A Horse With No Name

It will still take time to bring up to speed...but I really hope we continue to invest in E-85. Chris

This is overly optomistic. The way the economy is headed, no one will be able to afford fast food. Chris

Interesting to see what happens to the economy here in Ohio if the Lordstown plant (Cobalt plant) gets shut down. Not only do you lose the plant, you lose the supplier base and seconary economy as well. Chris

Actually, BV, I can get this from my wife anytime I want. Would prefer a car, but instead of the Hummer in the photograph I'd settle for a Solstice. Chris

...or sneakers. Chris

Exactly. Chris

I drove an Astra Wednesday. Like it very well, nut sure a 3 door would improve the current design. My quick thoughts: Love the styling, better than Mazda 3, Civic, GTI, etc. This car does not photograph well but in person IMHO it is the best looking car in the segment. I'm a big guy 250lbs and almost 6' tall and I can ride in the backseat of both the 3 door and 5 door with zero problems. The center stack on the dash is about as awkward as that in the MIni-Cooper, but if I can forgive the MCS for that I can forgive the Astra. Car does not have great visibility out of the rear window, esp. in three door form. Since I'm used to driving a Mustang Fastback, a Miata, a GMC Safari van, and a Ford Econoline work truck, it doesn't bother me. But if you like lots of rearward visibility you'll be disapointed. Fit and finish on the car beats Honda and Mazda. As a Current toyota owner I can say the car hands down IMHO beats Toyota Fit and finish. The interor has some plastics some of our members might quible about, but its a 17k car, its not a CTS. As such, Astra reminds me more of Volkswagen-Audi than say Ford. Driving dynamics? Some people might flame me for this but it is IMHO a four door 5 seat Miata. Hands down the best road feel and handeling of anything in its class. By far. Guages are the nicest of anything in the price range and very easy to read. My Safari van has oil pressure, temp, and battery chage guage and this car needs that also. You can probably get that info through the small screen in the dash, but I'd prefer a guage. The Oil pressure guage saved the motor in the Safari and the Motor in my 55 Chevy when I lost oil pumps in both vehicles, so this is kind of a turn off. The car is definitely a drivers car, gives you lots of feedback. Driving position is much better than other cars of its class and size. It is a night and day difference between this car and say an Acura Integra, the other small premium car that sold well here for years. If Saturn can get people into the showrooms to look at it they should sell a fair number. Overall, I liked the vehicle far more than my post above suggests. On a scale of 1 to ten I rate it about 9.5 or 9.7. Personally, I was going to be able to pay off my xB and buy one until my son Joel had emergency surgury and I got laid off work. My tax return should pay what health insurance doesn't on the surgury, and I( probably start a new Job Monday so I should hopefully still be able to buy one within the next year. Chris

Happy birthday, sir...this makes what, 96 years young? Chris

Actually IIRC the TC was the car with the YOUNGEST average age buyer in the US at about 30.2 years or something like that. But if GM/Saturn does its job Scion will have a dogfight on its hands. The new Astra is a MUCH better car than the TC IMHO. Maybe Scion needs one mainstream car (the new xB) a revised sport coupe (The TC design is a little long in the tooth) and a funky JDM car to replace the xD (which isn't selling that well.) Chris

Exactly. Toyota needs to do something original here IMHO. Chris

I actually have a lot of faith in Lutz and a lot of faith in GM to build this car and for it to perform as claimed. There is too much at stake for GM right now to be making fishy claims they can't back. IMHO Lutz is too smart to write a check with his mouth that reality can't cash. Chris

I had a chance to buy a beautiful 94 Trans Am, red, 80k, never driven in rain or snow. Brother of a co worker owned it. $4500 but it had a slushbox. Begining to think I should hyave bought it even with the slushbox. Chris

You laugh, but my wife works for a local community college (Columbus State University). Lots of 20 year olds are graduating with an associates 50 Grand in debt for school and expenses. They then go to Ohio State or Kent state or Ohio Dominican or wherever and put themselves another 50 grand in debt to get a 4 year degree. The daughter of a good friend of mine just graduated from Wright State in Dayton 65k in debt for school alone. These people then borrow money for a car and clothes and meals out and then... I'd hate to see how far in debt Suzie McMansion is by comparison. Chris

This is smart, because real estate and hard assets will be amoung the few things to hold their value in the hard times ahead. See you bought a 96 Roadmaster Estate. Little bit of jealousy here, I always liked the looks of those. Almost bought one down in North Carolina right before I bought my GMC Safari van and I've kicked myself ever since for not buying it. Good luck with your new (old) car. Staying out of debt kicks ass. As soon as my tax return gets here I am going to be debt free other than a small car loan and my home mortgage. Glad to see you are doing the same. Chris

Not to brag...but I'm just a lower middle class Electrician/Tlecommunications worker and my banker says that I am in better shape than 95% of Americans. He says that such a huge majority of people have over-leveraged themselves it will be a long time before we are out of the woods. In his exact words "seven out of every ten people I see on the other side of my desk I just can't help because they are too far in debt to ever get out." Scary to think about where we are headed long term. Suzy McMansion may have just sold us up the river, given the amount of our debt that is now held my middle eastern or asian nations. Chris

Hyundai is a brand "on the way." For whatever reason they seem to appeal very well to females and older couples, I don't know why they fit that demographic but at least around here they do. Would be interesting to see what a Hyundai luxury car would be like. But if the Amanti is any indication, the Koreans have a LONG way to go to catch Lincoln, let alone Cadillac or Lexus. Chris

He lost a rare 66 K Code Mustang GT, a 52 Buick Special and a 55 Buick also. His Corvair convertible was somewhere else so it didn't get destroyed. I feel actually the worst about the two Buicks. Buicks of that Era are so rare and I so seldom see them. Bob is one of the nicest damned guys, too. Chris

Satan

Had a friend who had a 428 Pontiac that would rev to 10,500+RPM. He build an exhaust system that used backpressure to keep the valvetrain from floating. He had it in an 84 Cutlass that would run in the low 9's. Big V-8's will do some serious stuff. And Oldsmoboi, your wrong, a VTEC will blow up if you do that to it...and your right...it is amzing how wrong the "ricers" are... Chris

While I am not religous, several members of my family are continuing to pray for you and your family. Keep us posted, for real. Chris

nightmare

restfull

I live in Columbus, don't know what the market for anything is here right now. Just got laid off about ten minutes ago, so we'll see. Chris

Sounds good to me. Maybe it can lead a second life as a roundy-round car when your done with it. Our local track has a class for small cars like that. Chris

We were doing work for a client and got into a discussion about cars. Guy went into a rant about the US auto industry and how screwed up American cars are. He said... "...the problem is we haven't punished Detroit enough. We ought to ban Chevy, Ford and Dodge from Nascar and put Honda in instead, because obviously Honda and Toytoa are the only two groups of people who can build a decent car." This is the rant thread. Rant away about this gent's stupidity if you wish. Chris