the city of Denver yet.

So what happened to it that made you decide to part it out (rather than sell whole)?

I know what mean about the factory black...I used to rent from Thrifty, and I had probably a dozen Intrepids, LHSes, Concordes and 300Ms from them from about '99-04... at least 6 were black, and the black did look like a metallic gray... sweet cars... I always enjoyed driving them.

IMHO, the worst of some FWD cars proportionally are a long front overhang coupled with a very short front door to front wheelwell distance... I just don't like cars where it looks like the front wheel is almost in the interior (which unfortuately is also common with mid-engined cars).. w/ RWD, I'm fond of the classic long hood/short deck designs, long hood/long deck and cars with plenty of door-to-wheelwell distance (also referred to as firewall to front axle distance also, I think). Speaking of well-proportioned FWD cars, the Intrepid and Aurora are two of my favorites... the Intrepid is one of my favorite domestic designs of the last decade--they are so sleek and look great in black. I also liked the proportions of the last Riviera (love the roofline and rear end) and the last two generations of Sevilles and the last Eldorado..

Thanks, all... it was a good birthday...went out to a new pub (Baker Street Pub, a British-themed place, apparently a chain) near my old office w/ a bunch of my ex-coworkers...(I left my corporate cubicle job June 15th and started a new contract gig last week)... I miss the people, but don't miss the work (deadly dull). I didn't drink too much, just a few beers and a couple shots..slight hangover this morning. Coincidentally, my '00 Grand Cherokee hit 80k yesterday. The M3 is good, thinking of selling it.. going out to dinner for Thai tonight w/ some of my closest friends.

I've thought of doing that with my '00 Grand Cherokee.. it's got almost 80k miles now, but still is in great shape. I think I'll keep for winter and off-road use and buy something else in the next year for a daily driver..

My Escort had a badge that read '5-speed' on the rear hatch, with the cool, tiny 'diesel' badges on the front fenders. My pet peeve w/ badging are the cars where the model name is on the left side of the decklid/hatch and the brand name is on the right side... don't see it as much anymore, but it just looks wrong, esp. in English where you read left-to-right. This reads correctly--'Toyota Camry' but this is just plain wrong, reads as 'Grand Marquis LS Mercury'... I've never understood why so many automakers made this mistake...

Yeah..I've seen a lot of rusty F-series when I'm in Ohio..and the Rangers..the old Rangers rusted like crazy...Fox Mustangs were known for rusting decklid/hatch edges, doors...haven't noticed any of the SN95 ('94-04) era cars with rust, though... I saw a first-gen Taurus when I was in Cleveland last year that was the rustiest Taurus I've ever seen... rust holes around the door handles, rust all over the doors, fenders, quarters, 1/2 inch or more of the decklid bottom edge missing, etc.. Rust is such a rare sight here, even surface rust..faded or peeling paint I see occasionally, but the only rusty vehicles I see are probably from out of state like my Bronco was (I brought it to Colorado with 9 years of Ohio/Michigan/Illinois rust).

Maybe some of those are Katrina salvaged? I rarely ever see rusty cars except those brought in from out of state (too dry here, no salty roads).

Which they already have...Equinox, Vue, Torrent...

Good to hear..some positive news for Michigan.

Yeah, they look great in silver, black, dark gray, maroon..a large car, but understated.. after having one as a rental for a few days last month (and occasionally driving my folks ones in the past), I can see why my dad liked them (he bought Town Cars in the '80s and '90s).... I really find them appealing--last of the traditional RWD, BOF, V8 American-style luxury land yachts, and the THX sound option is great.. very smooth, quiet, comfortable, safe...maybe just what I need in a daily driver commuter car.

I'd love to have a Town Car with the GT500 engine option...

Me too...I want to see my Apple shares go up...

Yes, but Hondas have higher resale than anything, right?

I did a quick check around the office parking lot today at lunch... 5 '07 Camrys (2 hybrids), 10 previous gen, 1/2 dozen of the gen before that, 1/2 dozen of the gen before that (Taurus style from the mid '90s), 2 early '90s ones.. as far as other cars, 6 Priuses, 1 BMW 6-series convertible (CEO?), 3 Minis (including a Works S), a black Z06, a few Mustangs (from '65 to '07), a sharp black 4th gen Camaro SS, and countless SUVs of every type... Again, being in the tech industry, most of the Camry drivers are likely in their 20s and 30s (at least all the Camry owners I know are that age). Speaking of how certain cars appeal across generations, maybe I'm getting old (I do turn 37 on Thurs) but lately I've been lusting after Town Cars... esp. loaded Signature Limiteds w/ sunroof, NAV, THX sound, etc...seems like it would be a great commuter car (and get better mileage than my Grand Cherokee).

I'm an Apple fan and owner (MacBook Pro, 30gb iPod) but the iPhone doesn't really interest me.. it's cool and all, but I'm not much for PDAs/Blackberrys, etc... I like a phone strictly for calling, and the smaller the better. I had a company Treo with my last job, and it was too big yet the keys too small to be practical for emails, IMHO... I'll stick w/ my KRAZR for now...and use the MacBook and wireless to surf on the go...