Blake Noble

See, this is why you don't give a classic car to someone who only had a pair of Nike running shoes as their first means of transportation after getting their driver's license.

Went to the Saturn dealer today (time for another oil change for the Aura) and looked at a brand-new black, five-speed Saturn Astra XR 3-door, optioned out, well, exactly the way I would do it if I was going to buy one. And, God help me, I walked away just plain smitten with it. Oh, you and the NOSman both totally missed the point of my self-imposed edit. A yellow GTO. C'mon. Look up what the color was called. :AH-HA_wink:

I can't believe I'm not desensitized (or is that sensitized) yet to Mr. Borger's constant departures and returns, whatever the reason.

The Eurovan is hilarious.

The Accord is safe ... if you're a backseat driver. I don't see how a car whose airbag winds up in the backseat of an accident should be allowed for sale. The old school Commodore is safe ... if you're not the one driving it. Like the Accord, that is a nightmare. And just as scary is this video of a cheap little $h!ty car, probably Chinese, called the G-Wiz crashing into a wall at only 30 MPH from Top Gear. Click!

And I'm sick of it. No, front-wheel drive doesn't make for a bad car, but it doesn't make for a great one.

We have fresh meat here for you, harry!

Luckily, I got one of those bones just today.

I wouldn't mind his chewing if he didn't do it every time he laid down in my lap, looked up at me, and start snapping that muzzle of his like a little blue-eyed crocodile. I know that his horrible teething pains are probably part of it, so I do understand why he's doing it so often. But also knowing that it will eventually become more infrequent as he ages makes it better on me, too.

Thanks, Camino. I wish I could get the little guy to quit trying to chew my hands, beard, and hair off, though.

I know I would like to have a diesel option on a nice, rear-drive, mid-sized coupe. And not just there. I think at least sixty percent of all cars and trucks in America need a diesel option.

A few Pontiacs, Chevys, Oldsmobiles, Saturns, GMCs, and Buicks. As for the rest, nope.

Top Gear did it best -- you can't argue with seeing a Prius getting blasted to smithereens by a machine gun.

I'd like for Pontiac to avoid another generation of Chevrolet-built manure wagons, if that's alright. Oh, and Northie already said it, who says the Alpha couldn't sell in a healthy quantity if it's appropriately priced and well executed? You're gonna have to think of a better reason other than "it's rear-wheel drive."

The final human tragedy is death by our blind stupidity. And that is the same stupidity you speak of.

No thanks.

cheese

Fixed. :AH-HA_wink: Sorry, NOSster.

Have a great birthday, good sir.

It's quite a different story for myself. The more that I hear about fuel standards and the like, and GM's lost hope in Zeta, my interest particularly in Zeta as a viable platform for a slew of great rear-drive performance cars with exceptional performance and handling dwindles little by little. It's quite frustrating really. I want to see this platform happen and come around full circle. I want to see it's basic concept and premises stay at GM for a very long while. I want to buy one, drive it, then trade it in and replace with a brand new one like what I had when that time comes. See, what I can't quite wrap my head around is that GM just simply cannot make a platform with Zeta dimensions acceptable in weight and fuel economy. There are ways to do it (like using lightweight materials for the hood, or the roof panel, for example). Yes, I'm aware of the reality that a large, rear-drive car won't get the mileage as say a small European compact with a diesel. But there are ways to achieve respectable numbers with such a car of the Zeta's magnitude. (And it would also help if the U.S didn't use such inferior standards for MPG ratings, but that's different $h! to jaw about for a different day and time.) I don't think GM's answer to every rear-drive enthusiast lies with Alpha. I can sit here and tell you that it just doesn't seem to ... click with me like Zeta did when I was first reading the news about it. I'll admit, it does sound like a nice platform and all: rear-drive, high zoot engines, plenty of pep, superb handling, good gas mileage ... but what about practicality? The Alpha's smaller size means a lessened degree of practicality compared to Zeta. I like Zeta because it offers me everything Alpha does and more (although, yeah, it's not as fuel efficient, I know). It had traits I wanted in the near future and distant future in a new car. It would have very well made me a GM customer for, literally, my entire lifetime. Chances are, I'll have kids in my thirties and, c'mon, thinking sensibly here an Alpha III sedan debuting in that particular time frame in my life probably won't allow me to have my cake and eat it too. And that opens up another particular can of worms. It's starting to make me think that GM doesn't try to diversify it's product portfolio as much as it possibly could (i.e. meaning offering alternatives in house in order to make sure potential GM customers buy a GM product; ok, you didn't like the new Impala because of it's front-drive layout or this Alpha sedan here because of it's size, but can we interest you in maybe this rear-drive Pontiac sedan that's the same size as the Impala, and offers just as much content and comparable fuel economy, and has the rear-drive layout you favored so much with the Alpha sedan?). In a lot of ways, the old, dumbassed GM is still a part of the show, letting "customer surveys" and "market research" and internal politics and a moronic doomsday mentality in light of new government regulations dictate what cars it makes and not doing anything particularly new or particularly better than anyone else.

I more than likely have that issue. I'll look for it.

Hmmmm ... good question indeed.

I'd like to leave one thought and that thought is this: it will be Chrysler that will prove if large, mainstream rear-drive cars can last through the upcoming decade's rising CAFE regulations.

My thoughts.

And then we hear the following from a familiar voice on the same page ... He did have a point there. I can't see a Zeta Buick Park Avenue being a fleet vehicle like it's front-drive forbearer was (taxis), especially with Buick re-establishing itself as a more upmarket brand again.