trinacriabob

On this wintry day, on which a white Christmas has been delivered to many, "Merry Christmas." If you don't celebrate it as such, "Happy holidays." And, to @oldshurst442: "Kala Christougenna," "Joyeux Noel," and "Merry Christmas."

@oldshurst442 I believe Opel has just been spun off over there. I don't know if they coexist with other brands the way VW does with SEAT and Skoda. I haven't conversed with anyone over there to gauge their perceptions of Opel and the Mokka. As soon as I saw one, I wanted to know what it was, what they called it, and what the transmission was. Obviously, it was a stick. A lady in a Volvo dealership in Northern Italy that was near my hotel several years ago told me that people are really liking automatic transmissions. These were nicer Volvo products, though. What's not to like? Especially if driving in crazy, urban Italian traffic. - - - - - In which part of Montreal was your cousin's Acura stolen? Did they recover it? The last time I rented there, the guy at the counter was really cool (as most Montrealers are to me) and said that the most stolen car is the Honda CRV and that a fair number of thefts occur in Montreal-Nord and also, surprisingly, from driveways in suburban places like Ahuntsic, Laval, etc. I don't think I'd ever drive a Honda CRV. Not my thing. As for the most stolen cars in Italy, they are far and away the Fiat Punto, Fiat 500, and Fiat Panda. The Opel Corsa makes the top 10 list, but it's toward the bottom of it. Most of the car thefts occur in Puglia (Apulia) where it's mind boggling that 3 cities are named, around Naples, around Rome, and in Sicily. In the North, it's mostly around Milan, with other northern areas having much less of a problem. (Then you wonder why there are stereotypes and northern Italians have not historically cared much for southern Italians ... sometimes, just looking at hard statistical data speaks volumes.) If you think about it, Puglia (the heel of the boot) puts the perpetrators near water transport so the stripped parts can then make their way to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. - - - - - How do you say Merry Christmas in Greek? In the meantime, I'll wish you "Buon Natale."

Interesting but not surprised that the Encore is going. It's not really Buick enough and never was. You see them in Europe where, in some countries, they are the Opel Mokka. They run with an even smaller engine over there. I developed a weak spot for the Chevy Spark based on rentals. They were cute little turds. They were cheap to rent, cheap to refuel, and a go-kart to scoot around in (with not much of a trunk for luggage). I hate to see the VW Passat go. I had come to like them and it was constantly evolving into a more dignified model. I believe they are retaining the more expensive (but not a good value) VW Arteon, but I'd have to recheck that.

Today's list shows that it's Surreal's b-day - @surreal1272 - and many more.

This was sort of funny and sort of deja vu. I had posted this song not long ago. On the curved beachside promenade on Playa de las Canteras in Las Palmas, Spain was that gentleman (on the left) performing. It was only instrumental, but it was clearly Albert Hammond's biggest hit "It Never Rains in Southern California" ... very appropriate song for this sun drenched region of Spain, where it was in the low to mid 70s (F) daily in early December.

Thank you. Even though I hate the part of the year when the days are short.

My retroactive and last November car spotting entry, taken sometime after Thanksgiving and someplace pretty damn far away. There were snow showers, but no steady snowfall to speak of.

With regard to YouTube 1, there was a whole slew of Buick commercials done with the same kind of lighting and similar jingle. That first pan over it was flattering to the car. Again, this gen of Riviera was a great car, but not every angle on it was flattering. With regard to YouTube 2, that is a great looking interior ... when car interiors were more about relaxing long-range driving than trying to get us to be astronauts. (That is, if a person only has 1 or 2 cars in the driveway that are daily driver type cars.) Kudos to the rear seat design as well, and that armrest. Also, the rear backlite looks great from the interior. It probably helps to have one like that to work around that thick rear pillar. It's funny when he cranks it over, how the (3800) GM V6 can sound a little "farty" compared to a GM small block V8, but they have proven to be just as reliable over the long haul. That's a nice looking one and the price isn't that bad for a Series I 3800 V6 (a successful rendition of it), providing it has been kept up and the body is tight (upon further inspection). @NINETY EIGHT REGENCY Yes, if you open yourself up to a bucket seat model, that will give you a lot more leeway and increase your chances of snagging one. Take your time. You might save even more coin in the interim with one car. Of all the colors you mentioned in another post, the light driftwood metallic with the similar color interior would be my first choice. With the finned alloys, it looks great on the car. As for that yellow, I thought it was a weird color and more suited to a 1977 Coupe de Ville with wheel covers ... just my 2 cents.

Love me some travel. Right after Thanksgiving, I bolted across the pond, more so to Iberia for some nicer weather, and stayed about two weeks, flying home the day after my birthday so I could be home for the holidays. It was a paid One World (American and its allied airlines) ticket and it wasn't all that pricey in the economy cabin for an "open jaw" trip. I went outbound on American's partner Finnair, laying over in Helsinki, to get down to Portugal. Helsinki isn't all that far from the Russian border and is an incredibly clean, high functioning, and slightly expensive city. This is the ubiquitous Airbus A330 and I've got a few seats on this one I like. Finnair appears to be slotting in Airbus A350s to replace them, but I prefer 2-4-2 seating to 3-4-3. I returned on British Airways and, again, had to have the treat of flying on the Airbus A380. It's now not that hard to do because they're using them to/from London into at least 4 U.S. gateway cities that are big American Airlines hubs. That would be the ride across the pond to Chicago O'Hare for the next plane connection. There's another A380 parked behind it and I didn't look to see where it was headed. To the right of me would have been the MIA and DFW bound superjumbos. This one going to MIA had just pushed back and was getting ready to proceed to the taxiways and runway. Pushing back and sitting upstairs way in the back, I could see that other two-level beast that was parked at the gate to the right. I'll find a few more photos to put up in the Airplanes thread.

Good morning ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kari

This is downright frightening ... so much so that I had blocked these from my memory.

The World Cup final game for the championship is on, with Argentina and France.* (Edit: they appear to be tied at this point.) I have no loyalties here. I like both countries. It's being played in Qatar. That sure brought on a lot of administrative and political baggage. * I did watch France beat England from a hotel bar across the pond and a local there, who was intoxicated and for whom every 4th word was the F-word, didn't know when to shut up and had to have the police called on him, who hauled him away in their paddy wagon. This hotel belonged to a somewhat nicer chain, so not a folksy kind of place. It's the first time I've seen someone actually being hauled off for this kind of behavior. One of my favorite cities in the world. There are no words. And I'm almost envious that you live there. I'm kidding. I'm actually happy for you.

I had never seen one before until I took this photo. I love those plates. Another RWD car from the Northwest Territories ... taken down to Denver. Interesting. What's interesting is how there's a link (possibly energy sector driven) between places like Denver and Alberta (Calgary) and Saskatchewan. As for Denver, I remember when it was way less expensive. And when I took a cool little Buick Century 3300 rental that ran very quietly and thriftily from Denver Airport to Boulder to Estes Park and over some high mountain road that took me to Idaho Springs from where I got onto I-70 back down to the city. That whole circle trip that day was sublime. No mountain lion or bear sightings or encounters, either.

Stunning photo. It has the SkyTeam badge up front, but it's hard to figure out which airline in the alliance is the operator.

@riviera74 Yet another birthday per the C&G list. Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. @David Per today's birthday list, happy birthday! Did you arrive to this world on Thanksgiving Day proper? Enjoy your day. I am sure good food will be involved.

Yesterday, a '91 or '92 Buick Riviera coupe was coming the other way. With my window down, the exhaust growl was acceptable, but not as quiet as it could have been. It was triple black - black exterior, padded black landau, and a black leather interior. This car has always been a little tricky with the vantage points. It looks better in angled views. From the front, the grille looks too short in the vertical sense. From the back, it's another story. As I pulled away and looked in the rearview mirror, the padded landau overpowered and the taillamps looked small and not that interesting. From an angled view, and without the landau, the rear taillamps combined with the formal back lite look great. No landau roof for this gen of Riviera. In short, the Olds Toronado fraternal twin of the same years looks better from all vantage points.

It will be interesting to see what else you will find with this new up-line model. It's definitely true to the Buick vocabulary but also trying some new things (the diamond pane seating pattern). Also, many car's tan offerings for interiors aren't even tan, but off-white. This is both in domestic cars and in foreign ones, such as VW products. That big touch screen to the right of the IP is a little overpowering. I have seen it in showrooms. A grainy engine at this price point is a no go. And, I agree with you, if these pick up any steam, some should be built in North America. And, I'm including Oshawa ON, since it has historically been a very good plant.

Backtracking to October A Charger exactly the way I would have ordered one, based on the exterior, if in the market. It's the $30K base model (no spoiler). Adieu, Dodge Charger as we know it and which has aged like a fine wine. I don't see many of these post-Dust Buster minivans anymore. This is a Chevy Uplander, which might have been named a Chevy Venture. These ran with Chevy built 3400 V6s, which held up well in Impalas and Monte Carlos. I would have probably liked the BOP equivalents (Terraza, Silhouette, and Trans Sport) a little more for their slightly better styling and how they're trimmed out. Here's a Maserati coupe, but don't know which model it is. Lastly, here is something I've never seen before. This Mustang has a license plate from Canada's Northwest Territories. It says "Spectacular Northwest Territories" and the plate is shaped like a polar bear! What? A RWD car in the Northwest Territories?

I have seen the first vid before and it's cool how it chronicles the car (they had NO idea what they'd be getting 2 years later ... haha). In 1978, both the intermediates (Cutlass, Regal) and the PLCs (GP and Monte Carlo) went onto the same chassis AND wheelbase. I sometimes wonder if the '76 and '77 GP had been put onto the shorter wheelbases - and the finned fender tops and the beltline sweeps were toned down somewhat - if it would have snagged some of the Cutlass (and Regal) coupe sales during those same 2 years. In the first commercial, the camera effectively pans the beautiful sweep of Pontiac dashboards at their peak. That dash, and that of the (G)LM of the same years , was a standout. The second video shows that that vehicle is registered in Quebec. Canadians, and especially French Canadians, loved Pontiacs. The predominance of French nameplates didn't hurt that marketing effort.

I had forgotten "The mark of great cars" campaign. "We build excitement," even if they sometimes didn't, sounded better. As for the GP in the vid, I think they showed it the way they did to align with the base price displayed. That would have been a 49-state car with the 301 V8. (Calif. had to go with the 350 V8) I don't think the idiot light grouping, the base cloth bench seat, and the black seat belts helped. Shown with more up-level options, the commercial would have been a bigger hit. And, showing the GP in motion would have helped make for more "excitement." I think I liked the '76 a little more, especially in the simpler rear taillamps. The GP medallions made it look like too much of a luxury car. As for the front grille, it's a toss. Thanks for the update on what that Olds was. That it's a '64 seems plausible.

Haha. Similar, but different enough. If I was given an a-b-c-d multiple choice test on 100 Italian, Greek, and Iberian physiognomies (throw in the French, too), I'm thinking I'd get 70% to 80% of it correct.

New York City spotting ... by borough! MANHATTAN a Dodge Charger (in a color I like) crossing west to east through Times Square a Pontiac Grand Prix near Washington Square Park (NYU area) - I asked if it had a 350 ... no ... a 301 ... no ... it had a 400 ... it's a 1977 in excellent condition and with yesteryear's color combos, and overstyled as hell ... we're talking 45 years worth of car! Cars used to have so much personality. BROOKLYN a boat-tail Buick Riviera ... not my favorite specimen, but an unforgettable and polarizing design before it returned to being more "mainstream." an Olds Ninety-Eight, but not offered in Regency trim in those days @NINETY EIGHT REGENCY It makes it an even bigger treat (no trick) to see unusual cars in places like NYC in temperate enough October weather.

Those old school Greeks - men with herringbone berets and women dressed in black - shown in yogurt commercials for eating yogurt every day and who live to be 100? There must be a way to say "la dolce vita" in Greek, too. Spring is actually very nice in the Med because the rainy season that is now behind them has the bougainvillea and other plant life in bloom, and the backdrop has green hills instead of the brown hills we see in many photos.

If living at a northerly latitude: 1. Autumn 2. Summer 3. Spring 4. Winter If living at a southerly latitude, especially one with a Mediterranean climate: 1. Summer 2. Spring 3. Autumn (tie) 3. Winter (tie) There are so many different climates and micro-climates, even within short distances. That's why my rankings differ. However, for me, autumn is all about great photo opportunities.