Spying: Jeep Compass/Patriot Replacement Makes An Early Reveal

Happy Monday ... may someone steal a Happy Meal for you ...

A lot of interesting factoids ... The number of plants producing the mid-1960s Impala were numerous, including 2 in SoCal (Van Nuys and South Gate) and 2 in Canada (Oshawa and St.-Therese).  Imagine that ... working on the line with a Francophone in a herringbone cap who breaks out a baguette for his snack break.  Then, other plants:  up in Detroit, Atlanta, St. Louis, and the Arlington TX (Dallas) plant that made a lot of Cutlasses. Engines were varied: 230 in line 6 (not the 250 yet), V8s like 283, 327, and a 409 that gave way to the 396.  I notice the absence of the 307 at this point. The great 350 came a few years later. - - - - - As far as Cutlass going from 1976 to 1977, they did a few stupid things, yet may have sold even more of them: - the waterfall grille up front got busier, thus uglier - they got rid of the spherical vents on the right side of the dash and made them rectangular as well - they went from a more traditional burgundy (for that type of color choice) interior to a red interior (called firethorn) and it was obnoxious  - they slimmed down the bucket seats in the Salon coupe quite a bit - drum roll:  the loss leader base engine went from an inherently  balanced 250 in line 6 in an uncrowded engine bay to an "odd firing" 231 V6 (in its last year as "odd firing") and the area in the back of the engine bay around the engine itself was crowded. They should have left that one alone.  No one should have had a nicely equipped Brougham model with an engine that had a faint shudder at idle. - and, of course, they raised the price a fair bit

* Life keeps getting in the way. Hope the holiday season was good for you. Visiting quickly today because... ...this past Saturday's CD SHOWCASE (01/18/2025) was also streamed live on WRMN's YouTube channel! However, I do not know how long it will be available. If you are interested, check it out soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QmpWWB0d-k   Website page for the 2025 shows: https://www.cdshowcase.com/2025-cd-showcase/   PEACE | Cort, pig and cow valves with pacemaker 2003 MGM LS + 1981 cmc SC; need 1975 Chrysler Cordoba "Count your blessings now 'fore they're long gone" | Pink | 'Who Knew'

Interesting bit of trivia.  I couldn't believe the numbers, but, with the arrival of foreign imports coming later, it could be conceivable. In the 1965 model year, they sold 1,074,925 Chevrolet Impalas. That's far more than the 514,000 Oldsmobile Cutlass sales in 1976.  I thought this was the peak.  They report that 632,000 were produced in model year 1977.

I love this era Ford, and this era of Mercury is amazing! One thoughtful question...     Also thoughtful