balthazar

I take less of an issue of ‘what’ than I do of ‘when’. The SOP of Gov’t is continual lateness, and I have little faith the infrastructure will be ready in a scant 8 years; on the public charger volume, on the electricity-generation volume, and how to address urban charging issues that seemingly are un-addressable. Couple that with the average $19K higher costs for EVs / extremely limited choice (currently) and I think it’s safe to say it’ll get pushed back to 2040 at minimum.

The original Stutz Blackhawk was the purest, and I do like it. The rims were unique, the thin-stripe tires are neat, and there weren't yet any garish colors or wide-whites/wire basket rims. Don't even get me started on the converts or the 4-drs. The original's proportions are very good, not exclusively because it was based on the '69 Grand Prix stunner. The only thing I would change would be to eliminate that thick chrome... whatever-it-is above the side exhaust. But yeah; Olds covered the gist of what I was referring to; over-the-top Neo-classics. For the record, I kinda like the Cadillac interior posted above because it's SO different (but I don't care for greens much on autos & would have to see it in person). Cadillac used to have dozens & dozens of different upholstery options in a given year. The Regal has nothing wrong with it stylistically, it's just boring.

The obstacle for Daimler is that the EQS is widely panned stylistically, but it cannot afford to fail because it's the literal future of the line. And it's hard to believe that Daimler would build 2 models in the same line, side-by-side, with all the massive investment, because they don't know how to properly transition from one to another and they don't know which one must fail.

^ To be fair, the Tesla sedan selling remotely close to that price tier -the Model S- peaked in sales way back in 2016, and 2019 was less than 50% of that number. The Model 3 cannibalized the Model S's feet off at the hips. But that has nothing to do with the dealer (or lack thereof) model as it does for the creaky ancient-ness of the Model S.

Reading elsewhere that LG Chem's past production woes greatly affected Daimler's initial electric 'Tesla-killer' EQC production. Slated to build 25,000 units for 2019 and desperately leaned upon to cut corporate carbon emissions (or face a 1 billion Euro fine), Daimler only managed to produce 7,000 units. Ironically, in it's home turf of Germany, only 55 EQC's were sold. For 2020, the projected volume was to be 60,000 units, but the same issues then dropped that projection to 30K. This was from a Jan 2020 article. Through 3 quarters of 2021, Daimler has only managed to sell just under 18,000 EQCs, for an annual pace of 24K units.

^ The '70s was the haven for Neo-classic trash.

EQS is a stylistic mess, that's true, but unfortunately it IS the next s-class; Daimler is following many other OEMs in selling a next gen model alongside a 'classic' variant, hedging their bet on the EQS acceptance. Which I wouldn't be surprised is shockingly poor.

Of course now that I have a GMC, I am seeing them ALL OVER. Every year 2014-2020 has been over 500K units/yr.

'A lot better'; no - these are on the same tier. If anything, Chevy looks more upscale :

On a square of sewn canvas I got somewhere in my travels :

Co-inky-dink : I spotted this today at a new customer’s property. Owner has health issues, met him once before about 5 years ago, will be inquiring… ~

Only number I can find is: 105,651 C & K pickups built for '85, but that would include 1/2-ton, 3/4-ton & 1-tonners.. I was just chatting with there GMC virtual assistant the other day RE my '21's production numbers, but they're still technically in production. For 2005, I would try GMC.com's virtual assistant.

It's not about the 'world changing' here, tho. These types of vehicles don't cater to futurism. They're not "Challenger' and 'Charger' and 'Hemi' and '392', etc, etc, because people wanted to move forward from a Neon SRT4. They wanted to go back.

The article was from 1932. The 91-yr old in 1932 was 30 in 1871. The 102-yr old was 30 in 1860. ?

^ >>"I’m juggling knives because I’ve gotta keep two different huge factions happy because at some point those two factions will converge."<< ^ By "two"... I wonder what he's referring to past the consumer demographic that loves/buys all those V8 muscle cars Dodge builds. Certainly not electric car fans, because there's nothing remotely like a "huge faction" in play there.

^ I do enjoy 'then & now' automotive comparisons! - - - - - Tried asking 2 different questions thru the GMC virtual assistant, but struck out both times. I'm not completely sure there's real, actual humans on the other end. Was looking for wheel track and weight distribution specs on my Sierra. I found them via GMC press pages... but for 2018- 2019 & newer don't list specs. I like specs.

Such nice linework / surface transitions ~

Today we could be putting these guys in 4-sec-to-60 electrics; fun, eh?

ALL SUVs look better without the black plastic trim work... but OEMs keep slapping it on. The Buick at least has its' flush and minimal. BTW- to me 'cladding' is extraneous trim added on TOP of the base form. Like the acres of it here, standing proud from the sheet metal of the body:

I may have posted this one before, but; GOSH!