Hudson

The nose on these Fords looks more integrated to me. With the seam on the front of the Chrysler products where the original bumper was, that nose always seemed to be "tacked on." The "sharper" and higher position of the Chrysler nose, I always felt it made it look less integrated. The Ford nose goes all the way back to the A-pillar while the Chrysler nose is just a nose.

Completely understood. I've got a few of those Lucas electrics in my system as well. You know, Lucas-father of the intermittent wiper.

I think they look more homogenous than the Superbird/Daytona did. They look less "kit car" than the Chrysler products.

Are they Torino Talladegas or Torino Cobras for 1971?

The G-body platform was touted for its stiffness...and stiffness doesn't come cheap. As you've pointed out, they learned how to take some weight out in the second-generation Aurora (164 lbs). Additionally, the Riviera, being a 2-door, didn't have the extra door openings requiring additional structural reinforcements, which allowed it to weigh less.The V6 Park Avenue weighed MORE than the V6 2001 Aurora (even adding in the weight adjustment for the second-generation Aurora). The 1996 DeVille wasn't a G-body. My point is that the 1995 Aurora was lighter than the other first-generation G-body V8 and the relatively "pedestrian" Pontiac Bonneville was only 13lbs lighter than the second-generation V8 Aurora.

You do know that it's NOT a personal ad, right? They have been found all over the place. It is an ad (or teaser ad, more to the point) for a product.

The Triumph TR8 used the same Rover 215cid V8...it's OHV. The Triumph Stag, introduced in the early 1970s, was a 3.0L SOHC V8 but was not related to the Rover/Buick engine.

Loki, no. NeonLX, yes.Buick didn't supply the 215 to MG, British Leyland bought the whole engine and its tooling from Buick. Back when the tiny aluminum V8 was developed, there was a brief gas crunch...it passed and GM sold off its smaller engines; the aluminum V8 to British Leyland and the 90-degree V6 to AMC (the latter was bought back). The V8 powered a number of vehicles until just a few years ago. It powered the MGB GT V8 (as Loki mentioned), the Rover 3500, the Rover SD1/3500, MG RV8, various Land Rover models (Range Rover, Defender, Discovery), various TVR models, and various Morgan models among others. In production in the UK, the engine ranged from 3.5L (215cid) to 5.0L (featured in TVR usage). Other V8 engines replaced it as the ancient engine became too expensive to clean. Engines from Ford (MG Rover, Land Rover), BMW (Morgan, Land Rover), and TVR (TVR) replaced the engine.

Lee Iacocca said of the idea of Ford and Chrysler merging a quarter century ago that you don't merge two losers. I think the same applies to GM and Ford today.

You got me thinking....it could be an electric drive. It could be a drive axle.

Not really...they're relatively simple. I thought this was a turbine when I first looked at it. I don't think it's a steam engine or a Stirling engine, so that left me with a gas turbine.

"Rover" will not be built in Oklahoma. "Rover" is a name owned by BMW and apparently licensed by SAIC of China. Nanjing owns the MG name.

And the Volkswagen (yes, an import) was one of the best-selling cars in the US.

I guess I just never took notice. Interesting.

Well....Studebaker and Pontiac. It was the Familia concept. Never made it to production. Avanti.

You guys are talking like GM was doing just fine before all of this happened.

Shared with the Isuzu I-Mark/Impulse. The 1.9L/2.0L was replaced by the 2.5L Pontiac four. Since it was mentioned above, I didn't answer...but it's the L-body (based on the J and N platforms) and it the Corsica became the Pontiac Tempest in Canada. The predecessor to the 1987 J-body LeBaron was the K-body LeBaron.

The original base four-cylinder was the 1.9L Isuzu engine. The 2.5L Pontiac "Iron Duke" eventually replaced it before giving way to the 2.2L four. Was the Beretta actually sold as the Tempest? I thought only the Corsica was. The Chrysler LeBaron filled a space in the lineup below any other product in 1978. It was replaced in 1982 with the FWD K-car-based model, but again didn't directly replace anything since the old LeBaron became the New Yorker. The Celebrity was supposed to replace the Malibu, but both remained in the lineup for a few years. The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser reintroduced the Vista Roof in 1992. The new car was based on the GM300 version of the B-body platform. The Series 62 became the Cadillac Calais. The turbo (Buick) 3.8L V6 was offered in the Monte Carlo in 1980 and 1981, not 1982.

Inline six cylinder engines make for a large problem when it comes to frontal crashes. The longer engine takes up space that should be used for a crumple zone. Instead, this large lump of iron (or aluminum) can be forced back into the passenger compartment. DaimlerChrysler wouldn't spend the money to produce a "slant six" when the more manageable V6 engines will do. Especially since Mercedes-Benz dropped their inline six engines in favor of V6s years ago. Toyota dropped their excellent inline-six due to packaging problems. Mercedes-Benz did the same. There have been rumors of years (15 or so) that even BMW has been looking into V6s.

Why is it assumed that Hyundai will get "eaten?" When Hyundai first arrived, they competed against used cars. Over the past 20 years, they've moved upmarket, believe it or not. They're a mainstream player now. When the Chinese arrive, they're not automatically going to come in at the bottom rung...although Great Wall, Zhongxing, Changfeng, and Geely are poised to do just that. Bricklin (cough, cough) is talking about bringing in Chery at a higher level than these other manufacturers. If Great Wall, Zhongxing, Changfeng, and Geely arrive as low-end players (as they probably will), the first companies affected will be GM and Ford. Not as a direct assault on sales, but on an assault on resale value of their used products...just like when Hyundai arrived 20 years ago. GM and Ford have the highest sales in the US and the highest fleet sales, all of which fills (sometimes overloads) the used market...and these vehicles will be the primary competition for new cars from brands like Geely. Residual values of used cars will fall causing higher leasing prices, lower demand, and lower profit on (primarily) GM and Ford products. Don't expect Hyundai to be the first one hurt. Toyota and Honda weren't the first ones hurt when Hyundai arrived.

The assumption here is that GM has turned the corner, but I don't see that. GM still has a long way to go and it's about time GM stop acting like they rule the automotive industry, because that's not the case anymore. GM market share worldwide is still dropping and there's very little on the horizon that would show that it's going to stop.My argument is that there's very little about GM that Renault/Nissan would want. Leadership, union, and image problems are just the beginning. Renault has made a fine turnaround in the past decade or two and Nissan's turnaround in the past few years has been amazing. While Ghosn may be the savior GM has been looking for, I don't see why he'd want to risk his reputation on such a potential flop. I wouldn't be surprised if all this alliance talk was just a way for Kerkorian to boost his stock price so that he could dump his holdings and move on. I wouldn't fault him for it...everyone makes mistakes.

Europe and the US are about the same size in light-vehicle sales.Highest volume platform in the world? Probably Volkswagen's A5 (Golf/Jetta) and Renault's B platform will be the top seller next year. By 2012, GMT900 (or its replacement) will rank sixth.

If you're outlining Renault to better educate the GM fans, you need to go a little further. There's Dacia. Dacia's primary product is the Logan, which is sold in many countries as a Renault. The car was designed to be a €5,000 car for emerging markets...and it's doing extremely well. Then there's Samsung. This gives Renault an entry into the Korean market with Nissan-based products. Of course there's Nissan, which Renault owns almost half. Renault and GM (and Nissan) co-produce their full-sized vans for Europe.

Yes...probably the same culture nazis.

Don't blame it on "the big forwign [sic] companies," because it happens at Ford and GM as well. And when election time comes up, in many cases the "politico" who got the plant gets voted out...it's happened to many governors. Sometimes people are less short-sighted than we give them credit.