Flybrian

No, nothing new besides the Azera (which totally falls apart on the details. No doubt is Korean.), Lucernce, Commander, Civic, etc. Pretty much what you can see on dealer lots now, except they're all in one place and without the pushiness. Tampa Intl Auto Show has always been this format more than anything. Throw in local celebs and concept cars that made the rounds a year or two ago, and its a decent way to waste $4 and a few hours. I don't think we've ever had a debut except for the Reno. Man, that was thrilling.

Yeah...no.

One of the Mercedes CLS sedans up on a display turntable had a burned-out taillamp. I mentioned it very conspicuously to my father, who laughed out loud, which prompted one of the Mercedes reps to climb up and turn the lights off! Also, walking through the VW section, I heard three seperate conversations about mediocre VW customer service and quality. Nice. A few others... *Quite an interest in the Lucerne from more than your typical Buick clientele. *Nice comments regarding the Solstice, Torrent, Terraza, LaCrosse, HHr, Impala, and DTS. *A $35k-ish Charger R/T and $30k Mercury Montego both have hood props?! C'mon... *Civic coupe is just...no. *I sold my dad's boss' wife on a Pontiac Vibe.

The Five Hundred never looked any good, even in sketch form. If I want a Passat...

The VW EuroVan put out 140hp with a V6. Whoop-de-doo... Nice to come up with non-sequitors, isn't it?

Yeah...no.

Yeah. Its really nice when VW spokesmen at the auto show tell people cars like the Phaeton, Passat, and Jetta are just as good as Audis but cost less. Makes it real good for the Audi guys to seal a deal.

Pat Robertson, Al Sharpton, Jerry Farwell, George W. Bush, Geraldo Rivera, Iraqi Information Minister Tariq Aziz, Sean Hannity, and Anna Nicole Smith all make me smile and bring me sunshine when skies are gray. God bless these people and the crazy-ass crap they say.

Tell me those don't look like the background they used for school pictures.

Ven? Your name is John Horton? :D

This is the same theory that allayed fears about killing Olds and those buyers either hung on to their cars, bought used, or simply left GM. So...yeah...learning from history is cool. Also, as you say yourself, the theory that GM has too many brands is a theory. One can successfully argue GM can parlay its divisions into volume (Chevy), luxury (Cadillac), and premium (Pontiac/Buick/GMC) wisely and with success. That concept, IMO, offers alot of consumer appeal over the 'what-flavor-of-Camry-would-you-like?' setup of Toyota, Honda, etc because no matter what cheap-ass aero kits and suspension tuning you put on a Camry, its still a plebian Camry that looks pretty much the same as the wheelcovered Camry CE you rent from Enterprise and the Camry LE you just traded. GMC is key to that because it gives the midlevel brands noncar vehicles to retail. And I don't know about where the rest of you are, but in my area, you get a completely different feel when you walk into a B-P-GMC dealership than if you walk into a Chevy one. No flight of vultures hungry for meat, no goofy cutouts of Dan Marino by the door. This can be exploited as well. You also hear that little one-liner "its a Jeep thing; you wouldn't understand." Well, no, its pretty obvious. It should read, "its a GMC thing; you wouldn't understand." There are still a class of people out there - smart, intelligent, not-blind people - who fully comprehend a Silverado is a Sierra and an Envoy is a TB, but would take the GMC without question over the comparable Chevrolet any second of the day. My father would buy a GMC over a Chevy. So would my girlfriend. Honestly, I would, too, because I like the styling better, but some people would seriously give Chevrolet a heavy sigh and a second thought if there were no GMC. The Professional Grade mantra may be pure marketing fluff, but damnit if it doesn't work. Drive through an upscale neighborhood. Tally the GMC vs. Chevrolet ratio. Therein lies your answer.

That's one reason why I wouldn't want one.

So...you work for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce now? I hardly think Nissan gives two shits about California's temperate climate and dining choices in making this decision. Also, its not that big of a deal - you either move, or you don't. Period. I know a few pilots who flew for Lincare who chose to stay in Tampa Bay rather than move to Birmingham when they moved their wing of exec jets up there. They're still alive, the company is still alive...so yeah... Anyway, probably what everyone's been trying to say - cost of operations and proximity to their manufacturing facilities.

Paris Hilton's boyfriend knows how to drive Idiots :lol:

Unfortunately, its probably the last of its breed - a pure air-superiority interceptor. A real thoroughbred in a world where the skies are filled with multirole mules. Alot of excellent aspects to this bird, the obvious one being its stealthy design. Note how unlike the F-15, there are no external hardpoints for weaponry; its AMRAAMs and Sidewinders are mounted in internal weapons bays so the skin of the fuselage is very flush, reducing its RCS, though it does have the capability to carry weapons externally. Its also one of the first to have supercruise capability, that is the ability to fly in excess of Mach 1.0 without afterburn. Very beautiful and I hope its at this year's airshow at MacDill AFB.

What he said. There was nothing really wrong with the general look of the '02 Escalade. As AH-HA pointed out, its lowpoints were the tacked-on look of the bumpers and door molding; as a design, its still standout and aggressive. The '06 simply refines it to make it more appealing to the Navigator crowd while keeping enough bling to maintain its current audience. GM trucks and SUVs have always been on the conservative side and if you look at the figures, it helps explain why they sell so damn well. Regardless of the interior, the 2000 Suburban remains the most balanced, well-proportioned, most handsome SUV of any size on the market today. How many SUVs are there today that would still look good and unkitschy ten years from now? I would argue GM makes all of them on such a list. Even lame ducks like the Bravada and Rainier have a solid, purposeful character about them. The same can hardly be said about the likes of Pathfinder, Durango, and others that went for shock value instead of design shelf life. Anyway, Infiniti went the bold and brash route, too, and went waaaaay overboard with the disjointed, ill-shaped, poorly-detailed QX56. Everytime I see that beast now, I'll thank my lucky stars for this beautiful Escalade.

The problem I see are recruiters taking advantage of poorer-income, slightly ignorant-to-the-facts young people who see themselves with little to no future after high school beyond working at McDonalds. They hype the military to be the save-all of their lives, that they'll be able to get thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, play sports, jetski on the weekends, visit beautiful places around the world, and take college classes when deployed. Half of that is pure crap and they all know it and right now, recruiters (especially Army and Marine) are so desperate to get their numbers up, they'll do/say anything to the naiive. I'm not against the military...far from it. All I'd like to see is a little more realism and a little more honesty in depiciting what you're going to actually do, especially in frontline services like the Army and Marine Corps where a hot combat deployment is far more likely than some ancillary support role. I've seen too many of my friends and someone I love hurt by the cold, hard reality of the truth because of the shadiness of some recruiters locally. The military is not for everyone, yet their PR engine makes it out to be. The truth is you're going to be sent to 12-13 weeks of training during which you're going to be broken down, conditioned, and taught to kill people and then sent to some decrepit waste of a country where people you don't even know try to kill you without following the rules of war you were just taught. Its a necessary job, and if you want to do it, God bless you. But its not for everyone. I'm just tired of seeing the military paint itself as some social works project intent on uplifting disadvantaged youth and the like. IMO, it undermines the true purpose of national defense and attracts alot of reluctant people who are simply unsuited for combat but dazzled by the $$$$$$ figures thrown around. As a tax-paying citizen, I want our ranks filled by those who really want to fight and sacrifice, not those who want to do their four years and cut bait.

They tested it without side airbags. Again, in articles like this, the most important fact to note is... To quote Carlos Mencia, 'Dee-da-dee.'

You obviously didn't go to a Mercedes wheel guy, otherwise another '0' would've been added on to that figure at least. Remember, you must you authorized Mercedes service tools and accessories applied by an authorized Mercedes technician at an authorized Mercedes dealership. :P

The difference is, I'm not going on TCC, vtec.net, ToyotaNation, BON, GMI, Autoweek forums, Edmunds Town Hall (oh wait, he was kicked off of there, too!) and saying Harry has no penis. I'm merely saying it here among friends and fellow vicitims of Harryness.

I still think this is a design that makes a 300 SRT-8 or boxy Dodge blush. The GXP is probably the best G-body GM has ever built - smooth and powerful Northstar V8, proven chassies, all the goodies (HUD, 10-way seats, Monsoon stereo), and one helluva look.

Now, if he would've said the Fiero is a flamer car, I would wholeheartedly agress...

$38,630 with chrome wheels and astroroof.

For some reason, I see Lucerne as being what the 300C should be - luxurious, comfortable, and refined. I've been in a C or two and the interior leaves alot to be desired for the price.

No, I don't think ever had one. He's probably a hermaphrodite, which would explain things.