Mule Bakersdozen LS

A couple years ago when I went to the Big Apple for the first time (end January/beginning February 2005), I saw a bunch of Toyota Sienna minivans used as taxicabs, still outnumbered by Ford Crown Victorias. Interesting idea as Uplander's are cheap-looking and feeling enough, but I'd still rather have an ancient Crown Victoria over a crummy GM van anyday. Nice last-gasp derivative for Uplander though.

Black Mist-is that a Crystal Pearl type color like Brillliant Black at Mopar? Nice color selections/updates for VUE and Aura though.

LOL!!!!

I believe that need is served by the Equinox-more so when it is redesigned and if it will gain that useless or near-useless 3rd row.

I really hope the Chevy version is not just a rebadged/regrilled Outlook/Acadia or even Enclave. They all look too similar now as it is, and I hope equipment differentiation is in the cards too-bring innovation to the table like Ford Flex will! I hope this will be encouragement for GM to not just stop and give themselves a pat on the back for a job very well done with the Lambdas, but to keep improving on it!

I remember once I went and randomly sat in a random, sky blue, 1981 Oldsmobile Omega Base sedan some years back. Had Soft-Ray tinted LOF glass, the odd, X-Car exclusive vertical HVAC and AM-FM Stereo Radio controls, a 3-speed automatic transmission, blue cloth/vinyl upholstery with either a buckebench or bucket seats in front. Surprisingly comfortable for a compact car, but really it was a worse-shape, older, slightly shorter Cutlass Ciera, which was mid-size. Never saw the car again, Omega's are almost as rare as the Phoenix's were, as in, I never ever see either around anymore.

I loved that 1999 Chevy Triax concept car! Because it was at like the Tokyo Motor Show that year there was like no buzz on it-I would still love to see the name and car come to production on a sub-Equinox compact crossover SUV. The Trax looks interesting as well, and I can't wait to hear of more of these subcompacts.

Impala's a great choice-congrats on the purchase!

Welcome to the site! Skip the aging and gutless Vibe-the HHR is so much better! A little crmped and it could use more rear seat and cargo room from what I can remember, but it seems to be a lot of car for the money. Saturn Aura is good too-as for other compact and mid-size GM cars (and the subcompact)-skip them, there's far better cars that compete against mediocrities like the Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5, like the promising redesigns of the Nissan Sentra and Hyundai Sonata. Chevy Equinox and Pontiac Torrent aren't bad either, and if you can live with small interior door handles, a high price (in most cases), and a small trunk, the Mazda 3 isn't bad either. Skip the Rendezvous too-it has a terrible, poor-fitting interior, a V-6 that should've died after the Clinton Administration (or early in Dubya's), and its just an all-around crummy, awkward car that will be missed by almost nobody.

Its really growing on me, thanks to the mini-pamphlet of a Silver Pearl VUE XR AWD from the Auto Show from a couple weeks back. Not just because its American rivals (Compass/Patriot and Escape/Mariner/Tribute) are all crap, but because it has some style to it, where the Ford trio have no style at all, and the Compass/Patriot are downright abominations that never should've even been discussed, let alone actually brought to production. Ditch the unnecessary 3500 V-6, and we're rolling! BTW, the Sea Mist Green metallic touch-up paint looks great!

Dodge needs to advertise this the everliving daylights out of this car (Avenger) and everyone of their cars and trucks-hence, one of many reasons nobody will remember the Stratus and why it became a fleet special, among other things. I was at the local Dodge dealer Saturday, where I'm known by one of the head salesmen as "The Brochure Bandit!" While I did go there to get a brochure (after waiting/getting called by the dealer/etc.) for Avenger, Dakota, and Ram, I sat in the Avenger, specifically an SXT model, Inferno Red I think it was. The 13.6 cubic foot trunk is class-lagging and nearly 3 cubic feet less than the dead Stratus, and aside from the abominable, uncomfortable, what-were-the-Chrysler-designers-thinking??!!! headrests that plague every 2007 Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep, the Avenger is not bad, and it adds spunk to the mid-size class that is desperately lacking. It is better than Optima, G6, the current Malibu, etc. (but what isn't?), but Avenger is inferior to Aura and Fusion/Milan.

I hated the Sebring but I liked the Avenger more-or-less. The exterior styling for the most part works, but this car is not better than Aura or Fusion-I have not been in a Camry or Accord, etc. in the past year, and didn't get to sit in them at the Auto Show either. Can someone tell me what the Chrysler Interior Designers are thinking though? The interior is a total sea of boring Gray (its not even Slate Grey like they claim-its just a bunch of boring cool and warm grays), the dashboards look almost as fresh as a K-Car's or my old 1982 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue (they're all squarish-but the plastic didn't feel overly cheap), and especially, the worst part, front AND back-those horrible, abomination headrests! They're all tilted forward, they are fixed (yes, in back too, but they're fake cloth, built into the seat). WHY?!!!???? They are so uncomfortable! The engine selections need to improve, and the SE needs aluminum wheels as optional, as do all Dodge SE trims. But the Avenger adds spunk that sorely lacks in this class.

I like the idea of a compact rear-drive car, but GM has other, far more important projects-like growing Saturn, making more-than-mediocre compact cars (i.e. Cobalt), and fixing Pontiac-Buick-GMC.

Why does Chevy keep replacing aluminum wheels with these plastic-steel wheels? Its so dumb!! Most Impala's I see are Silverstone, though some are Laser Blue, some the Dark Silver, I'm surprised the Light Amethyst (14U) Metallic didn't get added-I was expecting the Gold Mist to come since it hasn't had Sandstone (15U) in a while.

Here's the link in case everyone wants it-beats having to go to the Aura Ordering Guide (page 7 right now) and going to the link: http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com/NASApp/domestic/...4683&type=0

I'd like to see Imperial come back, rather as a Cadillac-BMW-style full-line luxury marque, or at least a Chronos/Airflite-styled sedan that looks far better than this, which should be scrubbed and quickly forgotten.

Awesome site-I just look at the pictures as-is-they're a little small generally (AutoWeek probably has the best pictures, size-wise anyway), but an awesome site-they just need to expand a few things (i.e. update the Dodge lineup, add Nitro).

I hope Dodge keeps advertising this car-its the #1 thing that killed Sebring/Stratus and the first-generation 1995-2000 models. The Avenger I sat in at the Auto Show this weekend was okay, but visibility out of the rear didn't look good.

Beautifully-styled concept, of Infiniti G35/BMW 6-Series fame. But it is kind of derivative, even moreso the GTC name, which we've seen on let's see: the 2006 Antara GTC concept, Opel's SS-type performance trim, the Astra GTC...

Nice article, Bimmer! If the Torana-based G6 and G8 don't succeed, I don't see any point in Pontiac living. The Solstice is nice, but I prefer the Sky, and I see little to no reason to choose Solstice over it.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/02/28/rip-che...off-monte-carlo GM on future Monte Carlo's: "No comment." Rest in peace Monte Carlo, maybe you'll return soon! Production ends in Canada June 20th; May 4th last day of ordering; no 2008 model.

That's true, but at least those lousy cars pictured above have at least a shred of character in it.

Wait-wasn't a Buick-styled, not boring Australian clone Lucerne supposed to emerge around 2011? you know, a Zeta-based Lucerne replacement? I thought Lucerne Chi was cancelled with Zeta in the picture. What is so significant about the front-drive full-size? They're all boring, they all suck. Okay, Chevy Impala is the best bunch of these types of cars, but next to a Zeta model, who will care? Another boring front-drive car will not revolutionize GM. It will not give Buick the upswing it so desperately needs and is lacking, with possible exception of the Enclave.

Anyone seen the Avenger in person yet? Looks smaller than I thought, but I didn't get to sit in the car-why are bodyside moldings becoming optional? These cars (along with most) do not look good without moldings-they just look cheap, and unfortunately, Chrysler has been good at doing that lately-making things look cheap. The Sebring, 300, Charger and Magnum dashboards look good-anything else introduced since 2005 look cheap and not like the "Dark/Medium Slate Grey" they claim, but of a drab, boring grey. The 2003 Airflite concept car looked so good-I was looking forward to seeing it translate to the new Sebring-but it got botched up so horribly, and I almost banged my head coming out of that atrocity. Oh well, the Auto Show is a week and a half away and I'll check it out then. And what's with the headrests? Do they really think having your head sloped at a downward angle is comfortable? And they're not adjustable in the rear seat, so your rear seat passengers have to suffer in the Compass, Avenger, Sebring, etc. And where is the Wrangler and Patriot? I've seen the Unlimited at dealers since November, but not the other two. Other than Charger, I've never been a fan of the LX cars either-the 300 especially looks boring and bland to me, I really fail to see what is such a revolutionary stylistic masterpiece about it. And the base 300's, especially with Charger in the picture, have no reason whatsoever to exist, especially as cheap-looking and gutless as it is. And why don't the other Dodge cars look more like Viper and the 1999 Charger concept? The Caliber just looks weird in pictures, a bit better in person, but its interior is almost as awful as the Compass on which its based. And it too, suffers from cheapness and too-little-for-the-money (why is A/C optional in 2007??!!) Grand Cherokee-stylish but cramped, and again, a cheap dashboard (particuarly Laredo) and abominable headrests!

That doesn't inspire me at all....if Opel wants to get anywhere in Europe, Insignia better have the styling of the elegant 2003 concept car or else they'll continue to trail Renault and Ford and the others in the styling department.