balthazar

Appears to be a modern pic... why haven't I seen this one before??? Almost has a Brooks Stevens look to it. Stumped...

Found these numbers: U.S. sales (calendar year):: 1990: 35,944 1991: 31,240 1992: 24,964 1993: 21,481 1994: 21,400 1996: 18,408 1997: 17,218 2004: 9,356 SO yes; sales have declined steadily since the first full year on sale... just not as much as I had thought (tho still significant). Number I had in mind was calendar year world production 1990: 95,640 All courtesy of the very confusing >http://www.miata.net/faq/production.html<

I can honestly (and somewhat embarassingly) say, I have never seen that one before in my life. Has the same wheelcovers as the '77 Pontiac Phantom seen recently on this board... I will say this- it did not originate from any domestic manufacturer. It has to be a custom.

"GM" didn't do it; Buick did. When the divisions had their own Styling, Engineering, etc, departments, great & wonderous things happened. It's The Answer to The Problem. Cadillac has had their own Engineering Department reinstated a few years ago... how are they doing recently? ;) Sounds like I'm trying to be a jerk here, but catch my drift: there are no "GM" cars sold. "GM" didn't call the color anything, but Buick called their particular yellow for '68-69 'Cameo Cream'. All the divisions determined & had their own color palettes. There was some cross-sharing (obviously black is black & white is usually white) & some renaming, but the majority were unique to each division. So my point again is: return the divisions to even semi-autonomous status and pride & individuality (and 'Buickness' in this case) will return.

What's the trans/axle gearing in the 2 cars?

Wow that's heavy: a THM400 with converter & partial fluid weighs 185 lbs. Wonder what the DCX 7-spd weighs? I don't believe co-development of a component would test any anti-monopoly laws.

OK, so that's a custom grille in the current Escalade. I just thought... maybe...

I enjoy the graceful patina a 40-yr old car that has been mellowing in the weather & sunshine for a good 15 years has. The cornicopia of oxidation hues soothes my fevered brow.

I dunno- I tend to think these 'polarized' public figures alienate rather than entice potential buyers. johnnyb- Ummm; what's that in your sig?

I second rkmdog's suggestion; I've read most of the link he provided and the testing performed was exhaustive & extremely thorough. Bottom line: oiled filters are not the 'new sliced bread' and once an oiled filter & a paper filter are beyond brand new, the paper filter is much better (and I'm not referring to all the money you'll save). Don't blindly accept advertising spin; independant testers do not have their hand on your wallet!

Kill saab or sell it.

I just saw my first one on the street about an hour ago, which I was anticipating because I really couldn't get a handle on it's size from pics. It's smaller than it appears in photos, but not as small as the PT. Looked very good driving by, and the wife said 'I could drive that!'. Now I'm curious about the cargo room...

But didn't the miata sell like 90K in the beginning?? Sales have declined steadily ever since with no competition in sight. 9 thousand last year?? Yikes! I wonder if that's more the product than neccessarily the market?

That's a very American-looking ferrari/. I think the '53 Corvette is a lot more stylistically refined, however... and for that matter, so is the '55 T-bird. Really wierd to see a ferrari with wide whites!

Of all the bullshit claims that a given car 'looks like it's going 100 MPH sitting still'... the Phantom Corsair actually does.

No problem, and I understand. Just setting the record straight, bud. Loads of crap reference out there; writers don't seem to care much more than 'journalists' anymore.

I agree: I daily drove a '65 Bonneville 4-dr hardtop a number of years ago and loved it. I want hardtops back in both 2-dr & 4-drs. (Look down; yeah baby!!)

It's a '77. Mitchell designed this as his final dream car before his retirement. The 2/2003 High Performance Pontiac has a 3 1/2 page article on it. Mitchell wanted to make it drivable for his retirement years, but GM pres Estes denied his request (they had had some battles royale that strained their relationship). It was 'get rid of it or it'll be destroyed' and has been owned by the Alfred P Sloan Museum in Flint MI since circa '78. >>"It was based on a Grand Prix platform. Don't think so. This one was a true 'pusher': it has a wooden frame and straight steel tube "axles". Body is fiberglas.

I've heard it a hundred times easy. No; there is definately 2 different V-8 block sizes for Olds.

See, to me, it's the same degree of difference, and that's after seeing a few dozen of each over the years. The '56 is so flashy & heavy and the '55 is still simple.

I knew it right off but I feel bad always blurting out the answer 'quick'. I enjoy reading the wild guesser's post (smacking myself in the forehead at some of the answers). Anything domestic from the '40s to the '70s really isn't a challenge to me anyway.... I am getting damned close to having 'seen it all' from that era.

And by 'nose' I mean other than the sheetmetal... ie: new bumper & grille & trim. Silver Streaks look the same to my eye '55 vs. '56. GMTruckGuy74: '89 was the last model year for the Safari- the TranSport debuted for '90... I guess "replacing" the Safari as the utility model. :(

'56 Chevy is a carry-over body, the 2nd of the then 2-year cycle. Pontiac is the same way: same basic body, brand new nose.

Look- he's so into vintage iron he only photographs in black & white:

Link above says Durant owned a chain of bowling alleys, not 'worked in a bowling alley' (tho, I suppose, the point is made well enough). While not in the same manner, it was certainly within the abilities of APS Jr. Nearly half of what Durant brought together was sold-off, discontinued or consolidated under Sloan, which if you look at it one way: it took Sloan to make GM what it was longer than what GM was under Durant.