FUTURE_OF_GM

'you got somethin' aginst nekkid ladies?'

B...But, Japan is such an advanced and amazing society?!?! (obvious sarcasm implied)

Very cool! I'd love to open a place like this someday.

LOVE the death metal rooster! Roosters can actually inhale while they are crowing, hence the long, continuous "yell"

I've never smoked pot. (hell, I've never even smoked a cigarette) But I would certainly support legalization. For revenue purposes and because I feel that it's not much different than alcohol. Let's face it; if people want to exist in an altered state, then they'll find a way to do that, legal or not. What we really need to focus on is EDUCATION about these drugs (alcohol included) and how it affects peoples lives. That's a big reason why 'Americans can't hold their alcohol' because they aren't taught how to respect the substance. If people want to partake in this activity, then the need to be informed about the effects and possible consequences. But, ultimately it is their own free will. As reality gets worse, more people will continue to seek escapism.

Not to mention, GM would've had plenty of competition from Ford and Chrysler. (Some people just don't know history)

I'm just tired of hearing all the politicians bull$h! about it. Either take BP down hard, or STFU. The time for air filled douchebagery has passed. I want action and I want it now. BP and[\b] the failed government regulators need to be figuratively dragged behind a truck on a dirt road. "We" will feel the effects of this incompetence for decades.

Sweet! DAMN! Beat me to it! DAMN!!! Beat me to it again!!! Freakin' sweet!! Here's a couple more... *Not real sure if that counts as a wagon, but nonetheless it's sweet.

LMMFAO... These are so great and so true.... Ah! And I'm glad my "janitor" reference for PCS stuck! LOL The C&G one is brilliant!

I think the Japanese companies have (sadly) succeeded in homogenizing the automotive business structure into a 2-3 tier competition. They inadvertently introduced the 2 tier set up and when the majority of the market bought into that idea, it began making the domestic middle market brands irrelevant. Add too that the HORRIBLE products that the domestics gave these brands and the complete lack of direction and effective marketing and we begin to see the fall coming a long time ago. Once the middle brands began to "fail" the domestics started pumping money into the brands with the most equity (mass market brands like Chevy, Ford and Cadillac) and that only accelerated the decline. All of the sudden, you could spec out a Chevrolet with essentially the same comfort and technology as an Oldsmobile or Buick and it was easier to find a Chevrolet dealer and a 'safer' buy because it was a bigger brand. What the domestics FAILED to do IMO is realize the potential that still existed in these brands. Pontiac could've been an excellent performance car division. Mercury would've been a great place to introduce a line of premium small cars that would allow Lincoln to move upmarket. It's sad, really.... All that wasted potential just because Detroit, in their efforts to wring every ounce of profit they could out of every bit of volume they could get, wasn't smart enough to give each brand a unique identity/positioning. Did Ford need Mercury right now? HELL NO... All Mercury is, the Ford brand can cover. However, had Ford grown Mercury into what it said it was going to, they could've made a healthy profit and given the buyer yet another option in the ever splintering automotive market. I don't think it's that cut and dry. Pontiac wasn't Olds and it shouldn't have been forced to try to be Olds (especially with no new product and marketing budget) You don't go from teenagers that like red gauges and flaming birds to 40 somethings that want touring cars with tepid styling in one year. It just ain't gonna happen. Saturn suffered the same image crisis that Oldsmobile suffered. GM's treatment of these two divisions is akin to setting up a stage in your closet, hiring a symphony, playing Bach and then looking around and wondering why the hell nobody showed up to watch. You can't just give a division product for 24 months, then not 'inform' the consumer and EXPECT the sales to materialize. A lot of Saab's problem was price... They were selling junk technology (OLD or rebadged) through a brand with little to no prestige for prices that Cadillac and BMW sell for. Remember, originally Chrysler was a mid-lux brand as Imperial was the corporations luxury brand. Chrysler just needs to start over... The Germans wouldn't allow them to develop into a luxury brand because that would be stepping on MB's toes. I really hope Chrysler can get it together. I remember reading, circa 2000, that Chevrolet was actually the number one luxury brand in america based on sales because they sold so many $$$-dollar SUVs and trucks. IMO, Cadillac had the right idea around 03-05. They were planning a massive move upmarket. Middle brands should've been used to alleviate the pressure on luxury brands IMO. For instance, Cadillac should've been moved upmarket at all costs and if it meant that they sell less volume while their image is being rebuilt, then SO BE IT. Buick and Pontiac could've then expanded into old Cadillac territory and provided the corporation with that lost volume. Instead, GM had 5 divisions competing in the same price brackets. We're even seeing it now with "New" GM. Cadillac nd Buick are about to be in a "FIGHT TO THE DEATH" simply because GM won't gets it's sh*t together with Cadillac and take the brand to where it needs to be. Case in point: New SRX actually moved DOWNMARKET into Buick territory... WHY?! I ask... So Cadillac cn hit some sort of volume goal that it shouldn't even have in the first place? Agreed. I think Buick will be fine, because it's the only division at GM that seems to have any sort of direction right now... In fact, I worry that 10 years down the road GM will be forced to choose between Cadillac and Buick and I'm pretty sure Buick will win the fight. By then, China will be huge and Buick will be a truly global entity through it's ties with Opel (Moreso than Cadillac, even) Cadillac has little direction right now with no dedicated platforms or powertrains and leaching onto corporate programs left and right to the detriment of it's established programs. Chrysler is up in the air... If it is allowed to actually become a luxury division, it'll be fine. But if it has to compete with Alfa for everything, it's probably toast. Alfa needs to be a niche, high equity brand (that's what it does well now, IMO) where Chrysler needs to be the main outlet for luxury IMO. I also sincerely hope that Ford has a better plan for Lincoln than competing with Acura... If you're going to sell ALL of your premium brands and then kill a middle brand for the sake of building Lincoln, you better DAMN WELL bring it or your going to lose whatever support you had from the media/market.

Happy 75th!!!!! J/k. LOL.

+1

That BMW sounds sweet and I have a lot of respect for those cars. But one guy in my old complex had an older three with the six in it and insisted on revving it sky high every time he came in. Such a horrible annoying sound. I tried to bounce a beer bottle off of it one night as he was coming in, but my girlfriend (not enraged and obviously showing better judgment) stopped me. In retrospect, that would've been a pretty asshole-ish move. Glad I didn't follow through.

I'm a bit biased, but I think I own 2 of the best sounding V8s I've ever heard. My '73 Camaro runs a cammed 406 SBC through Hedman Hedders and 3 inch Flowmaster Delta Flow single chamber exhaust. It's so loud it's scary (Neighbors can hear/feel me fire it up 2 houses down) and it sounds amazing. It's quite the ego builder when you're driving it. The second would be the Mustang. I've always had a sweet spot for the 5.0 and modular motors. I think they're some of the best sounding motors ever built. That Vantage sounded really sweet too, and who WOULDN'T love the sound of a Ferrari. I'm also a huge fan of the radial motors like on the B-17. I have fond memories of them as a kid because that sound always meant that some 'cool old plane' was flying over. In fact, the last time the Liberty Belle came to Charlotte, it actually woke me up when they did a relatively low flight over the apartment. I remember being barely awake and having a smile on my face, because I knew immediately what it was. That was a great day. All biases aside though, probably the best sounding factory car that I've heard in a long time was this: the (6.0L GTO)New cars sound too 'clean' to me. IMO, a good sounding V8 is a lot like a good heavy metal guitar riff, it needs to be controlled chaos. Usually that requires adding a bigger cam. For instance, IMO, that ZR1 sounds really lame... First thing I would do with that car is rip the factory exhaust off of it and make it 'loud and proud'. A car that mean needs to sound like it's going to eat your soul, NOT like a finely manicured IRL racer. Then again, I guess I'm not really the target demo for the ZR1. And, as I've stated numerous times, I'd take the Z06 over the ZR1 anyday. It's 'rough around the edges' character is more my style and for the $$$ I would save, I could make the Z06 dance circle around that ZR1.

***Fixed.

I'll post the clip when I can find it.

Sorry about the double post, guys. My iPhone does this weird thing where it acts like it didn't post the topic or reply. But then when I re-post, I find out that it did. They cut a lot of the footage of the bar and patrons, so I don't think I made it in. Oh well, still a cool place to visit.

Catch my restaurant; Cabo Fish Taco, on Diners, Dives & Drive Ins tonight at 10 on the Food Network! I might be in some of the shots.

'97. I don't think Cavilier went OHC until ECOTEC which was circa 2000.

Absolutely!

yeah, the GFs Cavi used to hand my Focus it's ass all the time on MPG. It would make me so angry because, at that time, the media was busy lambasting GM for it's 'inefficient OHV slugs'. My Focus was a lot smoother, but it sure as hell wasn't more efficient. And the salt in the wound was our drastically different driving styles. I'm pretty smooth, she's hell on wheels.

The whole issue with me was under the steering wheel. It seemed that the TA I drove really pinched my legs under the steering wheel. I'm 6'9", I have to lay the seat all the way back and I'm still cramped. But that seems to be the case in anything short of a full size truck. I actually thought about drilling new holes in the Mustang and moving the seat back, (highly illegal) but I can only go about an inch and I don't think that would make much difference. I might still try to find a lower sitting seat.

I think the worst site I've ever been on is YouTube. The comments are nothing but constant negativity, bitching and trolling.

EDIT: nevermind.

That's one of my regrets about not getting an F4, is their fabulous fuel mileage. But it was just much easier, physically, for me to fit into the Ford. Plus, I've always had a sweet spot for the modulars... And I got the car for about $3000 less than what NADA and KBB says it's worth.