The Lounge

Remember my Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible test drive from the end of August? Well, it was spurred on by me receiving a coupon in Bicycling Magazine that promised a free bike jersey if I test drove a Saab and got the coupon filled out. It finally came in the mail yesterday: For the record, build quality is excellent with use of high-quality materials throughout. It supposedly goes for $100, but I got it for 15 minutes of seat time in a Saab.

Considering the economic realities of the day, What would you guys think of this plan: 1) My wagon is nearly complete mechanically, and I had intended to do The Mothertruck ('88 crew cab 4x4) next. 2) The Mothertruck has a brand-new 4-bolt main GM engine with only 2 miles on it currently installed and needs mostly paint and bodywork to finish it. 3) I have been planning to use a new Ramjet 350 crate engine in my Camino, but that would cost me as much or more than finishing the entire truck would - in addition to the rest of the restoration the Camino will be getting. So, I am thinking that maybe I should just use the EFI 350 from the truck in the Camino and sell …

Just this weekend: $200 sunglasses-Lost (replacement cost: undetermined, but looking online I'm thinking $300ish) $80 tube TV-destroyed (replacement cost: $900+ for a 26" LG LCD/DVD combo) $20 dvd player-destroyed, in a separate incident (replacement cost: see above) Cant wait to see what the rest of this week costs me.

I needed a slight jolt of excitement... Plus, I was curious what the Jetta could do.

Is the love affair with the automobile over? Say it ain't so! Well, I don't think it is...I wouldn't have my Monte Carlos otherwise.... But, the owner of a couple area car washes (1 in S Elgin; 1 in Elgin) seems to think so.... Eh, what?! The full article is here: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/courier...WASH_S1.article SIDE NOTE #1: I'm disappointed that South Elgin wants to do something else with the land because that is the car wash I most-frequent during the winter months. It has the shortest driveway/waiting area, so the shortest waits.... Though, if I get a winter beater, I won't have to worry about that so much...eh? SIDE NOTE #2: I'm a …

Okay experts, I need some advice for a senior student who is about to get their driver's license and came to me for advice on purchasing a used car. They are looking at a local small-time (very small I should say, they have 10 cars in their inventory) used-car dealership's inventory of two used Saturn vehicles: 1998 SL2 Sedan: Info: 4-cyl, auto, ps, pb, air, 120,435 miles, VIN WZ258740 - $2,699 1995 SL2 Sedan: Info: 4-cyl, auto, ps, pb, air, 96,205 miles, VIN SZ354921 - $2,699 Which of the two cars would you advise them to seriously look into purchasing? The student wants a Saturn, as they have friends that own Saturn cars and they're very satisfied ow…

Note: No, this does not mean that we should stop investigating alternative energy and sustainable design, but it's about time these guys were exposed for the frauds that they are. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/m.....;/16/do1610.xml

http://www.break.com/index/a-very-lucky-day1.html unbelievable hes really cute too but he flips his hair wayy too much on a side note...they always get the most stripped down rental special version of the cars....like would it hurt to get power windows and a cd player on anything??? i'd sell all that stuff and just get myself something nicer

Delta, kudos to you for keeping the fire going. Have a good one! And gerardo, if you read this, Happy Birthday.

Another one of those articles that seems like its straight out of The Onion. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22183967-2,00.html Of course it did, that route sees more traffic than the Lincoln Tunnel.

Over the last week, I've looked at a number of cars as a potential "winter beater" or "winter beater/road warrior"...3 of those on Saturday, November 8. I tend to come across either FWD coupes or RWD sedans. I'd prefer a RWD coupe.... '78 Caprice Classic sedan ...asking $3500 ...nice car, orange in color with tan vinyl top, but too good of condition to use as a winter beater, imo. ...not too keen on vinyl tops ... or the vinyl seats it had ... or it being a sedan. ...Possible name = Orange Flame '89 Caprice Classic sedan ...asking $2500 ...nice car on the outside; 2-tone blue. ...appeared to have some leaks into the interior and, when I drove it, the h…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1953-ORIG-H...1QQcmdZViewItem

Joe Smith started the day early, having set his: alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA ) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG ). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA ), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE ) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA ) After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA ) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO ) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN ) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA ) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY ) filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia ) and conti…

I used to do this more often, but still do it every now and then. It's peaceful, though you can't inside the vehicle. Oftentimes, I don't want to drive it, anyway. I can always rent the cars I like. I thought about asking my C&G friends what they thought of this, after visiting a nearby auto mall last night. Actually, it's one of the larger ones and is arranged around a "ring road." If you enter late at night, there is a security booth and he appears to jot down license plate numbers as you drive in and out. Makes sense, I guess. I know some of our resident salespeople, Carbiz, Newbiewar, The O.C. and !!!Ted!!! wouldn't appreciate this, but sometimes it kind…

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10098240...g=2547-1_3-0-20 how can you patent something in nature??!! anyway, hope this works well, surely will be valuable in emergencies.

Linky http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/rhys-mi...ing-world-cham/ Chris

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1954-Corvet...1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RARE-1953-K...1QQcmdZViewItem

The Lumina was broken into today while parked in the parking garage near where I work. It happened sometime between 7:30 AM and noon. The asshole punched the driver's side lock in with a tool, unlocked the car, and then ripped my stereo out and left. The dash was damaged slightly and I'm not sure if they will be able to repair the lock on the door since the sheet metal was punched in pretty deep. Luckily nothing else was taken...I had a fold-out chair in the backseat, some CD's under my seat, and a set of golf clubs and a $40 battery charger in my trunk. The stereo was a $300 Alpine and has almost as much value as my car. I'm pretty bummed right now...luckily my in…

Curious to hear some takes on this.....

This will be the first time in my life, I'll celebrate the upcoming Holidays without my father. My father died yesterday morning, and a piece of me died with him. It's funny, when I was a small child my father's word was law in our house, and I feared him. As a teen, I defied him, as a young adult in my 20's, I understood him and respected him, and as I entered my 30's, my father became my friend. As the eldest child of three boys, I feel lucky in the fact that I had the most time with my father. Time I would not trade for all the money in the world. My father and I had a simple and loving relationship, you see he suffered a devastating stroke last year which left h…

I consider myself to be somebody who is pretty educated. I have a BA in Political Science and Communications. Was 2 classes away from a BA in US History and ended up with a minor in it. I am in law school right now and I cannot understand what the hell is going on in America right now. I know I haven't posted in awhile, but school and working has been very time consuming for me and I apologize to all the C&G fans for not being able to read all the posts here. But really, how is it evil or wrong to bailout an industry that provides 30 million jobs and is only a victim of the American system of the NYSE and instant gratification and rewards? I am tired of everybod…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979-El-Cam...1QQcmdZViewItem

http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/908484540.html I guarantee this thing would have been way cooler in unmodified form. Assholes.

I keep looking at new Audis... with lust in my heart.

Anybody ever heard of this before? I stumbled across this today and it sounds pretty cool...I wish GM would have produced it. The Lumina Z50 idea was born in 1988 and was a Chevy Lumina with a 305 V8, AWD, and a five speed transmission. It would have had 285 hp and 280 lb ft of torque.

Ok, for a while, it will be my 92 Regal coupe. I'm now within 1,000 miles of 250k. But, if I had to use the LaCrosse as the daily driver and wanted to get a back-up putt-around car, and no longer had the Regal, I'd consider the following (if I could find low mileage ones): - 98 or 99 Intrigue, base, only with 3800 V6 and not the 3.5 - (just saw this) on my way to work in the AM, I pass up a non-GM dealership that has an early 2000s Grand Prix GT coupe in the metallic gold with the tan interior. I really like those. - lastly, I thought about how nice the early 2000s Bonneville LE with some stock alloy wheels, NO spoiler, and the plump cloth bucket seats might be …

To borrow a euphemism from our outgoing administration, "major combat operations have ceased" and the wagon is back together other than some minor details. So tomorrow the mess gets cleaned up and I will start moving the other vehicles around to more workable positions. I'll leave a bay open to finish up the odds and ends on the wagon. Nice to finally be at this point.

Benz-El 1977 Mercedes Benz 450SEL 6.9 + El Camino = classy

Here's hoping your day is good. Celebrate!

So, a couple of weeks ago I am surfing the interweb, and do my normal Craigslist through Google searches for various things, like parts for the '57 Buick, a '34 Airflow, or my continued quest for a Berlinetta Camaro with V-8 and T-tops. Imagine my suprise when I locate one close by me, and the price is just were I need it to be ($500!!!). So I do the e-mail to the seller and I hear nothing until yesterday (two weeks!!) She had some details about the car (needs painted) and that it is missing a t-top panel (dropped it) and that it runs and drives. All important Digital dash is installed and working!!! (only 800 were made with the digital dash in '86) here are the p…

I decided to take the misses out and we went to the opener. I'm just gonna throw this out there Badass!!! A $h! load of Ford's though. and some Alpha's The last one was a little better in plot but this is just a lot of bond being a badass! Go see it so we can talk about it...

With all the recent talk about bailing out General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, I wonder if America ever had to call on the foreign makes as we did GM during World War II, would they respond anything like this.... As it was put to me: "When America needed GM most, GM was there, when GM needs America most, will we do the same?" Thoughts...

No, it's not mine. I took my trailer and helped a friend pick up a '69 GMC 2WD shortbed fleetside today. Pretty cool little truck and a fairly solid project.

this is a sweet little time killer. http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Ken-Blo...12.htm?Ref=Blog

I saw this pic on the USAToday website about the fall TV season..some new show w/ Christian Slater...is that a 2010 Camaro interior? I think it is...

I was talking to my mom tonight, who is a 2nd grade teacher, and she was telling me about an episode at school today where a special needs kid starting throwing a tantrum. Under No Child Left Behind and Iowa state laws, special needs kids who would normally be in a special education classroom must be part of the regular classroom per inclusionary policies. When this kid was having a tantrum and throwing things around the room, my mom basically had to make the entire rest of the class leave until the episode was over as part of the policy. The teacher cannot physically remove the kid from the classrom, so the rest of the class suffers lost learning time. And apparentl…

There are those among us who are, shall we say, camera whores. We take pictures any chance we get. There are also times when you just happen to have your camera/camera phone with you to snap a cool, weird, crazy, or some combination of the three photo. This thread is for you! So let's begin. Today I want to the nearby auto auction for fun, and snapped a few photos with my phone...I thought I'd share: First up, for the Ford fans, is a Ford Elite Next is a very sexy Dodge Shadow, complete with taped up bumper: And the other car a took a photo of is the car I want to buy, a 300M

I've been eying this 81 'Vette for a couple months, and he's lowered the price a couple times, without any bites. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/cto/902101037.html http://www.buysell.com/root/detail/BC/Coll...blk_beauty.aspx The descriptions suck, and are off-putting, but I may give them a call to see it. I've looked at a couple C3 places to see what the story on these vehicles are in terms of rust, corrosion issues and the like. However, I'm wondering if there are any words from the wise here about anything I should be looking at/concerned about, or any pointed questions I should ask him over the phone?

All of you know I am on the prowl for another whip for my son to drive and another toy I will enjoy and drive in addition to my SLE. My daughter who will be sixteen will then get the Chevy. The wife most of time drives the SUV. So I was looking at 98-02 Firebirds for some reason and started looking at prices! 3800 V6 powered models with low milage under 50K in great shape are only about 7-8K if you find a deal. I am wondering what you guys would think of one of these as an additional car. No doubt my son would love anything RWD (dounts and juicy burnouts) and those Firebirds with the V6 and sport package including twin tips out back are very attractive. I am wondering are…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...7&viewitem= Check it out... Chris

The get really mad at yourself for not being able to identify the artist? That happened to me today, it would pop into my head intermittently, piss me off, then I'd go about other business only to have it happen again a little while later. So irritating. BTW, the song was "Got You Where I Want You" by The Flys

Julie and Silvester have been in the hospital since this A.M., Julie is doing fine as is Silvester, he wanted me to post in here for him when I got home from work. Most recent update from Sly about half an hour ago was "F$#% Amelia is stuck after Julie did a lot of pushing, her heartrate was going crazy, from 74-205bpm. @ 6:49pm she was rushed into the O.R. for C-section" I'm sure by now Silvester is the proud parent of not just one girl, but two! I'll keep you guys updated as soon as I hear any info! Congrats Sly!!! :AH-HA_wink:

I've been expecting them just about all of my life... seems like they may be arriving right now. Everyone ready?

Guess correctly and I'll post the remainder of the concert.

Today marks the 90 Year Anniversary of the end of WWI. Make sure to take a moment to think about the sacrifices of all fighting men worldwide.

Boy. it has been a rough weekend... I'm sure you might remember my little "hero" thing I did earlier this year, in which I hurt my bad back..... Well, after buming into something, and then lifting my little guy early saturday, I hurt my back again... I really sucks when you can't lift your own child. I was in so much pain, and even Heavy duty pain killers (begin the the letter V) didn't help.... While I'm getting better, it sucks to be in constant pain.... I'm hoping that it heals quick.....

Bumper Car

A little random but a nice distraction from all of the negativity these days. I know there's some Transformers fans among us, so what's your favorite series and why? I've been watching a marathon of my favorite series lately when I have time, so I got prompted to ask.

Dave87rs suggested a sex thread to displace the politics thread...so here is the question. You are making a movie and you can have any hollywood star do a nude scene...who would you pic? Me-Amber Tamblyn, I think she is so sexy and brainy. Not really an actress but I'd like to see Danica Patrick get buck naked. Your thoughts? And to the mods, sorry if this is "not fit for cheers and gears" but Dave did have a good idea in terms of another thread to take everyones mind off of the election. Chris

Well a detective showed up at my door to inform me of an accident involving my Camaro and Kim was at the hospital. I have been through a lot, but i almost feel down from the shock. This was last night at dusk. Some guy ran a red light and t boned the camaro. Today, I'm at the hospital and just waiting. I really haven't been able to see her because she has been in and out of it all day and different procedures. I'm told theres some internal bleeding, but everything should be okay. Hopefully. What makes it worse is this guys insurance company keeps trying to ask me questions like the car f@#king matters at this point. I can careless about all the cars in the world right …

I was wondering if this scenario has ever happened to any of you? Have you ever deliberately parked next to the same model as your own, or has someone ever parked next to you with the same car? I think it's cool when someone parks next to you with the same car or vise versa.

I drove here from Houston in the new Vue. Took two 12 hour days to get here but it was worth seeing some fall foliage. I'm heading back through Kentucky and then down through Atlanta over the next 2 days (to visit more family). Lots of GM's up in this area, kind of interesting to see. The Vue is running great - but I can only get the heater to work if I turn it all the way to 85 - cold air otherwise. Very weird. Anywho...I knocked off 2 more elusive states on the way (Missouri and Indiana) - I have 9 more to go and I've been to all 50. Nothing like Neil Young during an autumn Missouri sunset on I-55 heading into Illinois.

I'm so excited, I have HD TV now, so I can watch the NFL when I'm not working. Eagles v Giants Yeah!!!!

Beauty machine’ makes everyone pretty Researchers say device transforms any woman's photo into model-likeness By Robert Roy Britt updated 2:31 p.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 7, 2008 Researchers have created a "beauty machine" they say can turn a woman's photo into the likeness of a cover model with the push of a button. The goal is not just to toy with pictures. Sure, the new computer software could help editors distort magazine cover photos even more than they already do. But it could also guide plastic surgeons in efforts to achieve some perceived level of perfection in a patient. Or the software might even be incorporated into future digital cameras to make us all app…

POLITICAL POWERLESSNESS... Aaaaahhhhhgggg! I cannot wait until the elections are over. I'm sssooo tired of the political mailings with messages directed at FAMILIES. Whenever I read "you and your family" or some resemblance thereof, I immediately send the mailing to the circular file. The best example of this was a mailing I received earlier this week. It started out innocent enough with this sentence: "Our research shows that you, Cort XXXX, are the type of voter that candidate XXXX aims to support." I was intrigued, so I kept reading ... partially because the mailing featured a pie chart/graph and some photos. Near the end of it, though, I came across this se…

Yesterday at work I rode with one of my co-workers to lunch in his '07 Lexus GS450. And after work, a bunch of us went out to a bar and I rode in an older Lexus IS300 (probably an '02 or so). My impression after being in both: what's the big deal? Especially the GS...the interior plastics were hard as a rock and grained no better than a Cobalt. I've also been in a new Avalon and Prius and neither impressed me as far as interiors go. I'd say the Avalon was the best of all mentioned above, however. This brings me to my second point. Why do all car manufacturers do big swaths of plastic now for the doors and dash? My Lumina has cloth on the doors and some type of s…

zhawk MyerShift brembo24 and last butt not least, RoadmaSSter! I hope your day was smooth as buttah for your Birthday, fellas!

I went to vote at about 7:40 this AM. Had to wait about 20 minutes. There was an obvious lesbian couple in front of me (in the conservative suburbs, no less) but we have Prop 8 on our ballot in CA. Guess what? They were NICE to me, believe it or not, and we conversed a little bit, but mostly about the economy and because one of them worked for a homebuilder....and I was dressed in a very conservative coat and tie, so what's that offputting vibe I give off? They hand me my ballot and HALF of it was in Espanol. Thus, there were equal portions of English and Spanish. I'm sorry, but part of being a U.S. citizen implies that you speak the language to some rudimentary…

The culprit... The result... I'm not going to say too much, as I'm quite tired and stressed out, but as the title suggests, my brother wrecked his truck. Pretty badly, as the pictures show. Basically, Sunday morning, he was on his way to work and fell asleep at the wheel after having gotten little sleep the previous night. He whacked a steel sign that barely budged. The result of was him needing to be life-flighted to Pittsburgh. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt, either, and as you see from the one interior pic, the steering wheel and windshield took his impact. Externally, he has a broken femur, which came through the skin; broken wrist, fa…

Linkypoo Yo quiero.

A little history leason on me, I have a son freshman in college living at home to save money. (It is smart and works for our family.) I have a daughter yet in highschool as a soph she will turn 16 in March. Of course the car-debate will arise, I have bought 3 cars in the past 7 years very unlike me I do buy in spurts, but I think I am stuck getting another one for her or my son. That is a fact I guess, but what to get. My wife said get a Sunfire or Cobalt, I would rather get something larger and older for the same or less money. My son is a Pontiac guy at heart but likes Chevy too. I don't want another Impala from the same generation or a Bonneville. My son likes the 1996…

It's 70 degrees today here in Delaware, what a change from Germany, which has been in the 40's and 50s lately.

So, a friend of mine asked me who I voted for. I told them McCain. They asked why. I responded "Because he is white." Is it wrong to vote for McCain because he is white? Consider the following; 1) By voting for McCain strictly based on race, I am subscribing to a VERY BASIC human quality of electing or hiring someone that is LIKE ME. We do this because it makes us feel safe. You can see a very good example of this in corporate america. It's dominated by white, homogenous, conservative men. All of you have probably interviewed for a job. Did you conform to the culture of the employer? When I go to a job, am I going to be clean shaven and wear a business suit or am…

what is there not to agree with....? seriously, who doesn't?

If anyone noticed among the quibbling and the politics I decided to take a leave of absence for a little while. My reasons primarily being that the politic engulfed this site (which in and of itself is not a terrible thing), but brought out the ugly side of some members (a bad thing). It's pretty painful to watch just how petty and immature some people got, especially when they are normally level-headed. I decided that with enough issues at home to deal with the last thing I needed was to come to a place that was so disharmonious. I figured I'd comeback after election day to see if it would finally clear up, people would return to their former sense, and we could actua…

We'll be fighting in the streets With our children at our feet And the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on Sit in judgement of all wrong They decide and the shotgun sings the song I'll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around me Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again The change, it had to come We knew it all along We were liberated from the foe, that's all And the world looks just the same And history ain't changed 'Cause the banners, they all flown in the next war I'l…

My Jack-O-Lantern for 2008. I carved it last week, that way it should survive until Halloween. I even made a special tool by grinding down a baby-screw driver and filing it down into a saw. This year I gave Sofia an orange Sharpie marker and had her sketch out her own design on a pumpkin, after which I carved it with her pointing out the lines and giving me "artistic direction" the whole time. Kids are so much fun. Some days she makes me want to pull my hair out but overall she's a great little girl. Also, we went apple picking two weeks ago, including a hayride, petting zoo and all that fun stuff.

Link to Article Information Week Article