trinacriabob

I'm thinking push button automatic transmission ... on the dash, to the right of the main IP. I don't think those had any safety features or fail safes that would prevent some kid in the front seat from pushing the N, or worse yet the R, when the driver had D selected!

I hadn't heard about that. What I did hear is about some guy who wants to build a replica of it, albeit new, and have it be a major cruise ship. Since I don't like many of the retro rehashes in cars (Camaros, Challengers), I don't think I'd like the idea of a resuscitated Titanic (Titanic II, IIRC). Let the original one be where it is. It was a morbid enough situation. Speaking of this, the bizarre situation and the advances in what engineers can calculate is the righting of the Costa Concordia so that it could be moved. That said, I haven't looked up any news clips to see what has been happening with Schettino. But, as it is, I have trouble stomaching the loss of the longer bows so they can move the forecastle all the way up front ... and chop off the decks at the rear of the ship so they can load them up with cabins. It's all about the sharp pencil.

Practically every video or journalistic piece on the Doria focuses on the disaster. To date, this is the only one I am aware of that doesn't touch on that at all. (I believe this dated music came from Fellini's film "La Dolce Vita.") I know that the Italians were probably among the first to really taper the bows of their ocean liners, with other nations following suit in short order.

A friend of mine told me that the Andrea Doria is considered "the Mt. Everest of dives." When I first heard that, I thought, "What? It's at about 220 to 240 feet below the ocean's surface." Then, when you realize that most people who have this hobby or profession don't go to those depths, you realize how perilous it is. I have heard that the wreck has been falling apart at an accelerating pace. I think I saw some footage of one of those little James Bond type submarines hovering over it, and the ship's condition looked pretty bad. One doesn't even want to think about how that whole situation would have played out if the Ile de France had not turned back upon hearing the distress call, as if it wasn't already a horrendous situation. I don't know if fewer people are attempting to dive to check out the Andrea Doria given that it is now known that the wreck is in far worse condition.

Something tells me that it was. But then, it was super quiet inside, especially at highway cruise. I don't remember if the gas door said "gasoleo" (diesel) or not (I could hunt for more photos). I will add that the 6 speed transmission was silky smooth. Never have I driven anything that American (or Germanic) in Italy. It was small enough to scoot around their archaic roads and squeeze through old towns. I even had to stop for sheep that had decided to take ownership of a country road.

During a recent oil change, I was able to see the new Regal. There were quite a few of them on the lot. And there were a fair number of 2017s, too. I like the new front grille tying it to the flagship LaCrosse. It's old school and modern at the same time, so it's clever. It is flanked by 2017 Regals at the side and at the back. As for the short rear deck lid .... no ... not for me ...

Those are nifty prices. The 2017 Regals should be flying off the lots, even at around $20K. They are nice cars. I am wondering if there is some fine print that's not evident. I've actually driven one and not even known it. It was an Opel Insignia, and across the pond. The photos aren't great because they are just the walk around photos I tend to take at the beginning and end of a rental. They had run out of Smarts and small Fiats with automatics, so I got upgraded to this. Never have I been upgraded this far up the food chain when in Europe. The character line is the same as that of the small(er) Buick here. The dash is much the same and so is the nice but boilerplate GM steering wheel layout. This one is not very clear but you can see the center stack. Even though I like the center stack on the Verano a lot, I like this one (without the faux wood applique) better. This was a nice way to motor around the countryside of the boot country for 3 days at an econobox price.

This afternoon, I saw a white mid-70s Ford Granada sedan. It was in good condition, or maybe very good condition because it's a 40 year old car, but not excellent condition. It had hubcaps. It was going the other way on a divided road. With what where probably 14" wheels, it looked like a dog that some jerk had kicked in the rump and was running away from you as I got a look at its boxy and squatted rear affect from my driver's side mirror. And then I thought about the Mercury Monarch and the Lincoln Versailles ... essentially a pimped up Granada that FoMoCo quickly cooked up to compete with the successful Seville. And, I am almost certain that these cars started out with L6s ... 250 c.i., 200 c.i. ? Don't know.

What a hoot! That furniture and the picture hanging on the wall are fairly time stamped. Surely there was an oil lamp somewhere in the house, no? Were these photos all taken in the PacNW?

I remember that the venerable bicentennial Olds Cutlass Supreme, of which over 500,000 were sold, came on a 112" wheelbase if a coupe and a 116" wheelbase if a sedan or wagon. When Pontiac last ran both a Grand Prix sedan and coupe (in 2002, I believe), the wheelbases and lengths were unchanged for the 2 configurations. That said, Electras could be either an exercise in Buick as a boulevardier or in Buick as bling.

I think Buick made a concerted effort to rid themselves of that name and the associated slang. By the mid-70s, Electras had turned into mostly Limiteds, with the top of the line having the branding "Park Avenue" appended to it. Here's a "Park" of 1976 vintage: Buick Electra Park Avenue (interior) Amazing, on various levels.

Every once in a while, I go onto eBay or craigslist and look for these Caprices ... in base form and with the 4.3 liter V8. If you think they come by cheaply, they don't. Far from it. What you'll see is one that is in dire straits and on its last legs sitting in a corn field in a small town in southern Illinois where there are fewer teeth in the town than there are cubic inches in the engine, and they're asking $795 or less, and it has been sitting there for a long time, looking like the Andrea Doria accumulating plankton. Then, you'll see one in immaculate condition with 60,000 miles and they want anywhere from $5,500 to $7,000. Within the past 4 months, I was at a light next to one. I rolled down the window and so did the passenger. It was burgundy, had whitewalls, factory spoke wheels, and a burgundy leather interior. The husband beamed that it had less than 45,000 miles. I asked which engine it had. The wife, the passenger, looked at her husband and he said it had a V8. I knew that. The light changed, so I couldn't ask more questions nor ask if he'd sell it. I'm betting it had the 5.7 liter V8.

I think that sounds about right, given that my current car is about 198 inches long. However, what I learned in a basic college sociology course, IIRC, is that primarily one demographic group used that term. And, when I've heard it said, it has been said with gusto!

To me, Riv, Park, Stang, and Toro are just abbreviations. "Deuce and a quarter" is what I call one fine automotive nickname! Some of you may not know what it stands for nor its etymology.

Sorry to hear that news. I was not aware he was ill. It's weird how these situations can change. My mom did fine through her birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She had blood work in mid-December that was normal (her creatinine was normal). She felt terrible in mid-January and the doctor said to take her to E.R. because something was up that she couldn't diagnose there. Her E.R. blood work was NOT normal. Her creatinine had gone up 9-fold. It was a trek from E.R. to ICU to med floor to hospice ... all in 3 weeks. You would have never known from her birthday party photos 3 months prior. It appeared she was going the Betty White route. And you know there has to be one jerk, a fat lifer lady from her parish, who had to opine that her not going onto dialysis was not the "right" thing to do. What ... for an extra month or two of misery?

After a while, past Super Bowls tend to run together. However, I will have to say that I enjoyed the big spread in the score that Seattle enjoyed throughout the game in one Super Bowl within the last 3 to 5 years. When it's a team's first time to win and it's a team you like, you don't mind the big spread. Also, looking at the list on winners on Wiki, I was really glad when New Orleans won it within 5 years of Hurricane Katrina. They needed that! And they earned it, too.

Ok. so I'll try this approach the next time and then might return to "drop pan, drain, change filter, and refill" as the car gets older. I think I'll try this. It's been an available service for a long time. Thanks.

I wanted to randomly add that I'm glad that the Philadelphia Eagles took the Super Bowl. New England has won it too often lately, with last year's game being absurd. I left the place I was chowing down that evening and watching the game ... and learned that New England had turned it around on Atlanta (it would have been their first win) at the very end as I was looking at my phone while going through the checkout stand. Philadelphia has gone a time or two over the years, but has never won. Now they have. I am not a huge fan of sitting around an entire sports season and spending three and a half hour clips of time to watch all the games. However, I manage to get somewhat interested toward the end. I tend to root for the underdog, unless it's a place and/or a team I very much dislike.

Seems like a hybrid job (flush and drain/fill). They sound like one of those stalwart shops. So, then, I guess you've had these flushes which also involved a machine and you've motored along some 20,000 or 30,000 miles after the fact without any hassles !? That's great.

I actually heard of that shortcut jargon first in SoCal, though not in O.C. In "Los An" itself.

LOF = lube, oil, and oil filter in old school parlance. That's how they code the invoice at writing up the order.

I've got the GM 4T65-E transaxle in my LaCrosse. Whether on this car or my last car (4T60 transaxle), I've never had a transmission flush, where they leave the pan/gasket/filter alone. I've always had them drain and refill the transmission, and have them change the filter and check the pan and gasket in the process. I am aware that that leaves some old fluid in the torque converter. However, an old school GM advisor told me that doing "drain and fill" with the pan and gasket dropped every couple of years - 25,000 or 30,000 miles - is as good as doing the full flush with the machine less often. He said the "drain and fill" is easier on the transmission. I've had coolant, brake fluid, and power steering fluid flushed and that's done by a machine that they hook up to the car. I haven't had problems from those flushes. At least not yet. The transmission flush also uses a machine. Because transmissions are real complicated (from seeing the cutaways), I am concerned that the flush could be harmful to seals, servos, and whatnot. But, then again, the machine should run at a speed and pressure that is correctly calibrated and does the job since they've offered this service for years. I've actually heard that the flush is harmful when an automatic transmission has been neglected, the fluid is in bad shape, and, finally, someone gets around the flushing it when the car is older. My car is "older," I guess, but has low miles and the fluid has been changed a few times. Which method do you use and do you have opinions about either method? Have you tried both, or switched? If you've done the flush, how has that worked out? Thanks.

Got a LOF this morning. Nice people at a new dealership I tried.

I don't know if it's possible to pull up the packaging, as in "build and price," for the departed Verano. I could have sworn that the most basic Verano came with a 4 way adjustable seat and that power came via one of the most basic packages. Not sure. However, yes, it should be standard on Buicks. A good way to tell might be to look at the order specs for an Encore, though I didn't do that. Reg, you are right in that, even though FoMoCo is after GM for me, they group their options more sensibly. On the Focus, you can get just the power seat or just the door combination code thing on the SE. You can also get a fairly minimal and minimally priced cold weather package. On the Cruze, you can't get the power seat by itself. Not only that, you have to go up to the Premier level on the Cruze to get the leather wrapped wheel. You should at least be able to opt for that on the LT level trim, if not have it be standard. People who like cloth seats might still want a leather wrapped steering wheel. If in a blistering or frigid climate, I don't want leather seats.