Hudson

Sixty8: You were three for ten...including guesses. As you've already been slapped on the wrists for the "H-pattern" answer... Dodge Brothers was founded as a car company, after they left Ford. Studebaker is one of the TWO companies in the running for the "longest-lived" company. Packard was founded as a car maker. American Bantam was mentioned above as the designer of the Jeep. You did get the two people who had cars named for them and never saw a car. And Studebaker-Packard was the importer for Mercedes-Benz cars.

When I saw the first answer, I thought you had me (and had read these questions when I previously published them six years ago. But then... Not "directly." Not the brand I had in mind. That's one of two. After a discussion, there are two companies who's incorporation dates are in debate...but Studebaker was the one I had originally. I don't believe that the Pontiac brand was named directly for the person, but more for the town (which took his name). I'll give it to you and Nick, but there's another.

Pontiac was named for the town, not a person directly.

New questions, they're getting tougher: What was the first car to use the "H-pattern" gear shift? Name a post-war American-built four-wheeled passenger car that had only one drive wheel. Of the current major ("Big 3") American brands, which one can be directly traced back to a carriage builder? What American automobile company can trace its history back the farthest (total years in existence as a company, not necessarily building cars)? What American automobile company began by building aircraft engines? What company designed the earliest incarnation of the Jeep? What two (current) American automobile brands were named for real men who never saw a working automobile? For a time in the late 1950s and early 1960s, an American car company was the official importer for Mercedes-Benz. Who was it? The late, great Larry Shinoda worked for a car company (no longer in existence) before he worked on the Corvette. What was the car company? After Ed Cole worked for GM (you know, the guy who designed the Chevrolet V8 engine), he went to work for another American company. He died during his employment with that company. What was the company?

That's all of the questions correctly answered except that nobody's answered the US-built Mercedes question.

No...it didn't. Not to me, atleast. If it did, I would have petitioned the company to keep it on the shelves.To me, it tasted like soapy Pepsi. If they could come out with a clear Pepsi without ANY change in flavor, I'd buy it.

I never heard that latter reasoning. Nissan, Audi, Toyota, and Ford buyers don't seem to be affected by it.

I don't disagree.Is it me or does anyone else agree that the rear of the X3 seems like it was designed by Picasso?

Ford's first product was the Model A...the Model T followed after a number of other models (B through S) and five years. And everyone remembers the "famous" Model A that replaced the Model T in 1927.

No, Flybrian was right. Benz had nothing to do with Daimler when they changed the name of their products to Mercedes. But the Daimler name was used in other markets under license from Daimler of Germany.Sixty: Daimler-Benz didn't exist until 1926 and Daimler started using the Mercedes name in 1901. It was Massachusetts...Springfield. The plant is now a warehouse.

EASY Which came first: the Ford Model A or the Ford Model T? What does ALFA (as in Alfa Romeo) stand for? Where does the Romeo (as in Alfa Romeo) come from? Where did the name Mercedes come from? The Japanese are known for their American transplant operations, but they weren't the first to do this. Where in the United States did Rolls-Royce build cars? Mercedes built cars in the United States (decades before Mercedes-Benz set up shop in Alabama). Who built cars for Mercedes in the States and where were they built? I've got more for later.

And yet this X3 is selling beyond BMW's expectations.

These are "rich people" who were kids when these vehicles were built. It happens with every generation. When they grow up, they buy the cars they wanted as kids. This is why muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s are worth money today. Wait another 10-20 years and you'll see Lamborghini Countachs and Ferrari Testarossas from the 1980s going for seven figures. I'd even be willing to bet that the 1989 Turbo Trans Am and 1987 GNX will be two of the most valuable six-cylinder cars ever in about 20 years. Give the 1992 Viper and 1997 Prowler (I'm betting more on the 2001 CHRYSLER Prowler, though) a couple of decades and you'll see them going for high six-figure ranges.Wouldn't it be interesting if the 1980 Dodge Omni deTomaso or 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier Cadet or 1988 Cadillac valiant attempt at an entry-level luxury car d'Oro or 1986 Mercury LN7 spiked in value to the high six-digit range in 2020?

You're right in that Toyota doesn't offer those larger full-sized pickups and it's an unknown how many sales are "lost" for Toyota because of that. But the Over 8,500 GVWR Class 2 ("3/4-ton") and Class 3 ("1-ton") markets are relatively small compared to the standard "1/2-ton" market.More than half of all full-sized pickups fall into the "1/2-ton" class (Ford F150, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Dodge Ram 1500, Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra) and the other half is split about 2/3:1/3 between "3/4-ton" and "1-ton" classes. Toyota and Nissan are already playing in the bulk of the market. I don't see them playing with the bigger trucks contributing greatly to their sales numbers. But that day is coming. Toyota will have a "3/4-ton" Tundra in 2009.

I think someone during the coverage on Speed said that the undercarriage of the Banshee was less complete than the Bonneville, F88 and others. The Banshee was put together to move and be shown from the top side but wasn't a "complete" design prototype. That could be a reason for its lower price, too. I was disappointed in its selling price.

I was going to respond to evok's question about volume, but this will probably better answer it.I was of the thinking that full-sized trucks were all about brand-loyalty, but that's no longer all that important. Things have changed. When it comes to work trucks (people who actually use their trucks' beds), I believe that brand loyalty still exists. But there's a huge (and growing) number of people who buy pickups because they're cool or "macho." These people aren't loyal to any brand in particular...and may be more loyal to foreign brands. These buyers are a large part of the reason why sales of full-sized pickups have grown so much in the past 10 years or so. Toyota and Nissan have marketed their vehicles to these people. Ford, GM, and Chrysler still sell their vehicles as if they're going to work on construction sites even though more and more are going for personal use. This is where Toyota (and Nissan) will continue to get their new sales. Toyota will get 200,000 units easily with the new Tundra. And when the 3/4-ton model arrives in 2009, then you may start to see Toyota actually tap into the "work truck" people with a vengence. But by that time, Toyota will have over 15 years of full-sized truck owners.

I'll be there on the 10th...sorry I can't catch up with you folks.

The FWD Charger of the 1980s was a good car for its time...and far better than the four-cylinder (and probably even the V6) Camaro of the same vintage (who said Camaros weren't lame at any point?). There were good cars in the 1980s, but historical perspective needs to be used. Cars of today are better...and many cars of the 1980s were better than many cars of the 1960s (and even more cars of the 1970s). Oh...and the Merkur XR4Ti was a decent car. Mine was fun to drive.

I know that most people on this site love GM before God and country, but c'mon...take the blinders off once in a while. Toyota DOES make good quality cars and trucks...but so does everyone else. Toyota did claim that they outsold Ford a few years ago, but then took it back when they realized the detail of Ford's published numbers was not exactly apples-to-apples (Ford didn't count things like Mazda but Toyota did count Daihatsu and Hino). GM, on the other hand, claimed that Cadillac out-sold Lincoln (in 1998) by selling what turned out to be nearly EVERY Escalade built in that calendar year, which was impossible. Did you guys dance around when GM was forced to recant that claim? And the media is NOT anti-GM. When someone praises a GM product, all the claims are "see...GM makes great stuff." When someone puts down a GM product (even slightly), it's always "the media hates GM." Get over it! It's not that black and white. GM's market share is sliding. Toyota's is climbing. A million units is with the reach of Toyota in the next few years. In North America alone, Toyota is ADDING over 500,000 units of capacity in the next year or so. And that doesn't include expansions in China, India, Thailand, France, Czech Republic, Russia....

You've obviously not driven the Civic SI. It deserves the accolades it's getting.

Hyundai's next step is, most likely, the reason for the change in executives. And this "next step" will probably eat into Toyota's sales a little bit.

I don't think not hitting his goal is the reason he was let go. There are other reasons...more compelling reasons.

They've only been trying to import that vehicle for a decade or so. And it was ancient ten years ago!

It wasn't "ironic," it was more like a "call-back." Chrysler knew they had done it before and even mentioned it. The last time, the Grand Cherokee ENTERED the Cobo Center through the window this time the Wrangler EXITED.

I didn't know who "Chris Doane" was until you posted here.