trinacriabob

Seen on July 18 - I have no clue what it is, but it's old ... funky color, too.

If you are talking about specific models, I'd agree that, while the MC was a dud, the Malibu was "safer" than the aero-back-like Buick Century and Olds Cutlass (an insult to the Cutlass name) that they released. I almost forgot that they made a coupe. I think the sedan almost looked worse because of all the window divisions along the greenhouse sides. What surprised me is that some head honcho didn't slap the s**t out of the designers for designs so ugly. (They didn't do that for the Citation's design, either.) Bob Lutz "tossed over the tables in the temple," so to speak, about some fairly bad Hyundai Azera like design work-ups for the first-gen LaCrosse. Boy, did they ever right the ship on that one: Jaguar-esque front end, Mercedes like rear end, and classic tried American greenhouse and sides. I think that the problem with the first downsized late '70s MC is that it too strongly went from being too much to being too paltry. Then, the cheapness of the interior and dash on all Chevy models on that chassis - that ran all the way until the platform was done away with - was almost appalling. It got a little better along the way, both inside and out. Outside, they put quad lamps on the '80 MC and the '81 refresh was a breath of fresh air. It's all water under the bridge, but I have been accused of "living in the past!" 1978 Buick Century sedan - this thing was a fright * 1978 Buick Regal coupe - on the same chassis, but sort of dignified ... not bad. - - - - - * what a hoot it would be to find one with the even smaller 3.2 (196 c.i.) V6, no air, no electric options, and low miles belonging to some elderly person in the heartland where they didn't salt the roads during winter who wants to unload it.

Saw this today in a supermarket parking lot, parked way out. What a feast for the eyes. I think I'm dreaming. The last of the 500 cubic inchers, perhaps. You could have taken MANY high school friends to the drive-in free of charge in a trunk like this if your parents lent you their Eldorado! There's my sled beyond, and slightly to the left. A Cadillac dash shared with its siblings. And, with the placement of that bag, a flat floor due to FWD. I suppose it is strange to take photos of the interiors of random people's cars. My sled as viewed through the hood ornament and finned front fender (say that 3 times, real fast) of this Eldorado. I don't recall if I've seen Eldorado inscribed on other Eldorados, but this was a Biarritz. These look like 50/50 seats with individual armrests. Cadillac used this color (chamois, vanilla, I don't know what they called it) that was not seen in other GM divisions which used a uniform and darker tan interior. Some family friends had this color in the first downsized Coupe De Ville to use the 425 c.i. V8. I can do without the wide whitewalls. The thin whitewalls seen on some Lincoln products might have worked better. I believe a standard whitewall came with the car. I definitely like the opera windows. I prefer a vinyl roof that is not padded. I'm walking back to my car at this point, but this is the first view I got of it as I was about to get into my car to leave. I'm glad I didn't leave. What a presence. I also like the canting and character lines on the belt line near the opera window. This is somewhere between 1975 and 1978. I'm guessing it's a '77 or a '78. If so, the 500 c.i. V8 may have been gone and this vehicle would have been powered by a 425 c.i. V8 by then.. - - - - - With 8 photos (actually more), I obviously liked this car. While it didn't make it day, it helped make it better.

I'll take the Bonne, not knowing what that Chevy is.

They all stayed on for years, as did the "Brady Bunch" after the series ended. Putting these sitcoms into perspective from today's lenses, people would be in an uproar that they're too white and not diverse enough. There were families like that then ... and now. A person can check out some suburbs in the Mountain West, the Midwest, and the Southeast and see that. They will be far less common in other regions of the U.S. A living room American (Canadian, etc.) kids probably knew all too well ... Back on topic, these were good shows, as was "Bewitched." The best "Brady Bunch" episode had son Greg losing his dad's prints for a perfume company main office which ridiculously looked like a huge powder puff on stilts (sort of bad, like the basket building in OH). The prints slid out of a tube that Greg was transporting. (With AutoCAD, that would be a non-issue today.) As for "Bewitched," the best moments were probably of busybody Mrs. Kravitz exasperating her husband Abner, even though she really did see what she reported to have seen. Gladys and Abner ... classic!

Very sad that Tony Dow, Beaver's older brother Wally on "Leave it to Beaver," recently died from cancer. This tame "peaches and cream" sitcom well before the "innocence lost" factor in America and Beaver, Wally, Larry Mondello, and all those kids seem ageless and eternal. I've seen it in reruns and the best episode had to have been when they dared each other to climb a billboard for a soup product that had a cup emitting steam to see if there really was soup in it. They made the climb. It all went south from there. R.I.P. Tony Dow

From that photo, definitely. One of those movies where they want to get at the goods and have to stealthily find a way to do it.

Ouch! Yes, maybe something like that.

I just found this. In the '77 to '78 intermediate downsize, Chevy did the worst job of the GM divisions - referring to both the Monte Carlo and the Malibu. Find used 1978 78 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Collector Survivor, Mint Condition, Orig 50K Miles in Temecula, California, United States (2040-cars.com) Here is a near perfect '78 base coupe. The front end and the heavy side sculpting for a "smaller" MC were a fail. At least it has bucket seats and a console. It also has some electric options (moot). Sitting under the hood is the old school Buick supplied 231 c.i. V6. It's a California car that has about 50,000 miles. The link to craigslist is no longer active. I wonder how much he wanted and/or got for it.

This was in a class by itself! Bombastic, excessive, call it what you want ... but what a neat and unique Cadillac.

That would have been a serious amount of money for a car during the Eisenhower years. I'll never forget when they introduced the Maybach by bringing the luxury car to America aboard the QE2 but, instead of putting it in the hold, they put it in a metal framed glass box that sat on one of the pool decks up near the funnel. There's a longer video showing the QE2 sailing into NY and a helicopter lifting it off the ship with a banner saying Maybach.

On this day in 1956, Italian Line's post WW2 transatlantic flagship, the SS Andrea Doria, was off the coast of Nantucket and due in nearby New York the following morning. At about 11 pm, while people were dancing in the ballrooms and awaiting the midnight buffet, she was impaled by the outbound SS Stockholm, which was about to begin crossing the North Atlantic in an easterly direction. It has been called the greatest rescue at sea. The list of the Doria rendered half of her lifeboats unusable, so the nearby French liner Ile de France, as well as the "offending" Stockholm and smaller ships belonging to the U.S. armed forces, took on the survivors. The loss of life amounted to 46 on the Doria and 5 on the Stockholm and involved passengers and crew near the zone of the impact. While there were injuries, everyone else on board the two vessels survived. I wake up on July 25 and remember that the Andrea Doria collision and sinking happened on this day. You guys knew I'd post this.

Very inspiring and the plane deserves to "live," as did all the passengers on it, so it's in a museum. That was a miracle and, sadly, not all calamities end that way. The only one I can think of that ended "favorably" for those on board was the Air France A 340 that landed at Toronto during severe weather and kept on hurtling to the end of the runway, went down the embankment next the the massive 401 expressway, burst into flames, and EVERYBODY made it out alive. Who can forget those events and watching the TV reports on them? What Happened To The Airbus A320 That Landed On The Hudson? (msn.com)

It looks like Arby's is taking a hiatus from regularly sending out coupons (chicken wraps, French dip sandwiches, etc.) and I am sort of pissed.

Good morning ... ... from Quogue, Long Island, NY

I went to a Greek dive on the way home tonight and got a generous serving of chicken souvlaki sticks, wonderfully seasoned, and served with tzatziki sauce, pita wedges, and tomatoes. I had no room for dessert. Sort of like this and a portion about this size.

I randomly think about this from time to time ... It's fun to put the passenger window down and hear your engine and its exhaust note reverberated back at you as you cross a small bridge or something similar. I've learned this only works when the members or struts on the bridge extend down to the road level (beneath the level of the exhaust) and there is no concrete low wall, curb, or apron at the base of the opening. So far, the finest sounding engine note I've heard on bridges belongs to Olds (Rocket) small block V8s, providing their exhaust system is in excellent shape and the rhythmic sound coming back at you is a quiet, perfectly tuned one. I think I did this on a covered bridge in Quebec with a 2007 Buick Allure I rented before I bought the equivalent U.S. vehicle by the brand. Nothing wrong with being a little "childish" from time to time.

Man, that's what I call passionate! There are definitely some odious types out there that we have to contend with - in any establishment or institution we are at or have to deal with. Yes, English speaking Americans come up, but the West Island is heavily Anglophone. I went into a Starbucks in DDO during a 5 hour layover at (then) Dorval and the guy helping me spoke English with no accent - not even the "Canadian lilt." as I call it. The problem is that some people do not have a visual image of what constitutes the island of Montreal filed away in their heads. By the time you are west of DDO and Point-Claire, it gets way less dense. The same is true eastward beyond Anjou. A person may think they are a world away from Montreal and can make a right turn on red, but they CAN'T. Yet in denser and barely off-island Longueil and Laval, you CAN make a right on red. But, yes, (the island of) Montreal does the signage right. We would call them a "Hollywood stop!" One of the handful of chicken-sh!+ tickets given to me across my driving career was for one of these on a completely dark residential street in Encino at 10:30 p.m. It was an obvious hangout for the police.

It's the cities, and not the motorists, who should be fined over "No (Right) Turn on Red" signage that is displayed in black and white print. Granted, these are usually tough right turns and have sight line issues or weird traffic flow. However, it needs to be in (European inspired) graphics, with the color red, and/or maybe even digitally displayed. I once saw such a display in Pensacola that was on an off-ramp of I-110 that was displayed digitally/electrically and above the lanes of traffic at the end of the ramp. With the lame, small black and white signs, these can be a cash cow for city coffers and can penalize motorists who would have noticed and gladly complied with other more obvious "No (Right) Turn on Red" types of signage. NO! Yes. Even better. - - - - - That's my random thought and rant.

This is the place where my parents first set foot in the U.S., so it definitely has a place in my heart. Check out some of the old American cars in the footage. In some scenes, ALL of the cars are American. This song ("Native New Yorker") is eternal.

I recently had the accelerator pedal replaced - it was periodically throwing out the OBD II codes that come with intermittent malfunctioning, since most cars are now drive-by-wire. I didn't do it. I had a friend's recommended mechanic do it. It seems to feel more "connected." I'm hoping it holds up well. This is a common issue for GM W-body cars that went to drive-by-wire. While there, I had him put in a new PCV valve, which sits in a spring loaded chamber under the M.A.P. sensor, of all places, on 3800 V6s.

Happy Bastille Day! Do you know your half birthday and that of others? I tend to. Today makes for 14.5 years of sled. How time flies. It's already afternoon in France. "Vive la France."

@ccap41 Thanks for the exhibits. I did get an Impossible Whopper today with my app price. At 10 mg of cholesterol versus 90 mg for the regular Whopper, that bit of info convinced me. I get one about once every two weeks. @Robert Hall I, too, am trying to eat healthier. I tend to dislike tree huggers and granolas who, deep down, are very angry and very fake, so it's not about making a political statement and aligning with them in any way, shape, or form. It's about working toward keeping or getting better numbers on my quarterly bloodwork. @oldshurst442 I like most things, but I despise spicy food of any type. I don't see how it can be fun to be sitting there eating and having your nose run, or how that can be flavorful. I am liking vegetables a lot more. I hated them as a kid. Now, I love spinach, squash, lentils, cauliflower and most of those things. I also like fish a lot more, too ... especially fish like salmon, halibut, shark, and swordfish. But I will always like a small steak from time to time and I like the marinated and seasoned cubed pieces of lamb and sirloin that Greek restaurants serve up. I could live contently with just the foods of the Mediterranean and the foods of the Americas, which realistically casts a big net.

I get a code sent to my BK app for "Whopper Wednesday." The price is great. And it includes the meatless Impossible Whopper. So here I thought I was eating healthy. I come to learn that this puppy has 630 calories to the Big Mac's 540 calories, and the other nutritional values aren't that commendable. You'd think BK would benchmark this meatless sandwich to come in under both the Whopper and the Big Mac, and somewhere under 500 calories. I may partake in (Impossible) Whopper Wednesday less often going forward.