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Comments
In one thread I speculated that you could but TWO of them (for less than a Taurus or Legacy of the same year), the 2nd as spare parts, and actually save money.
-juice
We blew a tire, so had to hassle with the underbody spare....which was a donut. What?! I'm sorry, but for a minivan to have a under-mounted donut is about the stupidest thing ever. I did like the automatic dark-sensing headlamps but that's about it.
Remember, though, to many minivan buyers the cup holders are more important than the spare.
-juice
the door issue was just a pain, like in hotel lots trying to load a bunch of people, but only one door can be triggered remotely
I rented one about 2 years ago in Orlando, with my brother. It provided the room we needed for our big group, that's about the best I can say about it.
We booked another one for Tucson in September, again they do GM vehicles so it'll probably be a Montana. I'll write up a full review after that.
I think I prefer the Windstar, and that ain't saying much.
-juice
Ken
http://www.ridemexico.com/
Patti
-mike
On a completely unrelated note... had a terrific trip back to the redwoods, with the exception of Day 1, which was highlighted (?) by 2 blowouts... both inside duals of the motorhome went away within 150 miles of each other... that ended our day a bit early, but the tire guys stood by their product, gave me 100% adjustment for all 6, slapped a new set of Toyo's all around (including a new spare), and off we went. Rest of the trip was flawless. Good to be away, good to be home (except for all the bleeping laundry!) Again, I can't say enough good about Les Schwab Tire Dealers.
We are officially, but prematurely in the market for a new car... wife's Villager sustained a catastrophic engine failure the Sunday before we left. The bad news: broken crankshaft, & new engine would be more dollars than we could reasonably expect the van to be worth. Good news: I'm looking for a way to donate the car to charity, thus at least being able to get *some* good out of the whole mess.
Saw an STI up close & personal today at the dealer... looks fat standing still in the showroom... and the hood scoop! Zowie, Batman!
Cheers!
Paul
Kept myself and others around long after (unfortunately) we have ceased being Subaru owners. I'm still an enthusiast though, so I'm here.
-Colin
I stow a flashlight for GF's occasional use ;-D
-Dave
She's saying good-bye to her waist long hair on Monday. She's getting it cut and donating it to "Locks for Love" for children undergoing chemo. Great program!
Patti
My dad's Taurus is a money pit right now, he's spent $6 grand fixing it repeatedly. It's probably worth $500 if he sold it. You gotta cut your losses at some point, this seems as good as any.
Rebecca: thanks, and please stick around. Fresh new members bring new ideas and spark great discussions. Join the chat tonight?
Wow, chopping your hair is a major change, I hope she likes the new look. It'll be lower maintenance, at least.
I love long hair, my wife nicknamed me "Samson", from the Delilah story.
-juice
-Dave
Steve
Low-maintenance hair? Try www.headblade.com
Cheers!
Paul
Rebecca
-mike
One of which was "You paid how much!!??..and not lighted vanity mirror??" ;-) This was the first few weeks I had the car.
Go figure....
In other words, I should just get a head blade now! :-)
CSI is cool. Haven't watched any Survivor since the original.
-juice
I don't know a lot about the history of Ford trucks but the '68 F-100 I learned to drive stick on was a Ranger. That was a trim level, not a separate smaller model back then. It had two-tone paint (white roof and lower body, medium blue upper body and hood) and blue all-vinyl upholstery with a fancy embossed pattern. The bumpers were chrome and it also had a factory installed light on the back of the cab that illuminated the bed. The on/off knob for that light glowed bright red in the "on" position to remind the driver not to drive down the road with the bed light on, possibly blinding drivers behind them. (paisan, that and an alarm bell would solve the rear fogs issue, no?)
The '62 Falcon (also three-on-the-tree) had a puny 144 I-6 and vacuum wipers. I hated those things - the faster you drove the slower the wipers traveled, meaning you had to drive slowly in order to see the road ahead. I guess the upside of that was that no one would drive too fast for conditions!
DaveM: IIRC those old Saab 95s that looked like turnips had four-on-the-tree, too.
My '63 Studebaker has controls that could have been considered a little unusual for the time. The major gauges are big round dials set directly in front of the driver - accepted practice now but not back then when speedometers were even more of a styling element than they are today. There are no push/pull knobs for anything except the fresh air vents in the floor.
It has a row of four "aircraft-style" rocker switches on the dash panel, two on either side of the steering column. The one on the far left controls lights (off-parking-headlights); on the near left, dashboard illumination (off-low-high). When the dash illumination switch is set to "low" you can control how low with a good old rheostat knob under the dash panel; "high" is just one level. On the near right is the switch for the wipers (off-low-high - and they're electric, not vacuum) and on the far right, the heater fan (off-low-high).
There are two vertical slider controls on either side of the gauges. The one on the left diverts warm air from "heat" to "defrost," i.e. directing the flow from the floor to the windshield as a continuum, not in steps. The one on the right is the temperature control knob for the heater.
The only other unusual thing about the dash is the glovebox. Dubbed the "beauty vanity," it folds down from the top of the dash to reveal a three-sectioned glove compartment. One compartment is covered by a swing-out vanity mirror and the other two are covered by a stamped steel pressing with three shallow round indentations just deep enough to place the bottom of a 12-ounce soda bottle. I think it may be a prehistoric form of cupholder for use at the drive-in.
You can see a picture of one (not from my car but from a dealer brochure) at http://www.ritzsite.net/63Stude/02_63stude.htm . For a better look at the "beauty vanity" see http://mclellansautomotive.com/photos/B18297.jpg .
Probably way more than you ever wanted to know but maybe a nice nostalgic diversion for a Friday afternoon.
Ed
Thanks for the description. Sounds like the Stude was pretty nifty for its time.
I miss my truck, but, to be honest, have found that a good utility trailer does most of the things I need, without the cost and upkeep required of another vehicle. I strongly considered having new box members welded up to replace the supports under the cab, but I finally gave up. Ten years later it still sits back behind the barn at a friends house, and he scavenges parts off of it to keep something else of his alive.
Steve
Bob
I find them pretty neat.
-juice
The Mercedes influence extended into the styling of the '62-63 Larks (like mine) and into those full canvas sunroofs, called "Skytops."
Ed
Bob
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=4391- - - 632#post4391632
I had read some time ago that FHI was going to change the name of the company to Subaru for their 50th anniversary, so for me, this is not a surprise.
I was really hoping that this logo would have been updated somewhat, especially to celebrate being in business for 50 years. I have never liked this logo. FWIW, I speak from having been a graphic designer involved with corporate identity for over 30 years. This logo is old and looks very dated. I was hoping for more from Subaru. I'm disappointed to say the very least.
I'm not suggesting that they can this logo, but update it. The ultimate irony here is that Subaru has publicly stated that their future cars are going to be at the cutting edge of automotive design. This logo, which is supposed to capture the 'essence' of Subaru is stuck in the 1950s. Not a good start IMO...
Bob
As you can tell from my long-winded post about the switchgear, there's a lot to like about them as drivers. For a company on a long downward spiral they managed to keep coming up with interesting technical innovations. OTOH they also used king pins in their front suspensions right up until the bitter end.
Ed
Companies that have been around for a long period of time, often update their corporate logo to keep their image current. IBM, BMW, Exxon (Esso) and many others have all successfully gone through this process. It's part of marketing.
I really think Subaru lost a golden opportunity here to do the same.
Bob
Cadillac is one shining example of going through the process unsuccessfully. Wenr from an albeit outdated logo with meaning to a test pattern
-Dave
My main point is, here Subaru has a fantastic story to tell: Great products and 50 years of being in business. What a great time and opportunity to freshen the image.
Bob
after I'd said that, I realised that I'm pretty guilty at confusing the public by replacing the logo on my grille with the "i" logo
-Dave
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6272&sid=17- 3&n=156
I think this is a smart move for them. I think their early 1950s trucks has a warm spot in the hearts of many truckers. I think this direction has far more potential than the direction they are currently heading.
Bob
-Lucien <---who can't wait for "heritage" styling to DIE! Well ok, maybe except for the Ford GT. Maybe.
But then, that's like anything, if properly done—great—if not, then it becomes corny, cheap and trite.
If you look at the successful brands (MB, BMW, etc.), over the decades, part of the reason for their success is that they never lost that link with their past. Each succeeding model is an 'evolution' of what preceded it. For example, you can see in current Mercedes visual cues that date back 60, 70 or more years.
What has happened with a lot of American brands is that link to their past was lost somewhere after the 1960's. This has resulted in generic cars with no history to hold on to.
So what is happening now is, everyone is trying desperately to do is come up with designs that do link with the past. The problem is they are trying to do this overnight, so it has become very 'obvious' as to what they are trying to do. In a sense it has become phony or pretentious heritage design.
Also, a lot of this success (or failure) has to do with keeping model names over the years. The Mercedes 300 (name) has been around the better part of a century. The Chevy Suburban, a hugely successful vehicle, has been around since the mid-1930s. Same with Ford's F-Series trucks. Model longevity is terribly important to the success of any brand.
I really believe if Chevy had kept the Belair name, instead of replacing it (a bunch of times) with other names, Chevy would be a much more highly regarded brand today than it currently is. The same could be said of virtually every American automaker.
Bob
Greg
Subaru does not appear to be jealous having to share the driveway again.
Wife's happy, so I'm happy. Off to Seattle we go. Go Mariners!
Cheers!
Paul
Greg
-mike
Jon
Lucien wins hee hee
-mike
Jon