Mule Bakersdozen LS

The Buick lineup has been stale for some time-the only product I think that stands a chance at reviving the brand is the Enclave. The Terraza and Rainier are soon to die (and Rendezvous-though it could be a nice mid-size filler based on LWB Theta, on a similar wheelbase as now), and the stale and vastly underwhelming LaCrosse and Lucerne sedans, which are pretty closely priced and sized, kind of like in the mid-late 1970's with Ford and Mopar "mid-size" and large cars.

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...1041/LATESTNEWS This is interesting-I thought this "flagship" (really something more like the redesigned Ford Galaxy) was to be based on a stretched Epsilon II architecture. Well if that's still in effect, they should send that over and retag it the Relay.

Darn! I like the Piranha name so much better!

Looks better than a Silverado or Sierra, or certainly the class-lagging current Tundra.

The rear legroom and longer wheelbase are not always true-Chevrolet Cobalt and Honda Civic come to mind here-I thought about that, but I thought of it on the CTS' 113" wheelbase but with decent passenger and cargo room, at least similar to the last 1992-2002 model, which had a 108" wheelbase on a front-drive platform.

Happy Birthday NOS!!!!

Congrats on your purchase and welcome aboard! I like the HHR-nice car (thanks for reminding me to order the brochure)-nice color array too-there's a Sandstone LS I see in town and it looks nice-all HHR needs is optional aluminum wheels for the base LS model, and for ABS to be across-the-board standard. How about the 2LT becomes LTZ, you know kind of like an SS but not, because its a 4-cylinder front-drive car.

Well yeah that's true Satty-Navigator and Escalade are closest competitors, but I guess I was just referencing the only smart move Lincoln made with the shoulda-never-been-bothered-with (whoever even THOUGHT of it should've been fired) Mark LT-how they lowballed the price for a luxury pickup. However, since Escalade looks like little more than a poorly-distinguished Tahoe, $57,000-regardless of image, is actually now that I think of it-$10,000 overpriced.

I don't like the design of this new Aveo-now not only is it on a dated, unchanged chassis along with an underpowered, unchanged engine, but now it looks just as ugly as the Nissan Versa. Still a better car than Kia Rio, but I'd like to see more differentiation and sportiness between Wave and Aveo. And if something as bad as that grille (also similar to the Torrent and Montana SV6 grille), just kill Pontiac!

They've got a great team of designers, hopefully someday I and some of us will be working with them-that would be sweet! I think in a 1970 Camaro fashion, they should've gone with the round taillamps, maybe integrate the front side marker lamp into the wheel opening lip-like the Solstice, or like in that old photoshop circa-late 2001 in Road and Track, painted a nice Cobalt Blue or something. Thanks for posting the concept sketches Northstar!

BUILD IT!!!: Aston Martin Rapide, Mini Traveller, Audi Roadjet, Volvo C30. Build it, but with a couple changes: Chevrolet Camaro-needs just a tad more rear seat room. Also Toyota F3R. BAG IT!!!!: Chrysler Imperial-what were they thinking? It LOOKED like a Rolls-Royce Phantom from the cover-you take inspiration from the 2003 Airflite and 1998 Chronos concepts and 1964-66 Imperial-not a grossed-out Phantom mixed with the overrated, mediocre 300 design (I've never once been able to see what is so special about the design-it is so average I don't get it-not that its a bad car or such, but its just nothing special). Also to be bagged: Dodge Challenger, in the original form. There were some leaked internal drawings a year or two back, looked like a Challenger meets 1999 Charger design-BUILD THAT ONE!!!!! This one just looked retro and very unoriginal, which with Imperial, was also too derivative, unoriginal, and fast-falling Chrysler design that started with the 2005 Firepower concept and 2007 Dodge Caliber. I'm not opposed at all to Challenger and Imperial being built (the latter preferably as a full luxury line a la Airflite/Chronos/ME412/Crossfire school of design to compete with Cadillac, Infiniti, BMW)-I would love to see a proper Chrysler full-size sedan (i.e. Newport/New Yorker/300N-with humane cargo space and more luxury), and a Challenger as described above.

It was ugly-I like the Crossfire and Airflite so much better-I never liked that rear window upward kink-it ruined the design here, and it didn't work for that Ford Shelby GR-1 or Reflex concepts either. And I didn't like the Firepower's front end either. ME-412, Crossfire, and Airflite should be lighting Chrysler's design path, not this. Go back to the drawings boards, guys, and not something bland or questionable (i.e. Caliber).

LOL!!!! That's ridiculous, whether or not its loaded to the gills and powerful. Doesn't a (inferior, I know) Lincoln Mark LT start at $40,000? That's at least $5,000 too high.

I meant the LaCrosse Super-just a guess, I'm not sure either.

I guess that's not bad...but its still higher than a Dodge Durango comparably (though it probably has a little more equipment).

Exterior-ugly-enough of the subcompact tall cars already! Nice looking dahsboard, sounds nice and well-equipped, roomy, and innovative otherwise. Now, what's aluminum can quality? Is that pre-1996 (model depending) tin can junkaroo quality, or is that better, modern aluminum can quality?

The dealers don't know anything most of the time either-I approached one woman at the Mitsubishi Galant at last year's auto show when talking with someone, she said Galant had the most passenger room in its class. I asked her how much it was, and she said she didn't know, just that it had the most. It was really pitiful.

Looks like an expected production version of the S3X-pretty good, nothing grounbreaking, the rear end is too long though, but it looks better than Antara production (the Antara concept was better than both).

What I'd like to see for a Cadillac flagship is to combine the 1993-96 Fleetwood's stateliness, passenger and cargo room and 7,000 lb. towing capacity (more than small truck-based SUV's such as Jeep Liberty), with the style of the Sixteen concept car, to compete with the world's best, such as BMW 7-Series and Lexus LS450. Sharpen the CTS abnd STS styling, give a little more passenger and cargo room, make sure they're more exclusive in their appointments, make some price cuts and equipment additions (how about chrome aluminum wheels standard?). And bring back the Eldorado, styled after the XLR and 1967-69 Eldo, base it on the CTS' 113" wheelbase of Sigma II. Keep it locked on the Infiniti G35 competition, sized closer to 5-Series.

Why is it that subcompacts are getting inflated? I mean like, they're becoming not-so-attractive compacts in the vein of Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa (and even Chevy Aveo, as much as I like it). If these companies think most of their business will come from youth, they'd better think again. I mean, yeah subcompact exterior dimensions and a compact class interior (sadly, the smaller and IMO better Aveo has more room than the Cobalt)-great idea, but the compacts are getting a little oversized too without gaining interior room (Honda Civic, Chevy Cobalt).

Yeah like the TrailBlazer-or like any other past two-tone-schemed truck for that matter. Yeah I know its on the Colorado, and it looks so disgustingly cheap and grey and nasty-looking it made the Colorado's interior look like the finest interior ever assembled on a barebones small truck (okay, not really-Colorado's interior is as awful as the exterior, but it was the only thing I could think of).

I don't like GM's "Silver Birch"-the car or truck's frame is a silver-anything else is really a cool grey (I've compared my colored pencils, and that's definitely not silver). The Birch looks so fake. Haven't seen Bermuda Blue or Amber Bronze colors, but the other colors look pretty nice. Anybody else miss two-tone paint (and not just with a cool grey lower-I mean real two-tone combos)?

I heard that rumor too, but that's a bad idea on so many levels-its bad enough GMC TRUCK division is getting the Acadia, which essentially is a full-size, front-drive car to me. I think Buick should get a minivan, sharing no exterior or interior (other than the obvious, such as stereos, etc.) styling or design elements with Chevrolet whatsoever (or Pontiac should they have a sporty short-wheelbase-only Montana-otherwise don't bother). I think Saturn should retag the Relay moniker onto an exported Opel/Vauxhall Zafira or Epsilon II-based R-Class-type vehicle, otherwise, dump it. And unless its SWB and sporty-performance-oriented only , ditch the Pontiac Montana. And what purpose does Torrent serve? All it is is a rebadged, poorly-regrilled Chevrolet Equinox that costs more and has a nicer steering wheel and an additional color substitution. That's it. In its current form, Torrent has no real purpose (unless you gave it a fastback roofline and standard sport suspension) and should be killed-from what I'm seeing around here, the public seems to agree.

Am I the only one that thinks that the color doesn't even look remotely silver? If I compared this with my colored pencils, I'd get a cool grey-my metallic silver colored pencil looks much more different from this.

GMC Acadia and Sierra, Saturn Outlook, Buick LaCrosse CXS, Chevrolet Silverado maybe? Not sure what else.