Hudson

Thanks for the props.Don't forget the influence of the English and French. Citroen had mainstream FWD models decades before Lancia. And the Mini made the transverse engine/front-drive package appealing to buyers and manufacturers in 1959. Even in the US, the Mini was the top selling FWD model until the arrival of the Toronado in 1966. In the US, the best year of the Beetle far surpassed the best year for the Rabbit/Golf. But I'm sure over the vehicle's 30+ years, the Golf has racked up big numbers (24 million according to Wikipedia as of 2005).

BMW owns Rolls-Royce.Volkswagen owns Bentley (among others). DaimlerChrysler owns Maybach (among others).

Actually FAR more rural.

That's kinda what I was going for...but I'm probably only going to be there Friday.

Oddly enough, Pennsylvania.

In my area in the 1970s, the Audi 100 and Fox, Subaru, Volkswagen Sciracco, and Saab 99/900s were popular.

I can't remember where I read it, but years ago there was an article defining various body styles of cars and trucks. "Coupe" was not defined as a 2-door but was defined by rear headroom (something about a lack of it). Just like "sedan" doesn't mean "4-door," I never treated "coupe" as to automatically mean "2-door."

Anyone going to be at Hershey on Friday?

I'm gonna say farmland.

So much of that applies to children of the 1980s..and a surprising amount applies to children of the 1970s.

This is why I say you should drive half an hour north and see what's there. You might like Phoenixville or Royersford or Sanatoga or Pottstown.

Again, you've missed my earlier posts. The change is for higher emissions levels for NEW cars. Where would these thousands of dollars come into play if the laws concerning your car aren't changed?On top of that, there's possibility of ELIMINATING emissions testing altogether. Which would save you, at minimum, the cost of your annual emissions inspection.

Please don't think I'm picking on you (just because I'm chasing you in two different threads currently).I see your viewpoint on this. But I think you're looking at it wrong. When engineerings were forced to meet emissions and fuel economy regulations of the 1970s, they came up with the crap of the early 1980s. At that time, there were THREE primary automakers in the US. Today, there are atleast six and nobody's far enough ahead to let the ball drop. Between California, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, a sizable portion of the US are covered under the same emissions. A huge population that GM, Ford, DCX, and dozens of other car companies cannot afford to overlook them. It's publicity...it's economies of scale...it's making cars. People in Iowa buy performance cars, but many more people in California, New York, and Pennsylvania do. I'm sure you'll see more and more 50-state cars. I'm sure you'll continue to see more and more powerful cars that you'll want to buy. I'm sure you're overthinking this quite a bit.

Okay...I still don't understand. Outside of the Mainline, Pennsylvania isn't like that. Population density and cost of living PLUMMETS when you move north or west....even a couple of miles. These places also have "flavor" without "sprawl," "mediocrity," or "sameness." Try Lancaster, Hershey, Carlisle, Easton, Altoona, Johnstown, Erie, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Dubois, Bellefonte, State College, even Pittsburgh...for closer to hom, there's Pottstown, Reading, and any of four or five dozen small towns within 45 minutes north and west of King of Prussia. I find all of these areas (perhaps not Pittsburgh, but that's me) more interesting and comfortable than Villanova, Radnor, and West Chester.But, again, that's just me.

It's definitely about money....federal money for highways. Pennsylvania has regions that were designated as being polluted and the commonwealth had to do something. They decided to put in emissions testing. A decade later, they've decided to make new cars cleaner in place of the emissions testing that, apparently, wasn't doing much good. I see this as less money out of my pocket...which is a good thing.

I know the region intimately.Is your "24/7" problem personal or political? If the latter, please explain.

Has anyone read the proposed law? One amendment to the proposition is the ELIMINATE emissions testing in Pennsylvania.

Camino: If you've only lived in southeast Pennsylvania, you're missing out on some of the best parts. If you're a car person, living in or around the Hershey area is good...between Hershey in the fall and Carlisle from spring through the fall, it's a car lover's heaven. If you like motorsports, the Poconos might be for you. If you want low cost-of living, the northern part of the commonwealth is beautiful and inexpensive. Southeast Pennsylvania isn't cheap...but it's hardly expensive either. Moving just a half-an-hour or so north or west will greatly reduce your cost of living. Having lived in New England, I can tell you that you will find the same problems as in Pennsylvania. Massachusetts, for example, is expensive in the east but relatively inexpensive in the west. And, like all states, they have dumb laws too. Pennsylvania's not bad at all, from my experiences.

Sounds like a plan. I would register a "yea" if I did.

I honestly don't see the problem.

They did design their own testing program...three times. And they absolutely should focus on other sources, but it's not laziness as much as it is the fear of seeming "unfriendly" to business. If the Pennsylvania legislature decided to clean up factories in the Commonwealth, new companies would think twice about relocating to Pennsylvania. But people aren't going to move out if they change the car emissions standards or testing.

They can't. The federal government allows only TWO sets of emissions regulations: Federal and California. If each state had their own, do you have any idea how expensive that would be to produce vehicles?And the implications seem like a positive to me.

Yes...cleaning the air is just contaminating our way of life.

Sure, but the S-Class has traditionally beat those vehicles in testing. I think the LS has a better chance. The NACOTY board seems to like hybrids...Civic last year, Prius before that, and the LS is offered as a hybrid (but so is the Camry).

Why is this bad? You're against cleaner air?And Pennsylvania isn't adopting everything California does. They're actually only planning to get the cars and possibly doing away with the testing altogether. I like that idea: cleaner new cars for no additional cost and less money out of my pocket for annual inspections. What could be so bad?