Random Thoughts Thread

[A Horse With No Name]

400,000th G wagon off of the line...

https://drivetribe.com/p/the-400000th-mercedes-benz-g-wagen-GA1dNq7MRqe2gaRB-SQlNw?fbclid=IwAR0drprO4UaVWE-GYcs1JtUkrRouikMN9hSitDQiqMcyQHnNpWGl1u74HhM&iid=ekmY8kGaRUKw5qmiLKLfig&utm_campaign=main+&utm_medium=fb&utm_source=organic

Cadillac loosing about 150 dealers...

https://drivetribe.com/p/about-150-caddy-dealers-will-leave-OJJFtxlPQeWqmrGRdrvo3g?iid=TwXR_-mqTaWANpzkvRpTNA

Similar conversion on an H3 would be killer. 

[A Horse With No Name]

I would love a 54 Chevy Truck....55 through 57 was cool for Chevy, but Pontiacs of the era are also awesome, and I love the pre 55 Chevy's and post 57 Chevy's. 

Chevy Bolt EV piuckup truck conversion...what better to cruise the streets of Lancaster PA in?

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

This will not end well....

 

Seeing this does make me wonder if they are not trying to force out senior high paid pilots to reduce costs that will end up in some form of Bonus to the CEO. Of the $220 million saved if they agree to the 10% cut in salary, the CEO did take a 10% cut in salary this year, but was paid with bonus over $8.7 million in 2019 and with the Pandemic this year agreed with the board to a pay of 5.85 million in 2020 according to Dallasnews.com story. Southwest had one of the biggest profits of all airline carriers last year in 2019 at $22.4 Billion in Revenue with $2.3 Billion profit according to the news story I found on my phone as I type.

Why does the Board and CEO follow other companies and forgo their salary to keep everyone employed. This is what I Love about Dell Tech as the Board and Executive mgmt. forego their 2020 salary to keep everyone employed even the facilities workers / Janitors who just keep cleaning the empty buildings over and over. Everyone job was protected by this act of giving up their wages to ensure we stay employed. I wish more businesses who have wealthy executive mgmt. teams would look to the short term loss of ones wages when they have far more money than us rank and file and ensure keeping everyone employed.

I do think the Airlines will have to eventually reduce headcount to break even, but during this pandemic, asking for the lowest paid people to take massive cost cuts while executives still bring in bank is just crazy. 

Want Loyalty, want hard workers, then Hey Southwest CEO, Give up your salary to along with the Board to keep everyone employed during this pandemic and down turn in travel. Focus them on cleaning and improving processes and the areas you use to conduct business. Bet the rank and File would have great cost saving ideas on how to process freight and people better due to actually having to work it every day compared to some analyst sitting in an office at the HQ building.

[A Horse With No Name]

This Triumph bike is killer...

[G. David Felt]

3 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I would love a 54 Chevy Truck....55 through 57 was cool for Chevy, but Pontiacs of the era are also awesome, and I love the pre 55 Chevy's and post 57 Chevy's. 

Chevy Bolt EV piuckup truck conversion...what better to cruise the streets of Lancaster PA in?

Caddy is HOT!

Bolt Conversion makes so much sense to me. Inner City people would love to have a 2 person option like this to haul stuff. I think plenty of Market potential.

[A Horse With No Name]

Just now, David said:

Caddy is HOT!

Bolt Conversion makes so much sense to me. Inner City people would love to have a 2 person option like this to haul stuff. I think plenty of Market potential.

It does actually make a ton of sense. 

[ccap41]

22 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

This Triumph bike is killer...

I love this new bike! Perfect for me. 

[USA-1]

4 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

You won a huge amount of respect from me with this post. I love GM cars from this era.

Beautifully designed solid cars, a ton of character.

[USA-1]

1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Cadillac loosing about 150 dealers...

https://drivetribe.com/p/about-150-caddy-dealers-will-leave-OJJFtxlPQeWqmrGRdrvo3g?iid=TwXR_-mqTaWANpzkvRpTNA

I read about this over the weekend. Cadillac dealer buddy of mine here in AZ said there is a TON of push back from all 880 current dealers who are not happy. It really is ridiculous. No reason they can't offer both EV and ICE pushing for all EV by 2030 is overly ambitious of GM top brass. They just know there is more margin made per unit with less assembly and maintenance to deal with, but not everyone is onboard with it. I think it will alienate many diehard Cadillac fans, the V cars are so impressive, they can easily equal or take down the German rivals in performance and build quality.   

[A Horse With No Name]

16 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

I read about this over the weekend. Cadillac dealer buddy of mine here in AZ said there is a TON of push back from all 880 current dealers who are not happy. It really is ridiculous. No reason they can't offer both EV and ICE pushing for all EV by 2030 is overly ambitious of GM top brass. They just know there is more margin made per unit with less assembly and maintenance to deal with, but not everyone is onboard with it. I think it will alienate many diehard Cadillac fans, the V cars are so impressive, they can easily equal or take down the German rivals in performance and build quality.   

Agree with doing both. 

58 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I love this new bike! Perfect for me. 

Isn't it hot? I love it....it just has the look. No wonder harley isn't selling anything. They backed themselves into a corner where they could not evolve, and became trapped in their ways. 

[USA-1]

4 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

This will not end well....

 

Not surprised with the way 2020 has been, but SWA pricing is way out of wack. I ran flights on them and on Kayak.com with American and Alaska Air from Phoenix to Portland nonstop same dates and SW was 1,000 bucks where Alaska and American were $500-$600 also nonstop. I was blown away. I don't really ever fly SW but I thought I would just price check for the he'll of it. Crazy times...  

[A Horse With No Name]

1 minute ago, USA-1 said:

Not surprised with the way 2020 has been, but SWA pricing is way out of wack. I ran flights on them and on Kayak.com with American and Alaska Air from Phoenix to Portland nonstop same dates and SW was 1,000 bucks where Alaska and American were $500-$600 also nonstop. I was blown away. I don't really ever fly SW but I thought I would just price check for the he'll of it. Crazy times...  

And I jsut bought roudntrip tickets from Southwest for $150 for an upcoming trip. I have zero idea what the airline industry will do. 

Yenko apparently building a pickup to take on TRX and Raptor. 

[Robert Hall]

3 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

Not surprised with the way 2020 has been, but SWA pricing is way out of wack. I ran flights on them and on Kayak.com with American and Alaska Air from Phoenix to Portland nonstop same dates and SW was 1,000 bucks where Alaska and American were $500-$600 also nonstop. I was blown away. I don't really ever fly SW but I thought I would just price check for the he'll of it. Crazy times...  

Crazy indeed...when I lived in Phoenix, SWA was usually always the cheapest to places I would frequently fly (Denver, San Francisco, Cleveland)....

Edited December 8, 2020 by Robert Hall

[A Horse With No Name]

Rare James Bond film Mercury Cougar, suvives, coming up for auction, always did like these. 

[Robert Hall]

Just now, A Horse With No Name said:

Rare James Bond film Mercury Cougar, survives, coming up for auction, always did like these. 

 

 

 

Can't see the pics, but remember the movie and the car. I have the vintage Corgi diecast 1/64th versions along w/ a recent 1/43rd one.

[A Horse With No Name]

2 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Can't see the pics, but remember the movie and the car. I have the vintage Corgi diecast 1/64th versions along w/ a recent 1/43rd one.

Cool, odd that you can't see the pics...

[USA-1]

4 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

And I jsut bought roudntrip tickets from Southwest for $150 for an upcoming trip. I have zero idea what the airline industry will do. 

 

It is the Holidays and I get that, but pretty much double is ridiculous. Not the first time SWA has been more expensive even to So. Cal. for work trips they are often more. There were more direct nonstops available to the PNWet with their competition which was also unusual. Thinking they have already ground much of the fleet. I was talking to a pilot for American who was seated near by on a flight a few months ago and he said they were only running half of their fleet of over 1,000 planes. Whoa! That was eye opening.  

[A Horse With No Name]

9 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

It is the Holidays and I get that, but pretty much double is ridiculous. Not the first time SWA has been more expensive even to So. Cal. for work trips they are often more. There were more direct nonstops available to the PNWet with their competition which was also unusual. Thinking they have already ground much of the fleet. I was talking to a pilot for American who was seated near by on a flight a few months ago and he said they were only running half of their fleet of over 1,000 planes. Whoa! That was eye opening.  

Delta I think retired their entire 777 Fleet. Huge number of planes on the ground worldwide, a bunch will never see service again. 

1956, Greenville NC

Neat old Ford on the Hook

 

1958, Johnson City Tenn....

Balthazar, I will see your Ford Cabover and raise you a GMC cabover...

Burlington Vermont...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Sunset Limited...

Pontiac!

[Robert Hall]

Neat to see those old pics in color, look so much more real than in grainy B&W..

[A Horse With No Name]

Hudson Super Six...

Tucker...

[A Horse With No Name]

 

They apparently wrecked the MonsterMax...

 

 

[USA-1]

40 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

This definitely looks like Arizona or So. Cal. with the Mexican Fan palms and Olive trees in the front yard 60's flat roof house and beautiful early 60's Eldo. '62?

31 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

They apparently wrecked the MonsterMax...

 

 

Just watched this episode haha. Can't believe Whistlin' totaled MonsterMax! ?  

[A Horse With No Name]

45 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

This definitely looks like Arizona or So. Cal. with the Mexican Fan palms and Olive trees in the front yard 60's flat roof house and beautiful early 60's Eldo. '62?

Just watched this episode haha. Can't believe Whistlin' totaled MonsterMax! ?  

61 I think IIRC 62 the tail lights went vertical. I will have to check later. 

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, USA-1 said:

I read about this over the weekend. Cadillac dealer buddy of mine here in AZ said there is a TON of push back from all 880 current dealers who are not happy. It really is ridiculous. No reason they can't offer both EV and ICE pushing for all EV by 2030 is overly ambitious of GM top brass. They just know there is more margin made per unit with less assembly and maintenance to deal with, but not everyone is onboard with it. I think it will alienate many diehard Cadillac fans, the V cars are so impressive, they can easily equal or take down the German rivals in performance and build quality.   

While I agree with much of what you say, I also think GM has had WAY TOO LONG an Overly Large amount of poor quality dealerships and no one has really been willing to step up and say you have to do business this way and sell this amount as a luxury dealer to stay in the game. Otherwise we yank the dealership from you.

I think GM is taking a piss poor way out of culling dealerships this way, but it will in the long run make Cadillac stronger as they keep the dealers who are willing to invest for the future rather than the bottom feeding hang on that are really more focused elsewhere to make the bulk of their money and if someone wants to drop coin on a Cadillac they will take that sale too.

Time to clear our the weak dealerships that from Sales to service offer piss poor experience. The year I lived in Texas, visited a Cadillac Dealership that was north of the mid cities and just south of my house on Grape Vine lake and I remember both my dad and I where amazed they were considered a luxury dealership in the piss poor old building that smelled and had no ambition to really sell, more about servicing the seniors living in the area that did not question anything. Saw no reason for the dealership to exist as a Cadillac dealership and this was back in 1994. 

So Culling the dealerships is needed.

[A Horse With No Name]

5 minutes ago, David said:

While I agree with much of what you say, I also think GM has had WAY TOO LONG an Overly Large amount of poor quality dealerships and no one has really been willing to step up and say you have to do business this way and sell this amount as a luxury dealer to stay in the game. Otherwise we yank the dealership from you.

I think GM is taking a piss poor way out of culling dealerships this way, but it will in the long run make Cadillac stronger as they keep the dealers who are willing to invest for the future rather than the bottom feeding hang on that are really more focused elsewhere to make the bulk of their money and if someone wants to drop coin on a Cadillac they will take that sale too.

Time to clear our the weak dealerships that from Sales to service offer piss poor experience. The year I lived in Texas, visited a Cadillac Dealership that was north of the mid cities and just south of my house on Grape Vine lake and I remember both my dad and I where amazed they were considered a luxury dealership in the piss poor old building that smelled and had no ambition to really sell, more about servicing the seniors living in the area that did not question anything. Saw no reason for the dealership to exist as a Cadillac dealership and this was back in 1994. 

So Culling the dealerships is needed.

You can't cut your way to prosperity though. 

[Robert Hall]

14 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

61 I think IIRC 62 the tail lights went vertical. I will have to check later. 

Yes, ‘61.  Only year with that roof and those taillights. Probably in Palm Springs. 

Here is a '62 for comparison.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Robert Hall

[A Horse With No Name]

I love the light metallic blue color on the 62!

 

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, David said:

I think GM is taking a piss poor way out of culling dealerships this way, but it will in the long run make Cadillac stronger as they keep the dealers who are willing to invest for the future rather than the bottom feeding hang on that are really more focused elsewhere to make the bulk of their money and if someone wants to drop coin on a Cadillac they will take that sale too.

Time to clear our the weak dealerships that from Sales to service offer piss poor experience.

But that's not what's happening with this buy-out offfering.

- - - - -
Both Caddys above are NOT Eldorados- the Big E was convertible-only from '61 thru '66.

- - - - -
I am getting a little sick of all the colorization of vintage B&W photos. I may start an 'Unimbibed' effort that de-colorizes colorized photos back to B&W. It's just one person's guess/opinion on what the colors were, anyway.

'Graininess' has nothing to do with color vs. B&W. Some of the best quality photos are turn-of-the-century silver gelatin prints; WAY better than color photos were for a LONG time. This pic is 1910 : 

Edited December 8, 2020 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

30 minutes ago, balthazar said:

But that's not what's happening with this buy-out offfering.

- - - - -
Both Caddys above are NOT Eldorados- the Big E was convertible-only from '61 thru '66.

- - - - -
I am getting a little sick of all the colorization of vintage B&W photos. I may start an 'Unimbibed' effort that de-colorizes colorized photos back to B&W. It's just one person's guess/opinion on what the colors were, anyway.

'Graininess' has nothing to do with color vs. B&W. Some of the best quality photos are turn-of-the-century silver gelatin prints; WAY better than color photos were for a LONG time. This pic is 1910 : 

 

Yes, the Cadillacs are Coupe de Ville, and true, graininess is a separate issue.  B&W is just so boring to look at...color makes the photos look real. 

[USA-1]

2 hours ago, David said:

While I agree with much of what you say, I also think GM has had WAY TOO LONG an Overly Large amount of poor quality dealerships and no one has really been willing to step up and say you have to do business this way and sell this amount as a luxury dealer to stay in the game. Otherwise we yank the dealership from you.

I think GM is taking a piss poor way out of culling dealerships this way, but it will in the long run make Cadillac stronger as they keep the dealers who are willing to invest for the future rather than the bottom feeding hang on that are really more focused elsewhere to make the bulk of their money and if someone wants to drop coin on a Cadillac they will take that sale too.

Time to clear our the weak dealerships that from Sales to service offer piss poor experience. The year I lived in Texas, visited a Cadillac Dealership that was north of the mid cities and just south of my house on Grape Vine lake and I remember both my dad and I where amazed they were considered a luxury dealership in the piss poor old building that smelled and had no ambition to really sell, more about servicing the seniors living in the area that did not question anything. Saw no reason for the dealership to exist as a Cadillac dealership and this was back in 1994. 

So Culling the dealerships is needed.

Oh GM definitely has some poorly ran dealerships that need to go, every manufacturer does. All of GM's 4 divisions have dealerships that are franchises not wholly owned by GM so it's like babysitting in the Corp. world I'm told. GM does ride Cadillac pretty hard though, about 10 years ago they required every Caddy dealer nationwide that wanted to stay on to invest in updating and/or remodeling their dealerships to the latest tech. and the newest design language and style that Cadillac wanted to reflect, if not they were forced to close their doors. It's worked pretty well. The 5 Cadillac dealers in the Phoenix Metro Area have all gone through the transformation, 4 were older but still in pretty good shape just dated, but are now remodeled and one is brand new within the last 5 years. All the Cadillac dealers here also went through the GM EV dealer certification that included about $50-100k of investment by each dealer for the addition of charging stations in the service dept. and on the property in guest parking areas and tech. and sales training when the ELR was launched in 2014, they had to if they wanted to sell it. I think the dealers who are taking the buyout deal were mostly small boutique style dealers that weren't pulling their weight and needed to go anyway.

From what I hear GM does stay on their dealers pretty heavy, it's just some don't do what they're supposed to (kind of like a spoiled child that won't listen their parents haha) and they get fined by GM Corp. and receive less allocation of new cars for not following the rules as well.

   

[Robert Hall]

I remember the Caddy dealer in my neighborhood in Phoenix (Coulter) was pretty nice after their remodeling..they separated their Buick and GMC showrooms from the Cadillac showroom. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Robert Hall

[USA-1]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Yes, ‘61.  Only year with that roof and those taillights. Probably in Palm Springs. 

Here is a '62 for comparison.

Yes, it does look like the San Bernardino mountains in the background. Oh yeah they went vertical instead of horizontal on the tail/brake lights. Sweet rides.

[Robert Hall]

Interesting comparison of the changes from '61 to '62...  I think I prefer the slim C-pillars and big rear glass of the '61. 

[USA-1]

16 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Interesting comparison of the changes from '61 to '62...  I think I prefer the slim C-pillars and big rear glass of the '61. 

I agree, '61 in top pic for sure. I like the cleaner body lines down the side and the upper character line follows around on the trunk lid on the '61 as well, that looks awesome. They can't make that upper line flow around on the '62 because of the vertical taillight housing and the rear quarters on it have that weird boxed look, '61 is much cleaner design all around. 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by USA-1

[balthazar]

To me; the '62 better reflects a traditional Cadillac with the more formal greenhouse.
I LIKE the '61 roof just fine; interestingly- tho similar, it's unique from the other Division's 2-dr hardtop greenhouses. It just doesn't seem 'Cadillac' to me, despite feeling that the '59-60 coupes are perfection.

[USA-1]

3 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I love the light metallic blue color on the 62!

 

Same here, it's like a Silver/Blue. Balthy prob knows the name of it!

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by USA-1

[Robert Hall]

5 minutes ago, balthazar said:

To me; the '62 better reflects a traditional Cadillac with the more formal greenhouse.
I LIKE the '61 roof just fine; interestingly- tho similar, it's unique from the other Division's 2-dr hardtop greenhouses.  

Interesting...would have thought it would have been the same as the other C-body coupes (98 and Electra).   I know that the '61 C-body coupe roofline is different from the '61 B-body coupes (squarer rear pillars).

I like the funky '61 4dr ht 4 window roofline also, w/ it's wrap around rear window...

 

[balthazar]

• I don't happen to know random GM '60s paint colors except for a bunch at Pontiac.
• 1961 is the low point of Cadillac styling from '50-70. '62 is far more stylistically refined.

21 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I know that the '61 C-body coupe roofline is different from the '61 B-body coupes (squarer rear pillars).

I think that's it; 98, Electra & Cadillacs got the one roofline, Bonneville & Impala got another.

[Robert Hall]

9 minutes ago, balthazar said:

 

I think that's it; 98, Electra & Cadillacs got the one roofline, Bonneville & Impala got another.

Yeah, interesting in comparing the rooflines between the C (red/white 98) and B (blue 88).  The B-body 2dr has a more rounded C-pillar and rounded rear window edges..

Edited December 9, 2020 by Robert Hall

[daves87rs]

8 hours ago, David said:

Seeing this does make me wonder if they are not trying to force out senior high paid pilots to reduce costs that will end up in some form of Bonus to the CEO. Of the $220 million saved if they agree to the 10% cut in salary, the CEO did take a 10% cut in salary this year, but was paid with bonus over $8.7 million in 2019 and with the Pandemic this year agreed with the board to a pay of 5.85 million in 2020 according to Dallasnews.com story. Southwest had one of the biggest profits of all airline carriers last year in 2019 at $22.4 Billion in Revenue with $2.3 Billion profit according to the news story I found on my phone as I type.

Why does the Board and CEO follow other companies and forgo their salary to keep everyone employed. This is what I Love about Dell Tech as the Board and Executive mgmt. forego their 2020 salary to keep everyone employed even the facilities workers / Janitors who just keep cleaning the empty buildings over and over. Everyone job was protected by this act of giving up their wages to ensure we stay employed. I wish more businesses who have wealthy executive mgmt. teams would look to the short term loss of ones wages when they have far more money than us rank and file and ensure keeping everyone employed.

I do think the Airlines will have to eventually reduce headcount to break even, but during this pandemic, asking for the lowest paid people to take massive cost cuts while executives still bring in bank is just crazy. 

Want Loyalty, want hard workers, then Hey Southwest CEO, Give up your salary to along with the Board to keep everyone employed during this pandemic and down turn in travel. Focus them on cleaning and improving processes and the areas you use to conduct business. Bet the rank and File would have great cost saving ideas on how to process freight and people better due to actually having to work it every day compared to some analyst sitting in an office at the HQ building.

Sadly, Wall Street profits come calling......

[USA-1]

41 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I remember the Caddy dealer in my neighborhood in Phoenix (Coulter) was pretty nice after their remodeling..they separated their Buick and GMC showrooms from the Cadillac showroom.

Same thing when Earnhardt Auto Group bought Legends Cadillac in N Scottsdale and remodeled it. It wasn't a bad dealership just dated, 80's dated. I always liked the nostalgic feeling when you walked into the showroom at Legends though, call me old school ha. It's something Lexus and Infiniti dealerships couldn't replicate because they weren't even around yet.

Here's some GM/Cadillac AZ history:

One of the oldest car dealerships in Arizona was Lund Cadillac off of E Bell Rd. near 13th St. built by Bob Lund with help from GM Corp. which was rare, but it was because Bob was a top selling big wig at GM and ended up as the General Manager of Cadillac and Chevrolet in the 70's. He retired from GM as an Executive VP in 1985. Bob also owned Legends Cadillac in N Scottsdale and Kachina Cadillac down in Chandler that was also sold to Earnhardt Auto Group in 2015. Lund Cadillac is where I bought my '13 CTS-V Coupe a couple of years before they closed it down. It was an old school but upscale concrete building all white with big pillars on the front and a water feature with fountains in the middle of the drive.

Larry Van Tuyl bought the Lund Cadillac dealership, but not the property, from John Lund (Bob's son who took it over) in 2015 and John sold the property to Fry's Food Stores/Kroger for $6MM which was a steal because it was a huge 5 acre lot off of a main thoroughfare. Van Tuyl moved the dealership out to Glendale to get coverage out there for Cadillac where they built a brand new dealership and renamed it Arrowhead Cadillac, which is now owned by Berkshire Hathaway Automotive along with Van Chevy and all the Van Tuyl dealerships in the nation. The Lund dealership was demolished in 2016 and a huge Fry's Marketplace went in along with a Fry's gas station and many other retail shops and restaurants. Kind of sad that all the automotive history went with it, the area doesn't look the same at all.

End of an Era...  

https://www.autonews.com/article/19991018/ANA/910180724/super-seller-two-decades-after-his-3-7-million-heyday-at-chevy-bob-lund-is-still-moving-iron

 

[balthazar]

My uncle Stanley’s list of autos. Back when brand loyalty was fairly common & strong. He passed in ‘86; the ‘76 was his last and the only one I saw. Wish he had kept the ‘58 & ‘59. 

[Robert Hall]

My uncle Melvin and aunt Wilma were serial Buick owners.  The ones I remember were a ‘73 Centurion 2dr, ‘75 Regal 2dr,  ‘78 Electra, ‘81 Electra, ‘81 Riviera, ‘86 Electra, ‘87 Riviera, ‘92 Park Avenue, ‘96 Riviera, and lastly an ‘02 Park Avenue..

I’ve seen an old photo of them in the 60s with a ‘64 Wildcat.

On the other hand, Wilma’s sister Alma and uncle Dave were Oldsmobile people.  

My uncle Paul once had a ‘48 Ford Sportsman convertible,  an early Bronco, a ‘65 Mustang.  He is now approaching 80 and has a late model Acura MDX...

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

WOW, Stupidity in Arizona knows no end. Ford dealer wants $154,260 for a 4 banger model of the Bronco Sport and $112,620 for a 3 banger model. Guess they think being the first to have the auto with a $100,000 mark up is ok. Anyone who buys them is truly stupid.

This 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Costs $154,260 and That’s Not a Joke - autoevolution

This does seem perfect for @A Horse With No Name has said he would like for a Central America Road Trip.

[USA-1]

1 hour ago, David said:

WOW, Stupidity in Arizona knows no end. Ford dealer wants $154,260 for a 4 banger model of the Bronco Sport and $112,620 for a 3 banger model. Guess they think being the first to have the auto with a $100,000 mark up is ok. Anyone who buys them is truly stupid.

This 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Costs $154,260 and That’s Not a Joke - autoevolution

 

Who cares if they ask $500k it's because they don't really want to sell it right now, they want to keep it on the showroom and create a buzz. Looks like it worked, a troll in Washington State just found it! Someone is just jealous it's not going to be in their swampy State to see if they can fit their Hightower a$$ in it ?

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, David said:

WOW, Stupidity in Arizona knows no end. Ford dealer wants $154,260 for a 4 banger model of the Bronco Sport and $112,620 for a 3 banger model. Guess they think being the first to have the auto with a $100,000 mark up is ok. Anyone who buys them is truly stupid.

This 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Costs $154,260 and That’s Not a Joke - autoevolution

This does seem perfect for @A Horse With No Name has said he would like for a Central America Road Trip.

Waiting for the full size Bronco....but the two dirt bikes and tent would be cool. 

 

“Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.”

 

19 hours ago, balthazar said:

But that's not what's happening with this buy-out offfering.

- - - - -
Both Caddys above are NOT Eldorados- the Big E was convertible-only from '61 thru '66.

- - - - -
I am getting a little sick of all the colorization of vintage B&W photos. I may start an 'Unimbibed' effort that de-colorizes colorized photos back to B&W. It's just one person's guess/opinion on what the colors were, anyway.

'Graininess' has nothing to do with color vs. B&W. Some of the best quality photos are turn-of-the-century silver gelatin prints; WAY better than color photos were for a LONG time. This pic is 1910 : 

I like both colorized and original photo's...

2 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

 

Who cares if they ask $500k it's because they don't really want to sell it right now, they want to keep it on the showroom and create a buzz. Looks like it worked, a troll in Washington State just found it! Someone is just jealous it's not going to be in their swampy State to see if they can fit their Hightower a$$ in it ?

Honey I shrunk Shrek, we are trding the Escalade for an Original MINI. 

15 hours ago, USA-1 said:

Same thing when Earnhardt Auto Group bought Legends Cadillac in N Scottsdale and remodeled it. It wasn't a bad dealership just dated, 80's dated. I always liked the nostalgic feeling when you walked into the showroom at Legends though, call me old school ha. It's something Lexus and Infiniti dealerships couldn't replicate because they weren't even around yet.

Here's some GM/Cadillac AZ history:

One of the oldest car dealerships in Arizona was Lund Cadillac off of E Bell Rd. near 13th St. built by Bob Lund with help from GM Corp. which was rare, but it was because Bob was a top selling big wig at GM and ended up as the General Manager of Cadillac and Chevrolet in the 70's. He retired from GM as an Executive VP in 1985. Bob also owned Legends Cadillac in N Scottsdale and Kachina Cadillac down in Chandler that was also sold to Earnhardt Auto Group in 2015. Lund Cadillac is where I bought my '13 CTS-V Coupe a couple of years before they closed it down. It was an old school but upscale concrete building all white with big pillars on the front and a water feature with fountains in the middle of the drive.

Larry Van Tuyl bought the Lund Cadillac dealership, but not the property, from John Lund (Bob's son who took it over) in 2015 and John sold the property to Fry's Food Stores/Kroger for $6MM which was a steal because it was a huge 5 acre lot off of a main thoroughfare. Van Tuyl moved the dealership out to Glendale to get coverage out there for Cadillac where they built a brand new dealership and renamed it Arrowhead Cadillac, which is now owned by Berkshire Hathaway Automotive along with Van Chevy and all the Van Tuyl dealerships in the nation. The Lund dealership was demolished in 2016 and a huge Fry's Marketplace went in along with a Fry's gas station and many other retail shops and restaurants. Kind of sad that all the automotive history went with it, the area doesn't look the same at all.

End of an Era...  

https://www.autonews.com/article/19991018/ANA/910180724/super-seller-two-decades-after-his-3-7-million-heyday-at-chevy-bob-lund-is-still-moving-iron

 

That link is a good read...

16 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Sadly, Wall Street profits come calling......

Without profits and money, nothing happens, though. 

18 hours ago, USA-1 said:

Same here, it's like a Silver/Blue. Balthy prob knows the name of it!

 

 

Or has  knowledge of a survivor car in that very color...

[Drew Dowdell]

On 12/3/2020 at 1:58 PM, Robert Hall said:

Cadillac needs something in that space...an uber-lux version of the Escalade w/ the Blackwing V8, 24 inch rims, etc.  Mega-bling.

Call it the Cadillac Escalade 16. 

I like the Blackwing name for an engine, but it is too contrived for an opulent trim a la Denali. 

[Robert Hall]

4 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Call it the Cadillac Escalade 16. 

I like the Blackwing name for an engine, but it is too contrived for an opulent trim a la Denali. 

Yeah, that engine but not the name.   I think offer the ESV LWB but w/ no third row--two throne buckets set back, w/ marble floor, etc, lots of customization options.. 

[Drew Dowdell]

On 12/3/2020 at 6:57 PM, ccap41 said:

Greenworks was the brand of the large electric push mower, 25 inches. I really thought it was a 30 inches like the Toro Timemaster. 
 

I’ll have to give those all a good look. It does seem that the more I look at them the better they appeal to me. Unfortunately, the mower I like is $650.. that’s a pretty penny for a push mower but the Toro and Husqvarna self propelled electric push mowers are about the same anyway. 

 

On 12/3/2020 at 7:45 PM, balthazar said:

Same deal as electric cars.
It's great, it's quiet, it's double the price.
Husquevarna 16" gas chainsaw : $180
Ego 16" chainsaw : $300.

All depends on what you want to budget for something. 

Go with the extra cost for the Electric @ccap41, you'll make it up over the next bunch of years.

I bought a craftsman gas powered mower when I bought my house back in 2003. Briggs engine, self propelled, mulcher/bagger, the whole kit.

The first 5ish years were fine. After that it started costing $50 - $90 a year in parts just to keep it running.  Then you have to go out and get gas for it... it's a huge hassle. It was never enough to justify replacing it, but enough to be annoying on a weekend when I was trying to get things done and had to go get a part.

When Albert's parents moved out of their house into an apartment a bunch of years ago, I got his dad's old Black and Decker corded pushmower. It's likely the same age as my Craftsman was, but I just threw it into storage at one of my apartment buildings and forgot about it for years.

Eventually the Craftsman just got too irritating to deal with, so I put it out to the curb and went and got the electric.  The thing is as basic as basic can be, but it just runs.  I don't have to get gas, I don't have to change air filters, I don't have to change oil.... plus its very light weight.  

Eventually I'll need to get a battery electric because I want to bring my lower yard back from the wilderness and plant grass down there, but the B&D suits my needs just fine until I do.