Random Thoughts Thread

[regfootball]

On 7/18/2024 at 8:12 PM, G. David Felt said:

Are you sure the Hybrid Minivan is a good solution as I keep reading stories on all types of quality issues from the powertrain to interior and now we have this recall with Stellantis telling owners to park outside due to fire risk.

Stellantis tells owners of over 24,000 hybrid minivans to park outdoors due to battery fire risk (msn.com)

hybrid bugs on that vehicle are why I have never taken a deep interest in it.  Maybe as a second vehicle; but even then I don't want to be a beta tester....which, they've been beta testing the pacifica hybrid for like 8 model years now.

On 6/16/2024 at 7:51 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

I’m 99% sure it’s coming, just not officially announced. It might be a 2026 model. They’ve already developed the powertrain for the China market and with Barra’s reversal on PHEVs in the US, it seems logical to not waste development dollars.

bring it on; chevy got this one right!

Edited August 11 by regfootball

[regfootball]

More 25 equinox pics - Chevy got the packing right; size is amazing...nice and large inside.  MUCH improved interior.  Wider, more leg room, seemingly more headroom, nice trunk.  And the inevitable half a dozen places to put your phone.  Drove a traverse with the new shifter, I think people will like the new shifter a lot (although I still dig having a console shifter for a seden or more sporty car).

Edited August 11 by regfootball

[A Horse With No Name]

On 8/9/2024 at 6:05 PM, Robert Hall said:

Reminds me--I saw in the news yesterday that an alligator was spotted recently in Lake Erie in the Erie, PA area...not native to the area. 

They come right up in folks yards in Florida where I have family. 

 

Rat Rod just has the look. 

23 hours ago, regfootball said:

hybrid bugs on that vehicle are why I have never taken a deep interest in it.  Maybe as a second vehicle; but even then I don't want to be a beta tester....which, they've been beta testing the pacifica hybrid for like 8 model years now.

bring it on; chevy got this one right!

Yeah they did, but I still want a RAV 4

Neat old wagon

 

Vintage Road Runner with modern hemi

 

Hugger Orange is never the wrong answer

Pace car

Just has the look...

[A Horse With No Name]

used to go to college with a guy who had a Camaro just like this...

 

Another rat rod...

Love the color and patina on this truck...

Sits just right...

Reminds me of my old Mustang...

[Robert Hall]

The new 'Nox looks good...haven't seen one yet in person.  My sister still loves her '23, it only has 9500 miles on it....she hasn't been driving much since retiring last year. 

[A Horse With No Name]

On 7/19/2024 at 12:42 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

They have lockable boxes you can mount the charger in.  I agree that there's no rush to get the charger, but if you're already doing construction work inside, run at least any conduit or wiring needed now and leave it disconnected. 

 

I found out about 30 minutes ago that I didn't get the job.  Back to the drawing board, I guess.  I hate job hunting.

Sorry about that. 

 

On 7/19/2024 at 11:58 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

That'll be like $43k minimum to get the hybrid.

Indeed

On 7/25/2024 at 10:19 PM, trinacriabob said:

Today marks yet another anniversary of the sinking of the "Andrea Doria," just the night before she was due in to New York.

My parents knew young couples, some of them with toddlers, who were moving to the U.S. on tranquil completed crossings, but also one couple who did not yet have children but were on the ship on the crossing on which the collision with the "Stockholm" occurred.

I am in the New York City area right now.

Life is weird ... that's for sure.

Still fascinated with this. 

[trinacriabob]

Random thought:

... sure miss those "down votes" from ocnblu

[Robert Hall]

10 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

Random thought:

... sure miss those "down votes" from ocnblu

I miss him and Balthy...they were...amusing.and CaminoLS6. 

Edited August 12 by Robert Hall

[A Horse With No Name]

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I miss him and Balthy...they were...amusing.and CaminoLS6. 

I think all three of them had an automotive interest that largely died with most things built after 1974. 

 

Thinking of adding another turn table to my system, this looks good. 

 

[trinacriabob]

18 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I think all three of them had an automotive interest that largely died with most things built after 1974. 

Ha! I'd even say that's a little generous.

[A Horse With No Name]

I so want to explore so many places in America

I love his sense of adventure

 

Cumberland Gap

 

 

Reading suggestions, I like this guy

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Decent Music cover by a Musical family

 

[G. David Felt]

On 8/11/2024 at 10:13 AM, regfootball said:

More 25 equinox pics - Chevy got the packing right; size is amazing...nice and large inside.  MUCH improved interior.  Wider, more leg room, seemingly more headroom, nice trunk.  And the inevitable half a dozen places to put your phone.  Drove a traverse with the new shifter, I think people will like the new shifter a lot (although I still dig having a console shifter for a seden or more sporty car).

How tall are you? As the back seat looks very tight since you were in the front seat. I would say this works for those under 5'8" tall.

[A Horse With No Name]

Another cool cover, I love both Leo and Mary Spender

 

 

Just now, G. David Felt said:

How tall are you? As the back seat looks very tight since you were in the front seat. I would say this works for those under 5'8" tall.

Honestly Styling is enough to kill that product for me, couldn't see myself driving it. Cool if Reg likes it, but I am not plussed. Decent looking, but lacking something. 

[G. David Felt]

Interesting read

Hybrids’ Dirty Secret: Up To Nearly 5 Times The Lifetime Emissions Of EVs | Carscoops

[daves87rs]

On 8/11/2024 at 1:13 PM, regfootball said:

More 25 equinox pics - Chevy got the packing right; size is amazing...nice and large inside.  MUCH improved interior.  Wider, more leg room, seemingly more headroom, nice trunk.  And the inevitable half a dozen places to put your phone.  Drove a traverse with the new shifter, I think people will like the new shifter a lot (although I still dig having a console shifter for a seden or more sporty car).

 

Might consider another Nox if they find something besides the 1.5 for it. It really needs a hybrid/ bigger engine in there…..

[trinacriabob]

Now you see it 

- - - - -

Now you don't 

[A Horse With No Name]

Lots of interesting old iron getting destroyed in this vintage Derby film....

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Impressive amount of actual fabrication goes into building a good derby car. I think they have actually wrecked more old GM Iron in derby's than was actually built by GM. 

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Olds 98, I remember these fondly from when I was rather young. They were always a sweet car. This one isn't worth restoring, so it dies a noble death as a derby build...

 

 

More on the build, whole series of videos...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I know some here build model cars, 1 /25th derby car build...

Cool Olds Vista Cruiser, 11 minute mark, speaking of Wagons...

 

 

Wagon model car demo derby car build...

Pardon the Trump on the car, I know political content not allowed...

[A Horse With No Name]

The pearl clutching and fear in this is epic...

They call over weight fake patriots Gravy Seals rather than Navy seals...I wonder what you call some of the larger insane ladies in this video...

Interview with Han Mee of the British band Hot Milk. I love discovering new music...

 

Worthwhile travel video...am I random enough for the Random Thoughts Thread...?

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I love kids covering music....

 

[Robert Hall]

18 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

How tall are you? As the back seat looks very tight since you were in the front seat. I would say this works for those under 5'8" tall.

I don't know about the new one, but the back seat and rear door openings on the '23 Equinox are quite spacious,  bigger than the rear seat area of my '14 Grand Cherokee..the Jeep is esp. lacking in leg room in the back.

 

Edited August 14 by Robert Hall

[A Horse With No Name]

3 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I don't know about the new one, but the back seat and rear door openings on the '23 Equinox are quite spacious,  bigger than the rear seat area of my '14 Grand Cherokee..the Jeep is esp. lacking in leg room in the back.

 

Good to know. We will be buying a driveway mate to the Ranger when it is paid off. 

[Robert Hall]

3 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Good to know. We will be buying a driveway mate to the Ranger when it is paid off. 

Without googling the volume and dimensions, my sister’s Equinox feels larger in both the front and back seat areas than my WK2 GC, which feels smaller inside than my old WJ GC was IMO.   

[A Horse With No Name]

20 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Without googling the volume and dimensions, my sister’s Equinox feels larger in both the front and back seat areas than my WK2 GC, which feels smaller inside than my old WJ GC was IMO.   

We hike a ton and being able to use the back seat for camping or hiking gear is huge to us, pun not intended...

[trinacriabob]

8 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Impressive amount of actual fabrication goes into building a good derby car. I think they have actually wrecked more old GM Iron in derby's than was actually built by GM. 

Of all the fairly active members on the forum, I am probably the biggest torchbearer for the GM colonnades.  I loved the (Grand) LeMans of this year, and especially those of '76 and '77 that went to quad rectangular lamps up front.  What was so sweet about them is that you could get the fantastic dash and general feel of a Grand Prix in a more manageable package and, if one chose to, with smaller engines.  However, the "pushed down" look of the rear trunk was a little polarizing.  Maybe it was meant to be that way because a little bit of nick and tuck to "normalize" its silhouette and proportions could have cannibalized sales from the absurdly successful Cutlass Supreme and Regal of those same years.  My 2 cents.

8 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Olds 98, I remember these fondly from when I was rather young. They were always a sweet car. This one isn't worth restoring, so it dies a noble death as a derby build...

Ditto on this one ... particularly fond of '75 to '77 ... and what a quirky treat when you saw one that was a coupe.  I had to give these cars a nickname and - like a broken record - an Olds 98 of those years was "la cathedrale roulante," where the upright and pointed rear taillamps fins made it look like a Gothic cathedral.

[trinacriabob]

I came into Europe via Hamburg (DE) instead of Southampton (UK).  I had never been there before.  It's wild because they've got this really challenging language I would not readily choose to learn.  And, then, you have way more immigrants than you might think.  Turks are one of the biggest ethnic groups in Germany these days.  So, it's amazing to see people from the Middle East and Africa who have managed to learn this language and are (close to being) fluent.  I figure they knew they were going to stick around, not return home, and had to do that.

Either way, Germany stressed me out because of the language (there is not much English signage, though most people speak decent English) and the UK would have stressed me out because they drive down the other side of the street and it takes a lot of mental adjusting just to cross the street.

I don't think Hamburger Sparkasse (photo up above) was a food joint.  I did not see tables and such.  So, rather than try to figure out what a sparkasse is, I got myself to Southern Europe as quickly as possible.

Here's another one.  An important site and subway station is Rathaus.  It means a city hall and theirs is fairly stunning.  (It is not a decrepit subway station in a bad part of NYC where rats are eating pizza leftovers.)

Edited August 14 by trinacriabob

[A Horse With No Name]

On 8/14/2024 at 5:06 PM, trinacriabob said:

Of all the fairly active members on the forum, I am probably the biggest torchbearer for the GM colonnades.  I loved the (Grand) LeMans of this year, and especially those of '76 and '77 that went to quad rectangular lamps up front.  What was so sweet about them is that you could get the fantastic dash and general feel of a Grand Prix in a more manageable package and, if one chose to, with smaller engines.  However, the "pushed down" look of the rear trunk was a little polarizing.  Maybe it was meant to be that way because a little bit of nick and tuck to "normalize" its silhouette and proportions could have cannibalized sales from the absurdly successful Cutlass Supreme and Regal of those same years.  My 2 cents.

Ditto on this one ... particularly fond of '75 to '77 ... and what a quirky treat when you saw one that was a coupe.  I had to give these cars a nickname and - like a broken record - an Olds 98 of those years was "la cathedrale roulante," where the upright and pointed rear taillamps fins made it look like a Gothic cathedral.

I miss them hugely. Would love to live in an earlier time when I could go in and buy one of the abovementioned new...

 

People love the 1970 GM products, but the Torino was/is a stunner. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Worth repeating...

 

[G. David Felt]

3 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I miss them hugely. Would love to live in an earlier time when I could go in and buy one of the abovementioned new...

 

People love the 1970 GM products, but the Torino was/is a stunner. 

 

Would love to have this as an EV with a huge Frunk!

[G. David Felt]

Interesting read

I’ve Been Driving an EV for a Year. I Have Only One Regret. (msn.com)

Interesting take by this gambler.

Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.' (msn.com)

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting the Riviera at the twelve minute mark...

1 hour ago, G. David Felt said:

Interesting read

I’ve Been Driving an EV for a Year. I Have Only One Regret. (msn.com)

Interesting take by this gambler.

Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.' (msn.com)

She is up a bit in the polls, but it is going to be a long 80 days until the election. 

[A Horse With No Name]

1:23 79 ish Olds 88 similar to the Indy Pace car run that year. Enjoying old Iron in these videos. 

 

1:40 mark very clean Imperial, wonder what the story behind THAT is?

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Another clean Imperial Derby car...

Well done model of an Imperial derby car...

 

 

[G. David Felt]

Cadillac Newest 2 door 2 person sports car EV.
Cadillac Reveals Opulent Velocity Concept: The Future of All-Electric Luxury Performance
 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

9 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

Cadillac Newest 2 door 2 person sports car EV.
Cadillac Reveals Opulent Velocity Concept: The Future of All-Electric Luxury Performance
 

 

I love that....we need more two door cars. I am kind of in a 1970's GM funk. Amazing how good these old 70's boats look even in death...

This Buick Wagon is going to be a derby car build, but would have made a cool weekend cruiser. 

 

More...

 

35K original miles and being built into a derby car apparently...

[A Horse With No Name]

59 Chevy in front of this Lincoln. Taking a break from life to look at Derby pics...finding old iron...

[A Horse With No Name]

This clean beast was preserved, thankfully...

 

 

[trinacriabob]

17 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Riviera

Riviera ...

... enough said

17 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Imperial

An Imperial only reminds me of one thing:  some of the older ladies from around NYC that had moved to L.A. that my mom used to associate with when we were teens drive one.  They had cat glasses, too.  We kids would refer to them as the "magpies" because they'd squawk incessantly.

17 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I am kind of in a 1970's GM funk. 

More...

Looking back, Buick had nice grilles after the quad lamps arrived.  It harmonized the models ... think Buick Regal coupe. The one below is a 1977 ... when car interiors were really something  ... look at those blue S/R buckets.

Crazy that, in '76 or '77, they dropped the 231 V6 into base loss leader LeSabres IIRC.

[trinacriabob]

Good morning.

Edited August 17 by trinacriabob

[A Horse With No Name]

6 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Riviera ...

... enough said

An Imperial only reminds me of one thing:  some of the older ladies from around NYC that had moved to L.A. that my mom used to associate with when we were teens drive one.  They had cat glasses, too.  We kids would refer to them as the "magpies" because they'd squawk incessantly.

Looking back, Buick had nice grilles after the quad lamps arrived.  It harmonized the models ... think Buick Regal coupe. The one below is a 1977 ... when car interiors were really something  ... look at those blue S/R buckets.

Crazy that, in '76 or '77, they dropped the 231 V6 into base loss leader LeSabres IIRC.

I would give my left N## to buy and drive that Buick as a new car. 

I like this plastic demo derby car build also. 

Love this build also

One last cool build...

[trinacriabob]

On 8/16/2024 at 5:44 PM, G. David Felt said:

Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.' (msn.com)

Not to sidetrack, but I'm trying to remain composed for the next few months.

I saw this the other day and laughed.  This dude looks crazed!  The whole concept of physiognomy exists for a reason, so it's too bad people don't put it to use to help them navigate life.

The curtain on this ugly and outlandish long chapter of Americana can't fall fast enough.

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting Olds 98 Demo derby car..

 

Not sure what this stated as, but a fun  looking car being enjoyed by some teenaged folks...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

I will be off of the derby car kick in a bit, but having fun looking at different derby cars. 

 

 

This car just ahs the look...

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting show on moon landing denial...

 

[Drew Dowdell]

On 8/14/2024 at 5:21 PM, trinacriabob said:

I don't think Hamburger Sparkasse (photo up above) was a food joint.  I did not see tables and such.  So, rather than try to figure out what a sparkasse is

Sparkasse is a type of bank. It literally translates to Savings Bank. Hamburger is because you were in Hamburg. There are Sparkassen in most (all?) major cities. All Sparkassen are part of a national network of regional government-controlled banks, though they operate independently of each other. It's almost like all of the "First National Bank of (City name)" banks we have here, except for the government involvement. The regional governments do not own the banks, but they do oversee how the banks are run.

You can't go into a Hamburger Sparkasse and withdraw from your Frankfurter Sparkasse account, for example.  However, they all share the same visual branding with the red logo.  They are considered very conservative and safe, unlike Deutchebank, which is known to loan a certain U.S. politician significant amounts of money without appropriate collateral. 

I find the language very easy to learn. 

On 8/16/2024 at 11:44 AM, G. David Felt said:

Interesting take by this gambler.

Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.' (msn.com)

I used to follow Nate Silver closely, but he has since sold out to Peter Theil, so I no longer consider him reliable, even when he's suggesting an outcome I favor.