Robert Hall

They are good... I used to like the Bellagio buffet. Digression--as far as music, the Rolling Stones at the MGM Grand, U2 at the MGM Grand, and Prince's 'Club 3121' at the Rio were some of the best concerts I went to in the '00s... Though this is an unrelated tangent, my favorite concert of that decade was probably David Gilmour at the Gibson Amphitheatre in '04 (a venue in Studio City, LA that no longer exists--was razed to put in Harry Potter crap a few years ago), though his later show at the Hollywood Bowl was fantastic also.... concerts could be a fun thread all of it's own.

I enjoy watching sports. Betting on sports seems pointless. I always hear that gambling will bring in a lot of money for states, but from what I've read it rarely brings in the expected amount. I did go to the casinos in the Phoenix area occasionally for company parties and concerts--good restaurants usually, and I've gone to the one here in the Cleveland area for concerts (Hard Rock Rocksino). I've been to Vegas a few times over the last 20+ years, for concerts. Good restaurants there also. But the gambling part does nothing for me...so boring. I do understand that people can enjoy it, but visiting art museums, going to the symphony, even reading random Wikipedia articles in infinitely more fascinating to me.

Zero interest here..gambling is perhaps the most boring and pointless of human activities, IMO.

Some duds in there like the ZDX, but I wouldn't label the Viper a 'car no one wanted to buy'...it was always a low volume sports car and has a dedicated following.. the Flex is low volume, but must have some fans, it's been around for a decade. (I find it oddly appealing--sort of a wagonish CUV).

The '70s-80s low HP V8s still decent torque to move around 4000lb+ vehicles, though. The TC spec 302 in the 80s had 230-280 ftlbs of torque. For a slow vehicle w/ a V8, the slowest I've driven was my folks' '85 Winnebago Chieftain..33ft Class A motorhome, Chevy 454. It would cruise at 60mph, but took a while to get there... Definitely a Fiero midsection...

Here is something truly random..not sure it's the right thread or not, but it's a long shot. This must have been in the 1975-1977ish range, I was a child, and remember reading an illustrated children's book or comic book with a story about a German car maker with strange little humpy VW like car that was brought to the US and became a sales success through the portly German sales representatives' shady business tactics. The car had a funny German name like 'Phunbug' or 'Phennig'... For some reason, this memory from 40+ years ago popped in my head on my way to Starbucks this morning, did some googling, couldn't find anything. But I distinctly remember black & white sketches. Anyone remember something like this?

Yep..probably similar to the '80s Town Cars my Dad had back in the day..the 302 was only rated at 130hp in '81 and 150 in '86...smooth quiet and comfortable, but not particularly quick. I remember driving the '86 when I was a teenager.. I liked those cars.

The mid to late 70s were high times for personal luxury coupes...GM used the small quarter window on many midsize models in 76-77-Malibu, Monte Carlo, Grand LeMans, Grand Prix, Cutlass Salon and Supreme (not sure if the sloped nose S or 442 was available w it), Century Custom and Regal.

Had a buddy in high school w a dark blue 78 GP w the 301.

I like the dip in the door upper edge on these. I like the sculpting of the GP more than the MC, and the Buick coupes had a lot of sculpting until they smoothed them out in 76, the 73 -75 Buicks looked better IMO...always liked how the door, fender and hood met on these high style 70s cars. I bet they were a challenge to the panel gaps consistent.

Supposedly the next GC is going to be on this stretched Stelvio platform, but I've seen nothing about it. Supposedly due for 2020, but it wouldn't surprise me if it gets delayed again...

^correct. According to Wikipedia, 350 wasn't the base GP engine until 76, and only in the base J trim. 77 brought the 301 as the base engine.

Rally wheels. Didn't stop and look, it was up on a hill off of a sloped driveway on a very busy street at rush hour.. The same house had a sharp red w/ woodgrain '72 Caprice Estate wagon for sale last summer IIRC. Edit: found it on Craigslist..i was wrong, it's a '77. They want $8500. T-Tops. https://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1977-pontiac-grand-prix-lj/6579214918.html

Saw a couple older GM personal luxury coupes this afternoon--a very clean dark green mid 90s Cutlass Supreme in a driveway down the street, guy waxing it...hadn't seen it around, may have been hidden in his garage. Also saw a very clean silver blue w/ white 1/4 top '76 Grand Prix for sale.

Brown goes green....breen!!

Saw a really clean maroon mid '80s Continental sitting in a driveway this morning, and a clean dark green Acura CL coupe...haven't seen examples of either in ages..

Picture is reversed....look at the gas station signs in the background..

And a much lower lift over into the cargo area.

I remember the Amanti. The roofline looked kind of like a scaled down Town Car. Saw a dead one this morning (had grass growing up around it).

Seems like the Bolt is successful, hopefully will see a variety of EVs from GM in the future. Maybe even some 'fun' models?

Remember, it's still 1699 to the Amish..

Anecdotally, compared to Phoenix and Denver (both largish metro areas I've lived in over the last 20 years), the Cleveland area seems to have a higher percentage of the Detroit brands on the roads and in the driveways. Could be due to the area's auto industry history (many plants and parts plants in the area, some still in operation), and proximity to Detroit. Though I do see a lot of Hyundais and Kias.

I see a neat '80s Jeep XJ Cherokee in the background, don't see those in good shape much anymore..

Harsh winters and lack of interesting winter activities are no doubt part of the rationale..like what is there to do in N. Dakota any time of year? Likewise, there are portions of Canada that are probably high or higher in numbers of binge drinkers...a buddy of mine from Regina, SK once said 'in winter we have hockey, drinking, and fighting'. Even in their late 30s, I was amazed by the alcohol consumption capacity of software engineers from Saskatchewan...you would think they were from Ireland or Scotland.

Speaking of diesel pumps, the thing I remember in the West is gas stations had diesel w/ green nozzle handles to make them distinctly different from gas nozzles..it seems odd in in Ohio to see the BP gas stations having green nozzle handles for unleaded...