Random Thoughts Thread

[G. David Felt]

Some cool news, Chrysler is going to be relaunched as an EV brand and the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares says that the Airflow Crossover will be the first of many new models that are coming as the brand will be fully EV only by 2028.

Stellantis CEO: ‘Chrysler Will Be Relaunched’ (msn.com)

Stellantis CEO: ‘Chrysler Will Be Relaunched’ | The Drive

[G. David Felt]

Focusing on long term production, seems Lucid did not plan well for supply chain issues. They have dropped their 2022 production goal to only 12,000 to 14,000 BEVs to be produced now rather than the original forecast of 20,000 plus for 2022.

Tesla Rival Lucid Delivers More Bad News (msn.com)

In other news, that boat that caught fire with over 4,000 autos on it has apparently sunk in the Atlantic Ocean due to rough seas. Those limited-edition Porches', Bentleys and Lamborghinis as well as many basic forms.

Volkswagen Loses Almost 4,000 Cars As the Felicity Ace Cargo Ship Sinks in Rough Seas - autoevolution

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

I've been away for a while ... far away.

Lately, it seems like we've been living in a James Bond movie. 

But maybe that's always been the case.

[G. David Felt]

9 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I've been away for a while ... far away.

Lately, it seems like we've been living in a James Bond movie. 

But maybe that's always been the case.

Welcome to the real world!  

How Far, Far, away have you been?

[trinacriabob]

9 minutes ago, David said:

Welcome to the real world!  

How Far, Far, away have you been?

The "motherland," meaning WESTERN Europe.

(I will have numerous February spotting photos ... once I get my head organized).

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

The "motherland," meaning WESTERN Europe.

(I will have numerous February spotting photos ... once I get my head organized).

Awesome, welcome home. Glad you got back safe n sound. Look forward to seeing your pictures.

[G. David Felt]

For @balthazar who should love this truck but might hate it too due to the powerplant.

1965 Dodge D-300 Truck Is a Bit Rusty, Hides Modern V8 Surprise Under the Hood - autoevolution

Seems tomorrow should be an interesting day for FORD as this exclusive story states according to inside sources that FORD will re-organize the company into two divisions. ICE and EV which will allow the EV division to fast-track BEV for the global world leaving FORD to let ICE continue on and eventually wind down.

EXCLUSIVE Ford set to announce plans to run EV, ICE as separate businesses -sources | Reuters

Ford Plans Wednesday Announcement About Acceleration of Ambitious Ford+ Plan for Growth and Value Creation | Ford Media Center

[balthazar]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/02/23/ceo-jim-farley-vows-company-not-split-restructure/6909570001/?gnt-cfr=1

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/02/23/ceo-jim-farley-vows-company-not-split-restructure/6909570001/?gnt-cfr=1

I honestly do not see the company splitting into two separate stock-based companies, I do expect two divisions under the FORD stock ticker to happen which will help to accelerate BEV development.

[balthazar]

Ford already has multiple divisions under one company- nothing new there.

[Robert Hall]

7 hours ago, David said:

I honestly do not see the company splitting into two separate stock-based companies, I do expect two divisions under the FORD stock ticker to happen which will help to accelerate BEV development.

I assume it is to protect the core company if the BEV venture fails.

[balthazar]

Industry news section?

[riviera74]

14 hours ago, balthazar said:

Industry news section?

I agree.  The placement of this FORD plan here is a little inappropriate.

[surreal1272]

Oh good grief. It's still technically a random thought people. Let's not get all "Bill Wise" over it. 

In yet another case of "When you just fell like setting your money on fire" (and sadly I know this all too well because my dad once owned a 1977 TR7)...

 

https://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/d/high-point-red-1980-triumph-tr7/7452966452.html

 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

On 2/17/2022 at 12:03 PM, ccap41 said:

"very competitive" is far from a "killer product"

Camaro wouldn't be dropping in sales for like 5 years if it was a "killer product" like the Charger/Challenger, right? 

While I agree as a whole, Rivian has the Amazon contract that should take up a few years of production as (hopefully) the demand builds for their other products. 

The Camaro is an example of a product that is probably best in class for its purpose but no one wants it because the only people who can afford it and live with a sports coupe are too old to get in and out of it.  The people it is marketed to want SUVs because they are building their lives and households and need to haul crap home from Home Depot. 

[surreal1272]

My dad's 1977 Nightma..I mean TR7. He had this for less than two years before he dumped it and bought a '74 Porsche 914 (a much better car).

 

After that nightmare...

[balthazar]

surreal - are those TR7s a poor buy at circa $2K, or is it just the costs to bring one back to 'nice' just not worth it?

As as iffy as the 914's rep is, that's saying a LOT about the TR7. 

I haven't seen a Triumph in well over a decade.

[surreal1272]

5 minutes ago, balthazar said:

surreal - are those TR7s a poor buy at circa $2K, or is it just the costs to bring one back to 'nice' just not worth it?

As as iffy as the 914's rep is, that's saying a LOT about the TR7. 

I haven't seen a Triumph in well over a decade.

Both lol (to your first questions). Just finding parts to make them run would be worse than finding a needle in a haystack and the costs would be through the roof. My dad owned his TR7 between 1987-89 and I remember one of gripes was the cost of a master cylinder being $700. It spent more than half of its two year stay in his garage and he finally gave it the boot. Could not give me one with literal money on the hood. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by surreal1272

[trinacriabob]

Random (and pissed off) thought:

Say you want to go away in May ... maybe PHX, maybe South Florida.

It should NOT cost "half a grand" to rent a basic Toyota Corolla for a week.

Let's do the math:  say they get that rate/fee for 40 rentals, making for $ 20,000.  Even if people put 1,000 miles on it at each rental, that's 40,000 miles.  They'll still be able to sell that car for $ 18,000 ... easy.  I know this is simplified.  And doesn't include the franchise fees they pay, office space, etc., but it's ridiculous and might be keeping people from vacay-ing. 

I wonder when some "normalcy" will return on this front.

Edited March 3, 2022 by trinacriabob

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Random (and pissed off) thought:

Say you want to go away in May ... maybe PHX, maybe South Florida.

It should NOT cost "half a grand" to rent a basic Toyota Corolla for a week.

Let's do the math:  say they get that rate/fee for 40 rentals, making for $ 20,000.  Even if people put 1,000 miles on it at each rental, that's 40,000 miles.  They'll still be able to sell that car for $ 18,000 ... easy.  I know this is simplified.  And doesn't include the franchise fees they pay, office space, etc., but it's ridiculous and might be keeping people from vacay-ing. 

I wonder when some "normalcy" will return on this front.

I sadly think it will be a few years as long as there is component shortages and with the Russia mess. I doubt prices will go down anytime soon. I am looking at booking a rental for a family vacation, first one since 2019 in August to Maui and the prices are crazy.

Here is Hertz

Here is Dollar

Here is Thrifty

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

I think I've seen this before.  Beautiful, if restored.  Where is it (if you know)?

[balthazar]

^ I dunno; I screenshot it off an 'abandoned' thread on IG.
If you're on IG, you know it's like impossible to find anything a 2nd time.

[ccap41]

11 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I think I've seen this before.  Beautiful, if restored.  Where is it (if you know)?

Heck, it's pretty damn beautiful even in this condition. 

[riviera74]

On 3/2/2022 at 1:58 AM, David said:

I honestly do not see the company splitting into two separate stock-based companies, I do expect two divisions under the FORD stock ticker to happen which will help to accelerate BEV development.

Neither do I.  I would NOT expect GM or Stellantis to do that either.

[G. David Felt]

Latest video of the upcoming RAM EV truck. You can now see this will have way more style than the turd of a Vaporware truck Tesla is still saying it will build some day.

RamRevolution.com

[ccap41]

It's 100% vaporware, I wouldn't put much stock in a video like that saying it'll look better than *name any product*. 

[balthazar]

I'm already done with light-up emblems.  Aftermarket is lousy with them, so they're not coming off as anything unique on OEM units.

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

Now we're talking.  The whitewalls don't look too, too bad.  I'm guessing this is not a factory color.  I could be wrong.  Would be curious to know how many c.i. in its V8 and the year of this model.  It was interesting how they did FWD with a "conventionally" placed engine in the engine bay, as if it were RWD.  It would be cool to see a photo of that set up.

[balthazar]

It’s the first year- ‘66. Engine is one-only: 425 CI. Will find a pic of the powertrain…

[balthazar]

^ That's the Turbo Hydramatic 425.

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

It's 100% vaporware, I wouldn't put much stock in a video like that saying it'll look better than *name any product*. 

Tesla Cyber Truck is still Vaporware too. I bet RAM beats them to Mules, aka alpha and beta testing as well as to market.

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

Did not know that this 1966 was a FWD auto. Had great style!

[balthazar]

H-h-h...h-how can you not know about the Toronado?!?

It's a GM enthusiast site, the owner owns a vintage Toronado, I've posted them before.... and it's freakin' an icon!

 

[trinacriabob]

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ That's the Turbo Hydramatic 425.

Very cool.  The engine appearance is true to form Olds (a big plus) and remained consistent over the years (distributor, plug/manifold placement) up through the 350 and 260, among other Rocket V8 engines.  Olds made my favorite GM V8s, by far. 

The engines in the FWDs sat up higher.  Interesting how they have that big case for the chain in the back to transfer power back down.  I remember that it was the same way in '79 to '84 Toros and Rivs.  With their absurdly long hoods, there should have been room in the back and below to open up the transmission as needed for servicing and service work.

[trinacriabob]

Can anyone chime in on what's going with selling prices versus MSRP on (ordinary) new cars?  That would mean Kia Forte, Chevy Malibu, and cars like that.  Are they discounting, fetching full MSRP price, or commanding premiums?

[balthazar]

Looked at 4 local Chevy dealers. 3 are only posting 'contact us for price' but the 4th had this : 

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

16 hours ago, balthazar said:

H-h-h...h-how can you not know about the Toronado?!?

It's a GM enthusiast site, the owner owns a vintage Toronado, I've posted them before.... and it's freakin' an icon!

 

I knew about the car, did not know about FWD on that model. Did you not say it started FWD in 1966? ?

I was born in 1967, so I missed out on this till much later.  

4 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Can anyone chime in on what's going with selling prices versus MSRP on (ordinary) new cars?  That would mean Kia Forte, Chevy Malibu, and cars like that.  Are they discounting, fetching full MSRP price, or commanding premiums?

I checked locally here, all the dealers are pretty much advertising no second sticker now, MSRP on the car you choose. Seems you can forget about discounts as I am not finding them for any dealers here locally. MSRP is the norm around me, but I did find some Mustangs and Corvettes down south of Tacoma that were being advertised as market adjusted for an extra 5 to 15K over MSRP.

[G. David Felt]

Very cool news, actual independent study shows replacing an ICE F150 with an F150 Lighting has 64% lower-life cycle emissions.

https://electrek.co/2022/03/04/light-duty-evs-have-64-lower-life-cycle-emissions-than-ice-vehicles-ford-study/

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

I knew about the car, did not know about FWD on that model.

Thusly... you didn't know about the car.  You're going to need a note from Drew on this one.

"I was born in 1967, so I missed out on this till much later."
What on Earth does that have to do with it?  Do the schools where you grew up commonly teach 'new vehicle engine specs' classes or something?

[trinacriabob]

I've always found this funny ... haven't seen it in a while.

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Thusly... you didn't know about the car.  You're going to need a note from Drew on this one.

"I was born in 1967, so I missed out on this till much later."
What on Earth does that have to do with it?  Do the schools where you grew up commonly teach 'new vehicle engine specs' classes or something?

My auto shop did in the late 70's but by then it was all about the current auto and the oil mess from the Arab countries. So yes, I learned about older auto's that caught my eye in the 80's along with my love of select 80's autos like the Monte Carlo Areo.  

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

I've always found this funny ... haven't seen it in a while.

Guess that is me, I did not know that a cool looking Toronado was FWD. 

Bad me, No Donut!  

[balthazar]

42 minutes ago, David said:

My auto shop did in the late 70's

You were in auto shop at age 10?

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

Moving under it's own power, ladies! ? 

[trinacriabob]

16 hours ago, balthazar said:

Looks like a place Bonnie and Clyde could have been set up to seal their fate, especially with that car beyond, to the left.

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

 

Now that I look at this, these were the best looking of the mid-size GM quadruplets while that body style was in effect.  My dad's Bimini Blue coupe was in clean shape compared to this one!  Probably the most reliable car my family owned.  Nothing ever went wrong with it.  My only complaint with it was the drum front brakes, when every other car in the household had front disc brakes.

[balthazar]

My '64 Catalina (4-wheel drums, and not the aluminum upgrades) never concerned me in the least, and I drove it 25K miles as a daily... and hard. But I believe the A-Bodies -tho weighing close to what my 3800lb car did- had smaller brakes than mine.

[balthazar]