bobo

I'm with the Methuselah set on this site. 37.

BS and MS in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley (aka Cal).

The '89 fastback was my favorite 240SX. It was kind of like a modern take on the 240Z both in concept and in style.

It has the Japanese Civic taillights, which look a lot better than the weird U.S. Audiesque ones. Overall, this thing looks a lot better than the outgoing EL.

I've been doing some shopping for a LaCrosse. Just thinking about it right now, not totally serious. The CXS's all seem to have $3,000 to $5,000 worth of options on them. A typical one I've found at Cerritos BPG on GMBuyPower stickers for $31,385 (driver confidence package, CD changer, chome package, remote start). The red tag sticker is $27,577. I'm eligible for the GMS price, which is $27,732 minus $1,500 rebate minus $1000 bonus cash, or $25,232, which is about the same price as an Accord EXL, which would have a power moonroof that this particular LaCrosse wouldn't. Even with the GM employee discount, I'm having a hard time seeing the LaCrosse as being a good buy.

Sounds like the defunct 3.5 liter V-6 from the Intrigue and Aurora 3.5. That engine won't be coming back, though. The high feature 3.6 liter engine would work, though.

I forgot to mention that GM is giving bonus cash for employees for a few models: $1000 for the Impala, Malibu, MAXX, Grand Prix, and LaCrosse. The G6 gets $500. So that LaCrosse CX above will be only $18,532 for employees after rebate and bonus cash.

That's a good-looking speciman, if somewhat high-mileaged. The 240SX has great handling. And Vipes, I hope you were joking about considering a Sunfire GT.

Hood props are decidedly downmarket. You need to grab the thing and then stick it in the hole if you can find it in the dark. And then the prop can get in the way of the work you're doing in the engine bay. It's a small thing, not anything to get worked up about, but it can be annoying.

In the last couple of days: Gray Continental GT Coupe Blue NSX (fixed headlamps) Yellow Z06 Yellow C6 Gray Carrera GT Yellow Ferarri F430 Black Viper

The '96. As with GM custom, it was killed once everything was made right.

I like the new Escalade grille a lot. It's a lot better than the cheap louvered look on the CTS and SRX. The new Escalade isn't quite as brash as the old one, but I think it will attract more sophisticated consumers. I like the current Escalade, but I would almost be embarassed to be driving one. Current Denali buyers supposedly have higher incomes than Escalade buyers. I would venture to guess that would change with the new models.

The supplier price is more than the employee price, so these will not be blowout prices. For instance, the LaCrosse CX has a sticker price (including destination) of $23,595. According to the article in Automotive News, the supplier price is $21,996. The employee price is $21,032. The $1,500 rebate applies to both the supplier price and the employee price. I was at the Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealer today, and all the vehicles already had the no-haggle red tag price hanging from the rear-view mirror.

Sounds like you got a great deal. The G35 is a great-driving car. Speaking of the IS350, I drove one this weekend, and it's way up there in terms of performance and handling, with total refinement. Too bad it looks strange.

I went by Rodeo Drive on Saturday, but I didn't have time to park and take a close look. I just did a couple of drive-bys. It looks a lot better than the old version. These pics don't do it justice:

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be there to check it out.

Seems shortsighted. Say goodbye to all the talent, and good luck trying to attract new talent. L.A.'s expensive, but that's because a lot of people want to be there, and for good reason. And automotively, it's on the cutting edge of the country. The buildings in Gardena on Figueroa have been a fixture forever. I hope Nissan keeps them. I've owned one Nissan vehicle, a pickup I got from Torrance Nissan, and it was cheap and a real workhorse. Over the years Nissan vehicles have been uneven, some with great quality, others not so, some with great styling, others not so, but they have not been boring the way that Toyotas generally are.

A very tasteful design overall. The chrome is perhaps a little too heavy-handed, but there's pretty good restraint otherwise.

I agree that all the GMT-900s have much cleaner, more cohesive designs than the outgoing models. They do look a whole lot more refined.

One thing about the Vibe and Matrix is that they are made in different factories, the Vibe in California by UAW workers and the Matrix in Canada by CAW workers. I'm curious if there has been a truly objective comparison between the two vehicles for any quality differences, and whether anything can be attributed to different suppliers. Buicks and Oldsmobiles were very similar in the '90's, but Buicks generally had better quality, whether going by CR or JDPower. Some of this was probably attributable to the different factories they were made in.

I saw four DeSoto cabs in that familiar blue and black paint theme. Three were second generation Intrepids. The fourth was a '05 or '06 Camry. As for other companies' cabs, I saw only Crown Vics except for one last generation Camry.

I'm glad Arnold got spanked on all his initiatives. It was a collosal waste of time, money, and energy, and we had to be assaulted by those inane commercials. Some $200+ million was spent on this election for no good reason. As for Proposition H in San Francisco banning firearms within city limits, this law was largely symbolic and will surely be found to be unconstitutional. The NRA has already filed a lawsuit.

The interior looks good. Styling is up there with Mercedes and Lexus. As for the exterior, from this pic it is somewhat underwhelming. It does have a touch of Sixteen, but it's no raving beauty. Perhaps our expectations were too high, but maybe more pics will make it look better.

I heartily recommend a Gen4 Prelude or Gen2 or Gen3 Integra. You should be able to find something decent between $4K and $5K. These will be a whole lot more fun to drive than an N-body.

I'm going to be in S.F. the next few days. I'll keep my eyes peeled.