GMTruckGuy74

The Fleetwood is not making the trip out to Hershey, plenty of time for that in the future. The AURA will be my mode of transportation, especially since I have approximately 2,500 miles to use up before it goes back to GMAC on November 17 (lease end). Of course if I was planning to buy a lot of parts and stuff, the Fleetwood would be a better vehicle to use - thankfully I am not in need of anything at this time The weather looks so-so for this year's show... the NOAA National Weather Service is calling for rain Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (mostly evening or over-night showers, 20-50% ratings), and Saturday is suppose to be cool and cloudy. Thankfully 75% of the show in Hershey nowadays is on asphalt, compared to the past where "Hershey mud" was not a fun thing to deal with. However, the showcar/judging area is on the grassy fields of the old Hershey golf course, so rain prior to Saturday will not make the fields a nice place to walk around on Saturday. Good news about the Futurliner... it will be staying in Hershey for the winter. Part of the arrangement made with NATMUS (the owners of the Futurliner) is that the AACA Museum in Hershey will play host to the Futurliner as part of it's winter display. So even though I'm dragging the little guy to see it on Saturday (and more importantly climb into it), I will drag the wife and children again in January to see it at the museum (probably not likely to sit in it then though). So for those wanting to see the Futurliner, you will have some additional time this year to see it in Hershey beyond the annual fall meet. The highlight of this week for me is going to Hershey on Saturday... and there's a ton of work that needs to be done at my job before the end of the week. I will definitely enjoy the break this weekend after the all my workl oad is gone.

Okay, I've had the '96 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for a little over a month now and other than giving it a quick washing it once, I haven't done much to it - though it needs some TLC and soon. The black sierra grain leather is in pretty good shape for it's age, though it is dry and hard. I know it needs a good cleaning and then conditioning, and hopefully that will make it more appealing to the eye and maybe more supple. Anyone have some product suggestions and/or methods I should use to clean and condition the leather? I'm use to dealing with leather in new cars - so the methods & products I have I don't think will give me the results I want. Also, the car was owned by two non-smoking owners, but has a distinct smell (the wife and step-son call it "old man" odor ). I remember a post awhile ago where someone (maybe ocnblu?) said to leave a bowl of coffee inside for a day or two and it will help rid the smell. Is that the best method for giving the car a more pleasant odor? What kind of coffee do I buy (I'm not a coffee drinker, FYI)? I know once I've cleaned the leather, work on cleaning the carpeting, and clean and condition the dash will help give it a better smell, but I'd like to go one extra step if it will mean a more pleasing overall aroma in the car. As always, your insight/advice/opinion will be greatly appreciated!!

So, who's headed out to Hershey, PA this week for the annual AACA Fall Meet? The GM Futurliner will be there again - second time now (October '07 was its first visit to the show), and you are allowed to climb the stairs and sit int he driver's cockpit. This is a milestone year for me - my dad took me 20 years ago (1989) as a young and naive 14 year old first-timer, and I've been hooked ever since. And to celebrate this milestone I am taking my 4 year old son Justin with me this year - my 20th will be his 1st, and hopefully we can make this a father-son tradition for many, many years to come. I can't wait to take him into the Futurliner, and we've been looking at my 1/64th scale diecast (Norev) model of it so he knows what to look for at the show. So, post here if you're headed out sometime this week, and I'll be there on Saturday (if work didn't have stupid rules about personal days around holidays <we're closed for Columbus Day Monday>, I'd make it a two-day event and sleep in the car if I had too )

My dad was born March 6, 1947 - my uncle (mom's bro) was born March 6, 1943. My uncle's son was born December 23, 1973 - I was born December 23, 1974. My dad is into sports, like my cousin. My uncle was into cars, like me. Strange, isn't it???

Last Ocotber I posted a picture of a trailer that puzzled me when I saw it at a truck show and asked here if anyone knew what it was used for. Here's the picture from last year: Of course no one had figured it out, and online research didn't help (we were thinking military/tank hauling, but couldn't figure out how things "got on"). Fast forward to yesterday... I went back to the annual All-Mack show there again yesterday with hopes that the trailer would be on display (it was!). The owner wasn't in sight, but after waitintg a bit I did find a guy that knew the owner and what the trailer was used for - hauling large and heavy cranes. The guy went on to explain that this trailer isn't a traditional gooseneck and that the rear wheels detach and roll off the back of the trailer. The crane is then walked up the rails, the rear of the trailer is jacked up, the wheels are rolled back on and the pins are reinserted and the trailer is ready for transport. Picture detail: TRAILER REAR - Look in the center to see the pins, (you can also see here the end rails where they jacked the trailer up to put the wheels back on) SIDE-VIEW (here you can see the pin <rounded end, smashed from years of use) and the wedge that holds the pin in place) The guy said it was a lot of work to do, but before the more modern day gooseneck became available, this trailer is what was used to haul the large, heavy cranes from site to site. Not sure if anyone else cared, but thought I'd share my finding!!

Last night I participated in a live wechat with Susan Docherty in regards to the new 2010 GMC Terrain. I posed that question to her - GM abandoning the four-wheel drive market with the loss of Hummer and GMC moving to more on-road based crossovers - if there were any plans/ideas to keep Hummer alive as a line added to GMC (like the Denali models). Her response? Hummer is a done deal and it's not coming back to the new GM four core brands in any way. I did post that the Hx (H4) concept is too great to lose, and that GM really needs this as a Jeep Wrangler competitor (she posted no reply to that statement). Hopefully GM/GMC will wise up and retain the Hx (H4) for it's own use. I'm still interested in that for my personal vehicle

I participated in the online webchat last night (October 1, 8:00-9:00 PM). While many of the comments were similar to the other day's webchat (September 28, 1:00-2:00 PM), there were some new questions, like if a more "off-road" ready Terrain is in the works (the answer was "no"), if special editions of the Terrain were planned (again, "no"), and then the floodgates opened on if a Denali version would be made available (Susan Docherty was floored by the amount of requests for a Denali version of the Terrain; she basically said that the SLT-2 is well loaded as it can get and she sees no reason for a Denali <I posted that the Denali could use the 3.6L V6 engine>). She did go on to mention a bit about the upcoming Acadia Denali, though she wouldn't indicate the powerplant its going to use. I saved the webchat at home, so later tonight I'll copy & post exactly what she said about the Acadia Denali (she's very excited about its arrival it seems).

Yeah, he can't wait to see it... it sucks coming to C&G while at work (school), since many sites are blocked and I can't view things until I get home (and that's if I remember! )

Cmicasa the Great, that was a good post and I agree with many of your thoughts. GM should have reinvented Oldsmobile with Saturn, even if it was a Chevrolet/GEO-like set-up at first. And I agree 100% with you that HUMMER should have been grouped with GMC Truck dealers from the get-go. The two HUMMER dealers I know of (Hummer of Turnersville <south NJ> and Perrine Hummer <central NJ>) are grouped with other GM brands/divisions at their dealerships. While I think the Denali line should remain luxury-oriented, I'd have no problem with a Hummer line being off-road oriented. And not even just souped up versions of existing GMC models like the current Denalis, the Hummer line could still have been the H2, H3, and H3T that GM gave us anyway with the badge "Hummer, by GMC". And being a line added to an exisiting dealership network could have justified lower sales numbers (but at higher profits). It is truly a shame that GM wants to abandon this brand, as the Hx/H4) would have been a sweet little truck to own for many people (think of a grown-up Wrangler fighter) - I hope the sale falls through and GM wise's up and keeps the license alive for a later date. I do realize that this is not the time for niche markets, as that isn't the answer to GM's problems for cash flow.

Would have been funnier if he used the word "shelved"!!

Well, I have roughly 47 days left with my '07 Saturn AURA XE, it's GMAC SmartLease contract is due to end on November 17. If GM were to issue such a voucher, including to those that were current Saturn leasees, then I would just have to consider a brand new GM vehicle - I'd be a fool not to

I bought the March 2009 issue of Sport Truck magazine just because this beautiful black Colorado SS was on the cover (and had a pretty good spread on the inside too). Here's a link to the online version of the article, including another link to a video of this truck in action.

You know how much I admire the changes you made to your G8 GT, and I'm glad you finally got the ride/handling your comfortable with. Still a beautiful car and I'm jealous about it and the color still Now that your done playing with your toy, we'll have to arrange some time for you to play around with my big toy (okay, that doesn't sound right but I'm not changing it - sickos, you've been warned!). I will admit the last two weeks I've had some thought about getting rid of the Caddy for a new GMC Terrain, but all I have to do is take the car out for a little spin and I'm in love again (most of the thoughts of selling the car are when I'm away from home; once I get back and see the car parked outside or take it out for a drive those thoughts melt away). I need to start spending some more time with it, even if it's doing little things like cleaning it up (interior). November 18th is coming quickly and I want this car to be road safe/ready for daily driving duty. Let me know when you're going to have some time available - Oct 3rd & 10th are definitely out for me FYI. I need to send you an e-mail again about an issue I'm still having; hopefully you'll have an answer from some of your FWB buddies (expect an e-mail tomorrow!). Anyway, great Pontiac and I can't wait to see it again (btw, you have to take me out for a ride in it).

I guess they're reading my questions now... And a another person's Terrain Denail question was posted before mine:

I'm in on the webchat right now... sent in a half-dozen or more questions and finally one got picked: In other news... stopped by the dealership I use to work for back in '99-'00 this morning to see what Terrains they had available (just one AWD SLE-2 in Cyber Gray). The sales manager (a former salesperson-turned-manager I worked with) gave me one of the desktop GMC Terrain tee-pee tents, a small tri-fold brochure, and a large wall poster (no full model brochure was available yet). I was in the area for an ultrasound appointment, otherwise I'd probably never make it out there that early in the day (or night, it's about 25+ miles away from my home & work).

One of the things I've always liked about the '80s & '90s and some '00s Pontiac models was the dark-tinted taillights that came on the uplevel or GT trim lines. One of the things I never liked about the G6 Sedan is the bright red taillights (see attached picture). I was searching eBay for something and found this product: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Taillight-S...sQ5fAccessories Does anyone recommend this procedure, or not reccomend it? With the car being White Diamond Tricoat, I think a darker-colored taillight would look nice. If there's something better to use, I'd like to know about it too. Opinions, thoughts, ideas would be appreciated!!

Piggybacking on ocnblu's sequential turn signal thread, while searching for some videos on that topic I came across the video link I posted above. It's a 1999 Pontiac Trans Am Coupe done up in "Knightrider KITT" style but plussed even further. I think the owner did an awesome job and I really like the end result. At the end of the video he shows the LED underbody lighting feature and call me crazy, but I think that's something that police cars could benefit from having. Enjoy!!

Here are some vids from youtube on sequential turn signals: 2010 Chevy Camaro: '80s Pontiac Fiero: 4th Generation Pontiac Trans Am:

Two or three years ago there was a late-model Pontiac Trans Am WS6 Raim Air coupe at the Carlisle All-GM Nationals that the owner did the electrical work on to make the TA's rear taillights sequential in operation (he stated that he was an electrical engineer and it took him some time to get it right). It looked very cool on that car - too bad I didn't have a video camera on hand to capture the look. I did see a new '10 Mustang with them a week or two ago and thought it looked awesome. This is a feature I'd like see make a return.

I saw this story on the local (Philadelphia) NBC10 news after it had happened a couple of days ago. Those poles saved her life - the anchor stated that a few minutes before the car crashed that the little girl was standing in front of the poles. If she didn't move behind them, this would have been a different story...

I hope your birthday was a great one!!

GMC Terrain pictures on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmc-vehicles/...57622265582907/

Thanks Oldsmoboi for posting this. I can't wait (I'm off from work on the 28th, so I'll be sure to be online for this that day).

Oh boy, the list could be long ('91 Syclone, '93 Typhoon, '90 454SS, '97 Yukon 2-door, '91 Reatta Coupe, '05 Bonneville GXP, etc, etc, etc)... BUT, the one vehicle I will regret never owning brand new is a GMC Sierra Regular Cab Sportside Bed 4WD/Z71. I've always loved the sportside (stepside) bed on a regular cab pickup, and fell in love with a brand-new (back then!) 1990 Sierra SLE Z71 at my local GMC dealership when I was a teenager. Every year after that the regular cab sportside bed equipped truck was always the one I wanted most. When the all-new-for-1999 Sierra debuted I instantly fell even deeper in love with the regular cab sportside bed design. Family hauling duty requirements ruled out this truck for me in the early 2000's, though I came close a couple of times. In 2004 or 2005 I watched as GM removed this slow-selling feature from the option list and regret never having the balls to get one when I could. I'd consider a well-kept used one, if I could find one for sale, but it would never take the place of factory-ordering and taking delivery of your own brand new ride.

It's what you've been wanting, so go for it (as long as it's a good deal and not a money-pit).