Blake Noble

Excellent advertising. Not what you would expect from a local dealer chain. Reminds me of a salesman who tried to sell me an '01 Camaro. Only had 112,000 miles, excellent mechanical condition, priced at $2,995. It was a good deal, well, except for the odometer issue reported on the CarFax, the cracks in the passenger side door skin and front quarter panel ... oh, and the passenger door wouldn't shut, so the salesman had to hold it during the test drive, all the while jabbering on and on, asking if I was going to finance it (he didn't believe I had cash), pestering me for my number, and saying my name literally at the end of every sentence.

It's better than a gravel driveway. A lot better. I'd take your garage any day.

I really like it. Thanks for the 'Shop, Z. I couldn't have done it myself because free portable certain versions of CS3 don't work with my Windows 7 laptop. You know, the late 4th-gen F Cars really seemed to have a certain visual aura to them that linked them with their 2nd-gen predecessors more than anything else. The '98+ Camaro nose really makes me think of a '70 - '73 model car. The '98+ Firebird had the same "Batmobile" aggressiveness that the '77 - '78 model cars did. Not to mention the bubble glass of the hatch on these cars is directly descended from the look of the wrap-around backlight of the late 2nd-gen cars. They weren't, however, blatant rip-offs of their each respective forefather; they each were their own distinctive design.

I'm debating on if Year One's new 17" Repro Rally Wheel, which emulates those seen on '79 Z/28s, would look right on the '98 Maro? I know Year One's Repro 17" Snowflakes look excellent on 4th-gen Birds ...

No, we still would. You can't bottle cow piss and expect everyone to believe it to be a bottle of 1787 Chateau d'Yquem just because of a few convenient labels.

My grille ... I want it back plz.

I don't see the justification in defending this car. I really don't but, hey, whatever makes you happy. GM should be aiming higher with this car but they aren't even trying. You can point out the fancy gauges and interfaces, suede-covered interior and hybrid system all you want, but it is not, nor will it ever be, a serious high-end luxury car. It's a little extreme to say it, but the saying "Polishing a turd" comes to mind.

The CTS has gained some leverage in the market, though. I say the current-gen CTS and the upcoming ATS will do decently in Europe. I don't see them taking the market by storm, obviously, but ...

Here's something I don't think anyone has stopped to consider: if they sell this in Europe, how do well received you think it would be? Europe didn't exactly warm to the 1997 - 2004 Seville, you know.

The Camaro is surprisingly rattle free and F-Body cars are known for rattling like a box of BB shells. However, I do occasionally hear a strange clunk over potholes ...

If it's rear drive, that leaves the GTO ... otherwise, it's an Eps car, probably a G6, maybe a Malibu.

It isn't just about styling proportions, it's also about superior driving dynamics.

Is there a highway that sounds similar to "516" or "I-16" there? ("916?") But a gap large enough to clear a Corsica? The only way the car could have made it past the fence is for to hit the left side of the chainlink mesh, to the left of the frame, which would be one way to explain the collapsed support rod (it's either that or the fence was in disrepair). But then you have to explain why the mesh does not appear to be disturbed (the "rippling" in the mesh you see, like when someone rattles and shakes a chainlink fence).

The going under the fence explanation really doesn't add up 100 percent. If the fence flipped up like a garage door, you could see the fence shaking as it settled back down to a resting position again. I think I do see the upper support beam the chainlink mesh mounts to flopping up and down in the video to the left of the frame, but still; that could be a result of the dashcam shaking as the police cruiser came to a very hard stop to prevent from hitting the chainlink fence. The chainlink mesh is intact, still appears to be mounted to both the left and right poles, and does not appear to be disturbed. There's no way the car could have jumped over it either. This obviously occured in Georgia because the pursuing officer mentions heading towards either I-16 or 516 (as in I-516), which both highways connect Savannah, GA to Atlanta, GA. The pursuing officer was from Garden City, GA, a suburb of Savannah. It also does not help that, for some stupid reason, Tru-TV blurred out the date of incidence, making it impossible to look up any police records of the incident.

Could be. In the better quality video you can see that the chainlink mesh itself is not disturbed but the upper support rod maybe be collapsed to the left side of the frame in. In any case a 3000 lb. plus shovel nosed sedan should do more damage to a fence than that going at a decent rate of speed ... What really is strange, though, isn't the fence. It's the Corsica. How did it manage to out accelerate a Crown Vic PI?

Can you figure this out? Although is it a very old video, I thought maybe we could have some fun with this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSLBtm__aKw Now the YouTube video is of lower quality (that's hard to manage) than the original which is hosted at TruTV's website. The original video makes a fairly significant difference in telling what exactly is going on. If you watch the original you can see that there is more chainlink fence to the right, unlike what some people have concluded: http://www.trutv.com/top5/2009/hot_pursuit/1-infamous-ghost-car-hot-pursuit.html Regardless of what we can actually conclude, creep yourself out with the following screen cap of the driver's image (it's a slight double image and it's from a low quality video, of course, but the end effect is never the less bizzare). Have fun.

Exactly what I ranted about earlier. The DTS pretty much has the same switch gear you find in an Impala; it's simple and straight-forward with no guess work, although I can see an Old Blue Hair getting a little confused about how to get the Sat-Nav to not direct you to Deliverance, Georgia. The XTS is going to really turn away those traditional buyers who want to just turn a knob to turn on the heat in the depths of winter and not program in 90 different codes. I don't this car appealing to the tech-savvy younger demographic you mentioned that could afford this car; the core specifications are too much like their grandma's old Deville. That will be enough to keep them in their BMWs and Mercs. The ugly truth: there will be a base model and the Haldex AWD system will probably be optional. The CTS was a major step up in styling and driving dynamics versus the Catera and easily rivaled the competition. While the XTS is, in a few key areas, a major step up in styling, it won't have driving dynamics that should blow the DTS into the weeds and seriously compete with the names that have just about eclipsed Cadillac in this segment. It still shouldn't compromise styling when done correctly, though. And even still, the car's Achilles Heel is the front-drive platform pretty much forcing the extreme cab forward styling. I won't be holding my breath.

You forgot one reason why we don't have neat features like Flow-Through Ventilation and Washer Fluid Filters anymore: because Joe Schmoe doesn't care. The average car buyer is too apathetic to even understand why they have to bring their car in for basic maintenance, let alone why FTV is a nice feature. As long as it goes from Over Here to Over There when they attempt to drive to Over There and keeps their ass warm in the winter when they want to go back to Over Here, that's all that matters. Sad but true.

Looking through the pics in the last post, I can't help but to think that this car could be acceptable if it was engineered to be more like the Audi under the skin. But it's not. Point-blank: this car needs Zeta. Bad. Mixed reviews are something a flagship car should not have tied around its waist. This car should not only meet but exceed all expectations and, yep, it doesn't. I just hope GM can steer this particular land-barge the right way before its too late ... Or else I'll be making more bad Ma and Pa Kettle jokes when the production car is unveiled.

Just make Cadillac the ATS, CTS, Escalade, and park the SRX to the side for the ladies. At least then the brand wouldn't risk losing a huge chunk of credibility.

Yep, I'd say the project car bug has bitten you bad, son. Hey, with bringing the car back up to speed, you should be able to turn a little profit on it, should you need to sell it. But once you've really started putting work into it, it's hard to let it go unless you have to.

1. Where is the leak coming from? I assume it's coming from the back of the master cylinder. If so, replace it and bleed the brakes. No big deal. 2. Hmmm ... the engine electronic systems on '80s model cars are a dark area for me; I only know one thing concerning them and that's the process on how to remove them (well if it's a carbureted '80s car with '80s CCC junk). I want to say it could be a bad EGR valve, but please don't quote me on that.

The main reason why this will be the last front-drive luxo barge Caddy: they'll probably manage to sell all of two of them, each to some elderly retired couple in Florida. You know what this car is? Yeah I'm going to say it: a Cimmaron for the second decade of the 21st century with a fancy interior. Whoopity do. Take away the interior and it's a gussied up Malibu. To this Cadillac I say "Screw you!" (Hey, I had a rhyming scheme going there, had to keep going with it.) And before someone says, "Why do you bash this car so much? We know you don't like it, it wasn't made for someone like you. Just stop" I'll offer a simple rebuttal: Of course it isn't made for someone like me; I don't have white hair growing out of my ears; I don't go to church and eat Jolly Ranchers and Werther's Originals while I fall asleep in the middle of the sermon; I don't wear Dockers, a St. John's Bay button up plaid shirt, and Doc Martens; I don't have major hearing loss; I don't watch the PIR while I chug down a glass of Metamucil. I don't have a wife that keeps her hair in a big gray bun; I don't own property in Florida; I don't have 18 different types of meds; I don't go to bed after Andy Rooney gives his final thoughts on life (all the while agreeing while it's on) on 60 Minutes. But most of all -- and I stress this -- I don't worry about erectile dysfunction and having prostate exams.

Something for Dodgefan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_fR8xj1Vls Not as bad as what we've seen but ... how many years of automotive expertise again for each judge on C&D's 10 Best List? Back to our regularly scheduled awfulness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53dBiIR-0Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tla8_63faqE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0SzInPVClo