Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

^ Yep- no problem.
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[Robert Hall]

I wouldn't have liked living in a black & white world..I like color   The 50s seem so far removed from the world I know...it may as well be the 1850s.   Now the late 60s-early 70s would have been fun, IMO--for the music, the cars, the culture..would have been a fun time to be a young engineer at a place like JPL, NASA, BBN, or SRI driving something like a  '69/70 Mach 1, '70 Challenger R/T or an early 911...

Edited February 13, 2019 by Robert Hall

[frogger]

I cannot even imagine the racism back in the fifties, ugh.

 

[G. David Felt]

WOW, Ford Recalling 1.48 million Pickups

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ford-motor-recall/ford-recalls-1-48-million-f-150-pickups-in-north-america-over-transmissions-idUSKCN1Q21SC

Lexus tops Dependability data while Fiat struggles at the bottom.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-rankings-survey/lexus-tops-2019-dependability-rankings-fiat-struggles-idUSKCN1Q21J5

Awesome that Chevrolet is higher dependability than Mercedes-Benz

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/USA-AUTOS-JDPOWER/0H001PBB84MY/index.html

Ghosn's compensation is getting poorer after the board decided to scrap his pay package due to current issues.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nissan-ghosn-renault-salary/renault-scraps-parts-of-ghosns-pay-deal-idUSKCN1Q21MU

Interesting day in the Auto world.

[ocnblu]

10 hours ago, dfelt said:

Is this the video?

yes

10 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

(Even though those V8 sounds happen to come out ugly, crappy pick-up trucks)

You have no taste, but that's already been established.

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

But would you have enjoyed the 50's pay scale, lack of tech, so many other issues with the 50's outside of our enjoyment of auto's?

MUSIC

You forgot about the music...

And I do not know if I could forgo all that we have today for the 1950s. It seems that some social problems still exist and never went away and some are actually accentuated...(that may seem to be a blemish for today's world...)

About the music, although I did not get to enjoy it when it was happening, I get to enjoy the magic and romance of rock-n-roll  on todays tech called youtube. And because I was a teenager in the 1980s, that same feel of what the 1950s may have been like, 1980s magic of 1980s movies, 1980s TV and 1980s music were lived by me.  Minus the cars of the 1980s. 

I wish we could tone down the social media mess...THAT would be as far as my complaints  could go with today.

I bitch about today an awful lot, but it aint all that bad. 

Im scared to how bad folk could use all this tech we got against us. Our freedoms may be at peril. 

But all the good things we could do with all this tech is just mind blowing. THAT would be a good thing. 

And if we want to reminisce about the good old days...well...guess what?

The internet is like a time machine. We could revisist and see any time period we want. Just by typing away what we want to see or hear about our past and press "enter".

Awesome stuff.

I dont think I could do away with that. 

Edited February 14, 2019 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

Of course- there's compromises no matter where you come down on the timeline. Internet stuff is cool, some of it anyway. More music; yep. Better entertainment; yep.

But there's a lot of little things that fall the other way. Not worrying about locking your door or your car. Much stronger sense of community/neighborly-ness. A fridge that lasts longer than 12 years. Quality construction. Only 3 potato chip flavors to choose from. People minding their own business where prudent. Cheap Tuckers.

[frogger]

Never going to romanticize an era where anyone who wasn't a straight white male was dirt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[balthazar]

That's a ridiculous overstatement.

[balthazar]

[A Horse With No Name]

14 hours ago, balthazar said:

That's a ridiculous overstatement.

I understand the sentiment behind it, but yes, it is an overstatement.

[oldshurst442]

We cant erase our past mistakes. Only learn from them and to NEVER repeat them.

That goes for ALL humanity in all of its colours and cultures.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

As far as I'm aware, THIS mistake has never been, exactly, repeated.

[Robert Hall]

Looks like Elmer went wild with a JC Whitney catalog. 

[A Horse With No Name]

13 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Looks like Elmer went wild with a JC Whitney catalog. 

Still love Ford products of that era though.

[Robert Hall]

Yeah, haven’t seen one in a few years.  I remember a couple nice 55-56 Fords at Barrett-Jackson a few years ago.  A Victoria with the tinted roof panel and a convertible.  

[A Horse With No Name]

13 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, haven’t seen one in a few years.  I remember a couple nice 55-56 Fords at Barrett-Jackson a few years ago.  A Victoria with the tinted roof panel and a convertible.  

I always wanted a non glass roof Crown Vic. I had a chance to buy one cheap before prices on these got stupid.

[balthazar]

The Plexi-roofed Crestline/Crown Vic is the Skyliner, built '54-56 (in '56: 'Crown Victoria Skyliner'). The convert was the Sunliner.
The '56, with the roofline 'basket handle', is definitely the swankiest.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 2/6/2019 at 7:00 PM, ocnblu said:

Sad because I have a sudden limit on my ability to react to comments at Cheers & Gears.  My reactions convey deep meaning.  I am not a wordy guy, I like to keep things short and to the point, so this development is somewhat of a catastrophe.

Nothing should have changed with your account.

[ocnblu]

38 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Nothing should have changed with your account.

Not sure what happened that day, I wasn't even on that much, let alone "react" a bunch of times.

[G. David Felt]

6 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Not sure what happened that day, I wasn't even on that much, let alone "react" a bunch of times.

Maybe the EV gods are playing with you!  

[ocnblu]

Just now, dfelt said:

Maybe the EV tech nerds and dreamers are playing with you!  

 

[ocnblu]

[Drew Dowdell]

I can hear it rusting from here. 

[ocnblu]

Just now, Drew Dowdell said:

I can hear it rusting from here. 

I saw two on the road just today here in SE PA.

[balthazar]

Saw Mitsu Lancer with a Plymouth 'GTX" badge on the back.

[Robert Hall]

58 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Saw Mitsu Lancer with a Plymouth 'GTX" badge on the back.

Interesting...a related bit of trivia--around 30 years ago the Mitsubishi Galant was sold in Canada badged as the Dodge 2000 GTX and Eagle 2000 GTX.

[balthazar]

My Pontiac dealers list is up to about 3860 entries.
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[G. David Felt]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

I saw two on the road just today here in SE PA.

But was the body still 100% in tact or rust holes everywhere. I hear the Salt Brine there loves to eat auto's for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  

[ocnblu]

Well they were on the road.  I did not see rust holes on them, but I also did not dive my Jeep across traffic in front of them, run them in the ditch, and force them to let me do a thorough visual and tactile inspection.  All I know is, I still see a good number of ZR2 pickups and Blazers in my corner of the world.  They are loved.

[ocnblu]

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

'59 DeSoto in the Mobilgas Economy trials. Came in 3rd in the 'Upper Medium Price' class, with 19.06 MPG

[daves87rs]

On 2/15/2019 at 6:48 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

I can hear it rusting from here. 

Yeah, they were bad-but boy do I miss my s10 though......

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

'42 Cadillac trunk emblem ~

[balthazar]

[ocnblu]

?️

[daves87rs]

Nice!

[balthazar]

The enviously talented Jeff Norwell / 'Norwell Equipped' ~

[ocnblu]

2020 GMC Acadia AT4.  You can see it's lifted with all-terrain tires, with a new front end and taillights.  It also has the Terrain's shifter set-up.

[Robert Hall]

Front end looks better than the current Acadia, grille would be nicer without those stupid tabs on the bottom of the grille surround, though....

[G. David Felt]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

2020 GMC Acadia AT4.  You can see it's lifted with all-terrain tires, with a new front end and taillights.  It also has the Terrain's shifter set-up.

Just saw this on GMC Instagram story and love the black chrome grill. Best looking in a long time. AT4 Rocks!  

[A Horse With No Name]

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

Just saw this on GMC Instagram story and love the black chrome grill. Best looking in a long time. AT4 Rocks!  

Pun not intended I am sure.

[balthazar]

Acadia AT4 looks good!
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[Drew Dowdell]

A 396 with an extra turbofan in the back?

[Drew Dowdell]

So, if everyone's tax refunds are so low this year, what's going to happen to consumer spending when people can't afford those "tax refund specials" you see advertised for furniture and cars? Will we see a slump come April and May?

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

So, if everyone's tax refunds are so low this year, what's going to happen to consumer spending when people can't afford those "tax refund specials" you see advertised for furniture and cars? Will we see a slump come April and May?

Totally expected, I know I did my Son and Daughters Tax refund and it is next to nothing even with their student loan interest and other deductibles, they are only getting a few hundred dollars back. Both my kids have said they are putting it towards bills and will not be buying anything this year like in years past when they would put the bulk towards their debt and still buy something for themselves.

I expect the Tax Refund Specials to fall on on their faces and we will not be seeing the spending of tax refunds like in years past. This will long term change the way people spend money and how they handle debt.

[ocnblu]

Or they could have just put the extra money they kept in their paychecks all year in the bank toward that new car, or warshing machine, or whatever...