thegriffon

Just don't be influenced by what you read about a name's meaning—most so-called guides are complete BS. Even if a meaning can be traced (and for several reasons many can't) quite often it is a relatively meaningless compound created to sound nice, or imposing or lucky. Some names can have varing meanings depending on the language using it. Charles/Karl originally meant "old(man)", in which sense it was borrowed by Finnish. As a term of respect like old boy, old man, elder, sir (an abbreviation of "senior"), senor, monseignor or herr (lit. grey), it was used in the German languages to refer to any (and therefore the most basic status of) freeman. Thanks to Charles the Great (Charlemagne), it was then borrowed into many Slavic languages with the sense of "king".

Raven is an old and auspicious name among the sons of Ingwe, though it's been out of fashion for many hundreds of years now.

Be careful what you wish for, you may not like the changes Kirkorian demands.

And GM would not even notice as the sales rise reg. There's no point ignoring the biggest market to save sales in your smallest. Would you prefer they not have any product? Beside it would do GM no harm at all to cut the number of dealers in many states.

Careful ... Berettas aren't _that_ bad ... at least they are not pretending to be something they aren't . hey ocnblu...can I copy your post and use it in other FWD/RWD arguments I see? Seriously.... Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/ What's it like to buy your favorite car brand new? Wish I knew... "You've made a fool of everyone" ... Jet ... 'Look What You've Done' Car and Driver apparently thought the Corvair coupe was a Mustang fighter—it even won a comparison test against the Mustang for performance and handling. After all both were what are now considered lower-midsize 2-door coupes. The only thing that really distinguished the Mustang was a different image to the Falcon sedan.

"Proof" that Malibu beats Camry in reliability and quality? Almost any survey will tell you that. Check J.D. Power for the last several years, or government sites for recalls or other problems being investigated and you'll see how things are going. I can't say theat the Camry is getting worse over the years, but it is not keeping up with the segment. Malibu, Sonata and others are the midsize segment leaders, Regal/Century among the premium midsizers. Accord and Camry don't even get a look in and haven't for years.

The country the photo is being released in, not the vehicle itself. If Toyota Motor Sales issues a release about the Tokyo show with photos, Weick will show JDM products as well. It doesn't mean they are being sold here, just that media in the US are being given information.

The C6, Miata, even the current 4-seat hardtop-cabrios, all have a much smaller roof than the G6. Larger roof space to bridge, more space required with the top down. The Sebring and Solara with their cloth roofs have twice as much space with the top up, and probably a little more with the top down, but you don't buy the cabrio for it's practicality.

The move to steel panels isn't about money, it's about tighter toileraces which the market equates with quality. The lack of rubbing strips on other brands is more about design than cost saving as well. In the near term at least Saturn will keep them.

It did and was only recently discontinued. There were some problems with manufacturing, and customers were disconcerted by the lack of shifting.

It's circulating but that's probably the most we have heard.

Update: "By Jack Keebler GM Director--Advanced Concepts Group First, I'm very grateful for all of the perspectives offered on front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive. GM has been traditionally (and perhaps rightly) accused of ignoring customer input. Too often without that perspective, we've offered buyers well-reasoned -- but perfectly passionless products. Second, as I suspected, the widely divergent thoughts posted indicate that there's a healthy market for various driveline layouts. Given the company's eight North American divisions, some identified with specific driveline types, there would appear to be a need for great-driving front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive cars and trucks. Specifically though, I promise to work on the creation of a line of small, agile, rear-wheel-drive cars. And quite frankly, I can't imagine a front-drive version of Camaro." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you haven't yet given your input on the fastlane blog, then do so. Dont be so concerned about what you think other people will buy, just ask yourself what you would buy (fwd, f/awd, rwd, r/awd) and tell GM what you want.

The Yaris sedan may be a little expensive, but it will just explode compared to the Echo, simply because it is actually competitive for once. Versa will take some sales too, but it's really a competitor for cheaper Focus and Cobalt veriants than a true B-segment entry.

That's nothing new '68. In general any two door that costs more than $40K fits into that category, and the more expensive the bigger the compensation.

Trying too hard not to look like a Corvette.

"The Corolla has front-wheel drive, for better traction and surer handling…" This must be why they kept the contemporary coupe versions (2- and 3-door) on the older, smaller rwd platform of the previous Corolla/Sprinter; why those last rwd coupes are still cult classics used in drifting 20 years later; and why they eventually gave up selling compact fwd coupes. The Europeans en-masse have decided that "a fwd coupe is just for posers, so let's do it right and chop the top off."

Of course the major advantage of a folding hardtop is the difference when the top is up. Oh and there is no larger folding hardtop. The largest 4-seaters are the 307 CC, Astra TwinTop, the new C70 and VW Eos at the high-end of the C-segment, and the Lexus SC430, which is not much bigger. The G6's direct competitors are the Solara and Sebring. The other softops in the size class are the Jaguar XK8 and BMW 6-Series.

A. Camry and Accord are E-segment B. I was refering to coupes such as the Mustang and G35, not sedans

The 300 and Charger are the best examples, although the 300 is supported by a very low base MSRP (the increase over 2004 is misleading because volume was restricted). Still the 300 sells far better then the Grand Prix, and Charger/Magnum sales are very healthy for the segment as well. Even if the majority of buyers in the subcompact, compact and midsize segments would prefer fwd, that still means plenty of volume if GM were to offer the only option (and they would be as far as sedans are concerned), and in sport compact coupes as in the D-segment the majority of buyers would prefer rwd. Nissan and Hyundai should not have that niche to themselves.

Like the RL no-one is buying, or the Alfa's that still can't get no respect without rwd. While no-one is suggesting making the Aveo rwd (the only rwd subcompact in production is the Lada Classic), or even the Cobalt, rwd does have appeal for many in these volume segments. Enough at least for a smaller player such as Pontiac to carve out their own niche. Given the continuing appeal of old rwd cars such as old Novas, Chevelles, E80 Corolla/Sprinter coupes and the Nissan Silvia (about to be revived it seems), there is undoubtedly a market for an affordable rwd performance car.

The reviews I've seen all loved it, in balance and handling it can't be beaten.

It doesn't matter what GM does, Toyota will sell twice as many as their last effort even if it was half as good as this looks. The only way is up.

err. the 1-series hasn't failed by any measure. It has been acclaimed despite it's poor packaging (essentially a 2-seater), and in Europe the price really isn't that much higher than a well-equipped Golf. BMW USA hasn't taken it because hatches have yet to attain much acceptance in the US. The majority of posts are very much in favor of rwd vehicles, although some seem to have misunderstood the question.

In relation to a unibody design, the chassis is simply the suspension, axles and steering components etc., much of which may be shared with vehicles on a different platform or even from another automaker.

I believe he is referring to concepts such as the Razor, Urge, Kabura, Fiora etc.