oldshurst442

Like I said...they do things their own way. Many people, including Americans themselves, find it weird that American cars of the 1950s incorporated airplane jet themed styles, including mile high fins. I wouldnt have it any other way with 1950s cars. That would be my favorite look. Goes extremely well with Rock-N-Roll. But the French do the Art Deco thing quite well. So...they do that on their cars too. French cars arent necessarily my favorite. American cars are, but I do enjoy French style. Like I said, you got to respect a culture that has Gargoyles on top of buildings and calls it art.

In contrast though, in the 42 years that Im alive, and I spent ALL of them in Montreal on XMAS day, I NEVER saw a green XMAS, it has ALWAYS been a white one. I think this year, I have a pretty good chance in seeing a green XMAS...The weather man is calling for 12 degree Celsius...12 mother effin degrees...in Montreal...on the 25th of December???!!!! We ususally get snowstorms on this day...no joke!!! Sadly....Im NOT at all sad about it... Mr. Bing Crosby has got me covered either way... I aint posting the other song for fear of jinxing the 12 degrees Celsius...cause trust me...I aint dreaming of a white one this year!!!

I ALWAYS say that!!! Each and EVERY time the 1st day of winter rolls around, I see the silver lining in that frozen cloud and rejoice that finally, the days are getting longer again! AMEN!

Annie Lennox and Dean Martin's version always kicks off the Holiday season for me. Then its this song. And then the rest follow THAT is even cooler!!!

I taught my kids about Dean Martin... Many ways I showed them about Dean Martin...one way is Christmas. And they in turn taught me this song from Dean Martin. Their school music teacher...I just love this man's cool voice, especially when it comes to the Holidays.

If your sisters are blonde and blued eyed, I think Id be in love. Id gladly be at their mercy. Nothing is more sexier than a tall, blonde, blue eyed German girl. OK...Nordic girls in general. Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, German.... But alas, I bagged myself a Greek Goddess. I dont know how I did it, but I did it. She has a face worthy to launch a 1000 ships across an ocean.... And best of all, a heart of gold....

Nice Trans Am CCAP... Thanx Drew. This next Citroen, just oozes cool. Call it ugly if you wanna, but this car has a certain...Je ne sais quoi. Only a French car can ooze sensuality, sexuality and high class and snootiness all at the same time... Black and White pics only as only black and white pics capture the artistic nature of this car.... Ive had the pleasure of seeing these in action. In the late 1970s, as I remember, many were still on Montreal roads. Most of the ones that I saw were Taxis, but I saw a few that private citizens drove. They looked weird to me as I was a muscle car kid even back then as a 5-6 year old. But never did I consider them ugly. Every time I saw one, I stared at it and was in awe...I never did want my dad to own one as I was very happy being driven in a 1974 and a 1979 Impala, but I sure did enjoy looking at them driving passed me. And...this picture was taken in Montreal.

I did say that I was gonna do French cars!!! Love 'em or hate 'em, the cars themselves or the people, the French have a style all on their own...and you just GOT TO RESPECT THAT!!!

I like this idea. This is definitely one way to exploit the Jeep name even further. I hope they dont go too far with the marketing stuff...like Ferrari has...or Star Wars. I mean, I LOOOOOOVE Star Wars, but just as I was on a Star Wars kick last week, Im about ready to puke with Stars Wars merchandising this week. OH...we are going to see the Episode 7 next week. About a $100 000 Grand Wagoneer....it IS the ORIGINAL luxury SUV afterall... I have no probs with a $100 000 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. In fact, Im elated about it... SUVs is an American thing. Although I hate SUVs in general, why should the likes of Rolls Royce, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes, Lexus all get to produce mega priced SUVs to profit from this seemingly never ending SUV craze and NOT an American car company? Dont give me the FCA thing and say Jeep aint American...Ill flip my lid...

I had to double read that... I said to myself...when in the world did Holden make a convertible Monaro? And what does an Aussie 2 door coupe have anything to do with this? Then it dawned on me...typo...

Well, If it really is Tour "Cross", I wished it was spelled "cross". And if its not....I hope its Tour "X"...sounds cool. In my ears at least. About the Subaru thing... Subaru makes wagons look cool. The AWD and the WRX and the Rallye connections...Im assuming is what makes Subaru wagons look cool. Too bad AMC could not hold on a few more years.

I finally saw that crap...and the three things that I saw, including that very dangerous head hunting hit...I was like...OMG!!! Why doesn't somebody just pound that effer???!!! kinda like this situation in hockey...where the Blue Jacket's Dubinsky tried something funky and the Flyers' Simmonds right away just pounds away... THAT is why I LOVE hockey...the players police themselves...OK...a lot less than how it used top be as the NHL wants to curtail fighting, but as long as the NHL does NOT enforce dirty hits nearly as much as they should, and they know that, they allow the fights...

Tour 'cross', huh? I thought it would be pronounced like the letter 'x'....like BMW with xDrive. But, I guess its more like Volvo's Cross Country... Tour Cross? I like the name...I dont like the way its spelled. I dont like hatchback type vehicles...CUVs/SUVs...lifted station wagons or otherwise. 3rd and 4rth gen Pontiac Firebird/Trans Ams and Corvettes are as far as I go with hatchbacks. Useful they are, cup of tea for me, they are not. PS: I forgot about Toyota Supras of the 1980s and 1990s and Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo...I like those hatches a lot too. Basically hatchbacks that have NO relationship akin to family haulin' or soccer mom written all over them... Pocket rocket hatches? No thanks on those as those are clearly based on econoboxes...that can haul families... Subaru WRX STis...yup....Ill do those... Buick Regal Tour Cross that is like an Audi Allroad? I might deem it pretty like I do the Allroad, or even the Subaru Outback, but Ill stick to the sedan version...

Bimmer Xdrive... So Buick decides to do Tourx. So...is it pronounced as Tour 'ex' or is it like 'tourques'? I hope a Regal Tourx is more like an Audi Allroad or a Subaru Outback or a Volvo Cross Country...as in a lifted station wagon rather than just a simple European 'break'... Because as we all know, normal station wagons dont sell at all in North America, this NEEDS to be lifted to actually give CUVs/SUVs a run for their money.

Your last sentence is what gives your bias away... @ 6'6" tall, there arent many vehicles that fit your body anyway...and so probably the ONLY vehicles you fit in ARE fullsized SUVs...so THAT makes it less of an engineering problem from VW and more of a genetic deformality on your part... Dont take the last thing that I said too personal, I just have height envy. You are exactly 1 foot taller than I... OK...maybe 11.5 inches taller. Im 5'6 1/2"

I think that this Euro Van is the looker from all of them. It has cute little front fender bulges that stylize well and integrate perfectly with the headlight design. My only concern is that maybe its too cute for a very masculine plumber or electrician but perfect for a florist.... If I had a small business that needed a small cargo van, I think Id go with it... And with matching body coloured bumpers, it looks even better. The Ford Transit Connect is a close second for me. But...I too, am fed up with the Euro vans and their crappy styling.

That is exactly what I wanted to say...but I figured I did not want to waste my energy trying to explain what the Phaeton was/is...This car debuted in 2002...You know...13 years have passed...if people havent learned what this car was all about in 13 years, there is no sense in me wasting my time and energy trying to teach. I was ignorant about this car in 2002. I hated it. I hated VW for it. But sometime between 2002 and 2015, I read up on it and learned about it and soon, my hatred disappeared at the same rate as my ignorance... For what the Phaeton can do and was engineered to do, I respect it. I admire them as cars, and as a big lux sedan lover, I've looked into them on the used market. However, I cannot get around the extremely expensive care and feeding of them... even by German Uber Sedan standards. A luxury car for people under 5' 10" tall. Had some great engineering but over all was over rated. Not over rated, but rather UNDER rated hence why it is no longer. Like Ive stated before, wrong badge on the hood. About the 5'10" thing... I highly doubt that...I have sat in one, but Im fairly short...Ill just go with Jeremy Clarkson... I take it that Clarkson is one tall gent...6.'4" high...I googled...and google told me 1.96 meters in which I used google conversion after that...and he seems to fit quite snuggly in the driver's seat...and quite comfilly in the back with that nice tall blonde... so...sorry DFELT if I doubt your assumption... And seeing this car is practically the same as a Bentley Continental GT in which many many NBA superstars bought...Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, NFL guys like RG III and Darren McFadden I dont think what you are saying holds too much water....sorry.

It also grew at the hips, SMK... Its width grew 3 inches...now...that does not seem like much...and M-B's were always biggish cars to begin with as compared to its Bavarian brethren, but...lets face it SMK, the E class is a Land Yacht whether you want to admit it or not... Hey..I LOVE me some land yachts, just not the E Class....Its OK...you could continue liking M-B...I dont judge you, I never will, just take off the rosy coloured glasses when you wax poetic about M-B, the company and its cars, are not all that cracked up to be... Built like a tank that W123 was, luxury it was not... Luxury is what the E Class is trying to be today, compared to its competitors, it fairs pretty well, but a tank it is not... Oh....luxury on the high end level fairs pretty well, on the lower Euro trims, the W210 is what Im talking about....yeah 13 years ago...it was pretty shytty...W-Body Impala 3.4 liter V6 shytty...worse...it had a 1.8 liter 4 banger. could even had been a 1.6....too lazy to Google and Im going by memory... What does all this have to do with the Lincoln? Ill make a connection... In retrospect...it really is not fair that we North Americans are taking the 2016 Continental apart and dissing it the way we do...because we North Americans are are giving a waaaaay to easy pass on the E Class and C Class from M-B...maybe we should start leaving American brands alone and start been harsh with the German ones...because memory just hit me hard... In 2001 when I visited Greece for the umpteenth time, I analyzed Euro cars, M-B included, and no matter how low Lincoln was in 2001, in which Lincoln did not really sink low in 2001, never had a product in the mainstream econo market as M-B was and continues to be... We could all make fun of Lincoln and the Continental...but if one could have seen how lowly those W210s really were... My drunkin' rant is over. And I swear...I dont recall spiking my eggnog with anything...

I LOOOOOVE Aston Martin... If I had to wear a suit to work everyday and worked Down Town Montreal or Old Montreal, obviously making the money necessary to own one of these, Id definitely be an owner of one. But...being that I flip hamburgers and serve hot dogs for a living, negating the need for a suit, and had I been single of course, this NSX as a daily driver fits my style just nicely. I guess in a way, Ive got it covered. I drive a 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD and the wife drives a 2013 Ford Fusion... Id say we are living the life....on the cheap... Kinda like....Chinese Knock-off style... Canal Street NYC type deal...even the city I live in...Montreal...its like a cheap version of NYC...or it used to be anyways...mind you...the French Joie de Vivre attitude of Montreal is far more cooler than the "City That Never Sleeps" attitude of NYC...

That is exactly what I wanted to say...but I figured I did not want to waste my energy trying to explain what the Phaeton was/is...This car debuted in 2002...You know...13 years have passed...if people havent learned what this car was all about in 13 years, there is no sense in me wasting my time and energy trying to teach. I was ignorant about this car in 2002. I hated it. I hated VW for it. But sometime between 2002 and 2015, I read up on it and learned about it and soon, my hatred disappeared at the same rate as my ignorance... For what the Phaeton can do and was engineered to do, I respect it. I admire them as cars, and as a big lux sedan lover, I've looked into them on the used market. However, I cannot get around the extremely expensive care and feeding of them... even by German Uber Sedan standards. I am not surprise at all from what you are suggesting to me that the Phaeton is one finicky vehicle. I believe you, sir. I have no reasons to doubt you.

Can you give me the next powerball numbers too? The EClass is not some great handler...its big and heavy and soft... Which is absolutely fine for the demographic who buys it. And maybe that is why I had called the E Class a land yacht...to what Drew pointed out... I had that in mind when you side tracked me SMK in letting me forget about the E Class' ride and you directed your argument towards size... Size does not always coincide with the American Land yacht definition..a late 1990s W-Body Buick Century is mid-sized towards the lower spectrum of mid-sized and its ride very much qualifies as a land yacht...the E-Class not only has gained some length from the very first E Class of the early 1990s, but it also inherited some American culture...since because the modern 2000s E-Class is really marketed for the American Market...unlike its predecessor..the 300, and the generation before it, the W123...which really was made as an econobox Taxi service car for the Middle East and Europe...need I remind you how small those two generations were as well?

SMK...I like that thought process. I dont know how accurate it might be in the real world about customers not buying sedans anymore and buying CUVs and SUVs therefore 300 000 Cavaliers sold to offset the SUV gas guzzling does not apply...but its a very logical thought process that has a lot of truth to it. Maybe GM SHOULD try to get mega weight down from ALL of their trucks and SUVs/CUVs with technology akin to the Malibu and CT6 (like you stated) because gosh darn it...(like you said)...the trends for SUVs/CUVs is only rising... Maybe Ford AINT that dumb to have invested in alumunium and ecoboost V6s in their bread and butter F-150.

That is exactly what I wanted to say...but I figured I did not want to waste my energy trying to explain what the Phaeton was/is...This car debuted in 2002...You know...13 years have passed...if people havent learned what this car was all about in 13 years, there is no sense in me wasting my time and energy trying to teach. I was ignorant about this car in 2002. I hated it. I hated VW for it. But sometime between 2002 and 2015, I read up on it and learned about it and soon, my hatred disappeared at the same rate as my ignorance...

Hey EL K. In keeping with what you said about God Bless America... Remember this rendition of O Canada? I remember watching Mr. Dress up and The Friendly Giant and this would come on. The visuals man, and the orchestra. Best Ever I think! I just teared up...

I could care less for the sight lines honestly. Like I said in another thread, I learned to parallel park in a 1988 Chevy fullsized van. No windows on the side panels other than the rear door square windows waaaaay in the back. Two little square windows at that. I relied on the massive side mirrors and the dinky rear view mirror to drive and park that beast. I dont think there is another vehicle on the planet with worse sight lines than a fullsized work van. I think I could deal with the Camaro's sight lines just fine. But in a world where back-up cameras are needed even for pint sized sub-compacts....we will definitely have whiners for the sight lines of a Camaro...Zeta or otherwise... The Zeta Camaro interior was never really an issue for me either....again, I daily drove that 1988 Chevy fullsized Van for 3 months straight....in the dead of Montreal winter...for 2-3 winters straight...plus...as an owner of a then new 1994 Pontiac Grand Am GT, the Zeta Camaro's interior is a Bentley compared... The D-Day inspired start-up is not a surprise. Its expected. As is for its performance. So..back to the exterior styling. And for me...THAT would be the single most important criteria that HAS to be satisfied as THAT is the reason why I would want to buy a car like that... Its to show off with...and If I dont feel comfortable looking at it when I approach it, then how could I feel good about it when I show off with it? Sure, the rumble of the V8 and the performance numbers it wreaks out...but Id be embarrassed by it knowing that Witwicky is the driver of one... On the other hand, The Bandit, or Frank Bullit or even Kowalski...well...a young Burt and a young Steve McQueen...these guys are the stereotypical cool guy...Shia Leboeuf and a kids cartoon...not so much...