Robert Hall

My favorite Buicks are the first 3 generations of Rivieras---esp. the '63, '66, and '71. Also, the Electras, Invictas/Wildcats, LeSabres from the early to mid '60s, and the early '70s Centurion convertibles...

So if you fill in the rear with a roof, windows, and B-pillar, you should have how the '07 'burban will look... Looks like a clean, modern design without clutter...I like how the front bumper is body color and I assume the grille and headlights will look like the Tahoe spy photo seen here a while back.... (i.e. no more ugly scowling headlights).

Sounds fun... I'm looking forward to Labor Day weekend...getting some beach time in myself--4 days in Hermosa Beach (went to Santa Monica for Labor Day last year).

The Fiero was mid-engined...

Yes, 2004-> 4 cars, 2006-> 2 cars...not good. 2007? 2008? 2009?

Yea, the Solstice plate mounting looks like a complete afterthought....maybe they should have integrated the turn signals/driving lights into the headlight cluster (or mounted them higher and shaped them differently) so the plate could be on the side (offset license plates have been used on various Pontiacs since the late '60s).

The '61 -69 SSes, esp. the later SS 396 and SS 427s...definitely exciting cars..muscular land yachts.. (Styling-wise, the '65-66 is probably my favorite--crisp and clean.)

I always like his posts of auto industry news stories in the morning...

I'll stick with Jeeps. Hummers are just overweight, oversized, overstyled nonsense, IMHO. My girlfriend's '02 Wrangler is just fine, but I keep telling her she needs to upgrade to a Rubicon and that I need to update my '00 GC to a new Hemi GC...:)

Yeah...strange stuff... I wonder why they don't bring the Sharan here..they probably decided it was too small and lacked sliding doors.

I've never gotten into Christian Rock, but I did hear a CD by a South African Christian band called 'Benjamin's Gate' that I liked..

Huh? What does Indiana have to do with GM Canada?

Nahh, they would be fine if they knew how to drive and used snow tires... :) I agree, though, FWD is better for the unskilled masses (driver's ed is a joke in the US)...too many drivers have no idea how to properly drive in foul weather. I used snow tires when I drove in nasty, hilly Ohio winters....makes a big difference. We have some huge blizzards here in Colorado and the occasional nasty morning commute Oct through April (the biggest snows are in March and April usually). I either avoid going out (work from home) on really bad days or creep along in the SUV in 4WD... (though I inevitably get caught in a blizzard on a Sunday on I-70 coming back from the mountains at least once a year)...

They probably want to have a minivan in the US with minimal investment. After all, neither VW nor Audi have any sort of minivan in their US line... Their last minivan (for Europe) was a joint venture with Ford (Sharan/Galaxy).... kind of odd to see VW wanting to partner with Chrysler, though, considering how VW and DC are competitors...

Possibly...I'm wondering how they would spin it though...there isn't a gap between Nissan and Infiniti really...maybe bring in some small Renaults and market it as an entry-level brand against Kia or Scion maybe? The biggest problem for Renault returning to the US is the lousy image their '80s junk had here (Alliance, Encore, Premier, etc)

My preference is RWD for luxury and performance cars and 4WD for SUVs...leave FWD for the mass-market and rental cars. I spent my early years driving in vile Midwestern winters with RWD and snow tires..I had no need for FWD. I'll stick with a BMW (or similar) with RWD and a manual transmission for daily driving in good weather and a 4WD SUV for winter driving (as long as I'm in Colorado--my next move will be to where there is no snow).

Yes..humid and lots of rain...and hurricanes and other extreme weather. I lived in Florida 6 years, in Marathon in the Keys...it was fun living on the ocean, but I don't miss the humidity... My home state for the last 8 years is quite the opposite in climate---very dry and low humidity here in Colorado, w/ lots of sun..

i suppose since the next Ion won't have the plastic body parts, they can build it on the same line as the Cobalt (are the G4 and Pursuit are also assembled in Lordstown and exported to Mexico and Canada ?)... I wonder what will become of the Tennessee plant.

Yes, I've seen them around a few airports... same with deVille taxis, Park Avenue taxis, etc...

I'm sure the new Impala will do fine with its main target audiences (Avis and other rental agencies, fleet buyers, police departments, taxi companies).

Yeah, helping GM doesn't help the war president....Dubya is all war, all the time... fiscal irresponsibility and no strategy for the country's future or foreign policy...

I don't care for the blocky styling, but I do like how they kept it relatively small (188 inches) and light (4500 lbs) with the 3rd row of seats.. there are way too many bloated and obese SUVs out there, IMHO (like the hideous Durango, for example).