Hudson

But apparently you haven't read enough about PENNSYLVANIA's law. They want to dumb down or eliminate the emissions testing altogether in PA. The new law would only require the purchase of a new vehicle with CA emissions. After that, there's the possibility of NO emissions testing ever. The statement was that most cars pass now and with improved emissions requirements of new cars, even MORE would pass...thus making emissions testing expensive and redundant.Currently in PA, the law states that you need to put $400 (I believe that's the limit) into fixing the emissions system before you can get an exemption. And most of the state has NO emissions testing at the moment.

As I stated elsewhere, I was VERY disappointed in the Aura when I drove it. I wanted it to be a home run, but I felt it was barely a single. It should have been so much better.

No. California, New York, Massachusetts, and the rest of these states cannot "select an Emissions Overide option." All vehicles sold to the public in these states must have "California emissions."As for Pennsylvania...it IS one of the more populous states in the country. The current regulations will not raise the price of a new car. I think these regulations should be standard across all 50 states and if a few more states get off their rears and agree to the California standards, perhaps the federal government will wake up.

I had a similar problem. The 1977 Chevrolet Caprice, to me, was not a good example of the 1970s because the decade wasn't about downsizing until the last few years.But to take the decades on their themes, I stand by my choices for the 1970s ("Me" decade) and 1980s ("Reaganomics" decade). I like the choice of the Explorer for the 1990s.

For the 1970s, I'd have to say the GM A-Cars. Bloated and excessive, they were the stereotype of the 1970s...cars and the decade as a whole. As for the 1980s, I'd vote for the Ford Taurus. It was a decade of transition. From a time of isolationist US industry to the first true attempt to compete on a global scale...and the Taurus was the first move in this direction.

Kinda reminds me of the Bugatti EB112 sedan:

Nor do I think they plan to make a "mainstream" model. I hope they don't since we have enough of them from every other brand. Who wants more cookie cutter cars?

The idea is to get products out of the dealerships before they get old. The buyers that Toyota is aiming for are very fashion conscious and want the newest products. I'm kinda surprised that they've lasted this long.As Toyota stated before, they won't directly replace the xB and xA with the "next-generations" but with some other product that will be fashionable.

But in a van, the driver isn't all the way to the left. If you sit in a Hummer H1, you'll see the perspective I'm talking about. With a 76" wide vehicle, you need six inches on each side for crash protection (doors and space) leaving 64" of interior space for four passengers. Assuming that a driver's bucket seat is 18" wide (a modest estimate), you've got 46" left for three passengers...at 15" each. How wide are your shoulders? How wide is the average American's midsection?

And why not...it's probably one of the best car songs ever written.

If GM sales are up 200,000 units globally and Toyota's sales are up 500,000...those are the kinds of numbers I'm talking not just percentage gains but actual volume improvements over the other.And I'm sure we'll discuss this topic again. And I'm just as sure that Toyota will narrow the gap to nil within two years or so as you are that Toyota can't possibly rival GM in that time frame.

The problem with a seat wide enough to seat four is that the driver would sit so far to the left (assuming it's LHD) that they could misjudge (even worse than drivers of current vehicles do) the width of the vehicle. Secondly, a four-wide seat in such a relatively narrow package would put a passenger right on top of the driver making driving more difficult.

GM's global numbers are exactly the problem. Toyota is growing FASTER than GM in world even removing North America. Toyota is growing in China faster than GM (even if GM currently has a wide lead). Toyota is growing in Eastern Europe and Western Europe, two areas where GM is stagnant.In North America, the Malibu isn't going to rival the Camry for top spot anytime soon (even the 2008 model). GM's trucks aren't going to grow faster than the Tundra...I don't see GMT900 growing by 200,000 units in the next two years but I do see the Tundra gaining those numbers. Toyota is adding capacity in North America while GM is reducing it. And from my experience in the Aura, I don't see it being a breakout hit (100k is possible, but largely at the cost of other GM products). GM "getting its act together" seems like smoke and mirrors from my perspective. I think Toyota will rival GM's size globally by 2009 or 2010, but if things work out the way they seem, it could be sooner.

None of those will go far to help GM's global numbers.

You're absolutely right on the content of the "Standard Catalog" series, they're far from perfect. They're a good starting point and you can use that information to do further information searches. I actually wore out my first imported cars book (the binding cracked and entire sections started to fall out) before getting a second copy and a copy of the second edition.The American books are much better than the import book. The sections on GM brands, for example, are written by experts in the individual fields. The major import brands (Toyota, Nissan, etc), however, are not as well covered. If you're looking for a good general source of brand/car company information (not specs of individual models), look into the Beaulieu encyclopedia. The 1,792 page, 2-volume set covers just about every brand of production car in the world.

So should we wear red carnations in our lapels to identify one another?

The five books are about 8 inches wide on my book shelf. Almost as wide as the TWO books of the Beaulieu encyclopedia.

I was wrong. I'll be in Carlisle on Saturday, September 30 and in Hershey on Friday, October 6 (with the possibility of Thursday, October 5 as well).

Books. Start with the "Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1946-1975" I have the whole series: Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942 Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1946-1975 Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1976-1999 Standard Catalog of American Light-Duty Trucks Standard Catalog of Imported Cars They come in handy.

Didn't you mean October 1st instead of October 7th?I'll be there on Friday, possibly Thursday as well.

I used to be a nice car person...now I'm a nice car person with an income..in a car-related field. I think I've changed for the better.

And as I stated elsewhere, Bob Seger's first music video was for a song called "Makin' Thunderbirds."

And yet, Bob Seger's first music video was for "Makin' Thunderbirds."

No. The assemble some in Freightliner's Gaffney, South Carolina plant. And the next generation Sprinter will continue to be produced in Gaffney, just in greater volume.

Yes. And Sixty YOU even said that the turbocharged Trans Am is the "fastest Trans Am ever," stating that it is still a version fo the Trans Am. It's still a Pontiac Firebird trim level...perhaps the very top, but still a trim level.