Blake Noble

asylum

Back on topic, would you like for me to call that number XP?

You are walking on a very thin line when it comes to that fee, all I will say. I also forgot to mention that I randomly collect my dues pertaining to that fee, as well. It could be tomorrow. It could be five years. Who knows? The last guy who I collected from was not too happy about the timing, by the way. j/k

spaced-out

Well, I forgot to mention my special "information handling" fee to you. You might not want to know the cost of that. Hint: it involves a hundred dollars, a Holiday Inn in Rochester, and your first wife. j/k

I think you might have to throw in your first-born as well. :AH-HA_wink: I see the photos are finally showing up in their corrected forms. Excellent.

No clue on the price, XP. Sorry. All I have is the number. I will call it tomorrow evening if you want, to get a price.

http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...showtopic=23775 I believe you might want to look at that. Cost may be an issue, however.

Although in may not be in the do-it yourself state you might prefer, I do believe your truck awaits. I found it at a car show in Laurel County yesterday. :AH-HA_wink: EDIT: Sorry that the photos will not show up here in the rotated state as they do on Photobucket. I will try to fix that later if you wish.

bopper

Sounds like a good deal. Me personally, I could not live with that color silver.

If Mr. Forster can keep the balance between the GM Design and GM Engineering departments in the position it is in right now (which I do not see why he would not anyway) then tell him that I wish him good luck in his new position when it is appointed to him.

In 1987, GM still were offering the G-Body cars, A-Body cars, and T-Body Chevette. Most Cadillacs were rear-drive. They still had "rear-drive for the masses" in 1987. Perhaps you meant 1997?

I have witnessed a major car wreck in my lifetime, just outside of where I used to work. It was a three car accident that involved speeds up to 55 mph (the place where I used to work was located off of a major highway in my area). I will not forget that there was a small boy of about eight-years old or so that was involved in the wreck, who was riding in a Pontiac Grand Am. I remember specifically that he had suffered from a broken neck, I believe. I am not sure if he was wearing his seatbelt or not. Witnessing it was very unnerving. I could only imagine how terrible it was for you to witness your accident, Delta. And I am also sorry that you had to see something like that. The driver of the Accord should be punished by law for much more than talking on his cell phone, although I suppose living with the heavy guilt of almost killing two innocent people will serve as punishment enough for his reckless driving.

It is ironic, really. We here in America take pride in freedom of choice. But when it comes time to buy a car, we do not have all of the choices Europe does concerning the engine of a car. Even Canada has a handful more choices than we do. I would like to see diesels here in 75 percent of the cars sold here. I think something the size of a Pontiac G8 with a diesel and a manual transmission has the potential to be a beast of a sleeper, with something as simple as an ECU retuning. But our government is blissfully ignorant and over-restrictive of them, thinking they are all smog-producing, clacking and chattering, old-tech engines that are the biggest contributors to the environmental decline. I find it surprising that they are somehow still available in full-sized pickups here.

Strange. In my area, I am noticing a higher number of cars, even a good percentage of them compact even, than I have noticed before. Sure, I still see plenty of full-sized trucks and SUVs around here, too. I am in Kentucky after all, and people like their V8 Silverados, F-150s, and Rams. But I think more and more buyers are starting to consider their choices with wisdom rather than impulse. I suppose I like being in a minority then. :AH-HA_wink: Yes, smaller cars are the most efficient, and they are also usually their most efficient when equipped with a diesel engine. As for being front-wheel drive, that is subjective. There are examples of front-drive subcompact and compact cars being actually less frugal concerning mpg than their rear-drive counterparts (in the era of the Seventies and Eighties). Front-drive compact and subcompact cars do have or can present advantages in packaging, however, over one engineered to be rear-drive, especially if the car is a subcompact.

That is a quite stereotypical comment. No offense. There are people in the United States who want to buy more efficient cars. But who says all efficient cars must be small and front-wheel drive?

A Chevrolet Monza. You can imagine the condition it was in.

cabinet I have heard that it is basically Maynard James Keenan squeezing one of his Siamese cats. I used to have a Siamese, and indeed they do tend to have an odd vocal quality, as well as being quite "talkative."

slogan

GM a "near-dead" company. I see a mention of something costing $979, which I assume is the penalty cost attached to each model that does not adhere to the new CAFE regulations. Let me say that it is a small cost when you add it onto a car, and a price I would not mind paying one bit, if it means I can get to buy what I really want.

cheese

I won't disagree with this, that there seems to be a vanishing desire to "blaze your own trail" here in this country. Everyone follows some sort of trend anymore. It is pathetic. But I also want you consider what most people trade that "mistake" in for. It is usually a vehicle in the same segment as their trade-in.

I am not so sure about that. Because of America (and maybe even China) the "executive saloons" will live on. They are the mainstream standard here in the U.S. Because of that, I think that those cars will be engineered to survive, adapt, evolve, and grow stronger. So, as a result, they will still be available here and abroad, because they will be engineered to survive the changes brought about due to CAFE and other global regulations. Yes, there are differences in each individual market. What is a top selling car (I will exclude trucks here) in Germany is just another good selling car in the United States. And vice versa. I think that the differences in each individual market will ensure that what sells well over here will be available over there, because, like I said, they will be engineered to adapt to these new regulations. And, once again, vice versa. The mid-sized and large sedan and coupe (even wagon) is a particular form of car that America holds dear to its heart. And it will not give those cars up so easily without trying to honestly save them first, in my opinion. Perhaps I misunderstood you there, but I felt like this is something that bared clarification.

If you replace "Smart Car" with "Ford Fiesta" and "Aveo" with "Chevrolet Chevette," you will hear that same bunk mantra that was being spread about in the late '70s and the early '80s. I have said this once in light of this statement: as it was before, technology will rise up and yet again build a better, more efficient, more powerful car. The days of cars like the Bugatti Veyron and Corvette ZR-1 may see a brief hiatus as a result of the new CAFE regulations, but they will be back, and probably better than we can imagine right now, in this moment. I do not understand why what you have just said bears repeating over and over. And I do not understand why you do not understand the plan and simple truth I have just spoke of. I do not fear the future you speak of, because it is actually impossible. The new CAFE regulations may have caused a new damage, but it is not irreversible by any means. It is much the same with global warming and it's predecessor of the same era, that the world would be in another ice age by the late '80s/early '90s. Again, it was nothing but a badly told fairy tale that shook environmental, political, and scientific values. It is the same here. That worn-out line that goes, "You will be driving a cramped car that you do not want to live with on a daily basis, mark my words, like it or not," is another badly told pile of BS that ignorant pseudo-environuts will buy into and that will ruffle the feathers of anyone that has a passion for the automobile. At least, as a result of the global warming scare (and crude oil woes), we have finally begun to make the push to pioneering renewable fuel sources and making them available for purchase, as well as making better performing and more efficient cars. This "smaller by force" future has no benefit for anyone. It only promotes ignorant facts and limits choice. Yes, a new day might be indeed dawning upon the automobile industry and for the automobile enthusiast, but it is not going to be the way you believe it will be.