trinacriabob

I like the grille, belt line character lines, and lower body character lines better on the gold/brown one. I like the roof line and lower front lighting better on the white one. It is very sad that we're losing the current Cruze. When in SoCal, a Chevy salesperson told me that they don't have any problems selling them, whereas the Impalas move off the floor somewhat slowly. As we already know, it's the profit issue and not the volume issue. There's no GM car in the compact to midsize slot at this point. Meh. Maybe the Malibu is a mid-size even though rental car agencies consider them full-sizes. Funny thing is that the 'Bu isn't leaps and bounds above the Cruze in road manners, refinement, and comfortable driving. Edit: those brown colors for the exterior and interior are nice. It's about time that the tans offered for the exterior no longer look like metallic urine samples and the tans offered for the interior no longer look a few shades off white and prone to showing stains.

I wonder what the de facto most beautiful (usable) beach on the Great Lakes with warm enough water is. Who knows ... Is in on the Michigan/Indiana side of Lake Michigan? Is it on Lake Superior (brrr), which makes for a lot of great postcard views? Is it on Lake Ontario, on either the Canadian or American side? Toronto's lakefront is a continuous strand of beaches. When I think of the Great Lakes, I am more likely to think of the sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald" (it occurred in NOVEMBER) than I am beautiful beaches.

I think that the design intent behind this vehicle was to provide a sizable trunk that was ideal for putting various high school friends into and getting them into the drive-in movie theater free of charge.

@oldshurst442 For me, it has to be Cuba. I have/had numerous friends from Catholic school whose parents came from Cuba and, not to sound like a jerk, they see themselves as Europeans and Spaniards, with over 60% of Cubans having lineage that came (to Cuba) from Spain's Canary Islands, so they have a good sense of self and are therefore much easier to deal with and get along with. As an adult, I look back at what my friends' parents went through in leaving Cuba with the shirts on their backs and how, in short order, they had such upbeat personalities and incredible senses of humor here in the U.S. I want to walk around the places they probably walked around when they lived in Cuba. I'm talking about friendships that go back to childhood. The good news: Summer is 2 months away and it's time to take a trip or two.

Bad news: the tide has turned and it is now more difficult to visit Cuba (from the U.S.)

FCA, and specifically Chrysler, has come a long way. They didn't wake up from their last slumber until the New Millennium. They saw some success with the K-car and the minivan, of which they might have been the originators ... not sure. As for the K-car, I would continue to see some around after older X-cars had gone bye-bye. I knew a girl who drove hers back and forth from Atlanta to see her parents in Westchester County, N.Y. without any problems, even when it was more than 10 years old. Prior to that, the only feather in Chrysler's cap was the Cordoba ... interesting on some levels, but overshadowed by GM's similar coupes by leaps and bounds.

When it rains it pours. Saw another Lincoln Continental today. It was bronze or cream or something like that. It turned in front of me and I was able to then look at it in my rear view mirror. What I said about it holds. I also read about it for the first time. The reviews cited a transmission that wasn't as well behaved for the price point, lackluster road manners on mountain roads and/or curves, and other minor complaints. They acknowledged that it was different and made a statement, but the reviewers were not impressed.

Happy April Fools Day, folks. To kick off this thread, I don't have a really interesting sighting. Just an observation. I saw the current Lincoln Continental going down the freeway next to me, ultimately passing me as it was moving along to my left. The Continental's front grille makes that nice, vertical Lincoln statement. I once sat in one at the auto show. The interior is really nicely finished and the one at the show had these blue leather seats - nice ones, not tacky ones. Then, as the car pulls away from you, the effect sort of sputters. The rear deck lid tapers and the twin horizontal lamps are sort of wimpy compared to the statement the rest of the car makes. And this is weird because both the Lincoln MKS and (even) the Ford Taurus have these substantial looking trunks and rear deck lids, making for good rear 3/4 views. And, while not FoMoCo, the current Cadillac CT6 also looks good as it's pulling away. Not so with the Continental. In a way, it makes me think of how weak the old Lincoln Versailles, derived from the old Ford Granada and Mercury Monarch, looked.

WOW Air was going from a lot of cities using a Boeing 737. Because of the distance from the eastern half of the U.S. and the fact that they aren't far from land at any given time (eastern Canada, Greenland), that plane could handle the medium range flight. Now there's no WOW Air. However, Icelandair also uses smaller single aisle jets to make the trip from some U.S. destinations. I am amazed at how some people drive in inclement weather. Say road conditions aren't the best and you're doing 45 or so in the right hand lane to approach your exit, the driver that will come right up to your bumper and then move over a lane, almost sideswiping you, is going to be in a Dodge Ram, Chevy Silverado, or Ford 150 truck about 90% of the time. And it's not cool to stereotype? This recently happened.

Yeah, do the Iceland stopover and sit in all those hot tubs they have at varying temperatures while looking up at a clear Nordic sky when it's freezing outside. Those Iceland stopovers are good for their local economy. The experience will be a big 180 from taking a dip at the Jersey shore and. moreover, with Jersey shore beachgoer types. Instead, the Icelandic experience looks civil, genteel, and as if the volume has been turned way down.

I recently read that WOW Air is shuttering. That's sad. They provided service to Europe on the cheap via Reykjavik from a lot of second tier American cities. Icelandair stays on, which is the country's flag carrier, as Air France and Lufthansa would be to France and Germany. WOW Air was a low cost alternative, similar to Southwest. They cited that they were doing fine, operating with smaller single aisle Airbus planes, and then overextended themselves with much more distant destinations for which they needed and added Airbus 330s, twin aisle aircraft with 8 seats abreast. Oh well. On the other hand, low cost Irish Ryanair has stuck to a business model of only Boeing 737s and has been around for at least a decade. If you can handle their nickel and diming for anything extra, they're a good way to go point to point within Europe. Two European carriers are actually reasonably priced for flights across the pond - Aer Lingus of Ireland and TAP Air Portugal, both national flag carriers. I've crossed the pond on both of them and they are pretty good. You just have to be on the lookout for specials. I'm all for the success of low cost carriers. Now, if they can just solve the Boeing 737 MAX's problems and get them off the ground again soon.

I think more people might get it than some might think. So many people work inside cubes and the worst thing is that they are often the exact same color and shade ... from sea to shining sea! I am sure plenty of industrial psychologists have weighed in on how demoralizing they can be. I did the personalized plate thing once ... and only once. And it was on a Camaro that I once kept as a second "hobby" car ... the only car I've owned that wasn't bought new by either my parents (and then handed down) or myself. It had the 305 V8 and it was a P.O.S. Though only lightly used, I don't think it was broken in right. I've heard them called personalized plates and I've heard them called vanity plates. It must be regional, sort of like soda, pop, and soft drink.

Here's two more. I forgot that, one day, I saw a Hyundai Elantra going down the freeway. It was the popular metallic dark gray color. It was probably the penultimate model, so newer than 2010. It had 2 doors ... a COUPE ... within the same silhouette as the sedan. I didn't know they even sold those as coupes this late in the game. Yesterday, I saw a Ford Fusion. Nothing interesting about that. Late 2000s. Not badged as a V6, thus a 4 banger. What made it "interesting" is that it was filling up the street with blue smoke. Taken care of, those 4 bangers in those cars went the distance. All the other ones I see run clean.

I forgot this one. It was about a week ago. I saw a 1994/5/6 Thunderbird coupe in the dark metallic green. It was badged with a V8. This meant it had the 4.6 SOHC V8. The best part is that it had the contraption sitting on top of the roof that said it was being used as a delivery car for Jimmy John's! I remember that these cars were sold loaded with the power options included and were sensibly priced - about $16K to $18K back in the '90s. Basically it was like this, but with the small V8 badge, though not in as good shape: I was once given one of these Thunderbird coupes out West as a rental car and took it over the border to Vancouver. I was fairly impressed with how quiet it was and how it had enough power. Not too thirsty at highway speeds. Little did I know this would become an heirloom engine that would power both the Grand Marquis and many Lincolns.

A friend of mine in SoCal once said of his small 190 sedan that it was a "throw away car." Come to think of it, I don't see that many around. The idea of bringing a Benz to (more) people with slimmer wallets was a good idea. Too bad it wasn't an heirloom Benz as they all should be.

Life is too short for cheap gas.

I saw one of the last Pontiac Grand Prix GT coupes turning in front of me yesterday to get on the freeway. It was probably a 2002 or 2003. It was in a metallic dark bronze color and was in near perfect condition. God, I miss good old fashioned mid size GM coupes. About a week ago, I saw a late 90s (97,98,99?) base Grand Prix sedan in what I call the Schwinn bicycle metallic blue in the library parking lot. It was beat to hell. The badge indicated it had a 3800 V6. I was surprised to see a beehive lady get in it and drive off.

Is this today's 'blu? I'd say there's a good dose of Germanic DNA in the mix. Don't worry ... I won't go off on a language lesson tangent. Happy Sunday.

And this very well could be the reason that they're delaying the release. They're trying to make sure they're going to get it right. They certainly have gotten their "mileage" out of the current platform/chassis, just making minor adjustments over the last 12 or so years. I also think they are aiming at a minimum of 300 hp. That's probably a certainty. I just wish they'd do it with a larger displacement 4 or a smaller displacement V6, derived from the current Pentastar V6, and avoid the turbocharger. I know they've gotten more compact and more reliable, but it's extra hardware. I know I'm out of synch with this one, but I sure wish FCA could muster up a slick Chrysler 300 to continue running alongside the Charger. If people buy Cadillacs or up-line Japanese sedans for so much more, I don't see why they wouldn't consider a beautifully executed Chrysler 300 for mid-$30Ks.

I think that ELO and Boston were popular at about the same time, though each of these 4 groups had very distinct sounds. Music from the 70s had more variety than people give it credit for - Steely Dan sort of preceded these acts, Boz Scaggs was concurrent, and the disco era came after it, yet still all within the 70s. But then, the 60s had Motown and the Beatles running concurrently, and a lot more. Motown music is indispensable for a road trip ... today. In terms of pop, I'd say Hall&Oates and Toto were true to form 1980-1985. Today's music is just plain terrible, for the most part. As they say, "Kids today ..."

Heard while channel surfing in my car yesterday. It sort of fits to hear "Come On, Eileen" the day after St. Patrick's Day.

Starting out a Charger at under 200 hp would not work and would be detrimental to sales. You're right ... the GM 2.5 makes about 190 hp but it also has remained unchanged for a while.

I wonder if going onto a dealership's lot constitutes "spotting." It's deliberate and not random. At any rate, I was looking at some Chevy new car inventory. While there, I saw some Sparks. Yes, Sparks ... $15K before discounts! I opened up the base model doors and it had MANUAL WINDOWS, one of few production cars to offer those. You should have seen some of the wild colors on some - "Passion Fruit" and "Toasted Marshmallow." The amount of sheetmetal beyond the rear wheels is "disturbing," and the trunk is very small. There's not much more than what's on a Smart car. These Sparks are small. I'd bet Chevy offers them in Europe. Big demerit: No temperature gauge on this car. Just an idiot light. Perhaps you can scroll the D.I.C. options and get the coolant temp. displayed. As far as Chevy trimming their line up, the Spark stays while the Sonic bows out, am I right?

I looked it up. I much prefer that they would go the displacement route, like Ecotec 2.5. These 4 cylinders with DOHC seem to need a good bit of VVT apparatus, let alone a turbocharger. The entry level engine to the Charger today delivers 292 hp. I was also looking at a Wiki article about the "World engine," all 4 cylinder variants, something that the Europeans (Fiat) and Hyundai collaborated on for different aspects of it. If a Charger could muster up a big 4 and lay it into the engine bay for RWD set up, that, too, will resemble the space under the hood of a car found in the past! I agree that a much improved 4 cylinder may start the Charger line up the next time around.

Could someone envision a powerful and larger displacement 4 cyl. as the base engine for the Charger? I'm talking like the 2.5 Ecotec we see in the current LaCrosse and Impala as the base engine, not to mention the 250 hp 4 cyl. base engine that powers the new Kia Stinger.