HarleyEarl

Cadillacs in movies: http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Cadilla...l-Eldorado.html

Hey thanks for the correction...the source had it as a '64 and I knew the '64 had more open rear wheel wells...but it slipped by. Here's the '64. I edited the aforementioned.

Silver Named Most Popular Car Color of 2005 by Christina Medina ForbesAutos.com To car buyers, all that glitters doesn’t have to be gold. Silver was named the top-rated vehicle color of choice six years in a row according to a report from DuPont Automotive, followed closely by white. Medium to dark gray infused with colors like green and blue has increased in popularity this year by 5 percent, while a more vibrant blue greatly appeals to younger auto consumers in 2005. The most popular color in the U.S. is featured on the fifth most popular vehicle, the 2006 Honda Accord. Dupont is the world’s leading supplier of automotive color coatings. In the U.S. alone, DuPont’s coatings are featured on eight of the top 10 selling vehicles, like the Honda Accord and Ford F-Series. “Advances in technology have allowed us to offer a much wider variety of colors and finishes than ever before," said Karen Surcina, marketing and technology manager for DuPont Automotive Systems. "And, in a reverse from the past, the automotive market is inspiring other markets' color choices, especially with its metallic and special effect finishes." Although some consumers choose silver to maintain a higher resale value, for others the flashy color is an emotional pick. “There’s always a fascination for anything that has sparkle. The human eye can’t avoid looking at anything that has an undulating surface to it,” said color expert Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “We want our cars to be the sleekest and fastest we can get and silver puts that out there without us being aware of it.” "The mind thinks of silver as a precious metal, like gold, but more attainable," she said. In the U.S., the color blue has significant gains this year in the luxury, intermediate and compact/sport vehicle categories. “A car purchase is a very emotional purchase,” Eiseman said. “It’s something that is very important, not only status-wise, but it’s a way to get us from one place to another. It’s a way of escape. Blue is really a classic color to American consumers in particular. It’s something that will never go away. We know that people are opting to go back to feeling more secure and blue has even more popularity during times of anxiety.” In the next three years, DuPont predicts more automotive colors will be infused with tints of others, while distinctive colors like yellow and orange will become more prominent.

Me too!!.....I often think, while observing cars on the street...so many are such a waste of natural resources because they are either boring or ugly.

The 1963 Caddie Eldo ragtop. I have always liked the look of Cadillacs with the top up...something sexy about it...I don't know why.

The 1962 Cadillac Eldorado....everything seemed right with the world in one of these....pure, beautiful Cadillac....a bonafide legend.

Yes, damn you Arts & Sciences. Here is the 1961 Eldorado. The fins start to get smaller.

1960 Eldo Convertible:

1959 Eldo Biarritz...incredible white on white...so American, so perfect in it's excess...I love it.

1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham...simply no words. I'm speechless.

The 1957 Eldo was so decadant, it even had a perfume dispenser for the ladies and it cost more than a new Rolls Royce.

The 1956 Eldorado Coupe with a factory vinyl roof....one of the early applications of this wonderful material.

I love Eldorados and always will. I hope one day, Cadillac will bring back an excessive luxurious coupe, all soft and floaty, as only the Americans can do it. Vanity, thy name is Eldo. 1953 1954 1955

SPEED GT - Reese to Return with Banner Corvette in '06 Written by: News Wire Leighton Reese, of Minnetonka, Minn., announced that he and Banner Engineering will return in 2006 with an elevated program that will see Reese campaign his familiar black and yellow Chevrolet Corvette in the SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. “We at Banner Engineering are delighted to continue the relationship we have had over the years with Leighton Reese,” said Bob Fayfield, CEO of Banner Engineering. “In 2005 we demonstrated that we can run up front in the very tough SPEED World Challenge GT series but we feel that we have some unfinished business and will be looking to place the Banner Engineering Chevy Corvette on the top step of the podium in 2006,” said Leighton Reese. “Of course Joe is returning to honcho the effort,” Reese said of Joe Kantarik, of Superior, Wis., who will return as crew chief. “I wouldn’t even entertain a project like this without Joe there to run the operation at the track! His experience and hard work help make Banner Racing a super competitive operation!” Reese and his Banner Racing Team are scheduled to begin their 2006 SPEED World Challenge schedule in March at Sebring as part of the world famous 12 Hours of Sebring event. Reese will be running a partial schedule in the Grand-Am GT series as well. “Right now our plans are to compete in the opening three or four rounds in each series, but our schedule is flexible,” Reese said. “Obviously we cannot race the entire schedules of both series due to conflicts. Also, we are still a relatively small team so we need time between races to prepare for the next event.” “We will see how things progress and possibly adjust our schedule from there,” Reese continued. Leighton Reese and his Banner Engineering Chevy Corvette finished 6th in the 2005 World Challenge GT driver’s championship (which was the highest placing for a Corvette driver). Leighton recorded two pole positions in 2005 with his highest finish being second at Portland.

One definition of 'Kombi' I found: taxi-van Combi: small minibus that runs urban bus routes also refers to aircraft carrying part passengers and cargo VW bus indeed used this name, 'VW Kombi'

We know of the Saab Sport Combi.....what does Combi mean in the automotive sense? There is the similar 'Kombi'...what does it mean and what vehicle used this as a model name?

Friday, December 02, 2005 Print this Comment on this E-mail this Cars come back as sales sag Pickups, SUVs slide 8.4 percent in November as more U.S. buyers choose passenger cars. Bryce G. Hoffman and Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News U.S. auto sales dropped 3 percent last month despite another wave of discounts by major automakers and lower gas prices as consumers took a break and continued to shift from SUVs to passenger cars and crossovers. Detroit automakers have made a push to reclaim a larger slice of the U.S. passenger car market and the effort is paying off in robust sales of the Ford Fusion, Pontiac G6, Chevrolet Impala and other car models. But the rise in demand for some new car models has not been enough to offset the sharp decline in Big Three SUV sales, a source of hefty profits that has largely been diminished this year. The auto industry's passenger car sales are outperforming pickups and sport utility vehicles in the U.S. market for the first time since 1981, according to Ford Motor Co. "One year doesn't make a trend," said George Pipas, manager of sales analysis and reporting for Ford. "(But) for the first time in 20-some years, we see cars advancing." Industry-wide, car sales increased 4.5 percent last month, while sales of pickups and SUVs declined 8.4 percent. Year to date, demand for passenger cars is up 2.8 percent while pickup and SUV demand has dropped by 0.6 percent. However, pickups and SUVs still account for 54.6 percent of the overall U.S. vehicle market, compared to just 45.4 percent for cars. Overall, vehicle sales fell 2.8 percent from more than 1.99 million units in November 2004, to 1.6 million units last month. For the year, the auto industry's overall sales are up 0.9 percent. Ford saw the sharpest decline in sales among Detroit automakers, with its monthly sales dropping 14.7 percent from 217,859 vehicles to 185,852. As a result, Ford's U.S. market share dropped to just 15.9 percent for the month, compared to 18.2 percent last November. General Motors Corp., hurt by sagging demand for its biggest sport utility vehicles, posted a 7.6 percent decline in sales, from 297,355 to 274,686. GM's market share fell to 23.6 percent from 24.8 percent last year. DaimlerChrysler AG saw its sales fall for the first time in 19 months, dropping 2.7 percent from 164,280 in November 2004 to 159,898. The company's U.S. market share was flat at 13.7 percent. All three automakers saw a slight improvement over October's dismal results, but the mid-month incentives they introduced did little to stem a decline in sales. Chrysler responded Thursday by offering new incentives up to $2,000 on all models. Asian brands continued to advance, with Toyota Motor Corp. leading the charge. Its sales increased 10 percent from 154,272 to 169,665, giving Toyota 14.6 percent of the U.S. market. Honda Motor Co., helped by the redesigned Civic, saw its sales leap 10.8 percent, from 95,524 to 105,860. The continuing decline in sales prompted Ford and GM to cut production by 20,000 vehicles during the rest of 2005. Ford said all of its cuts would affect truck output. GM said most of its production cuts would affect trucks. GM will boost factory output slightly in the first quarter of 2006, but only because its production volume was so weak in the first quarter of 2005. Ford said it will cut production by 3 percent in the first quarter of 2006 to about 885,000 vehicles from the roughly 908,000 it produced in the same period in 2005. However, Ford said production of passenger cars will increase sharply -- rising more than 21 percent from 264,000 cars in the first quarter of this year to 320,000 cars in the first three months of 2006. "I'm hopeful that we're going to see more of a mix toward cars and (crossovers in 2006)," Pipas said. Ford just launched a family of midsize passenger cars and expects to introduce several crossover models in 2006. GM and Chrysler expect trucks and truck-based vehicles to continue to dominate their lineup in 2006. But the mix is changing. "We still expect trucks to do a little better than cars," said Paul Ballew, executive director of global market and industry analysis for GM. "It's certainly something to keep an eye on." Gary Dilts, Chrysler's senior vice president of sales, said new cars such as the Dodge Caliber will allow the company to capitalize on the shift away from SUVs. "We're starting to put the pieces together for a pretty good car strategy," he said. "We are moving on to the car business, make no mistake." Not everyone is convinced the surge in car sales is significant. "It's a blip," said George Magliano, an analyst with Global Insight Inc. Magliano said the domestic vehicle market will continue to be dominated by trucks and crossovers. Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association, said Ford and GM have had "fairly good luck" with the cars they introduced this year. "We're very encouraged by the early response to the new midsize sedans," Pipas said, referring to the Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and Ford Fusion, three new passenger cars built off the already successful Mazda6 platform. "The cars are moving over the curb quickly." "Fusion is driving more than half of the floor traffic to Ford dealerships," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research. "First blush, based on exit interviews: Extremely positive responses to styling and price." Spinella said that customers who test drove the Fusion gave it high marks -- much better than Ford received with the Five Hundred and only slightly lower than the Mustang. "I just wish I could get more," said Berger Dettlinger, sales manager at Walnut Creek Ford in Walnut Creek, Calif. "They get a little bit more every day," Ford spokesman Jim Cain said. "It's a nice problem to have. It means they're moving." The new models are also selling without any help from the big incentives being offered on other Ford vehicles. "From a dealer standpoint, that's a perfect scenario," said Jerry Reynolds, a Ford dealer in Garland, Texas. "We haven't competed in that segment for years," Reynolds said, noting that many of his recent Fusion buyers are conquests from foreign automakers. "It's nice to see some imports on my trade-in lot." Ford has shipped some 44,000 vehicles since September, and is looking at adding a third shift at its factory in Hermosillo, Mexico, which builds the Fusion and Mercury Milan, as early as the first quarter of next year. Foreign automakers are also having success with new sedans. Toyota saw sales of its flagship Avalon soar 262.5 percent from 2,269 units in November 2004 to 8,225 units last month. Automakers are cautious about December and next year. "We expect '06 to be pretty comparable to '05," said GM's Ballew. "We know that, in North America, we have a long way to go in terms of a recovery."

Saab USA Selects OEConnection's D2DLink® as Preferred Dealer Parts Sourcing Tool RICHFIELD, Ohio, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Saab dealers can now take advantage of D2DLink, the automotive industry's largest subscriber-based online parts procurement and fulfillment tool. OEConnection LLC, a leader in ecommerce procurement and analysis solutions for the automotive original equipment replacement parts business, announced today an agreement with Saab USA, to launch D2DLink to Saab's 260 dealers nationwide. Saab, a division of General Motors Corporation, marks the 6th automaker to embrace D2DLink in a corporate-wide initiative for more efficient and streamlined dealer-to-dealer parts trade. Their dealers also join an industry network of almost 12,000 D2DLink subscribers, representing an estimated 50% of all U.S. new car dealerships and nearly $8 billion in annual parts trade. With D2DLink, Saab parts managers can automate sourcing of parts in stock at other Saab and GM dealerships -- from inquiry to order fulfillment -- facilitating, in many cases, same day delivery. Previously limited to time- consuming and hit-or-miss phone follow-up, D2DLink provides Saab users with the industry's most accurate online database of original equipment parts. Using near-real time updating, D2DLink creates a virtual warehouse of all in- channel Saab-specific and General Motors-shared parts providing Saab dealers with access to their dealer network and the inventories of 5,800 General Motors who also subscribe to D2DLink. "We're very pleased that Saab has joined the growing number of both domestic and import automakers who are choosing D2DLink as their primary in- channel parts procurement tool," commented Chuck Rotuno, OEConnection President and CEO. "The sheer density of our dealer trading network and state-of-the-art software solutions help make OEConnection an obvious choice, especially as the industry moves to the greater economies of scale gained from shared parts." Saab parts managers will also be able to take advantage of OEConnection's full complement of parts management tools including solutions to proactively market idle and slow-moving inventory, identify and target potential buyers and sellers of desired parts, and analyze parts movement for more informed parts stocking decisions. OEConnection will begin its initial D2DLink launch for Saab dealerships in early December.

GM Displaces P&G As Top Ad Spender, But Autos Begin To Slide by Joe Mandese, Friday, Dec 2, 2005 7:45 AM EST FUELED BY A 7.3 PERCENT boost in its advertising budget, General Motors Corp. emerged as the nation's largest advertiser during the first nine months of 2005, nudging out alpha marketer Procter & Gamble, which has been cutting back on spending in the conventional media measured by syndicated ad spending researcher Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Despite a 5.6 percent cut by DaimlerChrysler, which slipped behind Ford the nation's third largest advertiser, the auto category has been quite healthy, account for $5.4 billion during the first three quarters, and outpacing the overall growth among the top 10 advertising categories (see table below). But according to new ad spending projections for specific industries in 2006 released Thursday by Wall Street securities firm Merrill Lynch, the auto rev-up may not be sustainable. Auto advertising, the largest category for many media, is expected to be essentially flat, climbing just 0.2 percent over 2005, and will trail Merrill Lynch's overall U.S. ad growth projection of 3.4 percent next year (see related story in today's MediaDailyNews). In fact, automotive failed to keep pace with the overall ad industry during 2005. According to Monitor-Plus, the category grew only 2.9 percent during the first nine months, compared with a 4.5 percent rate of growth for the overall U.S. ad marketplace. The auto downturn has been especially devastating for some media more than others. While national automotive ad spending kept pace with the U.S. ad economy, rising 4.7 percent, spending by local dealers actually fell 0.4 percent. In fact, most of the top ad categories have trailed the U.S. ad economy, growing at less than half the total ad marketplace. That's reflected in P&G's slide, but it could be that the cutbacks are less an indicator of underlying health in marketing budgets, as it is a sign of shifts taking place across the marketing mix. The Monitor-Plus data tracks most of the major media, but it does not track other forms of media and marketing that P&G and other marketers may be shifting to. In 2004, P&G began moving toward a communications planning approach in an effort to become less reliant on traditionally measured media. Top 10 Advertisers January - September 2005 Ad Dollars ($ Mil) Change General Motors $2,548 +7.3% Procter & Gamble $2,528 -2.8% Ford Motor Co. $1,640 +3.8% DaimlerChrysler $1,297 -5.6% Time Warner $1,206 +15.5% Johnson & Johnson $1,132 +17.9% Altria Group $971 +15.3% PepsiCo $952 +23.8% Walt Disney Co. $896 -11.2% AT&T $885 -28.9% Top 10 Total $14,059 +1.8% All Advertisers NA +4.5% Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Automotive Advertisers reflects Factory and Dealer Association spending. Based on spending estimates in the following media: Network TV, Cable TV, Spot TV, Syndicated TV, Hispanic TV, Nat'l/Local Magazine, Network/Spot Radio, Outdoor, FSI (CPGs only), Nat'l/Local Newspapers (display ads only), Nat'l/Local Sunday Supplements

Toyota recalls double Company blames tougher reporting standards. By Ken Thomas ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, December 02, 2005 Toyota Motor Corp., which is close to overtaking General Motors Corp. as the world's largest automaker, saw its number of recalled vehicles in the United States double so far in 2005, according to government records. Toyota's increase came as the number of autos ordered to be returned to dealerships for repairs fell considerably this year. Recalls dropped to about 16.6 million through mid-November, compared with a record 30.8 million in 2004. MOST POPULAR STORIES Notebook: Texas will wear road uniforms in Big 12 championship game 2 die from apparent shooting in North Austin Police arrest 16 people in Bull Creek Park sex sting Colorado working to erase rocky image Vaughn, Aniston Pulled Over by Ariz. Police Ford Motor Co. is on pace to have the most recalled vehicles of any automaker this year, with more than 6 million, fueled by the September recall of 3.8 million trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Recalls for DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors have declined this year. Analysts said Toyota's spike in recalls could reflect the company's rapid development. "It's really a factor of the rate of expansion, the speed at which they're growing right now," said Erich Merkle, director of forecasting for IRN Inc., a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based automotive consulting firm. When an auto manufacturer opens new plants and ramps up production, he said, "you open yourself up for some quality issues." But a Toyota spokeswoman also said the federal TREAD Act, enacted in 2000 in response to the recall of more than 10 million Firestone tires, redefined what constitutes a recall, making minor issues part of the reported data. Records compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show Toyota had 2.2 million vehicles recalled through Nov. 17, compared with 1.1 million in 2004. Toyota said its records show 2.4 million vehicles recalled this year. The recalls are the most for Toyota, which often is lauded in customer-satisfaction and dependability surveys, in the U.S. in a single year. The Japanese automaker recalled about 210,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2003. Toyota is close to surpassing GM as the world's biggest automaker. Recent data by CSM Worldwide, an automotive forecasting firm, estimated GM's global production at 8.65 million vehicles in 2005, followed by Toyota at 8.44 million. Toyota is scheduled to open a pickup plant in San Antonio next year that will produce an additional 200,000 vehicles that could help it surpass GM. Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss, said that with the company's rising sales, "it would be normal to expect that recalls would increase." She noted that one of the recalls dealt with older pickups and SUVs that involved a rod linking the steering wheel and the wheels and did not reflect current production. Toyota also recalled about 75,000 models of its popular Prius gas-electric hybrid from the 2004-05 model years because of stalling engines. Ford saw its recalled vehicles grow by about 1 million over the 5 million of 2004. The bulk of the recalls came when Ford called back 3.8 million trucks and SUVs because of a cruise-control switch suspected of causing engine fires. It was the fifth-largest recall in history. Kristen Kinley, a Ford spokeswoman, said that in some cases, the automaker issued a recall notice based on early testing before the vehicles were shipped to dealerships. "Automakers are becoming more aggressive about doing recalls and doing them much quicker," Kinley said. Recalls have become more common in the aftermath of the TREAD Act and have also been driven by fear of litigation and the launching of new vehicles, said Chance Parker of J.D. Power and Associates, which tracks vehicle quality and dependability. Parker said his firm has not seen a direct link between increased recalls and reduced vehicle quality by a manufacturer. "In some cases, if a recall is handled really well, we've had some customers becoming more satisfied because of the way the recall was handled," Parker said. GM has recalled about 4 million vehicles this year, down from more than 10 million in 2004. DaimlerChrysler saw a major drop — about 750,000 vehicles in 2005 compared with 5.8 million in 2004.

A very nice looking sedan. I like the swelling around the wheel openings of the fenders.

Reporting from the street... Today while walking, with a friend to Tim Hortons, through a parking lot, a car jumped out at him...a beautiful top of the line Allure/LaCrosse. He is not a car guy at all and he voluntarilly made note how beautiful this car was. It was a greenish grey color with chrome wheels....it was very nice, I have to say. Made everything else around it look shockingly dull.

That brings up a good point...I just don't get why GM (and some others) insist on these old fashioned antennas....even the Saab 9-7x has a cheap looking one.

Not even the GTO cuts it in competition with Mustang.....the new Camaro has to be powerful and affordable.

Sorry about that....good point...I honestly thought over 30 years ago as 'vintage'....so I edited it.