Robert Hall

The faux brushed aluminum trim on the radio, etc in the Caprice reminds me of a home stereo I had in the '80s...

My favorite of the '80s Caprices was the '86...had the restyled grille and taillights, but normal headlights (I didn't care for the composite lights). '86 was the last 2dr also, IIRC.

I've driven and ridden in a few...the only issue I've noticed is that the thick pillars + small side and rear windows (esp. on the Magnum) leads to poor outward visibility..

Very subtle changes..I wonder what the front fascia change looks like.. Not sure if I like the 3rd brakelight in the decklid...having it in the rear shelf is cleaner looking, IMHO.

Ah yeah... using freq. flyer tickets (domestically or abroad) is always a pain.... I've managed to get 4 'free' flights back and forth from the US to London in the past with FF tickets.

Wow...6 segments. My last trip to Italy I came back in 3 segments. Milan to London, London to Phoenix, Phoenix to Denver.

Wow..very clean. No diesel badging that I could see from the pics. I've always liked that style of Caprice..hopefully it doesn't end up as a lowrider or donk.

Speaking of Tundras, I saw one done up commerical style for the first time today..had a ladder rack over the bed w/ a few ladders, hardhat on the dash..

Yes, beautiful machines...they are a car that look even better in person than they do in pics, IMHO. There are a couple around here, incl. one in a goregous wine color w/ a cream interior. The QP is my favorite of the 'big dog' luxury sedans..

Sounds like a good move for GM.

Yes...a quality interior and Lexus badge would make the Prius way more desirable, IMHO...the vile gray plastic interior of the current model is a big turn off, IMHO.

It is 20+ years old...the VW China Santana is based on the 2nd gen Passat, which was sold in the US in the '80s as the Quantum.

It does seem odd that one would take pics of all those regular, everyday cars.. I usually take one pic of my rental car when I'm on a trip, but that's it for the ordinary.

Lexus should offer a version of the Prius...with different taillights, front end, Lexus interior trim and goodies, and the big L badges...now that would be hot.

Right.. I'm hoping JL does some more '80s Gs...they did a Monte SS years ago, but it wasn't that great (had a blower). Maybe they will tool up an MC Aerocoupe and GP 2+2...

The TSX isn't bad, but I prefer the TL...nicer interior, more power. But more $$$.

But Europeans like manuals..the percentage of manual transmissions in Europe is much, much higher than it is in the states...probably only 5-10% of US drivers know how to drive a manual, let alone buy one.. (personally, I can go either way...I've had cars and SUVs w/manuals off and on for over 20 years now, but prefer a manual in a performance car and an automatic in a luxury car or daily driver (when I'm in stop-and-go gridlocked freeway traffic, or city driving with lots of lights and traffic, I like to put it in D and forget it)).

Yes... I'm out of that company now, working as a contractor on a 6-to 12 month gig now... for the last year at that company, I was working a straight 40 hr schedule, and now at my contract I'm doing straight 40 so far... if things get heavy towards the end of the project, I may have some OT, but at least it will be at $75/hr rather than for free...

Not really a vacation, but I did a nice little Northern Colorado loop (about 200 miles round trip) on Saturday...drove up to Ft Collins to visit a friend for breakfast, then over to Estes Park and down to Boulder for lunch then on home...some great twisty road driving in the M3 on US 34 and 36. I counted 25 Priuses (very popular in Boulder)... saw 2 Insights (don't see those often)... a number of bar-coded rental Auras and a couple G6 convertibles. Lots of rental cars in the Estes Park / Rocky Mtn National Park area.. I saw a couple M5s (an E39 and a newer one)..... As far as oldies, I saw a sharp silver blue '64 Caddy 4dr ht, a goregous dark green '71 Buick Centurion convertible, a clean white '68 Mustang coupe, a clean white '68 Cougar, and a very clean red '69-70 Suburban. That sounds like a fun trip... I've been to Oregon just on short trips, mostly in Portland. I want to take a couple of weeks some summer and drive out from Denver through Idaho to Oregon and Washington, sight see and visit friends there, then drive down the coast to see friends in the SF area then either back across the 80 or on down the coast to LA then back to Denver via Vegas....but I'll need a convertible for that trip, I think.

I've been to two funerals in the last two years..both were for coworkers that were my own age...which is a bit disturbing to see 35 yr olds dying. One died from a car crash and the other died last year of a heart attack. One odd thing about the second one was the # of people that I later also saw at my best friend's wedding earlier this year (my coworker that died last year had been my best friend's roommate in college). A Jewish funeral and a Jewish wedding within 6 months of each other...both were very interesting and memorable experiences for me. When my father died at home of cancer in '99, it was both sad and a relief (he had been fighting cancer for 2 1/2 years)..

IIRC, Chevy briefly offered a diesel Caprice at one time also. Speaking of the Olds diesel, my buddy in high school that had the '81 Delta 88 diesel replaced the engine in '87..he and his dad put in an SBC w/ a 4bbl carby....I remember it having a tough-sounding exhaust note.

And people who have to deal with heavy traffic every day... I could definitely see a paddle-shift or full automatic version of the CTS-v being viable... I love manual transmissions, but can certainly understand the preference for an automatic when sitting in traffic in the daily grind. Sticks are great for the weekend fun drive in the mountains, but in the daily grind..ugh.

Same here.. I've never been drawn to buy a product because a celeb is in an ad for it. I've never done the named shoe thing either..I can't even think of who I've ever seen in ads for my favorite brand of shoes (Ecco).

Nah..it's an Italian restaurant in Greenwood Village (Denver suburb).

Speaking of texting, for some reason a couple of weeks ago I got a series of messages like 'Ill pick up the dry cleaning' 'see you at 6', 'dinner @ Venice?'... I looked closely at them and realized they were from my former manager...he was texting his wife and sent them to me instead. Maybe her phone # is similar to mine (I know they use Verizon also).