Robert Hall

For me, the appeal of RWD is all about the handling...esp. a well-balanced RWD car. Power is nice, but power without handling is useless, IMHO. I have no intrerest in trucks..for performance and luxury cars, I prefer RWD. FWD is fine for subcompacts and family sedans, though.

I wouldn't think so...doesn't the Aveo count for GM? Or the cars Toyota builds outside the US count for them, etc?

I saw the odometer in my Jeep roll over to 77777 about a month ago.. that was pretty cool. I also remember when it hit 11111, 22222, 33333, etc. I actually noted the date, time, and location of those milestones on a piece of paper I keep in the glovebox...I have no idea why, though. I've misplaced keys, wallet, cellphone so many times over the years, that I'm fanatical about keeping them in the same place at home, every day, then leaving for work with them in the same places---wallet and change, left front pocket, cellphone & keys, right front pocket, company badge clip on the right front pants pocket, sunglasses case in my jacket or hand, toque on my head (I wear a hat a lot since with my head shaved I get cold easily).

CNN is saying 31 now.. This kind of event is going to be a sad presence on that campus for decades to come, I'm afraid.... My undegrad college was notorious for riots that left 4 students dead in 1970, and that was still an event that I was well aware of when I was there in the early '90s...

I've driven a number of W rentals from Enterprise and Avis over the last decade, from Luminas and Regals to an '06 Impala, Monte Carlo, and Grand Prix...they were ok... comparable to the Tauruses I've driven from Hertz. My favorite FWD sedan rentals over the last decade were probably the '99 and up Intrepids, 300Ms, Concordes, and LHSes...

I still eat at MickeyDs once in a while...sometimes, I can't resist a bacon/egg/cheese biscuit value meal or a couple snack wraps and a fruit and walnut salad.. At least I live in a large metro area with numerous restaurants choices and can avoid fast food when I dine out.. Unlike when I visit my mom and brother in podunk, Ohio where MickeyD's, Wendys, Subway, and Dominos Pizza are about the only restaurant choices within 20 miles...

As far as GM, probably the G-body..goes back to the '90s?

Seriously? That's lame..

Yes, I was amazed that a Republican Mormon could get elected in Mass. Strange times we live in.

An interesting auto industry factoid about Mitt Romney--he's the son of George Romney, former chairman of AMC (and Michigan governor).

I like Obama and am supporting him for '08... I've read his book, and his views seem compatible with mine. If he doesn't get the nomination, I'll support Hillary. After the disaster of the last 7 years, there is no way I could support a Republican.

Won't the next LaCrosse be on Epsilon II? 3 FWD midsize sedans should enough (Malibu, Aura, and LaCrosse) to satisfy Camry/Altima/Accord/Fusion/Milan/etc shoppers and Avis...

Saw a couple interesting vintage Mopies this morning...a goregous restored '66 Plymouth Fury 4dr sedan, bright red with steelies and DDs, and a rough gold, primered with rusty roof '66/67 Charger. Very unusal to see 40+ yr old cars out and about around here. Another super-rare sighting was a black late ('99 or so, exposed headlights) Lamborghini Diablo roadster... Also, a battered white Cavalier 4dr with 'VTEC' and 'Type R' badges on the decklid...rare option, I guess..

I got back Wed. from my spring break in Hawaii..saw some interesting cars there...a goregous red '68 de Ville convertible oozing down the street outside my hotel. A pale yellow '67 Camaro SS in good condition. A black Bentley Flying Spur. A silver R32 Skyline GT-R. I rode in a couple of oddball taxis--a '95 or so Lexus LS400 and a battered early '90s Mazda MPV. I saw oodles of Hertz Mustang convertibles and Crown Vics and Grand Marquis with sunroofs (I never see them with sunroofs here).

Yes, so I hear...speaking of GM in China, one of my coworkers left today for a vacation in Shainghai and Hong Kong..I asked him to take pics for me of any Cadillacs and Buicks he sees there..

From what I've read in various articles, it sounds like compact FWD engineering will be primarily GM Daewoo, Opel for midsize (Epsilon II), Holden for RWD (Zeta), and NA for trucks, SUVs, large crossovers, and models like the Solstice/Sky, Corvette and NA Cadillacs... then China fits in the picture somewhere with Buicks and some Cadillacs.

Sounds more like his issues are with the management at Holden. The suits.

I'm currently only driving about 5 miles a week to work and another 20-50 miles a week around town, so it doesn't bother me.

The problem I see with a $45-50k or more Buick in NA is no matter how good it is (and this car seems like it would make an excellent NA Park Avenue, with a few styling changes like portholes and horizontal Buick taillights), is at that price point it would be squarely in Cadillac STS and DTS territory. Is the American consumer willing to pay Cadillac prices for a Buick?

I'm hoping they don't dumb it down for the US, though...no Rubbermaid interior plastics, 4spd auto, 3800 v6, etc...

What about the Sunfire? G5? Montana? Torrent? Those were arguably Chevy rebadges...the Solstice (and late GTO) were the first really unique Pontiac (though it now has a Saturn sibling) since the Fiero..the rest of their models have been largely variations on their platform mates from other GM brands with different plastic and different sheetmetal..

So? Pontiac needs to build cars that will appeal to buyers that were born in the '70s and later, not the old folks that were buying cars back then.. Whatever... most Pontiacs built the last 2 decades have been slightly modified Chevys/Oldses/Buicks..so I don't see the difference, esp. since Holdens aren't sold in the US.

I forgot Buick did bring the V6 to the LeSabre in the mid '70s. The Dodge and Plymouth would be the R-body St Regis and Grand Fury. Before the R-bodies, though, it must have been in the '60s..I couldn't imagine that the battleship C-bodies of '69-73 and '74-78 had 6-cyl versions.. the Ford and Merc years sound right...hard to believe, but that means that the full-size Mercury has now been V8 only for over 40 years.

I'm guessing Town Car, Lexus LS460 (the Q45 hasn't been sold in the US for a couple of years), and the Maybach 62.

Maybe it's that GM's NA designers have been constrained by bean counters for too long...i.e. make it cheap, average and bland so it will sell to Avis. GM NA has been hurt by 20+ years of cheap, plastic ugly interiors..