oldshurst442

I fell in love with that Banshee which in turn made me love the 4rth Generation F-Body Firebird/Trans Am and was quite pleased with Pontiac/GM that the production model was quite representative of the Banshee concept. Which leads me to this concept. The Rageous. And Im quite surprised the article did not mention this one. When GM was on the fence about canning the F-Body and was contemplating this as a replacement for the Trans Am...I was just as happy as when I saw the Banshee a decade before. I still LOVE the Rageous and would buy one in a second. Instead of the Rageous...we got the Aztec and the Chevy SSR ...like WTF???!!!

Well...the interior of the Jaguar is from 2009...Its an older design... And...the dashboard and console displays can be personalized and configured to display what the driver wants. That would be a common and expected feature today in 2015, but in 2009, Jaguar was amongst the first to offer this. So...although the design might look dated, the tech behind the LCD dashboard and console screen could be said is innovative one could say that Cadillac FINALLY caught up to the 21st century...just sayin' I mean...the Jaguar XJ is not all that bad... It still pampers you... Id say that is a BIG win for the Jaaaaaaaaaag as compared to the Cadillac CT6... Executive seating in the back for the CT6... Yeah...I know....give Cadillac enough time to grow into top tier 1...cool...but we cant just tear down another competitor just because....especially when that competitor's vehicle is still above the food chain of the best vehicle our favorite brand offers...

"Honda has a big product offensive coming soon and one of those key products is the new Ridgeline." Yes...the Honda Ridgeline IS offensive...Its offensive to its peers as it calls itself a truck....when it really isnt. Yeah...I know...the article states that this version will be more "truck"...Truck is in quotation marks from the article...the Ridgeline will continue to be offensive...even more so this time around against its pick-up truck brethren as now...it will lie to try to pass off as a "truck", at least with the last generation...it just called itself a "truck" but it didnt try to hide the fact that it wasnt....this time around...it will try its best to impersonate one.... Insulting and offensive this Ridgeline is...its the Don Rickles of the truck world...actually, the Ridgeline is more like Rickles' punchlines...as both are jokes...

With a Corvette drivetrain and Corvette styling cues on the front and rear, the Fisker Karma would have made a great Corvette sedan...had a rather Corvettish profile, I thought... I think you are referring to Bob Lutz's Fisker Karma...the Destino I wholeheartedly agree that it has a Corvettish style...and that it would make a FANTASTIC Corvette Sedan....and this is the car that first got me thinking about Corvettes becoming their own brand. Over at Motor Trend Forums, about the time when Bob Lutz introduced his business plan to buy the left over Karmas and install LS9s in them, the discussion was what we are discussing in this thread. Back then, I was dead against the idea for the Corvette to become its own sub-brand, but Ive had time to ponder...and now I think it should be a done deal. This Fisker body is still stunning. It would still make a great Vette. It sure as hell better looking than the Panamera. Even the Tesla is bland compared to the Fisker.

^^^ Especially in supercharged form, that generation was a beast. I noticed how I worded my comments about me being ready to forget the 1994-2007 models could be viewed as negative. What I meant to say is that I was ready for Jaguar's new generation and new looks. I liked the new direction. But unfortunately...the XJ has aged horribly, and the XF is heading in the same direction for me....and that is why I long for Jag's XJ Series II and III...because those lines are timeless. And yeah...like Drew said...the last of the "classic" style indeed.

I mean, I'd prefer to do swap an S54 into it, but the cost discrepancy between those two options is......huge. Like I said...I respect the decision for power plants to be swapped in their respective brands...but...335 HP and a gutless 270 ft/torque is not exactly my idea of a fun swap...yeah...I know...the BMW experience, especially when a 2002 or M3 is concerned, it aint solely about the power...its about the whole driving experience... In that case...you either stay with the E46 M3 with the S54 or you stay with the Euro spec E36 with the S50B32 with 320 HP and 320 ft/lbs torque... Id probably try and get that Euro Spec E36 M3... If not...an alumunium block LS1 from a Vette @ 350 HP and 350 ft. lbs torque gets really interesting on a small and light weight E36...or E46...no need to go with higher numbers as we established that a M3 is not about tire shredding torque...but...we are talking about engine swaps...we might as well make it intersesting...because @ 270 ft.lbs of torque for the S54...yikes....like I said...the Euro Spec M3 E36 is perfection...so if 320 ft.lbs of torque is not enough....why go with less? Might as well go with more....and 350 ft.lbs of torque from an aluminium block LS1 is good enough..,

My my, this Kitty has aged horribly. When this car came out I was in love with the sexiness of it. I was totally ready to forget about years 1994-2007. However...looking at how awkward the front fascia looks, how the C-Pillar looks weird, I long for the Series II & III... If LSX swaps are overdone...this is the one car that begs for a Chevy Small Block to be dropped under its hood. And of course coupe

The Lacrosse was marketed and designed to be an alternative to the Lexus ES350. At the time of its release.. the ES350 featured Cloth seats. It made the move to "Nuluxe" imitation leather for the 2012 model year. Frankly.. I think cloth seats SHOULD be an option in ANY class. I think that limiting choices is not luxury. Yes.. that means that if a person wants.. WANTS cloth seats in their Mercedes S-Class they should be able to order them. Perhaps to keep it premium.. they should all return to having Velour on the menu Let me tell U.. this $h! was COMFY.. and U never slid down. I once took a girl out in my uncle's 75 Fleetwood... This was in 1988.. and she let me do things to her that a 16 year shouldn't even kno existed all because she sat back there and said "wow.. these seats are so soft..." You in your 1975 Fleetwood and me in my 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88 in the mid '90s. OK...so I was a tad older than 16 at the time, but I was smart enough to know. And Im short. So was she. And we were so hot for each other, the front seats saw the action. I love me some bench seats. But that is for another discussion at a later time.

Corvette NEEDS to grow to remain relevant. If Cadillac gets a sports car that wins races at the 24 hour of Lemans, even if its in a different higher category than the Corvette, then the Corvette will cease to be America's Sports Car. The Cobra threatened the Corvette...the Vette prevailed because it survived the sales war...but it did not survive the performance and handling war... the Viper came along...it did make a dent in Corvette's image...so much so that Corvette Racing was introduced. Thanx to that, the Corvette has gained a lot of popularity in Europe because of the 24 Hour Lemans victories that the C5R, C6R and now the C7R has achieved there. And THAT is why in 2015, going forward, the Corvette needs to grow...to become its own brand...to compete with Ferrari head on... If the blue collar guy that made some money and can buy himself a Corvette, suddenly cant buy himself that 250 000 mid-engined Corvette exotic, he could always buy the tried, tested, true Corvette that always was. That $250 000 mid-engined Corvette exotic is for the Monaco bound snob. And yeah...if Corvettes can compete in France for 24 hours and win...several times in history, then the Corvette could be sold in France to people who vacation in Monaco...because the only Corvettes these people buy...are the classic ones...so...why not the new ones...well...the price tag and the luxury to justify the price tag... is not high enough... The technology is....but i feel the Corvette has some brand cachet that GM could exploit successfully. Cadillac could get a sports car too...mid-engined...rear engined...whatever...but the Corvette needs to grow outside this little box some of us want to limit it to. The Corvette...it was once an inline 6 cylinder car. The Corvette...it was once a roadster only... The Corvette...it was once a hardtop coupe only. The Corvette...between the years 1965 and 1974...it was strictly a muscle car...with big block 396, 427 and 454 engines under the hood that cornered like crap but went in a straight line like hell... Meaning...the Corvette evolved with the times when it needed to to survive... It became a V8...beacuse stove bolt inline 6 Euro roadster was not the way to go when America was hungry for speed. It gained a hardtop coupe as to not limit its market. It became a muscle car...because...well...muscle car era. It started handling like a Euro car...to better compete in the world stage... So yeah...the Corvette has not exactly stayed exactly to where the original formula was...it moved around. And...Zora...always wanted to make it into a mid-engine...BEFORE Lambo did theirs... Ill agree that Chevrolet dealerships will need to adapt to the Corvette...you cant have a Malibu salesman sell the high end Corvette....hell...a Malibu salesman should not be selling the Corvette as we speak...

I like muscle cars and pony cars also, but like to keep genres separate.. Had a Fox Mustang GT at the same time I had the M3. I could respect that. But...the two genres that are American Pony Cars like the Mustang and the Camaro and the German sports car coupe based on a sedan like the M3 are slowly becoming one... The M3 had a V8 last generation. The Mustang has a turbo 4....so will the Camaro. The Camaro is based off a sports car sedan that is chasing the 3 Series... The American Pony Cars can handle European twisties...and narrow roads while the M4 has grown to sit huge American butts...

A LOT more BMWs have had "Chevy" small blocks installed in them than you would think. But those aren't serious BMW owners, just backyard hacks doing engine swaps on old worn out cars...a GM engine in a BMW kind of defeats the point of having a BMW. Idk, I'd love to have an LSx in my old E36. Blasphemy! I had an E36 M3 back in the day..BMW straight 6 all the way.. You could call that blasphemy...Id agree with you.... However, I, being a muscle car guy/hot rod guy...would call that awesome also...

Nothing luxurious in that interior...its just that Porsche let the 911 evolve...and the company itself evolved... Because the lower end Porsches...in the 1980s like a 944...was not that special either. In 1986...Id say the Corvette;s interior was on par with a 911. The '86 Corvette interior was pretty hideous--blocky dash w/ digital gauges.nothing remotely sporty. The 911 dash of that era was minimalist, serious, no nonsense and clearly evolved from the earlier 911s. So much ahead of its time...that in 2015...we have digital dashboards... You could call that minimalist...Ill call it what it really is...CHEAP!!! You could call the Corvette 's interior blocky and hideous....Ill just call it what it really is...1980s Wallstreet EXCESS!!!

A LOT more BMWs have had "Chevy" small blocks installed in them than you would think. But those aren't serious BMW owners, just backyard hacks doing engine swaps on old worn out cars...a GM engine in a BMW kind of defeats the point of having a BMW. But what does that tell you about Chevrolet loyalty? Does that mean that these guys are not really Chevy guys because they chose BMWs or Mustangs or Porsche 911s to install their SBC in? At the end of the day....horsepower is what SMK4565 is talking about...and at the end of the day...its the SBC that wins that argument...in a Chevy or in a BMW... And...when the Camaro is on the Alpha platform next year....even BMW enthusiasts will be impressed by this blue collar machine. And yeah...some of them might defect.... Only the badge snobs wont... Same argument as your "But those aren't serious BMW owners, just backyard hacks"...but in reverse....in my favor...

Those WERE awful... Why you are laughing? Because it was sooooooo stupid...what else were you to do?

"Chevy dealers will never allow the Corvette to leave their building." True. "The Camaro should be $25-50k max. You don't need a $60-80k 550 hp Camaro, the volume is low and that is why Corvette or even Cadillac exist" False. There is some serious technology that is given to the upper echelon Camaro. That technology costs money. I wouldnt want Chevrolet to limit the performance of the Camaro due to the fact that Corvette or Cadillac exists. The Camaro has rivals too...Some of those rivals are natural rivals since the birth of time (Mustang and Challenger, especially Mustang) and some new rivals (Genesis Coupe, BMW M4, Nissan 370) and the Camaro has to stay on top of its game to beat its competition. That way the Camaro stays fresh and relevant. You limit its capabilities, it will die off again... and to me 460 hp is enough for a Camaro. Of course...you dont want Camaro to kick any of your German faves' ass... You don't want a 550 hp hp Camaro for $50k that out performs a $65k ATS-V. Ummmmm, yes WE DO!!! Im not a Camaro guy...Im a Trans Am guy. Never the less.... Im not a Cadillac ATS-V guy...Im more of a mid-sized car guy...CTS-V guy....or 1970 Oldsmobile 442.... Im more of a Camaro type individual that I am a BMW M4 or Cadillac ATS-V type of individual....If Chevy limits its performance...I just go to cross town rivals Mustang or Challenger...and believe me...there are many like me.... Besides...different market, different niche. Also...Camaro has a HUUUUUUGE fan base. It has cachet that even a BMW M3/M4 is jealous of let alone a brand new ATS... Proof? I dont see Year One or Dynacorn selling brand new previous generation M3 body shells like they do with Camaro...1969 Camaro... That expands Corvette sales and keeps it more the everyman's sports car, as it has always been. Corvette isn't on par with Porsche, And finally....we come to my point of view as to why corvette NEEDS to become a brand of its own... Corvette as of now....is built on a price point....and is sold on a price point too... It also is jack of all trades. On the price point... Chevy gives all the technology needed to surpass Porsches and Ferraris...This tech is just as high end as the other two I mentioned. The Corvette was NEVER about luxury....Chevy focused on the luxury part in 1978 when the performance and horsepower numbers had to go down becasue of CAFE...but...the Corvette was always about engineering, technology, speed at Chevy prices... And this is where the jack of all trades comes in...today...the Corvette HAS to EVOLVE.... But it cant.... It HAS to do battle with Porsche 911 as a GT car...but as a Sports car Porsche 911 GT3... It has to stay affordable enough to be in the Porsche Cayman territory.... The Corvette also has to do battle with mid-engine exotics from the "affordable" Ferrari 458 and it has to achieve speeds that better the 458...it has to achieve performance in the La Ferrari territory. The Corvette also has to be styled as crazy as Lamborghinis are...because Corvettes were styled that way BEFORE Feruccio even dreamt about building sports cars... How can the Corvette be all that...with just 1 model...OK...2 models... The base Stingray and the Z06. The Corvette has to grow. The Corvette needs more models. Like a 911? To specialize in all the facets of performance and driving style? Yeah....but Porsche also has front engined RWD cars in its stable. It also has mid-engine cars with electric hybrid tech... Same with Ferrari. Its only the Corvette that is limited...with just 2 models. Last generation...there was 3. But they all had to do battle with every single sports car niche. From the back to basic sports car Miata...because whether you guys want to admit it or not...the Miata does steal sales from the Corvette. Not from Porsche...Porsche has got the Boxster...and the Cayman for a hard top... From a luxury GT....everybody whines about how a Corvette does NOT compete with Porsche with its interiors... Ill stop it here...because I feel that my post is becoming more of a rant than anything else... But...let me remind you SMK4565 that the 911 was as Spartan as a VW Beetle at one point in time... And this is 1986....not 1963... Nothing luxurious in that interior...its just that Porsche let the 911 evolve...and the company itself evolved... Because the lower end Porsches...in the 1980s like a 944...was not that special either. In 1986...Id say the Corvette;s interior was on par with a 911. Its just that a Corvette did not have a chance to evolve. Ferrari...Porsche....they got the message that the Acura NSX sent them...

Hey Stew...I guess you didnt "Dodge" the guard rail. You decided to "Ram" it instead. Every cloud has a "Silverado" I guess..We are glad that you did not get hurt.

- Will the brands still be encouraged to compete with each other between the 4 holding companies? - Will the brands still be encouraged to compete with each other within their proper holding company? I understand Holding Company #4 (MAN/Scania/VW commercial) cant really have a friendly competition with any other Holding company....but will there be friendly competition between Man and Scania? What about low end Audi and VW...because a VW CC can actually fight for market share with an Audi A4 and a lower end A6...ditto with a Passat... How will platform sharing be made with Holding Company #1 without VW becoming a General Motors from the 1980s and 1990s? Hell, how will platform sharing be made between Holding Company #2 and #1 without this arrangement becoming like GM from the '80s and '90s? Piech promoted competition...the success behind that strategy was that each VW brand had its own image...kinda like how GM's brand hierarchy was before the 1980s...when all of GM's brands had their own engines and marketing teams etc... Im curious because it seems that VW is acknowledging how GM failed and they want to avoid the same mistakes GM made...I cant read the full article so I dont know the answers to the questions I posed.

HA! That is funny! Cadillac is going away from that. The XTS will be history, so is the SRX...now...what bones will the SRX have? Well, it might not be bespoke Cadillac trickled down to Chevy like the Alpha platform is....but then again...a new SRX might very well be on the Alpha platform...but then again...it might have Chevy bones first...like the 'Slade is....so what? On another thread... you admitted to knowing that in Europe...both BMW and Mercedes use the 3 Series and 2 Series and the C Class and E Class and now with the CLA as mainstream and fleet vehicles...but I guess that is OK with you...but God forbid that GM does that with Cadillac and their lesser vehicles... Oh...Audi...yeah..lets talk about Audi...actually...YOU tell ME what Audi platform is actually bespoke to Audi...a platform that is NOT used by Volkswagen or Seat...on the lesser vehicles of course...but then again...a Cayenne Porsche is also a VW...a Audi A8 is also a Volkswagen...I guess that is a pass because the VW versions are expensive as hell...but then again...Chevy Tahoes dont come cheap either... Cadillac is going away from it, but not there yet, that is why I said they are sort of split right now between 2 worlds. But even the ATS/CTS/CT6 turbo 4 and V6 are the same engine in a Camaro. The Germans can fleet sale in Europe because Cadillac, Infiniti, Acura, Lincoln aren't there, and Lexus is a blip on the radar. If Cadillac fleets themselves out here, it would probably hurt their image even more. Audi has a lot of it's own stuff. The MLB platform is used on Audi A4-A8 and Porsche Macan, the 3.0 supercharged V6 is Audi only, the 4.0 TT V8 is Audi/Bentley only, the W12 is Audi/Bentley only, and the Quattro AWD system is different than the VW 4Motion system. Quattro runs in a 50/50 split, while VW is primarily FWD until the rear wheels slip. The Audi A3/Q3 are using a VW chassis, engine and awd system. The Toureg/Q7/Cayenne share a lot of mechanicals also. Audi A4...whose platform underpins the Passat...and the Passat in North America has been dummied down and mainstreamed...yeah I know...not exactly the A4 platform as those ties have been severed...because the Passat uses a new form of platform that uses bits and pieces from other VW group platforms...ingenious... The AWD drive systems....sure different...but the engines are not...all the 4 cylinder stuff that goes into the lesser Audis are basically the same as the VW engines...so...exactly like GM/Chevy/Cadillac...and like you said...Cadillac is going away from that...yet VW/Audi is not... When Cadillac is on its way with new bespoke stuff...VW will be sharing its stuff for the low end Audis... But somehow, in your mind, that does not cheapen Audi...yet as we speak...this is what cheapens Cadillac for you... It is a strange way of looking at things...to justify your biases...its all good....as we all have biases...Its just weird to me how enthusiasts can have double standards like that.... As long as you read my posts and you acknowledge what I have to say is good enough for me...thank-you for that...I appreciate the time you give me. I also appreciate your thoughts...I learn from you... and that is why I am here...to learn...

The 'platform' moniker is anachronistic when talking about the 1950s. The equivalent to 'platforms' in the '50-60s would be the car's chassis (or frame). GM did not share chassis's in the 1950s. And in the '60s, it began with the intermediates; the full-size cars still ran proprietary chassis's. It was the '70s when it blossomed to any measurable degree, tho the full-size cars still had mostly proprietary chassis's. This can get confusing to the casual researcher when some cars, such as the "E-Body" (Eldorado, Toronado, Riviera) still had different chassis's in the '60s. That's what you have with Body-On-Frame construction. However, body SHELL sharing at GM between Divisions (to a limited degree) goes back the early 1930s. Thanx for the clarification. I kinda knew what you said, but I kinda didnt. That is why it came out the way it did. But Im glad you corrected me and shared your knowledge with all of us. This is why I like posting in here. There are many knowledgeable guys around at Cheers and Gears and this is why I keep posting in here. To learn... I have some things to teach. But I have much much more to learn.

HA! That is funny! Cadillac is going away from that. The XTS will be history, so is the SRX...now...what bones will the SRX have? Well, it might not be bespoke Cadillac trickled down to Chevy like the Alpha platform is....but then again...a new SRX might very well be on the Alpha platform...but then again...it might have Chevy bones first...like the 'Slade is....so what? On another thread... you admitted to knowing that in Europe...both BMW and Mercedes use the 3 Series and 2 Series and the C Class and E Class and now with the CLA as mainstream and fleet vehicles...but I guess that is OK with you...but God forbid that GM does that with Cadillac and their lesser vehicles... Oh...Audi...yeah..lets talk about Audi...actually...YOU tell ME what Audi platform is actually bespoke to Audi...a platform that is NOT used by Volkswagen or Seat...on the lesser vehicles of course...but then again...a Cayenne Porsche is also a VW...a Audi A8 is also a Volkswagen...I guess that is a pass because the VW versions are expensive as hell...but then again...Chevy Tahoes dont come cheap either... You are a very bright poster, I like your thought process most of the time...what I dont appreciate is your logic regarding the Germans and giving them a pass while you criticize GM and Ford for basically doing the same thing... But...'twas GM and Ford and Chryco that started out this type of business model to begin with... you know...shared platforms across their many brands...and this goes back to the 1950s, perfected in the 1960s, peaked in the 1970s and went downhill in the 1980s....only for the rest of the world in the 1980s to pick up where GM, Ford, Chrysler left off in the 1970s...

Im one of the lucky ones then. For me, it rains 24 hours after I finish. At least I have a full day of enjoyment. I think this tinfoil little fella seems appropriate. Im hoping to use all these emoticons at least once. But with one caveat: They must make sense with the post. Oh...I know in these forums, political talk should not be made as it might escalate (OK...escalate and not Escalade and 'Burban and not 'Slade...but where else would I be able to use this emoticon?) but Id like to thank Obama...not Mother Nature...

This is another good post. Actually its before the other one I congratulated you on. Like I said, why nobody responded to you to agree with you is baffling.

why no one has responded to your posts is beyond me. Very well thought and logical your point of view is.

Especially when Cadillac has a rich history with topless cars.

Dont sweat it. But thanx for the effort.