HarleyEarl

The Corvette Z06 is now available in Europe. Here is the Euro C6 convertible.

The new Mercedes Sprinter and most likely the next Dodge Sprinter. Here's the current Dodge Sprinter for comparison:

Is it wrong to really like this incredible Cadillac funeral car?.....beautifully designed and quite coupe like. http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1509/stainlesssteel3jt.jpg

I'm so glad that there are people like Panoz. I celebrate his type. I hope there will always be guys like him to start little car companies in America. Makes it so much more interesting.

A terrible shame!......automotive history and it's buildings have been much underated and underappreciated. It is as important as any other cultural element of our lives.

History Up in Smoke Fleetwood body works buildings destroyed By TERRY SCOTT REED AutoWeek | Published 01/23/06, 2:54 pm et A factory referred to as the birthplace of car body building, the Fleetwood Metal Body Works in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, was destroyed by fire Dec. 24. In its heyday Fleetwood installed up to 80 percent of its bodies on Packard chassis, with only 10 percent for Cadillacs, but it is Cadillac with which Fleetwood is perhaps most strongly associated. General Motors obtained the Fleetwood name when it acquired the company as part of the purchase of Fisher Body Co. Fleetwood had achieved worldwide fame as a coachbuilder before Fisher acquired it. Fleetwood maintained a sales office at 2 Columbus Circle in New York, and dealt directly with the rich and famous as well as manufacturers worldwide. Fleetwood bodies rode chassis from Duesenberg, Hispano-Suiza, Isotta-Fraschini, Lancia, Lincoln, Locomobile, Mercedes-Benz, Pierce-Arrow, Rolls-Royce and others. Fleetwood clients included Hollywood stars, captains of industry and political leaders from around the world. A bidding war for order slots erupted in 1919 when the company stopped accepting new orders because it was booked well into 1921. The company disclosed it had refused more than $2 million (equivalent to about $21.8 million today) in orders in the previous four months. Fleetwood Metal Body Works began business in 1909. When the company was sold to Fisher in 1925 its officers were characterized in a newspaper account as “glad to sell.” It was explained that they felt the future of the hand-hammered aluminum bodies they had pioneered was threatened by mass-produced stamped-steel bodies, which were improving in quality. Fisher invested in the plant, replacing worn equipment and increasing the workforce from 400 to 700. Production was boosted from 80 bodies per month to more than 400. A big gain came from the introduction of DuPont’s Duco lacquer, which reduced drying time from more than two weeks to about 12 hours. When Fisher Body bought Fleetwood, General Motors had a 60 percent stake in Fisher and bought the remaining 40 percent in 1926, consolidating Fleetwood production into Fisher’s Detroit operations in 1931. The Fleetwood buildings were last used by GST Auto Leather (formerly Garden State Tannery), but in 2003 that company moved its U.S. operations to Mexico. Recently the buildings had been vacant and for sale, and demolition was being planned if a buyer was not found by Jan. 1. The fire was attributed to a window air condition-er that had been set on “heat” and was running to prevent water pipes from freezing up. Just one building, originally used for final assembly, finishing and rail shipping, survived the fire.

Rich Ceppos The Madeleine Effect By RICH CEPPOS AutoWeek | Published 01/23/06, 3:00 pm et So there we were, Anne Asensio and me, on the GM stand during press days at the North American Interna-tional Auto Show in Detroit. We watched workers ease the retro-inspired Camaro concept onto its turntable. Asensio is French. She has spent much of her career designing cars for Renault, and is now the executive in charge of GM’s advanced design studios, where this most red-blooded of American concepts began life. Though Asensio would be the first to say she didn’t pen the car that won AutoWeek’s Best in Show award—and is a cinch for production according to high-level GM sources—she was heavily involved in its early development. And yet I had heard that Europeans don’t like American retro cars—didn’t get the concept at all. Was that true? Asensio explained: “It’s like what Marcel Proust wrote about the madeleine pastry—you know?” Well, I know about the pastry, at least. The delicate shell-shaped tea cakes are about the best thing at Starbucks, with a light sweetness that complements a latte like nothing else. “Proust,” said Asensio, “wrote that when he tasted a madeleine as an adult, good memories came flooding back from his youth, from when his aunt made them for him.” Asensio pointed out Americans have a golden era of cars we remember warmly from the ’60s. “But Europeans don’t,” she said. “Maybe for us it is cars of the 1930s. And so Europeans look at modern cars very rationally. They don’t have this feeling for cars from when they were young. They didn’t even like the New Beetle because it had a small rear seat.” Europeans have no equivalent to cars like the original Mustang and Camaro. There is nothing from the recent past that resonates, that connects. There is no madeleine effect. The passage Asensio referred to is from Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. “Once I had recognized the taste of the crumb of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime flowers which my aunt used to give me... immediately the old gray house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like the scenery of a theater.” Leave it to a designer to use Proust and tea cakes to explain a sentiment so powerful it produced a car that rocks you. One that reminds us that the most compelling automobiles still spring not from a computer screen or a marketing department memo, but from the same place they always have: the heart.

Where did you get it in Canada?.....I want to get one.

Totally agree.....it's the way I like 'Vettes.....nasty and white hot.

....something refreshing about clear, straightforward terms like 'heaters'. The Packard terminology sounds like something they'd use today.

http://www.solsticestuff.com/catalog/displ...ategory_id=1093

De Luxe Oldsmobile accessories in 1940. Interesting what they had as options then. Like heaters and backup lights.

I think the Chevy Impala LTZ is the way to go....one of GM's bright spots.

Heard something recently that Saturn is going to rebadge an Opel for an interm Ion until they get the Cobalt version into production.

2005 Panoz Esperante GTLM Esperante Extremus: The new GTLM addresses all your Panoz power needs By MARK VAUGHN AutoWeek | Published 01/27/06, 7:25 pm et AT A GLANCE: 2005 PANOZ ESPERANTE GTLM ON SALE: Now BASE PRICE: $89,000 POWERTRAIN: 4.6-liter, 420-hp, 420-lb-ft V8; rwd,six-speed manual CURB WEIGHT: 3461 lbs. 0 to 62 MPH: 4.2 seconds (mfr.) One of the many advantages of buying from a small car manufacturer is that you get to spend quality time with the company principals. Imagine cruising Dearborn in a Model T with Henry Ford. Such was the sensation (on a smaller scale and at a much higher speed) when we spent an afternoon zipping through the Holly-wood Hills with Dan Panoz in his Esperante GTLM. The GTLM is two models above the base Esperante, introduced in 2000, and one above the GT. The GT gets much of the extra bodywork you see here and the GTLM gets that plus more power. “The Esperante is the perfect car for some people,” Panoz said. “The GT carries all the bodywork for those that want the schmootz; and the GTLM comes with the blower.” Ah yes, the blower. It is a big one. The Eaton supercharger sits on top of the 4.6-liter SVT V8, whipping huge volumes of air into the combustion chambers and whining only barely as it does so. It adds 100-plus horsepower to the Ford’s peak output, bumping it from 300 hp at 5750 rpm to 420 at 6000. Torque is 420 lb-ft at 3500 revs. When you step on the gas you notice power and torque almost from the bottom of the tachometer—power and torque aplenty. It makes driving fun. The blower is the single biggest and baddest thing on this car (though there are a lot of well-engineered parts), and it almost nullifies GTLM’s 3461-pound curb weight. “It’s a 30 percent net gain in torque from the git-go,” according to Panoz. “Ya gotta love that.” The limited-slip differential delivers that power to the ground, too, no sliding around on the P255/45ZR-18s. It doesn’t behave like a muscle car that is all engine and nothing else. It drives the way a tight, taut grand touring car should drive. The GTLM gets a whole new rear end, too, including a suspension and chassis module that was not on the base Esperante. It’s part of Dan Panoz’s philosophy of continuous improvement. All that combined makes it sports-car smooth and unfettered by the bumps and wallops of Mulholland Drive, a road that seems to be falling apart and patched together more than many of the fading stars who live along it. It does take a little getting used to, to aim that long, long hood through corners that seem a bit narrower in this basketball player of a roadster. It’s not like a mid- or rear-engine sports car that has you riding up on the bow. In this one you’re sitting well aft. Regardless, the GTLM always goes where it’s aimed, reminding you that Panoz is a company that has won major sports car races, often by huge margins. The only technical thing we’d change is to make the steering quicker. It’s the same power rack-and-pinion 15:1 setup from the old AIV Roadster of a few years ago, Dan Panoz says. But somehow the ratio feels slower, perhaps exaggerated in tighter corners by that long hood. Or maybe it was just slower than the more modern steering racks we’ve driven lately. The interior lacks nothing for comfort or ergonomics. Convertible top up or down, you will be comfortable when you cruise. The only thing we’d change is the exterior, and even that is open to debate among staff. Many like it as is. Others say to turn a clean sheet of paper over to Pininfarina or someone and have them build a modern Maserati Ghibli, Jag XKE or Ferrari Daytona body to rest on this fine chassis. In this end of the market, design is often paramount; buyers want that hey-look-at-me appeal. The looks of the Esperante could explain why, almost five years after its introduction, there have been fewer than 200 sold. With a sticker price of $121,326 for a GTLM or $89,000 for a base model, buyers can go up 30 grand and buy a Ford GT or even a used 360. Or go way down and buy a Z06 or a Viper. But with only 200 in the world, the Panoz stands out. And you get to hang with Danny.

68....lol...I blush...what can I say?!..... for me, Datsun/Nissan began and ended with the 510...a straightforward, fun car.

Really like the rear window treatment. Very stylish for a hearse lol.

The GeigerCars tuned Corvette Z06. 542 hp.

I owned a 510 2 door once...great car. Had two big pipes out the back, sounded like a V8.

I had always seen this truck more from a distance...there are a fair number around here. Recently saw one up very close, sat in it...it was in incredible red.....this vehicle leaves me gasping, it's so hot...watched it pull away on a warm evening....just pure white hot sex. Love it. I wonder if it has the 'it' factor far in the future and becomes a hot collectible? Did I say 'hot' too many times?...

I think the US in brackets just means it's from an American company. I like it, but maybe N America doesn't need it. I wouldn't be surprised that they try it out in Canada though.

Kerkorian Reacquires 12 Million GM Shares By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer Wed Jan 25, 6:35 PM ET DETROIT - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian is acquiring 12 million shares of General Motors Corp. stock, matching the number of shares he sold in December, a federal regulatory filing showed on Wednesday. Kerkorian's private equity firm, Tracinda Corp., bought 5 million shares of GM stock on Monday for an average purchase price of $21.40, or approximately $107 million, it said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Tuesday, Tracinda agreed to purchase an additional 7 million GM shares in a private transaction for $22.25 per share, or approximately $155.8 million. Those purchases would boost Kerkorian's stake in the world's largest automaker to 9.9 percent, the same as it was before Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Tracinda Corp. sold 12 million shares in December. Tracinda said at the time that it sold the shares so that it could end its fiscal year with a capital loss, making it eligible for certain federal and California income tax breaks. Kerkorian lost $109 million on the 12 million shares he sold in December. But Tracinda left open the possibility of reacquiring shares, and it waited only a short time after so-called wash rules lapsed. Federal tax rules prohibit a taxpayer from claiming a loss on the sale of stock if replacement shares are acquired within 30 days. GM's shares fell to a 23-year low following Kerkorian's sale in December. The Detroit-based automaker has been struggling with declining U.S. sales and rising health care and materials costs. GM lost nearly $4 billion in the first nine months of last year. GM was scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2005 on Thursday morning. Kerkorian has lost approximately $350 million in the total value of his 56 million GM shares since he began buying up shares at an average price of $30.10 last spring. His latest move may indicate he believes GM is listening to his ideas for improving the company. In a speech to Wall Street analysts this month, Kerkorian's top aide Jerome York called on GM to cut its annual dividend in half and set profitability goals and a timetable for achieving them. York said Kerkorian was interested in buying more GM shares and was optimistic about its recovery efforts, but he said it was time for GM to get into a "crisis mode." GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has repeatedly said GM has a clear recovery plan, including a restructuring that will cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008. He also said GM's board must decide whether to cut the dividend. GM pays $2 per share annually in dividends. In trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, GM shares rose 80 cents, or 3 percent, to $23.85. Kerkorian's SEC filing was released after the markets closed, and the shares rose an additional 15 cents in after-hour trading.

I hope they have a base Aveo to drive.

I'll take a blend of style and space anyday over just space considerations. You might as well buy a delivery van....lots of space there.