Off Topic: Dicuss Anything
Happy Saturday to everyone, time to open up the channels again and offer an open discussion forum. You can ask questions of your fellow commenters or the authors of this site or whatever.
Go ahead, discuss anything in the comments.
Happy Saturday to you, DT! What does everybody think of the new Lincoln Conti concept designed with China in mind?
I think it will be a success. Even though the pedestrian underpinnings will be mostly borrowed from a Ford, it does define Lincoln presence and luxury. It doesn't need to be a star at the "ring".
And in China it will do well also. I spent a lot of time in China. It is all about status. If you are a business owner or an official in China you usually have a driver and you ride in the back. So if the interior layout facilitates that it will be desirable. I have visited may China suppliers and they had BMW "M" or Mercedes "AMG". I asked them about the driving experience. What driving experience they say, they just wanted the most capable car (read badge snob) they could buy if they ever needed it. Meanwhile we ride in the back while the driver lugs every gear.
I really like the way FOMOCO is going with small turbo-charged engines.. does the lincoln have an ecoboost?
I think it will do well – in China.
Lincoln has little to no mindshare in the US at this point and that's a tough hurdle to climb back from.
Let's see…40 words with the wit of a Toyota Camry owners manual.
The DT staff must have had a rough Friday night.
but the new badge is clever, eh?
Not really.
Dicuss ? Friday night must have been a doozey!
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"Many things"?? KBZ, you think on a different plane than mere mortal me.
you complete me, doc – now who is this "smackdown" smartypants?
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Whoever they are, good sick burn
meh, feeble
Ohkay, ohkay
Fight! Fight! Fight! Or at least an arm wrestle. Come on…thumb war?
Stan? Is that you?
Any one else feel like they have missed the boat on a car that has become too expensive for them?
I have always wanted an Alfa GTV. A decent example goes for 25k which is out of my budget.
I also feel like most relevant muscle cars are way too much. I guess it is time to look for something else.
Hummmm, my uncle has a 240z in a barn that he bought in 1971.
(see: every 911 built before 1996)
e30 M3, any aforementioned air cooled 911, 2002 Turbo, Ferrari 308 (particularly GTBs)….all cars that could have been well bought under 30k in recent years and now have eclipsed that price point.
All the 'Dino' Ferraris. 246, 308, 328.
Was talking the other night to an ex-Ferrari guy who bought all his rides in the $20K bracket and sold them at significant multiples of that 'because there were no guys with dirty knuckles any more, they're all assholes now'.
Boss 302 Mustang. The day I graduated from high school they were worth $3500. I still want one badly.
Same story for the '65-66 Shelbys, they were a little pricier even then, but still affordable.
For what it's worth, I'm watching the 550/575 Ferraris 'cause as far as I'm concerned they're the most beautiful things the company's ever done, not too extortionately priced, and despite parts pricing not brutally difficult to work on.
the 550 is about as good as it gets. If I had an "extra" 70k laying around it would go to a black Maranello
I love the story that Ferrari did the Modena and the Maranello to honor Enzo's two different families in two different towns. The the cars are based on the type of woman he was in love with. Ah the Italian's!
E39 M5s are creeping up, 1993 Mustang Cobra same… unfortunately both of these are above my budget now and think they will only go up.
As far as I'm concerned BMW peaked with the E36/E38/E39, material quality may be a little poorer than the E28-E34 arc, but the platform and particularly the interior design are the best they've ever done.
The Japanese peaked in design terms in the early-mid '90s, the Germans in the late '90s/early '00s, now it's all weird contours, tiny windows, flat windshields, and utterly nonsensical control locations.
Lotus Cortina.
Never mind the Locorts, even Mk1 GTs are worth real money now.
It happens all over the place…Shelbys get expensive, then early Mustang GTs, then any early V8 car, then all the early cars, then it spills over into Falcons and Fairlanes.
Alfa GTV out of reach, you buy a Giulia, oh wait, even those are getting expensive…
I had an Alfa GTV ready for mild restoration. It was solid, had a few dings but almost no rust, running, needed a complete hydraulic rebuild. I'd collected parts, and sold the car and the parts for what I paid for them, to help fund completing the restoration of my Alfasud Sprint. And because after bare metalling one car, I was a little tired of the restoration lark. This was in 2008.
I thought I'd wait a few years and then buy one that someone else had already done most of the work on.
I was mistaken.
Too expensive now = not interested now, for me. But then, anything over $10K is expensive to me. C'est la vie – which is the extent of my French.
Anyone heard of the AirPod air powered car? It is supposed to go 50 mph, 100 miles per fill and cost $10,000. Sounds kind of cool. It would be even cooler if the power plant could be installed in an Elio type car.
It made an appearance (with Pat Boone!) recently on "Shark Tank". Interesting production concept, too. The folks pushing it here in the States just own the right to make and sell the Air Pod and the sharks had some issues with their plan and the actually exclusivity of it. I'd love to test drive one and I could see actually owning one.
It is not bean powered.
I thought TaTa motors in India came out with an air powered car about a decade ago. It obviously weighed nothing and was very dangerous. I can't imagine how much air pressure you would need to push around a car that meets all the American safety standards.
sean – my ideal would be a yellow 575, but my M5 sits in the driveway now 'cause the garage is full of project cars and I'm not sure if I could stand to have that much crow crap on a Fazzaz.
Worst care you have ever owned?
My worst care when when I forgot to care about my grades in High School. I felt awful that I barley passed.
Best car you've ever owned ruined by a bad automatic transmission:
'75 VW Dasher
'81 Saab 900T
'02 Audi S6 Avant
Both of the first two are long-gone, the third is sitting in my driveway awaiting an 01E swap.
Worst one from an emotional level was the psychological devastation I suffered when I bought my first (and last) new car and found out what depreciation really was. I should have sued.
The second was just the plain horribleness of the yellow B-210 that I was forced to drive, though I must say I was just as embarrassed to drive the 1995 Tercel.
Oh wait, I've mentally blocked the gawdawful diesel M-Bs that my family decided were the best cars in the world – so good that they bought half a dozen of them. On the occasion that I had to drive these utter POSs (yeah yeah, they're tanks, blah blah blah), I'd look for any excuse not to. And they'd scare the hell out of me every time I'd attempt going near a freeway. I will admit that they were well made and I don't recall them ever breaking down. But were they ever torture chambers to drive. Horrible, just horrible.
Worst car, 2005 Volvo S60 R. Great car to drive; 300 HP turbo 5, AWD, six-speed manual, and adjustable suspension.
In the four years I have owned that car, however, it has displayed some sort of warning message for at least 3.5 of those years. Just when I fix one problem and drive warning free for a week or so the same message or another pops up and I'm chasing gremlins again (I would have been better off driving a Gremlin). Usually its anti-skid service or anti-lock brake failure.
I tried to sell the car but didn't want to sell it unless it was completely problem free. So I had the spline sleeve replaced, the Haldex unit, bench tested, re-flashed and eventually replaced, changed the Haldex fluid and filter, fixed a frayed wire on the rear brake sensor, and had a full electronic system test done at a Volvo dealer, all fixed with genuine Volvo parts. No warning lights. A week later warning lights again. I found a loose connection on the Haldex unit, fixed that and all was well, for a week. Now the fuel pressure sensor is going.
It seems the car knows I'm trying to sell it and and knows also that an idiot as indulgent as I am will be hard to find.
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I know there are some DTers that have this car but my worst (and I have owned some dogs) was a 2009 VW TDI sportswagon. 80,000 miles and it had carbon build up on the the intake and exhaust side, seatbelt warning light and bell that couldn't be turned off, air bag light that they couldn't be figured out, broken traction control, A/C went out and they could't figure how to fix it. I got a quote form the dealership of $8,000 to fix it or $6,000 from an indy.
It was a pretty fun car to drive, just can't believe the problems it developed so early. Definitely a lemon!
Sold it for $5,000 and I was lucky.
You've completely ruined my opinion of German cars now. Thanks a lot.
For the two of you who [may have] noticed, I've been out for 2 weeks. Our son was born on the 4th and I've been offline / out of work since. Yes, I'm getting sleep, no it's not as bad as everyone says it is, and to sum it up in the words of a dear friend, "bringing a child into this world is the one thing in life that actually lives up to the hype. It is exactly as incredible as everyone says it is."
I have a lot of DT'ing to catch up on now that I'm back in the office.
RyanM — welcome to parenthood, enjoy the ride!
-Vince
CONGRATULATIONS! That is just awesome. A beautiful bouncing boy! Wow, just wow! Congratulations once again. Pic?
Thanks K2! IT blocks all photo sharing sites at work, so I'll have to do it when I get home.
I'll be a lot less active here at first but I'll slowly get back into the groove. Glad to see DT is still DT!!
My wife says to tell you guys congratulations, also!
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