Robert Hall

I'm an early adopter and a middle adopter with some things...consumer electronics, I jumped on CDs, DVD and TiVo early, but waited until 1080p sets came out to jump into HD. As far as cars, my Jeep is a 2000--I intentionally waited a year after the '99 redesign for the initial kinks to get fixed....may do the same with my next car... maybe an '09 G8 or '09 CTS. Not sure exactly what I want next, depends on if I keep the Jeep for winter use.

The times I've been there, I've usually hung out on the beach south of the pier and the 3rd street mall area...there are definitely some scruffy areas around..my next CA beach trip, I'll probably go to Hermosa Beach..I like it quite a bit. Last summer, I spent a week in Pacific Beach in San Diego...I like that area a lot..kind of funky old beach townish yet modern..

The thing is, the Ws are so outdated now, how do GM expect to be competitive at all in 2-3 years with them? Simply on price?

On the subject of best hotels, I would say the nicest overall I've stayed at in the US (quality and condition of room, comfort of beds, etc) were probably the Hilton Hawaiian Village (Waikiki, Honolulu) and the Loews Santa Monica.. the Grand Hyatt, Union Square San Francisco is quite nice also..stayed there several times when I've been in SF for conferences and work meetings.

True enough...it will be up to the Malibu, G6 and Aura to compete with the big 3 (Toyota, Nissan, Honda) and keep GM out of complete irrelevance with the mainstream sedan buyers...

Hmmm..so 3 more model years of the current Impala, eh? (they will probably keep it around for a year or two after the RWD model debuts as the 'Impala Classic' for Avis).

Yes... Chris: It's pointless trying to argue with Sixty-Eight..he's just a kid (25 or so?). At that age, they think they know everything.. (I was once that young, I know).

I wonder what the deal the H car doors was...was it the shape of the door was such that a full-size window would not go all the way down, so they put in the fake vent window? Seems like a design flaw.

Hardtops are neat, I'm not sure how popular they would be today when all cars have A/C... I've driven a few vintage hardtops ('67,'68 Cougars, '68 Camaro, '69 LTD, '73 LTD) and it is a lot of fun driving with the windows down..but they all had vinyl interiors and NO A/C, so I had to have the windows down in Ohio in July.. In a modern car with A/C, having the windows down becomes annoying after a while at freeway speeds...between the wind noise, traffic noise, and not being able to hear the stereo, I usually power up the windows and crank up the A/C pretty quickly..

I see a pretty strong (> 50%) likelihood that I will buy a Zeta (G8) or Sigma (CTS) before the end of the decade..or maybe a Camaro convertible? Or wait until 2010 (mid-life crisis time).

True..it is such a huge state, lots of geography.. I remember as a kid with my folks driving across Texas from Arkansas to New Mexico in our motorhome....seemed to take forever (2+ days, IIRC).

Has been done, a long time ago.... 2dr sedans often had roll-down rear windows.. the '68-72 Novas were like that, and other '60s-early '70s (A-bodies, B-bodies) were like that, I think..

It's the same kind of thing like the old fogeys that were bitching about the GTO when it came out..'it doesn't look like the '65!!' 'waahh waaahhh'.. IGNORE THEM! THEY ARE IRRELEVANT! What matters are the people that actually buy new cars..

Yeah, Boulder is like that also...very much Berkeley-esque. But to offset the granolas, it has a lot of techies and techuppies, so I fit in well when I go up there...

Haven't been in an Exige, but I rode in an Elise last year...what a hoot. I literally had to lean to the right so my friend that was driving could shift...(we are both 6'0" and > 200lbs). Reminded me of a go-cart for the street. I think it would be a really fun car to have for occasionally running the twisties...not sure about freeway driving, though..I'd be terrified of Suburbans and Rams (the car is so small and low, it's probably invisible to people in giant SUVs and trucks). One track-type car I would absolutely love to drive is an Ariel Atom..

Heh-heh... I'll admit, I've only really been to the airport, Arco Arena, and downtown... I went in an old Tower Records somewhere (this was in 2003, before they shut down), went to a Thai place near the Capitol that was very good, saw some GM EV-1s in a parking garage, etc. In 2005 I drove from San Jose to Denver (I-80) and remember it being very flat west of Sac along I-80). My sister started a 3yr consulting gig on a massive state government project somewhere in Sac a few months... not sure where her corporate apt. or the client site is... I'm planning to go out some weekend this summer and head up to Yosemite for some sightseeing...

Sixty-Eight, you are just going to have to realize it's not 1970 anymore.... new car buyers (which you are not) by and large don't care if a 2dr has a fixed b-pillar or not..(i.e. cars have air conditioning today). Honestly, you are arguing a point that is trivial to 99.99% of new car buyers...I could understand your dissapointment if the Camaro came out as a FWD 4cyl model, but as a RWD, V8, 2dr coupe, it looks like it's going to be great! So why don't you just STFU about this subject until the car comes out in 1:1? It's not like you'd buy one anyway (you only buy older used cars?)? :)

I know the '58 Chevy and '58 Pontiac were completely different from their '57s, but weren't the '58 B-O-Cs (or some of them) updated '57s?

I've never cared for Texas much myself..I had a job interview and offer in Addison (Dallas suburb) a few years ago, and it seemed ok enough, but I really didn't care for the flat terrain and the red state reputation...i.e. it seemed to me that moving there from Colorado would be a step down for me. I have been to Austin a couple of times, though, and I liked it there..seemed very different from my image of Texas...

That's why I like Denver...there are about 2.8 mil in the metro area, it's big enough to have an excellent airport, light rail, diverse population and loads of dining options, major sports teams, etc, but not overwhelmingly big...after 5 years, I feel like I really know the city and the metro area. The only real downside for me is no ocean..I've got the mountains nearby, though.. Phoenix is about 3.5 mil, I like it also, but mostly because I have family there more than the weather..it's still a growing place, but the tech industry economy seems less strong than Denver, and the pay rates tend to be lower.. the desert is pretty interesting also. I've been to Sacramento once, I've heard it's pretty nice...my sister works there and commutes from Phoenix every week and likes it..

I've only seen 2 of them out and about..saw one in a parking lot in Vegas a couple years ago..they are...so...huge!!

Wow..only 789 miles..that would be like new. I wonder what the story is...

Weight is what I thought of...a hardtop could have similar side impact safety/rigidity as a convertible, but would weigh as much or more than a convertible...a 3800lb Camaro doesn't sound too tasty..

Heh-heh..is that a parody of a Sixty-Eight rant? Seems like a mild version of one of his rants. No big deal, IMHO....

Wow..someone trading a Toyota for a Chevy? Unthinkable!