Slate. This seems absolutely brilliant

[jet812]

I

It's strange that GM gave the hot version to Buick. The Riviera is the same car as the Cutlass, LeMans, or Monte Carlo. Would have been more on brand for the Pontiac or Chevy.

It was a Buick engine. GM divisions used be decentralized & develop their own stuff as a result of purchasing existing auto brands. Until the 80’s engines especially weren’t shared much, & that V6 had been around since the early 60’s in some variation, so GM didn’t “give” it to them, Buick developed it. They would share “platforms”, like Camaro/Firebird, or the ones you allude to, but the divisions were able to design bodies & interiors as well as engines. Buick, Pontiac, & Oldsmobile, for example, all had 455’s yet they shared no components. Later into the 80’s & 90’s the standard became to share common engines. Ford/Lincoln/Mercury & Chrysler went this route much earlier than GM.

 

[Mark Milton]

I

It was a Buick engine. GM divisions used be decentralized & develop their own stuff as a result of purchasing existing auto brands. Until the 80’s engines especially weren’t shared much, & that V6 had been around since the early 60’s in some variation, so GM didn’t “give” it to them, Buick developed it. They would share “platforms”, like Camaro/Firebird, or the ones you allude to, but the divisions were able to design bodies & interiors as well as engines. Buick, Pontiac, & Oldsmobile, for example, all had 455’s yet they shared no components. Later into the 80’s & 90’s the standard became to share common engines. Ford/Lincoln/Mercury & Chrysler went this route much earlier than GM.

That’s exactly right. The grand national was a rear wheel drive car- that was made for rear wheel drive car. GM’s other unit moving forward with front wheel drive for everything at least in the design process.

When it came to the GNX, if memory serves me correct, that was developed exclusively between Buick and McLaren. I could be wrong though.

 

[jet812]

I was a big fan of the Oldsmobile 442 and the Hemi. I’ll take 10 mile per gallon muscle car with 400 horsepower any day of the week.

I’ve gotten to drive several muscle cars over the years , all original, ‘65 Satellite Hemi, ‘’69 Boss 429, Boss 302, Firebird 389 Tripower, 63 ‘vette(327), ‘66 ‘vette (427) & the saying “don’t ever meet your heroes” definitely applies. The noise & looks are great, but the driving characteristics compared to modern cars….

 

[Mark Milton]

I’ve gotten to drive several muscle cars over the years , all original, ‘65 Satellite Hemi, ‘’69 Boss 429, Boss 302, Firebird 389 Tripower, 63 ‘vette(327), ‘66 ‘vette (427) & the saying “don’t ever meet your heroes” definitely applies. The noise & looks are great, but the driving characteristics compared to modern cars….

I hear ya. But as long as you have a completely flat road with no turns, it’s amazing. The muscle car was definitely a looking California, feeling Minnesota attraction. Definitely not the Griswold family vacation wagon

That said, the nostalgia for me is a big charm

 

[mcmurtry66]

Exact same make model and color of best car I ever owned became a star and is in the movie car hall of fame.

They should give an academy award for the best movie ride.

Spectacular

 

[BadWakeboarder]

I’m actually moving in the direction of smaller, lighter, rwd, 7500k ++ redline, naturally aspirated.

You leave @BradStevens mom out of this. She’s mine.

 

[NPT]

I'm sure you'll see increasing ranges available -- which is probably the single biggest problem these EV makers have. The fact that the ranges are likely to improve substantially, and people know this, incentivizes consumers to hold off. Nobody wants to get a 240 mile range vehicle when they can reasonably guess that a 350+ range model will be available in the next few years. The depreciation on these are absolute killers.

That said, I think their general strategy here makes a whole helluva lot of sense. It's unbelievable how expensive trucks have gotten. There was a time when they tended towards the lower end of the price scale. They weren't about styling, speed, handling. They were just about their duty capabilities and durability under the stress of usage.

These days, they're pretty much on a par with SUVs. Even the stripped down ones we get for our fleet are getting into the mid/high 40s.

I think the ranges they state are stated when conditions are ideal. That means the temperature outside is 70 or thereabouts. What happens when it's really hot are cold. I can just imaging an interstate clogged with vehicles in really cold or hot weather.

 

[DANC]

It’s a good hand. Doubtless. I’ll see your citation and raise you what my cheapest human on earth grandfather proudly drove

The K Car!!!!

He splurged after his Chevy chevette

I cracked the window of a Chevette..... with my head. I still get a headache when I think about it.

 

[DANC]

Uh, no.

Damn right. Our farm girls were picky. You had to have a hot car AND an air conditioned combine.

Did you ever go to the Bunker Hill drag strip?

 

[Lucy01]

Damn right. Our farm girls were picky. You had to have a hot car AND an air conditioned combine.

Did you ever go to the Bunker Hill drag strip?

I

Damn right. Our farm girls were picky. You had to have a hot car AND an air conditioned combine.

Did you ever go to the Bunker Hill drag strip?

1/8 mile strip.

 

[DANC]

I

It was a Buick engine. GM divisions used be decentralized & develop their own stuff as a result of purchasing existing auto brands. Until the 80’s engines especially weren’t shared much, & that V6 had been around since the early 60’s in some variation, so GM didn’t “give” it to them, Buick developed it. They would share “platforms”, like Camaro/Firebird, or the ones you allude to, but the divisions were able to design bodies & interiors as well as engines. Buick, Pontiac, & Oldsmobile, for example, all had 455’s yet they shared no components. Later into the 80’s & 90’s the standard became to share common engines. Ford/Lincoln/Mercury & Chrysler went this route much earlier than GM.

The Poniac GTO was one of my favorites. Buddy had one and I still can't believe he didn't die in it.

 

[mcmurtry66]

I cracked the window of a Chevette..... with my head. I still get a headache when I think about it.

We hit a tree in that civic and cracked my buddy’s head. Here’s a good one. Spring break. Daytona. Mtv spring break!! Downtown Julie brown!!! Daisy Fuentes. Senior year of high school.

Five of us pitched in a $150 and bought a Chevy nova. Vomit green. They came to pick me up and my mom ran out on the yard and screamed you’re not going!!! I jumped in there and yelled hit it!!!! No cellies. I’m gone.

So young and dumb we bought tanks of gas and put them in the trunk. Mountain dews and white crosses.

Driving through Tennessee middle of the night I said man I can’t see shit. Pouring rain. Buddies yeah car is a pos. No. Trunk is open. Drove a hundred plus miles like that. Our shit wrecked.

Got to mtv spring break. Razzles. Met the girl of my dreams. DDs in a Batman shirt tied in a knot. Baby oil for sun tan lotion. Got engaged to her years later.

Drove home. Pure torture. Fighting over who would drive. 7 of us in the car now. Hampton exit by the checkerdome slid off the highway and crashed into the exit sign. Entire thing came down on our roof. Just prior we had been fighting over who was going to keep the car. None of us wanted it. Buddy gets out with a screw driver. Unscrews the plates and tosses them in a ditch. We got out and walked home. Just left it. Forever.

Will always have a spot for a nova.

 

[DANC]

We hit a tree in that civic and cracked my buddy’s head. Here’s a good one. Spring break. Daytona. Mtv spring break!! Downtown Julie brown!!! Daisy Fuentes. Senior year of high school.

Five of us pitched in a $150 and bought a Chevy nova. Vomit green. They came to pick me up and my mom ran out on the yard and screamed you’re not going!!! I jumped in there and yelled hit it!!!! No cellies. I’m gone.

So young and dumb we bought tanks of gas and put them in the trunk. Mountain dews and white crosses.

Driving through Tennessee middle of the night I said man I can’t see shit. Pouring rain. Buddies yeah car is a pos. No. Trunk is open. Drove a hundred plus miles like that. Our shit wrecked.

Got to mtv spring break. Razzles. Met the girl of my dreams. DDs in a Batman shirt tied in a knot. Baby oil for sun tan lotion. Got engaged to her years later.

Drove home. Pure torture. Fighting over who would drive. 7 of us in the car now. Hampton exit by the checkerdome slid off the highway and crashed into the exit sign. Entire thing came down on our roof. Just prior we had been fighting over who was going to keep the car. None of us wanted it. Buddy gets out with a screw driver. Unscrews the plates and tosses them in a ditch. We got out and walked home. Just left it. Forever.

Will always have a spot for a nova.

Daisy Fuentes...... ah, yes. You were part of all that? I just watched on TV.

Those are great memories. Back then you could do really stupid shit and get away with it.

 

[mcmurtry66]

Daisy Fuentes...... ah, yes. You were part of all that? I just watched on TV.

Those are great memories. Back then you could do really stupid shit and get away with it.

Oh yeah. We were there. Car on the beach lol

 

[hookyIU1990]

Damn right. Our farm girls were picky. You had to have a hot car AND an air conditioned combine.

Did you ever go to the Bunker Hill drag strip?

Air in the combine? Unheard of back then.

Used to go to Bunker Hill once a summer for one of my dad's buddies who ran rail cars there. I can't remember his name now, but think it was Gene Morris. He won national titles on 1/8 mile strips.

 

[jet812]

We hit a tree in that civic and cracked my buddy’s head. Here’s a good one. Spring break. Daytona. Mtv spring break!! Downtown Julie brown!!! Daisy Fuentes. Senior year of high school.

Five of us pitched in a $150 and bought a Chevy nova. Vomit green. They came to pick me up and my mom ran out on the yard and screamed you’re not going!!! I jumped in there and yelled hit it!!!! No cellies. I’m gone.

So young and dumb we bought tanks of gas and put them in the trunk. Mountain dews and white crosses.

Driving through Tennessee middle of the night I said man I can’t see shit. Pouring rain. Buddies yeah car is a pos. No. Trunk is open. Drove a hundred plus miles like that. Our shit wrecked.

Got to mtv spring break. Razzles. Met the girl of my dreams. DDs in a Batman shirt tied in a knot. Baby oil for sun tan lotion. Got engaged to her years later.

Drove home. Pure torture. Fighting over who would drive. 7 of us in the car now. Hampton exit by the checkerdome slid off the highway and crashed into the exit sign. Entire thing came down on our roof. Just prior we had been fighting over who was going to keep the car. None of us wanted it. Buddy gets out with a screw driver. Unscrews the plates and tosses them in a ditch. We got out and walked home. Just left it. Forever.

Will always have a spot for a nova.

What year? I was there in ‘91….driving on the beach was great….

 

[mcmurtry66]

What year? I was there in ‘91….driving on the beach was great….

89!

 

[jet812]

That’s exactly right. The grand national was a rear wheel drive car- that was made for rear wheel drive car. GM’s other unit moving forward with front wheel drive for everything at least in the design process.

When it came to the GNX, if memory serves me correct, that was developed exclusively between Buick and McLaren. I could be wrong though.

I’ve worked with McLaren on a few projects, they do some really cool stuff for oe manufacturers as well as race teams. Some of the testing I got to work on there, Roush, Mahle labs is wild. Using radioactive isotopes in oil to detect consumption rates with low tension rings & then having a special radioactive storage facility for all of the components, anechoic chambers for nvh tests, & just trying to break shit all of the time, all kinds of fun with really smart people. Those anechoic chambers are quite unsettling, what we think is quiet vs real quiet….

 

[All4You]

 

[hookyIU1990]

I’ve worked with McLaren on a few projects, they do some really cool stuff for oe manufacturers as well as race teams. Some of the testing I got to work on there, Roush, Mahle labs is wild. Using radioactive isotopes in oil to detect consumption rates with low tension rings & then having a special radioactive storage facility for all of the components, anechoic chambers for nvh tests, & just trying to break shit all of the time, all kinds of fun with really smart people. Those anechoic chambers are quite unsettling, what we think is quiet vs real quiet….

That would be amazing to see first hand.

 

[NPT]

I’m tossing around the idea of getting a new car soon. The Rivian made my first cut.

But, in all likelihood, it won’t make the shortlist. I’m open to buying an EV. But I think I’m going to wait until the solid state batteries come on the market.

When they do, range could go from being a disadvantage for EVs to an advantage. Some are forecasting ranges of 900 miles.

I'm right there with you.
Now a hybrid that you can plug in makes more sense... Use the electric part for short distances and have the gasoline for longer distances.

 

[hoot1]

I’ve worked with McLaren on a few projects, they do some really cool stuff for oe manufacturers as well as race teams. Some of the testing I got to work on there, Roush, Mahle labs is wild. Using radioactive isotopes in oil to detect consumption rates with low tension rings & then having a special radioactive storage facility for all of the components, anechoic chambers for nvh tests, & just trying to break shit all of the time, all kinds of fun with really smart people. Those anechoic chambers are quite unsettling, what we think is quiet vs real quiet….

Jet, have you had any dealings with Dallara?

 

[jet812]

I'm right there with you.
Now a hybrid that you can plug in makes more sense... Use the electric part for short distances and have the gasoline for longer distances.

If our government wasn’t run by idiots wanting to pander to environmental zealots, automakers would have dedicated many more resources to developing hybrids, & the majority of cars on the road today could be waaaay more fuel efficient instead of having a handful of electric cars on the road & automakers taking huge losses on producing them.

 

[jet812]

Jet, have you had any dealings with Dallara?

I have not. Been involved with many forms of racing, but not a lick of IndyCar stuff…