trinacriabob

Is "je me souviens" still on the plates? I've been there within the last few years, but it's escaping me. I like the latest plates with the flag of Quebec and their clean colors and look. I would prefer "la belle province" as the inscription, though. I wish I could say that about the food at fast food chain "La Belle Province" ... it's not that good. A&W is a fairly popular chain in the Montreal suburbs. I'll take their food over the food at "La Belle Province." The duck is what makes this one unique.

Reminded me of a certain C&G member, so I took this photo ...

Dear folks of C&G, today is "I AM NOT A CROOK" Day. Happy Nixon's Birthday!

No. Not at all. Theirs was a '75 CS - a beautiful silver and burgundy colonnade coupe. It had a THM 350 behind their 260. In my dad's CS of the following year, with the typical 350 V8/THM 350, the transmission didn't quite make 120,000 miles, so theirs fared better. And I don't think they changed their trans fluid as often as we did. For some reason, our car ran hot. We did some stuff with the fan clutch and the thermostat, which finally caused it to run normally, or even cool. It was rust that finished off our car, with me taking it to grad school. Since I changed the oil more often than usual, it still had the trademark Olds V8 exhaust note and the transmission shifted beautifully after the rebuild. Wouldn't a large '77 Pontiac have been too large for a TH 200? I think they were used a lot beginning in '78. I'm going to guess that a THM 250 is closer to a THM 350 in layout and quality. I've heard of them. I don't know of their applications. I know that the THM 400 was the bullet proof one on that list.

So, there's two of them you knew of. Amazing about those coupes and their I-6s, especially the Malibu which, when optioned correctly, could look nice. I hope they were Classic and Supreme grade, respectively, and not the ones with the triangular rear window which were the lower cost models. As for "underpowered" engines, our neighbors with the '75 Cutlass (Supreme) were in sales and their 260 V8 was running fine at slightly under 150,000 miles when the transmission gave out. This would have been about 8 years into the car and with a lot of city driving. THM 350s with 3 speeds and no lock up converter were probably $ 500 to $ 700 repair jobs in that era.

I forgot to ask you about this when I saw it. I've known people who owned V6 Regals and Centurys of that time, but not one person who owned an L6 in the Olds, Chevy, or Pontiac mid-sizes. I'm thinking the L6 of that year would have outlived the V6 of that same year, all things being equal. Did this road trip car go the distance ... in terms of longevity? I ask because I wonder if "underpowering" the car affects the longevity of the engine. These engines were meant for the models one rung below, which weighed 500 to 600 less pounds.

Thanks for this table. Various expected and unexpected things: Hyundai, Opel (Germany's "GM"), and Toyota do well and Nissan is the lowest ranked Japanese brand (ok) Fiat and Mini are toward the bottom of the heap (ok) The French brands are below average but, overall, better than the expensive German brands (the latter are complicated) Smart and Ford fare better than average (strange) SEAT (Spanish subsidiary of FIAT or similar relationship) is highly ranked while FIAT is not (strange) According to this, the slightly more reliable French brand is Peugeot

I'm not talking within Europe. I'm talking among themselves. I think Citroen might be making a comeback with their C# series. They're popular. I'm thinking the French cars are probably more reliable than FIAT or SEAT. Citroen C3 - WITH air bump - can be had without

In renting small cars overseas, it seems that the French have more mainstream automakers than many European countries. At any rate, the 3 brands I see in rental fleets tend to be Renault, Peugeot, and Citroen. I have driven the Peugeot 107 or 108 (about a decade ago) and, more recently, the Citroen C3. I have a cousin who had a Renault Twingo about 15 to 20 years ago and they still exist, although they've been updated with time. Is there a pecking order as to which French auto brand is better than the other?

@dfelt Glad to see the Dodge Charger (and Chrysler 300) are not on the list. I guess practice makes perfect. Here's a "concept" I learned within the last year: A dog breeder or expert coined the word "velcro dog" - this means a dog that is always at your side. It generally doesn't go off and entertain itself in another room of the house or want to escape. It sticks to your side ... not literally and not getting in your way. "Velcro dogs" tend to be herding or working dogs, such as Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, etc. When you really like your dog and it's not dumb or annoying, it being a "velcro dog" is not a problem!

@oldshurst442 Those Corvettes are definitely "coved" in my mind. I'd gladly drive a current rendition of a '92 sized Buick Riviera (or, better yet, a Toro) but with a dash that's more interesting, like that of the '95-'96 Riv. Sad, I doubt we will ever see a mid-size personal luxury coupe again, and I'm excluding the Cadillac products like their coupe with the almost perfectly flat back window. I don't like that one.

Thank you. I should have, in fact, concentrated on the word Quattro. - - - - - You guys know how Wiki comes around at the end of the year and asks for minimal support? I'm wondering if it's a "one and done" thing if you choose to give them something ... and they don't market any of your info or decide to approach you more for support. I certainly like having and using the resource. My mom used to give to certain religious charities and then she'd be deluged with letters from donations from a bunch of other religious charities (typically the same denomination). She ultimately picked her handful and stuck to those. The others got tossed ... year after year. Analogous situation, sort of. Any advice?

Sidebar: since we were talking Rivieras and I mentioned the dash design, here are a few interior shots: Purist form - "less is more?" I had seen these in the showroom and liked this car's interior a lot. This may be a kit - not sure if I like it Resemblance to the first-gen Riv - yes, there is definitely some ... I am stunned to see that crank windows were even available on this groundbreaking personal luxury car. Okay, have a great day, folks, and Happy New Year. Since it's 2020, it might be good to put things into a 20/20 POV. Cheers.

I guess that was his New Year's resolution. I am not fully briefed on this situation, and really haven't been, but I don't doubt that they would be "as fair" to someone who is not one of their own nationals. From an article I read last night, he holds passports in Brazil (where he was born), in Lebanon, and in France. I don't know what the repercussions will be. I sort of checked out of the goings-on at Nissan. I remember more when he was hired on and they had big expectations.

All correct ... a change per year. I would only look at the car once the 3.8 came along. However, the 3.1 stayed as its base engine for about a handful of year unless a person opted for the GS model. That first 3.8, or 3800, was the Series I. The 2.8 V6 was a raspy piece of crap and really took the car's cachet down from what they were marketing it as. Thank God it was shelved in a year. I believe the dash design was called the "ravine" dash. I loved it (with gauges). It was a waste if a person went with idiot lights. Also, the full gauge package digital ones of the first few years were swapped over to analog gauges soon enough. Waiting several years was the right thing to do.

Yes on the 3800. I am still able to reach 30 mpg on freeway trips on mine and I'm still looking at its first tune up ... soon. Yes as to the 3.6 V6. Earlier ones had teething problems. It's always a big deal when you jump from eons of making OHV engines with 2 valves per cylinder (and they've even messed up a few of those) to DOHC engines with 4 valves per cylinder. They would have never been able to put this engine in the flagship Caddy CT6 if it wasn't fully "vetted." As much as I like those displacements, and those engines, I think that anything around 4 liters would be a deal breaker for GM (or any domestic automaker's) passenger cars. Not with me, but with corporate, CAFE, environmentalists, critics, etc.

Ok, not a cove, but that strong oval in the rear fascia was a great design statement ... the only good one on the car. I do dislike the front and I don't think the sides look good from all angles. In some instances, the last Riv looks too long. I liked its dash, which had mostly circular gauges and which leaned away slightly from the driver. Where would we be without our Ford Maverick? Uptown "Grabber" model Entry level model w/ hubcaps. These had 170, 200, and 250 c.i. L6s (cast iron blocks and heads) and could last a long time. Also, I see "coves."

Q: Why did the state of Arkansas have neither Halloween nor Thanksgiving in 1993? A: The witch moved to Washington and took the turkey with her. Just repeating a joke I heard ...

Based on the photo in the first post, and its plates, I wonder how far that is from where Tonya Harding hangs her hat. I'm going to say that the concavity in the rear fascia and lights in the "last call for Riviera" would indicate that it's in a "cove." Too bad this last rendition was ruined by its "preying mantis" front end.

I can't put this in Car Spotters because I've seen it several times and in different months. It's easy to narrow down the year, but I'm not completely sure. This Regal body style was released in 1988. However, the hood ornament in that year was a flat medallion. The "pull tab" alloy wheels were around in 1988, 1989, and 1990. I hated to see them go by the time I got around to buying one. So this could be a 1989 or 1990. 3800 V6 equipped models were badged while base 3.1 V6s were not, and the 3.1 was there in 1989, 1990, and beyond. I'm going to guess 1989. I don't know if this car would be considered a success by sales numbers. However, you have seen older ones on the road for decades. And that was on that all new platform - FWD, 4 wheel discs, fully independent suspension, and other major changes from the model before.

I still see NJ has the beige license plate, even though the GTO does not. It's interesting that NJ never capitalized on one like "New Jersey & you. Perfect together." I think that was an ad campaign during the Gov. Jim Florio days. But, if they had plates saying "You've Got a Friend in ... Pennsylvania," then they could have done that for the NJ plate, too.

@dwightlooi The cabin is beautiful - dash, seating, etc. The V8 appears to be laid into the engine bay suggesting RWD, no? You snagged a great deal. German iron just seems too "exotic" (for me) when it comes time to take it in to the dealership for service or finding the few(er) independent mechanics who are good at working on them. In California, the latter won't be as much of an issue. Congrats. It's a sophisticated looking sport sedan.

So, then, a 27 year old + vehicle. In that case, I wish the owner had been around. It probably was very low mileage.

I just realized today marks 14 years that I've been on the Cheers and Gears forum. I found it in 2005 when everyone was hypothesizing about the then new LaCrosse and I was approaching needing a new car. Three years later, I bought that car. But I'm still here ...

This was yesterday: I needed some rubber seals for some metal ridges in the engine bay where they had come undone and/or were missing. I think I found them. I went to the junkyard where you pull your own parts. What may look like a mess is really organized ... by brands, row numbers, etc. Very interesting. Olds 88 being pulled into inventory - probably has a 3800 there for the picking ... What the hell? Are you intrigued? It's sad that a 2005 LaCrosse would devolve into this kind of condition "Come on baby light my Fiero" (the 100 in blue means row 100) $ 6 for my parts. I've already snapped them into place.