avant1963

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/motoring...olet_ultra.html This part of the article jumped out at me... I tend to think the writer is being a little optimistic here: " With a production version that’s set to look virtually identical to the concept going on sale in 2008, the newcomer is primed to cause a real stir in the compact family hatch market. " What I do see is the evolution of the Chevy grille already - with the upper part of the grille getting a twist inward. You'll see what I mean when you get a look at the Chevy Colorado SEMA concept that is going to emulate this front-end look (still embargoed).

For once I'm a little proud to be from Jersey. It's still a cop-out since the court stopped short of legalizing marriage like Mass.

Don't forget the 90's Roadmasters had them on the c pillar - disguised, but there were four squared "vents" that were to evoke the portholes of old...

I hate when the blame is put on video games and cartoons. I'm 33, play video games regularly (and have since I had an Oddessy 2 waaaayyy back when) and still love cartoons. All the respect I have for people and property comes my my parents and family. My recent intrest in politics has come from watching the country that I love get raped by elitist corporatists. Though my parents were never into politics, I believe that it is the values that they instilled in me (and these ARE NOT religious values - I believe that you can be an atheist and still have a moral code, unlike many people) that makes me want the truth and fight for it. So video games, etc are not the CAUSE, they are a concequence to many parents not caring what their children do or say, or of a society when both parents have to work, sometimes more than one job, just to make ends meet, and that "daily talk around the dinner table" becomes somthing only "rich people can do, honey." That leads me to the systematic extiction of the middle class, but that's another topic. It just gets under my skin when someone blames something that I have enjoyed for 20 + years (and I like the violent games and horror movies, but that doesn't make me want to go out and kill) for something that I would never even contimplate doing. Thanks mom and dad for putting a good head on my shoulders. Oh, and on topic, there is a huge lack of respect from people in general, not just kids, in the US today. It's almost disheartening.

It has one big windshield wiper that just hangs out on the windshield when not in use. Great. $h!box.

You young 'un! My first PC car game was the original Test Drive for my Commmodore 128. I remember the Testarossa, Corvette, Porsche 911 and I think a Lotus Esprit. For the time, the cockpit point of view and the graphics were ground breaking.

Weather was great... mid to upper 80s last week and it never rained once. First morning back in Jersey - 34 degrees. Yuck.

Just returned from a few days at Universal Studios Orlando (stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel) and we spent three nights at the annual Halloween Horror Nights. My wife and I are big horror fans and of Halloween. Here's some choice pics from the trip: When you first walk in, there is the "Horror Comes Home" street that walks you to "The Arrival" stage. Along this street is a bunch of strange characters: Here's me and an evil woman on stilts: My wife with this creepy stilt guy: This guy creeped me out the most, especially in the dark: And yes, that is a plastic chest-plate: Then there is a little show called "The Arrival" where the Devil takes the ashes of HHN past and brings them back to life. This is the procession with the ashes: And here is the Devil and his concubines: And the Storyteller ripping out my tounge: There were three "Scarezones" this year. These a basicaly streets in the park that are designed to make it easy for "actors" to hide and scare the crap out of you. There was the "Harvest of the Souls": The vampires reigned at the "Blood Masquerade": And zombies were on the loose in "Deadtropolis": Even Robo-saurus made an appearance: There were 7 haunted houses this year (we were in every one). I was hard to get good pictures from them so I just have this one from the outside of "PsychoPath": Every year at HHN, they put on a "Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure" that pretty much parodies what was popular in music, TV and movies (pop-culture) of the year. I guess "The Hoff" is always in vogue, so here's a pic of KITT: We had a great time. If I find more pics from HHN that are good, I'll add them. Anyone else been there this year??

The new colors are NASTY and so is the Car Of Tomorrow. D-E-A-D. Dead to me.

For anyone that grew up loving NASCAR for what it was (not what it has become) there was one huge moment in the late eighties when Dale Earnhardt bucked the trend (no one wanted a black car because it attracted too much heat from the sun, but Dale wanted to be the man in black), switched from Wrangler to GM Goodwrench and painted his car black. I had many a shirt/poster/etc with that black MC SS (and had a 1987 MC SS Aero Coupe) and Lumina. That car color combo is legendary. Then in 2001, it all changed. Kevin Harvick took over, changed the car to 29 out of respect that no one could be 3 again (time to "officially" retire that number Mr. France) and the car went to silver in color. In past years, more black has creeped into Havick's paint scheme, but we still miss the 3. Well, GM Goodwrench has officially said that they will only be sponsoring Kevin Harvick for a few races and Kevin's primary sponsor will be Shell Oil, with a few dates for Reeses (which he does now). NASCAR has been making sure that I don't give a crap about the WWE on wheels systematicly since Dale's death; changing rules, point systems and allowing any manufacturer to join in. At this point, I couldn't care less if Hyundai stuck a Sonata in the races, because I won't be watching in 2007 and the loss of the GM Goodwrench car out on the track is one more reason to not look back. Story: TALLADEGA, Ala. -- GM Goodwrench, sponsor of Richard Childress Racing's Nos. 3 and 29 Chevrolets for more than 20 years, will reduce its sponsorship of Kevin Harvick's team to just a handful of races in 2007, Childress announced Saturday morning at Talladega Superspeedway. Goodwrench's reduced role makes way for Shell Oil to assume primary sponsorship of the No. 29. However, Goodwrench and Reese's also will serve as primary sponsors on the No. 29 in select races, which haven't yet been determined. http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/...nsor/index.html

The Malibu MAXX SS is much more fun to clean (and drive). I'm still at weekly intervals (plus I clean my wife's G6 at the same time).

Don't forget the word in-front of GM, "ailing." GM is never "recovering" (even though the stock price has almost doubled in the past 52 weeks), "feeling better", or even in the mood to "go for a walk." The press loves to bring out the dead, whether you're breathing or not.

Yawn. Looks like an Elise and a Porsche had a baby. I'm waiting for some of these "coachworks" companies to come out with some innovative designs, not the same ol' same ol'.

You feel old? I used to sell tons of Oregon Trail CD-ROMs to you little wipper-snappers when I was an assistant manager at Software ETC. Then there was Oregon Trail 2, and all you little weenies got all excited. Here's one from the 90's (even though I'm more of an 80's kid): * Getting scared $h!less when that undead doberman jumped out at you for the first time in Resident Evil for the PS.

It reminds me of the Rush song "Red Barchetta". Cars getting so huge, they are two lanes wide and unable to chase after the old gas-powered dinosaurs. Now that I think of it, today's reality may make those of us with cars from the 50's and 60's "outlaws" because we don't have cats and have carbs.

Arguing with import fans is like arguing with Republicans. As soon as you see a real point (like not waiting for a better engine) you jump in with something completely unrelated to the topic at hand (What about the Caddy?). No one was talking about a Fkn Caddy here. Fly made a point that those that bought an 06 probably feel gipped that they didn't wait a year. It wasn't a dig at Lexus, and it wasn't a dig at those that drive them. It was a TRUE statement about a much better package for the same price. YOU made it a domestic/import issue. Not Fly. And I think that Fly would agree, those that got the old engine in the CTS probably feel gipped if they didn't wait a year. We're not giving a free pass here, but you will assume it because it wasn't the topic at hand. Until you start a relevant conversation, you need to curb this bull$h!, cause I'm tired of it. And what makes you Fkn think that those that spend time on a GM site are jealous of a Lexus. Grow the Fk up already and take you useless banter to another website - Trolls.

Here's an update Rog, Since the tinters are going to be different if you go to a different store, then we would have to grade the place on how it handles business. Since they ask you to come back to check the timt, that's a good thing. When the tint had some bubbles in it, they did not hessitate to replace what was wrong. When I brought it back again, everything looked good and I rolled down the windows while the guy was standing there to make sure nothing went wrong that they could blame on me. So even though they had to do the rear windows twice, they were very good about the whole process. Auto Image - http://www.autoimage.com They are on Rt 9 in Freehold

Hehehe... it says "TESTFAHRT" on the back of the wagon, oh, ESTATE.

Oops... sorry. My stupid mail came late (I just got last week's Autoweek today) and was late to the story. Well, it's worth posting twice. This was my last year to give a $h! about NASCAR, and it looks like that will end early after this stunt.

It seems that you cannot hold up as sign at the NASCAR races that says that you "Hate Toyotas" or you will be arrested. Read this: Sunday August 20, 2006 This man Bill Bagwell (the founder of fansagainestracingtoyotas.com) was at the NASCAR race in Michigan he was holding this sign up at the pre-race television show Race day on Speed TV. He had been among the fans holding signs for over a hour. Their were many signs some positive about NASCAR drivers and teams and some not so positive. During a break the producer came over and told Bill he could no longer hold his Toyota sign up. Bill told him that this race was still being held in the USA and that he had freedom of speech. The producer said he agreed with Bill but NASCAR was yelling into his headphones that he had to get Bill's sign down. The producer told Bill if you show that sign one more time you will be arrested. Bill protested but realized that he was out numbered when the security guards started to surround him so he did as he was told and he no longer held his sign up. What is NASCAR afraid of? Do the Frances now do as Toyota tells them? We thought they were in charge of NASCAR or is who ever has the newest money the one who calls the shots? During this TV show in their have been all kind of signs held up. The women standing next to Bill had a negative sign about Carl Edwards she was not told to put her sign down. Fans always hold up controversial signs. Signs that question different drivers sexual preferences, signs that talk about drivers not being good or drivers being great. Was Bills sign so threatening that NASCAR was willing to violate Bills 1st amendment rights? Tell us what you think of this terrible violation of Bills rights. http://fansagainstracingtoyotas.com/

Check out this pic of Bumblebee: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=23...ext=photostream It clearly shows the transformer in all its glory. He has a Chevy Bowtie belt buckle... Making transforming toys out of these are going to be a challenge...

I would regularly get around 21 mpg around town (25 when I was traveling 60 miles a day - 1/2 highway) with my 1996 Z28 w/over 100,000 miles. That kind of mileage was not too shabby for a 300 hp V-8. The best tip for gas mileage is to not have fun when driving (no fast starts, no getting into it to hear the engine/exhaust)... but who has a Z28 and doesn't have fun?

"In 1967, they planned additional changes that included raising the height of the bumpers to make the car appear lower." Well, there you go, OCN. Appearances are everything - an optical illiusion.

It was Dave Thomas (not the dead guy from wendy's or the guy from Second City TV... coo-coo-coo-coo-roo-coo-coo!) - He is working for Cars.com now on their blog. I worked with him at Autoblog. He's good people. He's posted a few times here since moving... I think his user name is now carsdotcomblog - or something like that.

A truck that makes it to 100,000 miles and only blows a fan clutch is a lemon? Is the fan clutch covered in the 100,000 mile warranty?? Please. He would have known he had a lemon 90,000 miles ago.