Robert Hall

I saw a silver VW Pointer hatchback yesterday.

I'm wondering what happened to the trucks...are they saving the Silverado and Sierra for fall?

They were fun cars... I recall as a 10 yr old visiting my sister and brother-in-law #1 in Phoenix in '80 and riding in the '77 280...we went for some rides out in the desert, blasting around the winding mountain roads..fun car. I drove her '86 and the '91--that Twin Turbo was a fun car..fast, great handling..I visited her in Boston in '92-93 a couple of times and drove it out to Cape Cod and up the Maine coastline...lots of fun with the T-tops of..

I've heard both also...the 2nd one would be more consistent with something named X6, i.e. SUV/crossover.. I saw a completely different interpretation in a British car mag that looked like a sleeker X5. For the CLS competitor, I'm not sure a good name would be, as there isn't any room between the 5- and 6- series..

I remember seeing that 280ZX ad as a kid...Datsun-We Are Driven. My sister was into Z's before she got into Benzes....she had a used '77 280Z after her first car (a '76 Pinto my dad bought her), then an '82 280ZX, an '86 300ZX 2+2, then a '91 300ZX Twin-Turbo...(that was a sweet car)...she had it in Boston, unfortunately it got totalled..replaced it with a '93 Saab 900 Turbo.

It's a small niche (at least in NA), but some people still buy them...hence, the Caliber. If I were buying a compact car, I'd rather have a hatchback like the Caliber, Golf, Focus or Mazda3 than a small 4dr sedan.. more useful.

Soccer moms and office workers are probably the majority of drivers of the Envoy and Yukon, likely to be the same for this one..... looking more refined is part of 'professional grade'...

Nah, the HHR is a retro wagon. I mean a proper 5dr hatch version for the Cobalt, like the Astra....

The V5 is a wagon, BMW's answer to the R-class... and the X6 is supposed to be a 4dr 'coupe'...BMW's answer to the CLS, it looks like...BMW is just keeping up with the Joneses so to speak...pursuing the same market niches that M-B has expanded into..

Nah, driving a rental for a few days is a much better way to get familiar with a car than driving for a few minutes with a sales person...

Yeah, people find something to complain about with anything....my Jeep doesn't have a keyed lock for the hatch, simply unlock the doors with the remote and pull on the handle to open it....even easier with a trunk; the remote pops it open (I've noticed this on several rental cars, incl. GMs). I think I've only used the key to open the driver's door twice in almost 6 years, both were times when the battery in the remote died. Using a key to open the trunk or doors seems so old-fashioned...

Yeah, about the only thing GM has in the US that is really comparable is the Vibe..too bad the Cobalt isn't offered in a hatch. The Caliber will be a good competitor for the Focus and Mazda3... too bad Honda has wimped out and offers only trunked Civics in the US now.

And yet it's acceptable in the Impala to have one? The Camry probably has a footbrake since the Avalon has a bench seat option (and they share platforms, so the part is probably shared).

BMW's answer to the R-class, it looks like..

And what about all the GM cars that have used footbrakes???? Haven't GM sedans usually had a footbrake parkingbrake for at least the last 50 years or so???? Pot calling the kettle black...you guys bitch about Toyota doing things the same way GM does...

So the Azera is Hyundai's answer to the Avalon...yet another bland FWD sedan..just what the world needs...yawn.

Yes, you can't judge a BMW by simply performance numbers..it's all about the total driving experience...infinitely more enjoyable than a pedestrian FWD model, IMHO...

It's kind of a catch-22, though... if they didn't have their regular models in fleets, then many potential buyers would never be exposed to them. For example, rentals from Avis is really the only driving exposure I've had with new GMs over the last decade...

Great soundtrack...another movie with Tangerine Dream was Michael Mann's 'Thief' with James Caan...(there was a nice '79 Eldo in it also).

He means the exposed trunk keyhole looks cheap...many cars and SUVs today don't have one...i.e. you open the trunk with the remote.

I saw a purple 2dr PT sedan delivery yesterday... (custom job).

Maybe to make the Super truly super it have an exclusive front end, at least for 1 model year...

Put a Grand National Turbo V6... that would be an interesting sleeper...

Yeah, but in Denver burbs to the south and east (Highlands Ranch, Greenwood Village, Parker,Centennial, Lone Tree, newer parts of Aurora) that grayish tan color is very common... though here the garage is usually always prominently in the front of the house (except in the 'New Urbanism' developments like Lowry and Stapelton where they put the garages behind the house with alleys). I've looked at a couple houses in Highlands Ranch recently that had 4 car garages..pretty nice, with 2 bays 90 degrees to the others...

True...I work with a couple of BMW owners that bought them for the brand image---they are in management now and felt they needed the image that their previous rides (Honda Element, Nissan Pathfinder) didn't have. I on the other hand, drive a BMW because I'm a car enthusiast..same reason I'll probably buy another one eventually..