Robert Hall

Being past 50 has a lot to do with it... arthritis, knee and hip pain, back pain. Getting old is not for the weak. Sliding in and out of an SUV is a lot easier than getting down low to get in and out of a low sedan or sports car... I had forgotten about the Avista, that was a beautiful concept. Taillights are very Acura, though. Random styling thought--saw a Saturn Sky the other day, they had a nice rear end..the taillights and something about the shape remind me of a miniature '71-72 Toronado behind..

Saw a clean silver early Fiero on the road yesterday. Friday evening on I-77 saw two morons in late model Challengers racing each other on the freeway, darting in and out of traffic...one was really loud and in a camo paint scheme. The were driving side-by-side for a few miles, going maybe 10 over the flow of traffic, revving at each other. At one point, in the 3rd lane a dark blue current style Shelby GT500 rolls up beside them, then takes off like a blur.... the Challengers don't give chase, but continue to change lanes and goof around...until they come upon a silver OHP Charger in the median---which pulls out and lights up behind both of them, pulls over both of them...

Well, Dodge's EV slogan is something like 'rip up the streets' isn't it? I'm sure they will have audacious names...like Hellcat EVicerator, Charger Mutilator, or Ram Murder Beast, Ram DefEcator..

They could have done GV8E, G8E, G7E, etc...would be pronounced much the same as 80, 70, etc.

On the freeway tonight saw a clean dark red G6 convertible, top down. Don’t see those very often. Saw a red VW New Beetle convertible with the left rear taillight out and the right front headlight out. And as proof Ohio doesn’t do inspections saw a ratty early ‘00s Silverado that had the bed barely attached to the frame, so much rust,no tailgate and the left rear fender leaning in and strapped to the right one…only one taillight. The cab appeared partially detached from the frame also.

I’ve had 7 cars and SUVs over almost 36 years of driving. I tend to keep vehicles a long time…my brother went through lots of cheap rust buckets in the 70s and 80s.

The XT6 is a rebodied Arcadia, I think..same short 112.5 in wheelbase.

The BMW was my brother's...he was a fan of the movie 'The Transporter', I guess..it's an odd car for him, maybe the only imported car he ever owned (over 55 years of driving he probably had 50-60 cars total)...he had 2 BMW bikes also. Black on black 740iL. The Rangers are 1997 and 2009. The '89 Bronco II does have the same front as the Rangers of that era. The blue '68 Cougar and white '97 Explorer Sport were my Mom's cars, she drove that Cougar a lot in the 70s-80s. It has a 302, 3spd manual, no power steering or power brakes..less than 100k miles IIRC. My brother's dark green '69 Fairlane 4dr sedan is an odd one--390 4bbl, automatic, A/C, base trim w/ rubber mats. One of 8 built in that spec according to the Marti report I got. His maroon & white '68 Cougar is an XR-7 w/ the 390 4bbl and auto.

Yeah, I figured that was why the XT6 has such a short wheelbase and the others look better. Wasn't sure if the Lyriq was RWD + AWD or not.

My sister hates riding in my Jeep, swears her Trax is more comfortable and easier for ingress/egress.

Very different proportions. The Lyriq has a low roofline and long hood, the XT6 is more blocky and tall. Kind of like comparing the Velar with the Discovery maybe.

Actually, it’s 2 inches shorter than the XT6, but has a longer wheelbase (approx 9 inches) and short overhangs. The XT6 has a very short wheelbase for its size.

Yes, a 2000 740iL with an ‘89 Bronco II in front in it. The Bronco II is also in the pic in the open barn door. I have the keys for both, they have flat tires and dead batteries…

It's longer in wheelbase than the XT6, of similar OL, and about 5 inches lower... Porsche Cayenne is of similar size...but this has a 7 inch longer wheelbase, 3 inches longer overall, and an inch lower..don't know how they compare in interior volume, though. Wheelbase is about the same as the WL Grand Cherokee L.

Rain and mud, rain and mud, rain and mud. Now getting some warm sunny weather. 3-4 days a week I'm down at my mud farm working to clean up, clean out, and get my stuff out of the muck in preparation to unload it all. My sister and I have been able to find a fair number of old family photos and mementos. Now that it's warmer and dryer, I've been trying to get my late brother's vehicles up and running, so far no luck on getting most to start. Bought a few batteries, been trying to charge up others. Did get the '09 Ranger running and outside. I've found the keys to over half of them, got a locksmith to make keys for more last week. He couldn't key two of the motorcycles, one had a busted ignition and the other is '15 Triumph that requires the dealer to rekey. What a mess... My brother was obsessed with putting stickers and flags on his vehicles. All in all, it's been frustrating and sad to deal with all of this..but I knew it was inevitable (part of why I moved back to Ohio 5 years ago was the inevitability of dealing with the farm).

Speaking of seat comfort, now that I'm driving my Jeep 200 miles a day 4-5 times a week, I'm truly hating the seats..rock hard cushions and.the upper center bolster in the back is right where I have a pinched nerve between my shoulder blades. I've rented a 'Malibu or similar' from Hertz for an upcoming weekend trip to Syracuse because I can't imagine 10 hrs in the Jeep seats.. 5 years ago it didn’t bother me as much, but now I’m in pain on longer drives. For those that have driven a lot of late model vehicles, what do you think under $40k has the most comfortable seats for road trips? I like the Chrysler 300 a lot, but worry the seats would be the same since FCA/Stellantis...

Yeah, not my favorite era of full size Chevy...but a restomodded '71-73 Impala would be more to my taste..

could make it easier to refill, if the cap were exposed. Saw an older Malibu the other day going down I-77 with a cracked front bumper, and maybe 6-8 inches of it sticking straight out perpendicular to the wheel well...

Happy Earth Day indeed. I planted a dogwood last night, spread some grass seed, spread some mulch...very relaxing after a week glued to computer screens on Zoom calls.... going to plant some boxwoods and some thuja arborvitaes this weekend, and some tiger lilys in a flowerbed.

^ probably the 3.0 VM turbodiesel V6...

The BLS was FWD... while the CTS was larger and RWD. Different platforms. The BLS was built in Sweden in a Saab plant...available as a sedan or wagon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_BLS I remember an episode of Top Gear w/ the BLS.

^the Cadillac was the European-only BLS (based on the Saab 9-3 IIRC). The Police cars are BMW i3 hybrids.

Neat...I remember when I visited the Colosseum in Sept. 2003 on a nearby street seeing a dark blue Chevy Tahoe and a dark blue Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited parked one behind the other...they really looked out of place amidst the typical small European cars of the era...though the GCs were sold in Europe then (saw many in the UK, France and Italy).

I think in the ancient world where BOF vehicle bodies sat on top of the frame (1930s?), there was very little cabin intrusion for the driveline. But cars were tall and narrow then. With lower, longer, wider some floor space had to be used for a driveline tunnel…

My Jeep uses the center tunnel for the driveshaft... without the hump, the driveshaft would be too low. And with a BOF truck or SUV, it's there for the driveshaft also... in an ICE vehicle, really have to have FWD to get rid of the hump...even then, though, the hump is useful to route the exhaust. On anything RWD-based, you have the have the driveshaft somewhere..can't see a way around it...(now lifted trucks and SUVs have the driveshaft exposed, but that is in a non-standard config).