Saw a new '19 GMC Sierra Denali for the first time today.  Was backed into a parking space, next to a previous generation Sierra Denali.  The new one looks taller and bigger...the giant chromey grille looks gianter and chromeier.  Everything about it shouts 'moar' 'moar' moar'!    

Edited December 4, 20187 yr by Robert Hall

Saw today one of the original Lexus coupes at the Park N Ride in excellent shape. They sure are a jelly bean but seem to last.

I also saw a new Sierra a week ago or so, a Denali but it was a kinda icky beige color. Looked great tho.
Stopped at my Chevy dealer yesterday- saw they had 2 more '19 SIlverado LTs (still hiding them on the back lot) so I had to fog the windows a bit. Nice dark blue and the Canjun Red, both 5.3L/8-spds. 49K and 55K. Both had the $900 'Safety Package', which I wouldn't want, and the blue job was on 18s... I think these need the 20s to fill the wheelwells better.

I occurred to me that it's possible I could move to a double cab/6.5' bed... just not sure yet. Don't know if I would regret a (crew)/5.5-bed- it's so small.

33 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I also saw a new Sierra a week ago or so, a Denali but it was a kinda icky beige color. Looked great tho.
Stopped at my Chevy dealer yesterday- saw they had 2 more '19 SIlverado LTs (still hiding them on the back lot) so I had to fog the windows a bit. Nice dark blue and the Canjun Red, both 5.3L/8-spds. 49K and 55K. Both had the $900 'Safety Package', which I wouldn't want, and the blue job was on 18s... I think these need the 20s to fill the wheelwells better.

I occurred to me that it's possible I could move to a double cab/6.5' bed... just not sure yet. Don't know if I would regret a (crew)/5.5-bed- it's so small.

Since I have no need for a fullsize pickup I am living vicariously through you on this one.

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I also saw a new Sierra a week ago or so, a Denali but it was a kinda icky beige color. Looked great tho.
Stopped at my Chevy dealer yesterday- saw they had 2 more '19 SIlverado LTs (still hiding them on the back lot) so I had to fog the windows a bit. Nice dark blue and the Canjun Red, both 5.3L/8-spds. 49K and 55K. Both had the $900 'Safety Package', which I wouldn't want, and the blue job was on 18s... I think these need the 20s to fill the wheelwells better.

I occurred to me that it's possible I could move to a double cab/6.5' bed... just not sure yet. Don't know if I would regret a (crew)/5.5-bed- it's so small.

The majority of projects and personal use has proven that most can live with the 5 1/2 ft bed. Even many small business have found they can do without the 6' or 8' bed as long as they have the tailgate down and that flip out cage that allows them to hold in bulky items.

Then flip it inside when done and you have a secure smaller section to put stuff in with the tailgate up.

After all, unless you are a construction builder where you daily are putting in 4x8 sheets of sheetrock, plywood, 2x4's, etc. Most projects do fine with the short bed and a crew cab for people and stuff you want dry all the time.

 

 

Those bed cages are a pain in the ass- it's like a removable hardtop- sometimes you're out & suddenly you need it, and other times you wish you left it home. I drive to the store to pick up 8 bags of Sakrete and it's in the fricking way. A buddy has one on his Ranger so I've handled them- no thanks.

I don't really care about the occasional 'weekend yard warrior' and whatever polls they're answering, so while I've swallowed the compromise of going from an 8-ft to a 6.5' bed, 5.5 is probably a no go. I've loaded my 6.5'er to overcapacity (volume-wise) on many occasions, where an 8-ft bed would've helped immensely. But if I go to a n extended cab/6.5'... do I give up too much on interior space vs. the crew cab?

BTW, I still have to investigate how easily the back seats come out of these- they haven't been putting air bags or other nonsense in the back seats of pickups yet, have they?

15 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Those bed cages are a pain in the ass- it's like a removable hardtop- sometimes you're out & suddenly you need it, and other times you wish you left it home. I drive to the store to pick up 8 bags of Sakrete and it's in the fricking way. A buddy has one on his Ranger so I've handled them- no thanks.

I don't really care about the occasional 'weekend yard warrior' and whatever polls they're answering, so while I've swallowed the compromise of going from an 8-ft to a 6.5' bed, 5.5 is probably a no go. I've loaded my 6.5'er to overcapacity (volume-wise) on many occasions, where an 8-ft bed would've helped immensely. But if I go to a n extended cab/6.5'... do I give up too much on interior space vs. the crew cab?

BTW, I still have to investigate how easily the back seats come out of these- they haven't been putting air bags or other nonsense in the back seats of pickups yet, have they?

I can understand that.

You should love the back seats as on the trucks I have checked out, they fold flat to give you a nice flat back storage area. Course that could have changed on the most newest ones.

Nah again- I removed the entire rear seat on my CC and built custom storage inside. On my generation, the seat bottom folded forward and the seatback folded down. A good all-flat area, but I was still carting around that 'seat volume' when I could instead make that space work for me. The next generation, only the seat bottom folded rearward, making the resulting space much narrower. I need to be able to yank the entire seat out. What the '19s do I don't know yet.

EDIT:: Here it is; does the same thing :

If that 'bulkhead' is fixed, that would completely suck for my purposes. What's the chances it's bolted in? (zero)

Edited December 4, 20187 yr by balthazar

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Nah again- I removed the entire rear seat on my CC and built custom storage inside. On my generation, the seat bottom folded forward and the seatback folded down. A good all-flat area, but I was still carting around that 'seat volume' when I could instead make that space work for me. The next generation, only the seat bottom folded rearward, making the resulting space much narrower. I need to be able to yank the entire seat out. What the '19s do I don't know yet.

EDIT:: Here it is; does the same thing :

If that 'bulkhead' is fixed, that would completely suck for my purposes. What's the chances it's bolted in? (zero)

Why not remove it totally, even if bolted in and open the full space for your need.

IF it's bolted in, sure, I can remove it. But I guarantee it'll be spot-welded in place.
I need to go into the dealership and see if I can get inside one of these buggies.

Spotted on Ebay! ???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163412912666?ul_noapp=true

 

12 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Spotted on Ebay! ???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163412912666?ul_noapp=true

 

WOW, what a sweet Ride.

Saw this today, talk about amazing shape. The senior who owned it clearly takes pride in owning it!

Also saw this old Muttang Convertible while driving.

54 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Spotted on Ebay! ???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163412912666?ul_noapp=true

 

That is enough to melt my heart of stone!

41 minutes ago, dfelt said:

WOW, what a sweet Ride.

Saw this today, talk about amazing shape. The senior who owned it clearly takes pride in owning it!

Also saw this old Muttang Convertible while driving.

I miss my 66 Mustang.

38 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

That is enough to melt my heart of stone!

I miss my 66 Mustang.

I miss my '85 Lincoln.  As much crap as 80's American cars get, that one was an absolute tank.  Lincoln got everything right one that one and then completely mucked it up for the replacement model. 

Saw a dark brown circa '78 Lincoln Mark IV cruising the highway this afternoon- in fine shape. Not to my taste but always were classy.

Edited December 5, 20187 yr by balthazar

Currently:  Nightfall Gray Bolt when I was leaving work last night.  I do like the Battleship Gray color on the 2019 Bolt.

On 12/4/2018 at 9:06 AM, balthazar said:

I occurred to me that it's possible I could move to a double cab/6.5' bed... just not sure yet. Don't know if I would regret a (crew)/5.5-bed- it's so small.

In the new trucks, GM is claiming moar square footage in their 5.5' bed than competitors' 6.5' beds.  But it is mostly width.  I suppose that is a good thing, except I think length is a more important truck bed measure.  Balthy, you realize there will be a crewcab/6.5' bed config coming soon from GM, right?

Edited December 15, 20187 yr by ocnblu

Saw a really clean silver TrailBlazer SS with a For Sale sign at a local Mexican restaurant yesterday.   

6 hours ago, ocnblu said:

In the new trucks, GM is claiming moar square footage in their 5.5' bed than competitors' 6.5' beds.  But it is mostly width.  I suppose that is a good thing, except I think length is a more important truck bed measure.  Balthy, you realize there will be a crewcab/6.5' bed config coming soon from GM, right?

Aren't they touting cubic footage?
CC/6.5?? Yippee! I was sure all variants would come online at some point.
- - - - -
Local independant garage/gas station always has at least 1 vintage piece there. Last week it was an E-Type jag, red, in great shape, and a '63 bullet 'bird, medium blue, also very clean.

53 minutes ago, balthazar said:

touting cubic footage

Yup, sry, was early

Gray cold afternoon out...spotted a dirty red C7 Corvette coupe w/ the personalized plate 'IIIIIII'  (7 'I's) 

Was at a bar at the top of the Hilton downtown after the symphony last night, came out and there was a brown Escalade and a black CT6 parked nose-to-tail.  Alas, my Uber X driver's car was less impressive (Mitsubishi Outlander...previous drivers yesterday had a Dodge Journey and the crazy Asian guy had a previous gen Toyota Highlander---driving 60-65 mph weaving in and out of traffic on a 45mph limit boulevard..) .  Took a few pics out of the windows of the bar--too cold to go out on the deck.  Will have to go back in warmer weather..

 

Edited December 23, 20187 yr by Robert Hall

Saw a very clean, of course beige, VW 'Rabbit' pick-up. Larger aftermarket 'BBS' rims, but otherwise stock. Haven't seen one in decades.

I sometimes go to purchase things at that large enterprise based in Arkansas and get out of there quickly to avoid any potential theatrics and drama.  Today, as I was walking back to my car, I saw a Buick Roadmaster wagon with the wood grain paneling and alloy wheels, along with the cascading Parthenon grille and trademark Buick hood ornament.  Its exterior was in good condition for its age, but not in great condition.  I couldn't take a photo because the driver and his friend were getting into it to drive off.  I asked if it was a 5.0 (307) or 5.7 (350).  They said it was a 307.  They said it only had a little over 70,000 miles on it.  When it turned over, the engine note was pure Rocket V8 magic, although they don't purr as quietly once they get older in either miles or years. 

The small block GM 350 V8 (whether Olds Rocket, Chevy, etc.) has made the list of the Top 10 Engines of all time.  I believe the Buick 3800 V6 is also on that list.  I am glad to have owned 2 of the engines on that list, with the former in my very first car and the latter in my last and current car!

Happy holidays, folks.

Beat-up, white 3/4 ton Yukon XL with 4WS, turning off into the Burger King parking lot.

??

 

 

^ ^

I forgot to mention that the Roadmaster wagon was a 1985 ... with a little over 70,000 miles ... 33 years old.

This would have shared the same full perimeter frame/chassis as the last RWD Park Avenue and LeSabre, with coil springs at each wheel.

And, I believe the 5.0 (307 c.i.) powered the RWD Fleetwood Brougham and other Cadillacs of the same year.

It's interesting how Cadillac turned exclusively to Olds Rocket V8s (for the Seville in the '70s and for their big RWD cars in the '80s) if they weren't building their own Cadillac V8 for a car.

Followed (4-5 cars behind) a '66-67 Riviera for a few miles before I lost it. Scuffed up/multi-colored paint, collector plates ('QQ' in NJ).

Rainy day, mostly gray skies but some sunshine this afternoon...pretty mild for the end of December. Took a drive over to Steubenville, Ohio where I lived as a kid in the '70s.  In Steubenville spotted the distinctive shape of a boattail Riviera under a car cover in a backyard.   Right down the street from that was a solid looking brown w/ tan top '74 Le Sabre 4dr ht parked on the street.

Also cruised past my childhood home (in good condition, was on the market a couple years ago) and the house next door where an older Italian couple had lived in the '70s (had a black '73 Cadillac Sedan de Ville and gold '71 Olds 98 back then), now had a new gray Honda Civic Type R in the driveway..nice neighborhood of brick and stone houses. 

 Saw two '19 Chevy Silverados driving around, one dark red and one dark blue.   Saw a red 6th gen Camaro SS on a rollback, looked like it had it had a hard front end collision.    Saw a very rusty '53-54 Chevy 2dr sedan in a yard along Ohio Rt 7 while passing through a rural area.    

Edited December 29, 20187 yr by Robert Hall

I may have posted this google street view here a few years back. I did work in the house around the corner about 2 years ago; the grandmother's of another customer of mine, so he knows the immediate neighborhood well. Said this is a DeSoto, but he doesn't know for sure what year. I can't tell for sure if it's a 2-dr or 4-dr from this. In fact, I can't guarantee it's a DeSoto- may instead be a Chrysler. The fin line bothers me- something I can't quite put my finger on. One thing's for sure, tightly encasing it in plastic tarping is NOT doing it any favors. Its about a 20 min ride from my house. The aforementioned customer can't recall the last time he saw it untarped.

16 hours ago, balthazar said:

I may have posted this google street view here a few years back. I did work in the house around the corner about 2 years ago; the grandmother's of another customer of mine, so he knows the immediate neighborhood well. Said this is a DeSoto, but he doesn't know for sure what year. I can't tell for sure if it's a 2-dr or 4-dr from this. In fact, I can't guarantee it's a DeSoto- may instead be a Chrysler. The fin line bothers me- something I can't quite put my finger on. One thing's for sure, tightly encasing it in plastic tarping is NOT doing it any favors. Its about a 20 min ride from my house. The aforementioned customer can't recall the last time he saw it untarped.

Looks like two cars one across the front of it, agree tight wrap like this is not good.

16 hours ago, balthazar said:

The fin line bothers me- something I can't quite put my finger on

Seems canted a bit more than it should.  Maybe pull Forward and Look a bit closer?

My first thought of what is under the tarp is a mid engined car with a high rear..the cab looks way forward.  Or a convertible w/top down? 

Saw a really clean 82-85 Supra in black today.  Haven’t seen one in forever, always liked the angular styling.  

• The bump up front is a fender-mounted sideview mirror.
• I think it looks so 'cab forward/convertible' because the greenhouse is partially obscured due to the high fins/tight tarp.
• I need to slide up to it under cover of darkness and feel it up.
- - - - -
I mentioned this car last month, but got some decent pics today. This appears to be a factory Ram Air III car: the black hood scoop inserts mark RA cars, and they're functional. There is also a pull button under the steering column to open the internal flappers and let it breath outside air- IIRC it was dubbed the 'tiger button'. Block code is correct for the RA III 366HP 400. It's a 4-spd with factory A/C... but the body is horribly, irreparably rotted. Open holes around both rear window, windshield and along the roof rails. Gaping holes in trunk, floorpans, under rear seat. The panel between the trunklid & rear glass is paint over fiberglass- the steel below it is literally gone. Look at the hood "repairs". It's a parts car, unfortunately.

On 12/4/2018 at 8:56 AM, dfelt said:

Saw today one of the original Lexus coupes at the Park N Ride in excellent shape. They sure are a jelly bean but seem to last.

My son and the daughter of a friend both own one of these..20 plus years later and still going strong.

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

• The bump up front is a fender-mounted sideview mirror.
• I think it looks so 'cab forward/convertible' because the greenhouse is partially obscured due to the high fins/tight tarp.
• I need to slide up to it under cover of darkness and feel it up.
- - - - -
I mentioned this car last month, but got some decent pics today. This appears to be a factory Ram Air III car: the black hood scoop inserts mark RA cars, and they're functional. There is also a pull button under the steering column to open the internal flappers and let it breath outside air- IIRC it was dubbed the 'tiger button'. Block code is correct for the RA III 366HP 400. It's a 4-spd with factory A/C... but the body is horribly, irreparably rotted. Open holes around both rear window, windshield and along the roof rails. Gaping holes in trunk, floorpans, under rear seat. The panel between the trunklid & rear glass is paint over fiberglass- the steel below it is literally gone. Look at the hood "repairs". It's a parts car, unfortunately.

Now if one only had a 70 Lemans from Arizona one could build an wwesome clone and paint it orbit orange.

'81-87 Grand Prix, burgandy, very clean, cruisin'.

On 12/30/2018 at 4:15 PM, balthazar said:

'81-87 Grand Prix, burgandy, very clean, cruisin'.

I saw an earlier 70's Grand Prix out on the road and thought of you.

I saw a Kia Amanti on each of the last 3 days of December.  I had almost forgotten those.  They look like a car meant to be in a cartoon.  They remind me of a curious mix between a mini Bentley and a pumped up Lancia Ypsilon, which Italians refer to as the "elefantino."

I have also seen quite a few Saturn Aura sedans in the last week of December.  I forgot if they are on their own platform or if they share a platform with other GM cars.  I'm guessing they started out with a 4 cylinder.  I do know that they also offered a 3.5 V6 and, that, while the Impala and the Monte Carlo got VVT in that engine with their '06 refresh, the Aura and a couple of other cars did not.  That way of delivering VVT, by putting another mostly solid state rotating piece at the front of the camshaft, was a novel way to put VVT on a conventional OHV engine and, apparently, it worked.  And, if it were to fail or the sensor went out, it settled on a certain cam position for "limp home" mode.