Blake Noble

My problem with the Challenger is that there is honestly very little forward thinking with the design. I love the proportions and I love the DLO-to-bodyside ratio, they are excellent. Honestly, the real and only problem with the Challenger is that there is little to no progression of the retro graphics and themes pulled from the 1970 Challenger. There is progression with the retro-inspired ideas on the Camaro and that is where the design has an advantage over the Challenger. It is because there is progression of the retro elements on the Camaro the Challenger feels somewhat dated indeed. It doesn't mean that I think the Challenger is a bad car or that I hate it, although it might be a bit too retro for me I do actually like the car. I like what it brings to the table, which are the elements I like best in a car. And I will pass on the Camry, thanks. But only as an SRT-8. I believe we still have to wait until the fall for the more obtainable versions of the car, correct? And chances are the Camaro debut and subsequent dealer roll-out will be sooner than next year as well. :AH-HA_wink:

There is one difference I can spot with my eyes, though Z; the grilles on the MCE are wider versus those on the GX/P concept. I am just throwing this out here at random, but I really despise the G6 headlights. They look so low-tech and cheap. There is way too much silver, it is if they were wrapped in aluminum foil.

I sit here and mull over this car and I just can't begin to tell you all how disappointed I am.

To keep costs of the E-Flex system a little bit cheaper than if it were Chevrolet-exclusive, Opel will get a vehicle with the E-Flex technology for Europe. It could possibly come here as a Saturn. :AH-HA_wink:

The Camaro makes the Challenger look somewhat dated already, really.

I will not argue with you there. That wasn't exactly my point. What I was trying to say was that you had many more GM models being advertised during its Golden Era and not having the focus centered just on a few models, the "money makers," as it was during the 1980s all the way up to today. And GM also advertised for more than just cars during its Golden Era, as well. It also ran ads for Fisher Body, O.K. Used Cars, etc., etc. The only sort of advertisement GM does outside of cars today would be for OnStar. And that's it. You might see one for GM Goodwrench once in a blue moon. How about at least a few ads focused on E-Flex itself and not the cars that it will be going into? Not that I don't like the cars, to assume that is very asinine, but my point here is that GM advertisement of yesteryear was very broad and far-reaching, memorable and even enjoyable. GM informed the consumer beyond just what was making them money and they were willing to tell their message as often as possible, not just when they felt like it. 1963 Fisher Body ad: 1966 Chevelle SS 396 ad; this one is quite clever: And GME does advertise for it's used car approval systems, actually, unlike GMNA. For example in most recent issue of Top Gear magazine I have, in the back, there is an ad for Vauxhall's used car approval system. That is the sort of ad quality I want to see from GM on every car advertisement. Reviving the concept of that ad for the Camaro SS or the Corvette ZR-1 would be excellent.

At GM there should be a car for everyone, with the ability to be tailored to individual tastes, with impeccable design, quality, and innovation. (And as long as the car meets those criteria, media opinion be damned.) Just like it was back in the Sixties, when GM was its most successful. :AH-HA_wink: To be honest, if anyone believe that GM of the most recent of times is anything like the Glory Years version of GM, you really are sadly mistaken. Sure, the GM we have now is better than it was back in the "hangover" years of the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 21st century, but it just is not quite up to the level of the GM we had in the mid 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. EDIT: After reading PCS's post, I feel as if my point here is further proven. GM advertised heavily during the years of its Golden Era. You can go to a site like this one and you will first notice that you will find many a GM advertisement from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. Move toward the 1980s section and you notice much fewer GM advertisements. And many ads during GM's Golden Age were memorable as well and featured great illustrations and/or photos. Ones from the 1980s just aren't that great in general. GM ads today are usually very forgetful (the best GM ad of recent times would definitely be the Spy Hunter-themed TV commercial for the G8; it is a step in where GM advertising needs to be headed). EDIT 2: Let me prove my point to you that GM advertisement then was much better than it is now. Advertisement for the 1970 Chevelle SS 396: Advertisement for the 1980 Citation X11: Now, which ad put a big, silly grin on your face and left a better, longer-lasting impression? For me it was the Chevelle ad. The Citation ad, while informational, is just ... boring.

"Sweating Bullets" - Megadeth "Someday you too will know my pain and smile it's black-toothed grin ..."

What should really be focused on is finding, achieving, and maintaining a balance of product as near harmonious as possible. There should not be a bias toward trucks, nor a bias towards cars.

Wikipedia

:rotflmao: You forgot about the state's rampant drug problems as well as all of the lazy hicks mooching off of social security. :AH-HA_wink:

You don't need to crack open an auto-biographical book to know about what a douchebag Roger Smith was.

But it was all in the spirit of fun.

Tell me how this one works for you then, Panther. j/k Dattabig bitch! :rotflmao:

No doubt a whole truckload of $h! is about to hit the fan in the U.S. That is why I am relocating before I resort to drastic measures. :AH-HA_wink:

Now where have I heard this before ... This thread is just full of evil! :rotflmao:

I am very interested in such a book. If someone gets word on more information, please, let me know!

Jell-O

The Buick Invicta concept was based on the Epsilon II platform and is a preview of the replacement for the LaCrosse. Zeta bears no effect on this car entering production. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to stand back on the sidelines. I get the feeling it might get ugly in here.

violence "Battery is found in me ..."

Finally, someone steps up to the plate! This just makes me that much more proud knowing where my heritage lies. Now, where are the U.S. lawmakers proposing a similar ban?

Germany in call for ban on oil speculation Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtm...26/cnoil126.xml German leaders are to propose a worldwide ban on oil trading by speculators, blaming the latest spike in crude prices on manipulation by hedge funds. It is the most drastic proposal to date amid escalating calls from Europe, the US and Asia for controls on market forces, underscoring the profound shift in the political climate since the credit crunch began. India has already suspended futures trading of five commodities. Uwe Beckmeyer, transport chief for Germany's Social Democrats, said his party would call for joint measures by the G8 powers to prohibit leveraged trading on energy contracts. "It's an extreme step but it has to be done," he told the Berlin media. Mr Beckmeyer said the last 25pc rise in the price of oil to $135 a barrel had nothing to do with underlying supply and demand. “It’s pure speculation,” he said. George Soros: rocketing oil price is a bubble Oil has doubled in price over the past year and the concerns are echoed on Washington’s Capitol Hill where irate Democrats want rules compelling traders to take delivery of crude oil, a move which would paralyse the market. advertisement There is now broad support in Germany for a clampdown on “locust” funds. President Horst Köhler said modern capitalism had turned into a “monster”, bringing the entire financial system to the brink of collapse this spring. The Social Democrats form part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition. Her own Christian Democrat Party shares concerns that funds are causing a fresh bubble in commodities, risking further havoc for the real economy and society. In the long run, any scheme to ban futures trading would be extremely hard to enforce as the markets would tend to move offshore. Hedge funds are probably not the culprit in any case. Speculators are split, with some betting that oil will fall. The mass of money coming into the commodity indexes is mostly from pension funds and long-term investors. Oil markets are likely to shrug off the moves as political posturing, instead focusing on Norway’s suspension of crude output at three platforms, cutting supply by 138,000 barrels a day. The news comes as Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence reported OPEC oil shipments fell by 1m barrels per day in the four weeks to May 4, confirming suspicions that the market has been chronically short of supply.

When will this end? I am starting to believe that these Global Warming extremists will be the real end of mankind, not an act of nature or cosmic forces. We will literally be the reason for our demise ("the final human tragedy is death by our blind stupidity"). I hope you guys like the sound to waking up one morning and having your sense of smell assaulted by the stink of one giant fart. Combating the theorized effects of pollution with pollution, how asinine.

Tim Flannery's radical climate change 'solution' Link: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23724412-2,00.html Mankind "pump sulphur into atmosphere to survive" Measure may change colour of the sky "Would deflect sun's rays, slow global warming" SCIENTIST Tim Flannery has proposed a radical solution to climate change which may change the colour of the sky. But he says it may be necessary, as the "last barrier to climate collapse." Professor Flannery says climate change is happening so quickly that mankind may need to pump sulphur into the atmosphere to survive. Australia's best-known expert on global warming has updated his climate forecast for the world - and it's much worse than he thought just three years ago. He has called for a radical suite of emergency measures to be put in place. The gas sulphur could be inserted into the earth's stratosphere to keep out the sun's rays and slow global warming, a process called global dimming. "It would change the colour of the sky," Prof Flannery told AAP. "It's the last resort that we have, it's the last barrier to a climate collapse. We need to be ready to start doing it in perhaps five years time if we fail to achieve what we're trying to achieve." Prof Flannery, the 2007 Australian of the Year, said the sulphur could be dispersed above the earth's surface by adding it to jet fuel. He conceded there were risks to global dimming via sulphur. "The consequences of doing that are unknown." 'Cutting emissions not enough' Professor Flannery, who spoke at a business and sustainability conference in Parliament House today, said new science showed the world was much more susceptible to greenhouse gas emissions that had been thought eight years ago. Regardless of what happened to emissions in the future, there was already far too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, he said. Cutting emissions was not enough. Mankind now had to take greenhouse gases out of the air. "The current burden of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is in fact more than sufficient to cause catastrophic climate change," Prof Flannery said. "Everything's going in the wrong direction at the moment, timelines are getting shorter, the amount of pollution in the atmosphere is growing. "It's extremely urgent." 'Use eBay to plant forests' As well as the global dimming plan, Prof Flannery said carbon should be taken out of the air and converted into charcoal, then ploughed into farmers' fields. Wealthy people should pay poor farmers in tropical zones to plant forests - possibly through a direct purchase scheme like the eBay website. And all conventional coal-fired power stations - which did not have "clean coal" technology - should be closed by 2030. Capturing carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations and storing it underground - called carbon capture and storage (CCS) - was a good idea, Professor Flannery said. He urged Australia to dramatically fast-track CCS research and give the technology to the Chinese, who are building the equivalent of one new coal-fired power station a week. Prof Flannery said while the Rudd Government was doing more to tackle climate change than its predecessor, it was still "nowhere near enough." He called on the Government to remove the means test on the $8000 rebate for domestic solar panels introduced in last week's budget. "It's probably the bureaucrats getting in the way, we all know that sort of policy is not going to work," he said.