trinacriabob

Some Cadillac spotting Pensacola Beach, FL - seen within 15 or 20 minutes of each other - tackiness applied onto massive '70s land yachts (the headlamps on the Eldo were not rectangular) and, except for the grille emblem, it was hard to "knee jerk" identify an SLS as a Cadillac

Some Buick spotting Tampa Bay Area, FL - Have really enjoyed driving some rented Buick Veranos in the past Pensacola, FL - seen near a Waffle House (classic) on Pensacola Blvd., which is "car dealer row." What a (welcome) blast from the past ... Buick was not in stodgy mode with their last Skylark compact - some sweeps on the silhouette and interesting light bars, a really cool dash for a smaller car, and, if you scrutinize the photo of the rear cabin's interior, you can see the manual window crank. Also, I suspect the A/C might not have been working, and you need it on the Panhandle. I often wonder what could jump out at me when I photograph car interiors up close like this.

Some Charger spotting, telling me more and more how I will miss this car .... a chapter of Americana closing ... Tampa Bay area, FL ... another great color ... wow, what a great color ... they really outdid themselves with the color palette in the last 5 or so years Pensacola Beach, FL ... Louisiana plates Dania, FL ... I also like this color, but not so much the gimmickry of the upline models, as well as the higher prices, insurance, and fuel costs,. With 292 horses in the base V6 car, I'd be a happy camper.

My second favorite Tina song ... also the title cut from a subsequent album: With respect to female vocalists, Tina seemingly owned the '80s and Donna Summer seemingly owned the '70s. The types of music were different, albeit both popular and mainstream, but it's the vocal horsepower that is unforgettable.

I'm saddened by what I just read. It was reported that Tina Turner passed away today. I didn't know she had been sick. She was unstoppable. I thought she'd have a good many more years left. I was hoping she'd keep going and enjoy her later years living outside of Zurich, Switzerland. Many good songs on the album of the same name launching her new solo career, but the title cut up above is its best song, IMHO. What a comeback story! RIP Tina.

Sex sells. Did you hear me? Sex sells. - - - - - I'm just kidding. Enjoy. Every home in a northerly latitude needs one of those in the back yard.

MECHANICAL PHOTOS An overall view of the engine bay The shape of the prop rod for the hood is sort of unusual It indeed says 1.5 liters and says what emissions benchmarks it conforms to You should heed this sort of label for your transmission fluid on the Honda Accord (for its CVT) and, realistically, for any car you own or drive There's quite a bit here and they don't do it as tidily as some automakers: direct injection/ignition for the 4 cylinder engine, the turbocharger, an easy to service battery and fuse box, and clearly marked fluid checkpoints - - - - - End of photos

INTERIOR PHOTOS This is what I saw upon first opening the door: nice dash and cabin with good front leg room This shows the shape of the seats, the stitching, and headrests that don't intrude This fabric - if that's what it was - was sort of weird This is what the rear of the passenger cabin looks like: has power connections and decent leg room The headrests don't intrude too much, but the backlite is raked and the pillar is thick ... as you can see "it never rains in Southern California" An overall view of the dashboard with medal accents on the pedals and auto stop-start, parking brake, hill hold, and more on the console. The front cubby has a closing down that opens up in "slow motion." Very sensible instrument cluster with temp at the left and fuel at the right. Everything you'd need is in the middle: speed, speed limit, drive mode, gear, temperature, and mileage. For the time, look to the infotainment screen. This is the infotainment screen. I wasn't going to "let you down." Climate control panel is instinctive in its operation. Trunk remote, hood latch, and trip odometer reset are all easy to find Trunk space is very good for this size of car

EXTERIOR PHOTOS Parked along PCH in Pacific Palisades with Santa Monica's buildings in the distance On an isolated road near my friend's house in the desert The front grille looks better than that of the Camry, and it looks even better for 2023 The rear light bar is sort of interesting with these boomerang styled lamps, though not as nicely done as in the last-gen LaCrosse I don't care for this last side window, the same way I don't care for it on the Cadillac CT5

I had never driven any Honda. I had rented a full size car for a week in a Southern California suburb. I saw some Chevy Malibus and Toyota Camrys on the lot, but was assigned an Accord. I would have preferred to remain in something I was familiar with, but was open to this experience. I’m glad I was. The Honda Accord was of the last model year before the current refresh. It’s a comfortable car with an easy to live in cabin. Both the front and rear seating areas are spacious enough, and the trunk is also generous. The seats have a nicer shape, even though the fabric was weird, with an unusual sheen. (In the refreshed Accord, the seating upholstery has reverted to being more conventional.) The biggest plus for the Honda’s interior was its attractive and symmetrical dashboard. With this, I’m referring to the lack of something like that unusual angled wedge where the Toyota Camry’s dash and console meet. In the Accord, the device cubby hole, console surfaces, gear selector, cup holes, and console box are nicely placed. Setting the Bluetooth and other metrics was not too difficult. The instrument pod graphics were pleasing and simple. I always opt for the digital speed readout, which I find highly superior to the analog speedometer many of us teethed on! The only negative aspect of the interior was the power seat adjustment. I like to sit up higher and did not like the range of settings available to get me up higher, thus it felt a little more go-kart like. The Accord handles nimbly and it’s really amazing how far these once very basic cars have come. With a great feel from its leather wrapped steering wheel, the car also felt very centered on the road. Since the term Camcord is now ubiquitous and understood, the Accord is more nimble and less isolated than the Camry, though the Camry does convey enough of what’s going on through its front wheels. However, being more go-kart like and “appearing” to be a little smaller, the Accord isn’t as hushed as the slightly more isolated Camry. Of the Camcord, the Accord is more fun and at home in either city traffic or two lane roads, even those offering up a good dose of curves while the Camry is more serene and at home on the interstate. The Camry has that shovelnose grille that Toyota-Lexus seem to share and which has been criticized enough. The more conventional Accord grille is easier on the eyes, and has become even more appealing in the recently released model. On the other hand, the Camry greenhouse is a little more conventional and upright while the Accords is more raked, with large C-pillars. The Accord has that rearmost side window between the rear door and the C-pillar which hearkens to the Cadillac C5 via its shape and the overly thick chrome applique. I wasn’t a big fan of this. The Accord, however, has a pleasing rear fascia with light assemblies that minimally resemble the boomerang shape of the last-gen Buick LaCrosse. The difference is that the LaCrosse has a bigger canvas in its rump and did an excellent job with the boomerang design of the taillamps set into a more oval shape. As with the front grille, the taillamps and rear fascia of the Accord are also improved in the subsequent and current refresh. With all this said, in terms of styling, it’s probably a wash between the Accord and its Asian competitors. However, if adding Europeans such as VW’s Passat and Jetta to the equation, those would be the best styled standard sized sedans through their being more understated and timeless. Like the Malibu, the Accord uses a 1.5 liter 4 cylinder with a turbocharger. These “90 cubic inches of engine” are now up to the task of moving cars of this size and weight. They handle most situations well, but are not overachievers. The transmission is a CVT, which Honda has had for a good while and is incrementally becoming a more reliable type of transmission. There wasn’t that much of a launch gear effect with this car, and, thankfully, it didn’t spool up in rpms as much as in earlier CVT equipped cars I’ve driven. Mostly, it’s well behaved and the power is transferred fairly seamlessly. The Camry is the only one of this size and configuration continuing with an 8 speed automatic transmission, which I prefer. However, I can’t drive what the market offers. The fuel mileage was respectable, but I thought it would be a little better. Perhaps is that there was too much stop and go driving in Los Angeles and on Southland freeways. If a person finds it annoying, the automatic stop-start at idle feature can be deactivated. In summary, I wouldn’t say I was impressed, but rather surprised and pleased with a week in last year’s Honda Accord. It’s the kind of car a person gets used to very quickly and feels like they’ve owned for a long time. The car enjoys an excellent reputation for longevity and buyers in this segment are largely practical consumers. I’d pick the Accord over its competitors, edging out the Toyota Camry and the Chevy Malibu by a slim margin, but feel it’s a good bit ahead of the Nissan Altima and Hyundai Sonata, which I haven’t liked as much as of late. These days, the available choices for a full size sedan are a lot slimmer, even though all of these cars would have been considered midsizes, or even big compacts, when American boulevardiers ruled the road. - - - - - Photos forthcoming

Very random thought: a college friend once remarked how much people saying "he's good people" or "she's good people" torqued him. It is becoming less and less commonly heard. Come to think of it, everyone I've heard say it is, at the very least, borderline white trash.

Happy Mother's Day to significant others in your lives who are mothers, your own mothers, relatives and friends who are mothers, and even the few members we've had over the years who are mothers - I think we've had a rare few.

Yes, I believe Lynn Anderson would be considered country. Right, teen years through college age or mid-20s would be the time that music makes the stronger impact on people. That's what they will continue to listen to. What's sort of cool is that kids who work at Starbucks or anywhere that has a music loop going are now familiar with that music and really like the music their parents grew up with. I've read that on YouTube music comments. And they've also told me they think music from the latter part of the last century is really good. There is hope for them after all.

It might not be their most recognized song, but, to me, this is the top of the heap for the Supremes - 1971 vintage ... ideal for open road driving on the interstate. I don't know how it fell out of my music collection, along with a few other songs, but I just added this one back a day or two ago.

@Robert Hall @oldshurst442 Nothing quite like standing at that beach at the top of the U.P., weather permitting, and reading the memorial plaque and looking out at the probable/likely place of the shipwreck, thinking how insane it must have been that this can happen in this body of water. With his lyrics and balladeer voice, he puts you right there in the situation. That's incredible talent. R.I.P., Gordon Lightfoot. - - - - - The '70s and '80s ruled the roost, with some gems at the end of the '60s and the beginning of the '90s. It's interesting how the instrumental dance music parallels remain, but it's still a different enough style a decade or so later. It's also interesting how they wrapped a song from the '60s or '70s into this hit.

"I never said I was going to take you to Florida ... I just said I was going to tampa' with you." (one-liner I heard when I was a teenager)

Why is it that every time I click on one of those homepage articles about an exotic and/or highly venomous snake being in someone's house, it's in Australia? Between their driving on the wrong side of the road (wouldn't be renting a car), huge distances between any of their major cities, the most venomous snakes, Sydney funnel-web spiders, salt water crocs, great white sharks galore, and a 14 hour flight (and that's from the West Coast), it's highly doubtful I would ever visit.

Talk TV just got worse and worse. Then, reality TV shows came along. I wouldn't watch them. Phil Donahue was better at talk TV then the others. Hey, he went to Notre Dame, like Regis Philbin did. But Donahue was punchier and had more insightful things to say on the fly because he's an intelligent man. Chicagoans were pissed when Donahue turned his back on the city that made him and went to New York. That opened the door for Oprah, who is Chicago based. And, obviously, the ladies on their sofas in the afternoon slam dunking Oreos down the hatch are going to like Oprah more than Phil because they can empathize with her. I'm not a fan of hers. She took the genre of TV down a notch from the Donahue years. A classic episode for her would have been "500 pound women and the 150 pound men who love them ... on the next Oprah." But, hey, when Donahue went to New York, the ladies taking the microphone from him in the audience to speak their minds were not from the Chicago area, but now from Long Island and New Jersey, so far more emotive and entertaining to listen to.

This can't be. Jerry Springer has died. This was in Chicago and he was 79. The classic episode was about 2 women fighting over the same two-timing dude. Jerry Springer sort of helps us understand the pack mentality among audiences that would have fueled the barbaric events that happened in the Colosseum.

I liked the Ram looking grille and, while it took me a while to adjust to the new one, I now prefer it, as in "less is more." - - - - - Saying goodbye to LaCrosse as a whole has been difficult. The 2nd-gen sold well. I never liked it. It was too chunky. I liked the 1st-gen, which has been a pleasure to own, and the 3rd-gen version, seen below. Good-bye, last big(ger) Buick sedan.

Seems like we've almost forgotten about this stretch of Charger model years once the latest front clip arrived.

On the front page, I noticed that it's @caddycruiser 's birthday. Happy birthday!

I don't remember when I saw this, so it's not suited for a spotting thread. It was slightly west of Palm Springs, heading toward Los Angeles. They look like dominoes.

Windows 11 or Windows 10? My computer has been prompting me for a while and I keep deferring. I then hastily hit the button saying, "I do," (lol) thinking newer is better, right? Oh, no. Then I read that Windows 11 is much more restrictive, so I keep pushing back the scheduled time for this update. - - - - - First, in what ways is Windows 11 more restrictive? I've heard that it requires more sign-ins and is not that compatible with a Google browser. Second, the articles I've pulled up look confusing, but, if I wanted to, is there a way to a) disallow the update to 11, but b) still keep the updates coming for my current operating system? I don't need to type in a syntax error on a string from those articles I read that will create a mess of sorts.

More or less, Camcord sells at the rate of about 300,000 to 400,000 units a year.