I spotted a NEW (insert make/model) today!

kyfdx

I think the SVX's biggest problem was the price... Along with the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4, it was about $10K higher than anything else that the dealer had on the lot...

It would be like Mitsu or Subaru selling a vehicle for $50K today.. It would be a tough sell.. Just ask Honda about the NSX... :surprise:

giancarlo51

New cars galore around Seattle:

...a blue Acura TL Type-S was tailgating me this morning, looks even better in person (the photos of the blue one at the acura site does not do justice)

...new black MDX - also much better looking in person

...black MB S550 parked by Safeco Field, UGLY [non-permissible content removed] rims, but otherwise great design

...souped up black MB CL600 with black rims, not the way I like my 100K+ cars

andre1969

about a week ago, but forgot to post. On the Balt-Wash Parkway in Maryland, near BWI Airport, I saw a Nissan X-trail. Are these things being sold in the United States now? I wasn't under the impression that they were.

And Maryland seems kinda far from the border to be seeing something that might be offered in Canada or Mexico. Although once I did see a Chrysler Intrepid at a local movie theater parking lot.

stever

I don't think they are sold here - just in Canada and Mexico (and Japan). We may get the Qashqai here in the States (now on sale in the UK) instead of the X-Trail.

Nissan X-Trail (we want it!)

I'd take the Bonavista Edition one myself.

ateixeira

I bet it was Canadian. We're not that far from Canada here in MD.

fintail

Bentley Continental GTC, in black

guss

a Kia Rondo, the little mini-van thing. I am a Mazda fan, but I liked the look of the Rondo better than the Mazda 5. It was a little more car like with the regular rear doors.

ateixeira

Sliders are very handy, though. Wider opening, less space.

I saw my first Mazda CX9 out on the road. Looks good.

Also saw my first Dodge Stratus. That looks a bit cartoonish, with very exaggerated "styling" features.

fintail

I saw a Saab 97-X today. I see more new Bentleys than I see these "Saabs". What a disaster.

boomchek

What's funny about badge engineered cars is that usually in the ads they claim they were designed and engineered from the ground up for (insert car brand here) customers who demand more.

Ummm, no they were desgned to be your run of the mill car/truck, with interchangeable panels so that it could be adopted to 5 different brand names out there.

gagrice

I rarely see a Saab or a Bentley of any type in San Diego. You must live in an affluent neighborhood. All we have down here are Mercedes, BMWs and a load of lifted PU trucks and SUVs. If you see one of these let us know.

ateixeira

Coupe, pulled right in front of me in traffic today.

Also saw an RD-X this morning.

Last night I was with my wife and walked by a parked Ford Edge. I still think it's big outside, small inside.

fintail

And in the case of the Saab, being little different from the clones that cost a lot less. That vehicle is old-school GM thinking at its finest.

ateixeira

I saw the Dub Edition 9-7x and NYIAS and had to just laugh. This is not what the Saab founders had in mind. :sick:

lemko

...saw a Subaru Tribeca at lunchtime today.

ateixeira

They're common around me. There's one at my kid's school that parks there every day (must be a teacher's) and two here in the garage at work.

The 08 is far more conventional looking:

bhill2

I rarely see a Saab or a Bentley of any type in San Diego

Go north to Rancho Santa Fe. I used to drive through there all of the time. The less fortunate families only have one Bentley.

gagrice

The last time I was up there Hale Bopp was flying over looking for Heaven's Gate cult members. You are right that would be the place to spot them.

fintail

It's not an Edsel anymore!

ateixeira

Nope.

It's actually the Saabeca, i.e. the stillborn Saab 9-6x project.

FHI was developing a clone for Saab to sell, and when GM decided to sell its shares of FHI to Toyota, that stalled the project.

They recycled everything, the headlights are identical to ones from a test mule of the Saab 9-6x.

So basically Subaru is selling what would have been the Saabeca. I guess the good thing is that it cost them nothing to develop because they had already developed it!

kyfdx

Wow... is that a big improvement, or what?

anythngbutgm

Letting Subaru go was the best thing GM has done in the past 30 years...

I also saw the new Tribeca in NY. It's an improvement, definitely. The new WRX sedan is awesome as well.

andre1969

That's one pretty impressive facelift on the Tribeca! It's nice to see that Subaru can react quickly when they have to.

guss

It's nice to see Subaru can admit to a mistake and make the appropriate changes.

Now all they need is a retrofit kit for the Tribeca's previously sold.

ateixeira

Well, like I said, they already had a 2nd design for the Saab 9-6x, so it wasn't so much a reaction. They just finished development of that clone, and swapped the badge.

The grille does look like it could be in the Chrysler family, but I wouldn't say it looks like one overall (just the grille):

lemko

...spotted a silver Chevrolet SSR at the Sunoco station on Rising Sun and Tyson as I was filling up my Seville. It's a nice day and the driver had the SSR's top down. Looks like a fun ride albeit impractical as a truck.

anythngbutgm

I got to drive one a few years ago when I put my S2000 away for the winter. Some guy was putting his away at the same garage. My impressions:

It's fun in a 1970 MonteCarlo kinda way. Big, heavy and ponderous. I'd even go so far as to say it handled about as well as this "familiar" concept...


And that's being polite. Power was there, but the thing weighed like 3 tons so it was strained, big time...

Edit: couldn't be driven in the rain because it had a water leak. He had to tape off the "hole" when it got washed.

navigator89

A deep blue Lamborghini Gallardo, an orange Ferrari 360 Modena, then a light blue 360 Modena, two Flying Spurs in white, two Continentals in white and red. Also two LS460s in greyish green. Two 911 Turbos as well, one old generation one new. Old one was neon blue, the new one was Guards Red like in the IL road test. Also a few new Cayennes.

Overall a terrific day!

andys120

They aren't new but they're pretty rare even here in Saab Country and yesterday I saw TWO Saabarus, that's about a year's worth.

I've seen a couple of Dodge Nitros lately which I thought were nice looking for what they are.

fintail

Lots of nice new stuff out here today...I saw a Bentley Flying Spur, a couple of Continental coupes, a "Bluetec" badged E-class, an E63, a retractable roof BMW 3er, a couple Ford Edge, and a Hyundai Veracruz (VERY derivative of the CRV)

andys120

I stopped by the BMW Store yesterday to ogle the new Three-series coupe and convertible. Needless to say both are gorgeous.

I personally am pleased to see BMW return to their classic styling themes with these cars.
They go right to the top of my wish list, in fact the 3er coupe and cab are better looking than the more expensive but overly Bangleized 6- series IMO.

Then there's the Z4s which by all accounts are sweet driving cars but are seriously ugly and if you thought the Roadster was ugly, wait til you get a load of the Z4 Coupe. :sick:

bumpy

This one?


I like it. Reminds me a bit of the original 240Z. If it wasn't designed and built by Germans, I'd actually consider buying one.

The Z3 coupe was a bona fide uggo:

teds1

Haven't posted in a while so I have a list.
First, the NYIAS was great. I am not gonna post any cars from the show as sightings but I will say the R8 was probably the most popular car there, the $30k V8 Hyundai Lux Sedan is going to be very significant, The Z4 Coupe is great looking but pretty spartan inside, The Lambo model was smoking hot next to two white Murcielagos, The Mazdaspeed 3 was my choice for reasonable buy, the ageing viper had a raaaaaad paint job (look it up), and unfortunately, Subaru really butchered the WRX.

Other than that I actually rode in a UNIMOG in mexico (how rare are they?)
Saw the usual complement of Maybachs, Phantoms and Flying spurs around my office
Saw another GTC parked top down in front of a restaurant
Saw two CL 550s... kinda gangsta
DB7, Gallardo (black with smoked taillights), old model Z06 with custom exhaust, and waaaaay too many people in convertibles with the top up. Come on it's spring, mess your hair up!

Oh and by the way the Z3 Coupes were ridculously awesome... sorry bumpy

ateixeira

Saw a CR-V LX today. Odd to see them with steelies and so bare-bones.

Saw not one but TWO HHRs. I rarely see those.

Drove by a brand new Civic LX. Those wheel covers are still the bolt-on type, so I guess losing them is hard.

andys120

I think the Z3 coupe was pretty good looking compared to the Z4, not a beauty by any means but acceptable, at least to me.

guss

I never got the flame surfacing either. The Z3, in convertible form anyway, was tolerable. The Z4 is just weird.

kyfdx

I think the Z4 looks are improved in coupe form, something that I can't say about the Z3..

While I do have an affinity for goofy-looking cars, even the owners of the Z3 coupe named their annual gathering, "DorkFest".

ateixeira

I call it the Clown Shoe. So ugly it's actually endearing in a way.

fintail

Ha! I've always called those cars the "shoe" as well. There used to be one in the garage of my apt building, and it never moved...but one day it was gone, out of the blue.

anythngbutgm

Same here, I always referred to it as a wooden shoe from Holland.

bumpy

I rode behind a BMW 650i convertible. That car has an absurdly large bubble butt.

ateixeira

Saw a couple of these this weekend. Still far from common around here, though.

Also saw a new Fit this morning.

fintail

Today I saw an Audi RS4, I believe it was new

anythngbutgm

Heading South on Rt3 in NH I spotted a Silver Carrera GT. :surprise: Wow!

kyfdx

New Hampshire? Just think.. he saved $25K in sales taxes..

That probably made the difference in qualifying for the loan....lol.

ateixeira

Casually commuting next to me in bumper to bumper DC traffic.

Makes no sense to me. Why subject a car like that to a crawling traffic mess?

british_rover

Har funny but true.

anythngbutgm

LOL!

odie6l

I got to see a Mary Kay edition Cadillac at the local Post Office. The car is normal, but the paint job (besides being a shade of PINK) was a neat reflective Mother of Pearl. It shimmered as I went past. I was nore of a White with a Pink underlay. It was sure an eye catcher.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

ateixeira

I thought only Avon ladies had pink cars...