oldshurst442

PS: to Hyper. I enjoyed this conversation quite much. Looking forward to see your next match. Either to continue this discussion or the next one discussion we might have in the very near future. There is nothing more to add, as we pretty much did meet in the middle...even if here was only 2 responses made... I think even if we are not exactly in the middle...we could get there very easily... PS: The top part of my response seems aggressive...its not intended to be...and THAT is where we may not be exactly in the middle...but like I said...it wont be too hard to come to some sort of an agreement.

Bud I'm talking present history not 60-100 years ago Hell if you want to play that game Fiat was a major power in performance and racing 100 years ago too. of course you are...that is classic argument when someone does not have anything else to say... YOU are the one to say that Alfa is dead....I am the one to say that Alfa still has mojo left in her... Cadillac is down and out...doesnt stop GM from thrwoing BILLIONS trying to revive the Standard of the World....which coincidentally WAS the same 100 years ago when Fiat and Alfa was racing...its funnt that you dont seem to have that double standard regarding Cadillac... I speak of the 70's and later where Alfa struggled with their lines. They did have some bright spots with the sports cars but their sedans were just odd unreliable rusting vehicles that appeal to a small segment like Saab did for oh so many years. All manufacturers have had missteps. Cadillac started going downhill in the same time frame...albeit it was less noticeable...it was very apparent though in the 1990s...but that decent started in the 1970s...need I remind you of the 8-6-4 or the Allante or the Cimarron...or the Fleetwood Brougham of the mid 1990s that was sooooo outta place and outta touch? Or the Caddy that Zigs? Yet somehow...we are harsh on Alfa... Cadillac has yet to build a car on the level of the VW Phaeton...or the Alfa Romeo 8C and the 4C...OK...the current CTS-V DOES count for something... FYI Ferrari is not Alfa and Alfa is not Ferrari. If you dont think that....then maybe you should school yourself if you dont want me to do it for you...he was not only a race car driver for Alfa... And where do you think he learned to fabricate engines and car bodies and how to manufacture them? And who do you think was Alfa's chief for racing? FYI....I said in sooooooo many ways....Alfa is Ferrari and Ferrai is Alfa...that implies things...and without going into Enzo's life history along with Alfa 's history...it should be understood quite easily by us car guys that are supposedly in the know... The fact is even with the right guy most people avoid Italian cars other than Ferrari like the plague. OK...I believe that...but I also said the right marketing guy too...just ask BMW what marketing can do for you. GM could use a few pointers here also... Alfa has no where the fan base or trust of the other makes out there. Alfa in America is like Cadillac in Europe. They have a lot of work to do and they will have to do a lot to earn the trust of the customer again. Maybe I talked too fast about your thoughts on Cadillac, maybe not, but at least you acknowledge Cadillac is not in a rosy place just yet...but that is the thing...GM has thrown BILLIONS only to throw MORE BILLIONS to right the ship...I get it...Alfa does not enjoy that kind of money...and its doing it as of know on the backs of MOPAR. Jeep,Dodge and Chrysler... I happen to be on a certain same level as Sergio regarding Alfa...I still believ in the fire that Alfa has got...and Im basing it on the fact that the 8C and the 4C has garnered international lust from people...like Cadillac, with the Ciel and the El Miraj....people are SALIVATED on the thought of exotic Alfas... Second Sergio is not going to put an American in charge of Alfa. Ralph I agree would be a good choice but it's not going to happen. I dont think that will happen either... I dont think Alfa will EVER reach 400 000 units... What I meant to say by Alfa saving FCA is that if Sergio was smart...but he aint...he is something like a used car salesman...if FCA structured their business model like GM's. then Alfa could be used like Cadillac in where high technology and ultra state of the art platforms are given to Alfa...then trickled down to the mainstream brands...llike GM is doing wit Alpha platform ATS/CTS unto the Camaro. And the magnetic shocks from Corvette/Cadillac unto Camaro and possibly Buick etc... Use Chrysler in some sort of Buick/high end Chevy kind of a way...classy yet affordable... Dodge in some sort of Chevy kind of a way...with a twist...sporty oriented Jeep doing Jeep things and Ram doing Ram things Alfa being Cadillac...EXACTLY like Cadillac...the thing is...Cadillac is going where Alfa used to be...its Alfa's thing what Cadillac is doing now...all Alfa has to do...is just revisit their OWN past...its Cadillac that is in a tougher position, because Cadillac is still new to this sports sedan/car thing... If you want to increase sales America is your best bet for larger volumes. Europe is struggling sales wise and Italy has a very stagnate economy. The Germans are not going to buy and the rest of Europe is small. Sergio expects American sales are going to be only 150,000 and that is more than twice what we had last year. Very optimistic at best. America is best bet for MOPAR to succeed and have volume...Europe is where FIAT needs to succeed. THAT means Fiat has to put on the pants...I would lose Fiat and convert Alfa into a BMW like role in Europe where Alfa could be both mainstream and luxury while Alfa remains luxury in North America...and it aint that hard for Alfa to do...as Alfa made econobox and mainstream vehicles in the past and continues to do so actually... Jeep has enough clout in Europe to do the SUV thing in Europe...maybe more so than any Fiat or Alfa if FCA is tinkering with the idea to do Alfa and/or Fiat SUVs and CUVs.... But lets not kid ourselves...Sergio wont kill off yet another Italian brand... Italy also gave us the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Mussolini, Gambino, Caligula, Costa Concordia and Pontius Pilot. The true Roots of the Pizza came from Greece and the Italians just added the Tomato sauce, other toppings and meat. Point very well taken certain Italian mishaps...including the humans you posted...yeah...mishaps...and I deserved that cheeky response back... As for the Pizza thing...thanx....it IS a Greek thing...not too many people recognize that...so I just dont argue that point...I keep it to myself and I just celebrate that fact with my fellow Greek....um...paisans Oh and the three actors are Americans form Italian decent not Italians. Us Greeks and Italians...we dont say we are of Greek or Italian decent... We simply say...we are Greek...or Italian. The blood...in my case...its pure Greek. Sure....born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Proud to be a Quebecois...even prouder to be Canadian...Im still GREEK!!!

Well, YOU mean Dodge Charger Daytona, the model. I meant the '63 Pontiac LeMans Super Duty car that raced at Daytona (among other race courses). This car, #50, was a real monster : Lapping Ferrari's… OK then...Im glad I set you straight!!!

Alfa is a tad more than a...SAAB Founded in 1910... Not the first automotive company...but amongst the first....whether by European standards...or American.... That following you were talking about, here it is, its because of these, even before America dreamt of racing cars....yeah...before the Hot Rod scene... Is that a Ferrari prancing horse I see on the 8C-35? Well, in sooooo many ways....Enzo is connected to Alfa...in soooo many ways...Alfa Romeo is Ferrari and Ferrari is Alfa Romeo... Alfa Romeo is also an identity of an entire people and their nation...sure....you could argue that about SAAB...but Alfa Romeo goes deeper...and the Alfa Romeos and Enzo being involved with the cars that raced the 1000 Miglia...yeah...another Italian affair...have made a modern Italy very proud...more so than SAAB.... SAAB's fighter jets are another story...but we are talking about the automotive aspect....not the company part... That GTV....also playes a HUUUUUGE role in that cult following you speak of... Named after my home town... The Montreal is gaining real steam in the lust department as of late...values are going up...other than the quirky SAAB lovers, no others regard SAAB as automotive art...Alfa Romeo on the other hand...well...I just posted 4 different cars....trust me...Alfa Romeo has many many more that people care about deeply... And NO! Alfa Romeo is NOT a dead brand...Alfa Romeo has enough mojo left in her to rival anybody....Cadillac, BMW, M-B....anybody! Its just that Alfa Romeo needs the right car guy, with the right marketing guy, with the right accounting guy to make it all work... Sergio is not that guy....at least Ralph Gilles is on the right team....but he bleeds MOPAR....and that is fine with me...but if Sergio is smart, he might let Ralph have some input on Alpha... And yes...Alfa could be THAT company to save FCA....it sure as hell aint Dodge or Chrysler...Europeans dont know of Dodge or Chrysler....all they know about those brands is the muscle car Dukes of Hazard Charger stuff along with the Steve McQueen bad guy Charger stuff....However, us North Americans know a tad more about Alfas....albeit....some of us are real biased against Alfa....just because they are not American... Let me remind you that many nice American things are of Italian decent....PIZZA is one of them... Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino and Joe Dimaggio are another!

You mean Plymouth...Plymouth Daytona. But I CERTAINLY SEE where you are coming from....regarding SMK... Freudian slip...as you must be working on your 389... I wanted to go into a spiel regarding his eralier comments about M-B and ABS brakes and all that jazz....but it aint worth my time... The only thing I will say...is that SMK shoudnt try to argue who made bigger contributions to automotive tech because he will find out that GM wins that argument...not by a landslide....but with an earthquake shattering, 10.0 on the Richter scale, California in the Pacific, landslide... Let me remind him...that the highway barriers that protect his a$$ from falling unto the other side or the actual plastic test dummies, all generations... that help conduct all those crash tests... are of GM investments in safety....ABS brakes and airbags...were tested upon the same time as M-B and Volvo...safety seat belts...at the same time with Volvo... And the usual automatic transmission and automatic car starter....Im tired of saying the same things over and over again...its cliche at this point in time...automatic transmissions and auto starters.... You want modern times? Radar in the nose of a car to detect things in front of you during low visibility... On Star... Yeah...satellite communication and diagnostics in the car with you using a bloody phone...and now with smart phones...it has gotten a lot easier... Looks like I did waste my time with him...

Technically...nobody is speaking...but typing...so...shutting up wont work here... Its more closer to...

Im from Montreal...not THAT far away, but far away enough. I googled to see where Newburg was....I saw that Poughkeepsie is close by. My mom's cousin lived in Poughkeepsie in the late 1970s to the mid 1980s...he moved to Florida...I think its Jacksonville...anyhoo...sorry to distract from the subject. Good luck to you...

I dont mind either way. On a side note for me...I would like to know why I may get a downvote. it intrigues me the reason why that person downvoted me. I like to debate. So when I see a downvote, its not for my ego, but for the lack of feedback to why that poster did not like what I posted...and Id like to counter argue/discuss. Ive been guilty of downvoting a certain poster because of who he is....but it has never been of WHO he is, but of what HE POSTED... I rarely down vote...other than him...when I feel like I dont like what a poster wrote...I am more inclined to tell him why I did not like his post by responding to him with a quoted post with an actual argument/discussion at hand.

No...not the cup... THE Cup. Never joke about that to a Canadian. Its blasphemy. You might be spitting out some Chiclets if you do. You know why I LOVE this Cookie emoticon the most? Because he may very well be a hockey player... (hint: look at his teeth...or tooth I might say!)

Does that mean the site will be closed? Because I can not put 2 & 2 together. It has to be spelled out fr me.

Sniff Sniff...smells kinda like...teen spirit? Id rather it be more closer to home though...my home...Montreal. Translation: it smells...like the Cup is near! It feels a little bit like '93 Most of the time its this though...

migration... yeah...its almost that sad time of the year around here where the birds fly south... But...Football and Hockey season is almost here...and THAT alone is worth the leaves changing colour, the ghosts and goblins asking for candy and the birds leaving for a warmer climate.

Hooray? If you had to go through what some of us had to go through....that hooray would be written this way and not with a question mark: HOORAY!!! (yellow is a happy colour) with a couple of happy emoticons...

Ahhhhh, Suki Suki now. Hey! OOOOO! C'Mon Baby! Hey there sugar dumplin'.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP4YMby2_8o O00ooh I feel love, I feel love I feel love, I feel love I feel love I feel love, I feel love, I feel love

I guess you do... You bring out the worst in me. You a bad influence on me, brotha. LOL. PS: I wasnt directing that rant towards you, its just that as I was reading your post on Greek yogurt, take a wild guess what commercial was playing on TV? But that rant....its real...I REALLY AM FED UP WITH ALL THE GREEK YOGURT COMMERCIALISM!

Ill tell you one thing though... Greeks themselves dont call it "Greek" yogurt....they just call "Greek" yogurt...just yogurt... What they have Hellenized though is oil....Olive Oil to be exact. Eλληνικό λάδι Translation: Hellenic oil....Greek oil...as in olive oil. For me personally, If there is a natural product on earth that I would love the world call it "Greek" by nature....its olive oil...

Me too...its just that Im sick and tired of hearing about Greek Yogurt all the time. Im peeved that Greek ypgurt has achieved fad food status... Greek yogurt...its just a fad right now... Greek yogurt this and Greek yogurt that...dudes....its just yogurt that is strained longer...less water...its just....THICKER...BIG DEAL!!! I mean....I grew up on the stuff...my momma made her own yogurt to make her own tzatziki, and that is how I grew up on the stuff...its not because of the so-called health benefits...its just because that is how GREEKS eat thier yogurt and that is how Greeks make their dips...with THICK yogurt... And its not only us that eats yogurt this way...all of the bloody Middle East does so as well... OK....Im flattered that its actually called "Greek" yogurt....but it aint entirely Greek is alls Im sayin'.... Like I said....its a bloody fad... Besides..what else are they gonna call it? Lebanese yogurt? Syrian Yogurt? It just wouldnt catch on with the North American public...duh!

Two words: hand brake. Hell, even foot brake if you know how to master it.

That is truly sad. But I dont feel that bad for ya....My family has stopped being a RWD consumer since 1986....when my dad's 1979 Impala joined the great car heaven in the sky and he bought a 1986 Celebrity.... But wait...there was a time when I bought a used 1989 Pontiac Firebird. But it was the 2.8liter V6 Firebird... So...if I had to suffer all that pain....with Iron Duke FWD Celebrities and 140 HP High Value (was that engine family part of the High Value V6s? I thought this is the engine that made the others....in order...2.8 carb and multi port FI, 3.1 multi port FI, 3.1 SFI, 3.4, High Value 3.5, High Value 3.9) V6s...then you could suffer a similar fate as me...I curse you with ecoboost from Ford and all that FWD glory...dont forget the 2.3 ecoboost RWD Mustang....hey...its got more HP than that 2.8 Firebird...hell, the 1.5 ecoboost has got more HP than that 2.8....you really dont have it THAT bad!!!

Keep pumpin' that oil, buddy. We need to sell it to somebody. Somebody's gonna buy it. Our friendly neighbors to the south might have a change of heart... Until then...Sunday that is... Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday A Monday, a Monday is very very good Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday A Tuesday, a Tuesday in fact I wish you would Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday A Thursday, a Friday, and Saturday is best But never never on a Sunday A Sunday, a Sunday 'cause that's my day of rest That would be my Greek side acting up again...

Gotcha. And no...I did not think you were targeting me in any way....its just that I somehow needed to defend the Greek posts....for whatever reason... Its a car forum...not a political one, nor a forum about ethnics and/or minorities... So....I kinda felt that maybe...I may have crossed some bounds that should not have been crossed. Lets have some fun, why dont we!!! The Greek way! OPA!!!

Its stronger than I... I understand where you are coming from though. Believe me. Its just that, with what is happening in Greece...the Greek part of my Greek Canadian identity tends to over shadow the Canadian part lately. One thing us Greeks do, its we come closer when we are threatened by outside forces. Its part of our DNA. When all is good within our culture...we literally kill ourselves...but when some other culture tries to destroy us...we bond...very tightly... Persians found that out the hard way. So did the Romans, Turks, Bulgarians, Italians, Nazis. Sometimes, victory is swift with us, sometimes it might take 400 years...but we do prevail...and it aint pretty for our enemy.

EL K...you beat me to the punch with that steering wheel thing...but...I have to like it...Greek drama...it would be a ...tragedy...if I wouldnt like it... But it is a comedy with him always plugging M-B... Yes...pun intended with the red words...

So the 2 spoke wheel on the S-class is looking pretty good all of a sudden. Non one else does that. That reminds me of something...OH Yeah...Im Greek... Ancient Greek play masks! So yeah...cool! But...you said nobody does that two spoke thing... Ok....not exactly 2-spoke...but not status quo either.

I know...about the diamonds...I was trying to be funny...in a negative way towards our beautiful country. I LOVE Canada!!! Birks. taht is where I bought my wife's diamond ring. And yeah...Canadian mine. I forget which mine...but the ring came with a certificate authenticating it is indeed a Canadian diamond. Also, something about us Canadians NOT supporting blood diamonds. Whatever. (Just kidding on that) About the Hydro-Quebec stuff... True...but also...Hydro-Quebec sells it to the States at low enough prices, but sometimes, the Northern States dont use all the electricity they buy, so it gets redirected back into Quebec's pool, and when that happens..I believe, they sell it back to us at a much much higher rate than what we sell them... And I think...some Maine and Vermont consumers are peeved with Hydro-Quebec with that kind of business practice... OK...back to the GT350...