Was a Bonanza of wealth creation for the following groups while I owned a big 3 product:
1) Sacramento Dodge Dealerships (2 different locations). 2) Sacramento independent transmission shop. 3) the San Luis Obispo Dodge Dealership 4) Tow truck drivers and companies in Sacramento (4 per 65K miles).
I can't argue that buying American supports the local mechanics and tow truck companies.
However, I'd rather spend my hard earned money on things I don't NEED, but WANT. I NEED to get my car running, but I don't NEED an HDTV, I want an HDTV.
I don't NEED an awesome home stereo and sound equipment, but I want it, but I definitely need to be able to drive to work reliably. I don't like having to rent cars where you get overcharged and ripped off by most rental agencies, but that does support rental car companies.
I don't NEED a car that performs well on twisty back country canyond roads, but I WANT to be able to save the money from maintenance and repair costs from one vehicle, so that the next one can be even better.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Yeah, and it probably has all the structural integrity of a rusted pipe cleaner. I bet if you put the same load in the bed of this blatant copy as you would an F-10, the frame would bend where the cab and bed meet. The Chinese have absolutely no shame. Good God, even the logo is a blue oval.
Yeah, that is ridiculous. Now, the part about the woman suing Honda doesn't bother me TOO much...if the car's getting mileage that's that much worse than the EPA estimate, then I'd think there was something wrong with it. Unless there's just something really out-of-the-ordinary about her driving habits?
Also, if those EPA estimates are so out-of-whack and that's normal, then shouldn't the beef be with the EPA, rather than Honda?
And, the part about the lyers lawyers walking off with $8.5M is total BS. I wonder how much the lawyers made off of the '73-87 Chevy pickup saddle tank fiasco? I remember at the time, the truck was still in my grandmother's name, and she got a voucher for for something off the price of a new GM vehicle. I believe it was a good-faith measure by GM, even though they were exonerated from that fiasco. And, I'm sure the lawyers still made out like bandits on it. I think the voucher was $2,000 initially, but if you waited too long it dropped to $1,000, then $500, and then expired. We ended up just letting it expire.
Turns out, their '85 Silverado was the last new GM vehicle they ended up buying. The truck's still alive and kicking, although Granddad passed away in 1990, and Grandmom had to give up driving in 1999.
If all Honda had done was parrot the EPA numbers I think it would have been a slam dunk since there's federal law on the books about using EPA numbers without repercussions.
The courts (both the class action one and the small claims judge I guess) decided that Honda went way beyond the EPA numbers in making fuel economy claims, and it was the ad copy that led people to buy the cars. And when they didn't get good fuel economy, they sued Honda.
The fun is just beginning for the small claims woman. Honda could pay and go away, but they can appeal, and on appeal bring in their lawyers. My wife read that the woman reactivated her law license so she can continue the fight; I guess that means she'll be able to do more as a lawyer than just as a plaintiff.
Even if she eventually loses, she's received her pound of flesh. She probably wishes she had loaded up her web page with ads.
Was it specifically spelled out which ad copy claims were excessive, or was it just more actions made by juries of idiots and/or overpaid irresponsible judges?
Mileage ratings are such an in effect subjective area - the driver determines what a vehicle does around EPA numbers more than any other factor. Personal accountability is trumped again.
I seldom root for a corporation, but this time I can't see any other choice. I hope they lawyer up and destroy her.
I read a little bit on that website, and it looks like one point of contention was that the ad copy was touting up to 50 mpg, both city AND highway. Now, the car in question was a 2006 Civic Hybrid, which happened to be rated at 49/51, with a combined rating of 50, by the standard of the time.
In 2007, when they used a different methodology, the EPA ratings dropped to something like 40/45, with a combined of 42.
Another issue they brought up is that supposedly there was some sort of software update that they got owners to come in for in 2010, some kind of re-flash that was supposed to prolong the life of the battery, but at the expense of fuel economy. Dunno the specifics behind that one, though.
There's another link on that web page talking about someone else winning a similar suit against Honda, so it sounds like there's a basis for the false ad claims.
I didn't read it all, but I didn't see specifically what was worth the settlement, or what was really so horribly untrue in the ad copy. As our competitors make more and more doctors and engineers, we keep rolling out more lawyers...
Remember the Top Gear where they drove a Prius like a race car and got like 15mpg? Maybe that's worthy of legal action, too.
As our competitors make more and more doctors and engineers, we keep rolling out more lawyers...
We laugh, but our cumbersome legal system and excess of lawyers really is hurting us as a country. Competitiveness, medicine, business...you name it. Ultimately, legal settlements aren't paid by the company, they are passed down as price increases, job losses, etc.
Remember this when the corporation (Honda in this case) appeals and drags this case out for a few years. Best justice money can buy and to heck with protecting the little guy from abuses, whether it's from false advertising by the car companies, forced arbitration if I have a dispute with Ford or GM, get stuck with tainted Chinese drywall, or get sick due to selectively reporting clinical trial data by the pharmaceutical companies, yada, yada.
If you think the BBB or the AG's office is going to keep the companies honest, then I truly hope you never have any kind of run-in with the system. But thanks for trying to take away my rights to use the court system to protect myself, (not that I could afford to make any kind of dent against their attorneys anyway). :sick:
Sadly Steve, if you're middle class you probably couldn't afford a lawyer anyway. They make doctor's and dentists look cheap. A basic will is often over $200 and an uncontested divorce can easily run into the thousands. How about one on commision for a percent of the take - well, it's likely going to have to be a pretty big potential or you aren't going to find much interest in your business. These guys like to bill in the hundreds per hour and seem to be able to run those hours up pretty quickly.
But that would only be a worry if Honda was really abusing the little guy in this case. IMO, it is not. Should Honda be raked over the coals because others have been abusive? Does you or anyone else have to "protect" themselves because they were unable to get exactly the advertised mpg out of a car, most likely IMNSHO because of their own driving style?
We're the most litigious nation on the planet, and look where we are going.
>Do you or anyone else have to "protect" themselves because they were unable to get exactly the advertised mpg out of a car,
On the other hand, people have been "trained" to buy one car over another because in the special driving test used by the EPA the first car gets 1 more mpg more than the other car... as if it actually made a difference in everyday driving where the person's own driving style has more of an influence on the fuel usage than the EPA rating has.
I'm agreeing with your point, I believe, but I think people are doing as the car companies and Gov have wanted them to do.
i recall meeting my grad school friend at the Detroit Auto Show and he commented his AMC car had gotten 26 mpg driving over from Cleveland. He talked about how the difference between 24 and 26 meant little in terms of gallons of fuel used due to that relationship being a hyperbola. The difference between 18 and 20 was more meaningful in that era.
Tonight on the National Geographic channel, the Ecoboost F150 and F150 Raptor will be featured on Ultimate Factories. I set the DVR, Ultimate Factories is pretty cool, so I'm looking forward to watching it.
Well, the EPA gave a number that seems in line with the manufacturer claims, at least in print. I can't see a good excuse to sue here.
The relative difference between 18 and 20 is a bit larger than 24 and 26, that makes sense. I wonder if that AMC was claimed 27mpg, if he could have sued :shades:
The relative difference between 18 and 20 is a bit larger than 24 and 26, that makes sense. I wonder if that AMC was claimed 27mpg, if he could have sued
And, in those days, they published the old fashioned raw numbers, which are more generous than the 1985-2007 numbers, and way more optimistic than the current 2007+ rating methodology.
On the EPA's website, for whatever reason, in 1979 they only list the city rating, where my '79 New Yorker, with its 360-2bbl is rated 14. In '78, they listed city/highway/combined. A '78 Fury/Monaco or Magnum/Cordoba with the 360-2bbl was rated 14/22, with 17 combined, so I'm sure that would be a close approximation to my '79.
I think I'd faint if my NYer ever got 14 mpg in local driving! I'm lucky if I see double digits! Now, out on the highway, it has gotten 21-22, in the right conditions, but usually I'm happy if I see 18.
I remember back in the day, the Tempo was claimed for something like 43 or 48mpg highway. I don't know if our (automatic, so subtract what, 20%?) car ever broke 30, although it was as slow and small engined as an economy car should be. We should have sued!
I have the old school mileage estimate in the owners manual of my fintail, before EPA stuff - purely manufacturers claim. It claims 17/22 - which I almost get in the slow traffic here, and I actually do hit on the highway virtually 50 years later.
I remember back in the day, the Tempo was claimed for something like 43 or 48mpg highway.
That must of been the ultra rare diesel model. IIRC our '85 Tempo 4cyl auto had a highway rating of somewhere around 28mpg.
According to fueleconomy.gov an '85 tempo auto was rated 21/27. That shows how far cars have come. You can find 250hp cars that weigh twice as much that get that kind of mileage.
IIRC, my Expedition is rated for something like 12/17. The 12 is easy to get, but I have to really drive slow to get 17+. At 70-75mpg I usually get 15.5-16.5.
Those cars do show how far we've come. Of course, even in the year 2000, a 200hp V6 was considered nice...now a big 6 will have 50% more power and better economy too.
I can easily get 25mpg+ out of the E55 in normal highway cruising, this from a car that will do 0-60 in 5 flat all day, probably break light speed when de-governed, and has an engine that is purely 90s tech.
I can easily get 25mpg+ out of the E55 in normal highway cruising, this from a car that will do 0-60 in 5 flat all day, probably break light speed when de-governed, and has an engine that is purely 90s tech.
90's Mercedes tech is probably comparable to current detroit tech. Neither Ford's current 5.4 v8 (admittedly it's close to the end, but is an '04 design) and GM's 5.3 v8 don't put out anywhere near the power of the 5.4l v8 in your E55. It basically took Ford until 2010 with the new 5.0 DOHC to match/surpass a late '90's Mercedes v8.
I remember some of those commercials, what an embarrassment. Those Granadas were steaming piles of crap. A friend of mine's mom had one with a 351 and I still remember them having to pour oil into it to go anywhere. It didn't have 60k miles on it when the mains were going bad while spewing out oil everywhere..
It's so easy to confuse them. (where the hell are the rolleyes?)
One way to tell - the Mercedes is the one that's running.
My dad had a Grenada for a while. A Fairmont, too. I think the biggest difference was we mostly hated the Grenada from day one while the Fairmont we only viewed as mediocre for a while.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
And now they have a new 4.7 V8 that's even more powerful and efficient, and looks to be pretty amazing. 15-20 years ahead, sounds right when I think about my fintail with FI, discs, 4 speed auto, etc.
Regarding the 70s Ford smaller V8s, I think I also remember my dad telling me they could be troublesome. I know the "they don't make them like this anymore" line was a reason my mom kept her gigantic 70s T-Bird with a 460 well into the 80s, even though it didn't make it much past its 10th birthday. How things change.
I rather like the comparison of the rear seatroom with a Mercedes 300. Like rear seat room is what you buy a Mercedes for....
I remember a Chevy advertisement for the Caprice back around 1986 or so where they bragged about it having more shoulder room than any Mercedes S-class ever did.
But, in a similar vein, people don't buy Benzes for their shoulder room!
And now they have a new 4.7 V8 that's even more powerful and efficient,
Do you mean the new 4.6L twin turbo v8? Yes that engine is simply amazing.
Cadillac will have to develop a new V8 if it truly plans on competing with the S series. A v6 or turbo v6 isn't going to cut it at that level.
15-20 years ahead, sounds right when I think about my fintail with FI, discs, 4 speed auto, etc.
To be fair, I don't expect a $30k Ford or Chevy to be on par with a Mercedes v8. But if Cadillac and Lincoln want to play at that level, they have a lot of work to do.
I remember a Chevy advertisement for the Caprice back around 1986 or so where they bragged about it having more shoulder room than any Mercedes S-class ever did.
But, in a similar vein, people don't buy Benzes for their shoulder room!
Umm, no, they want room for something else........LOL I won't say it as this post would deservedly be deleted;)
I wonder how many Granada owners got into W116 MB thinking it was their car, or vice versa. I doubt many
My grandparents on my Dad's side of the family had a '77 Granada coupe that really didn't get much attention, but then they traded it for an '81 Grandad coupe in a 2-tone beige/brown that, for some reason, seemed to draw the spotlight on itself.
I wasn't with them at the time, but I remember them driving it to some local mall that was going south real fast. I think they wanted to go to the Hot Shoppes or something like that. As they go to park, some young thug on the corner points and shouts at his hood-rat buddies "LOOK, it's the NEW GRANADA!!"
The following year, I was pulled out of public schools and put into private. I think the big fight that erupted at the local high school, where they got a car into gear and tried to roll it over a kid, was part of my Mom's motivation. Well, at that school, you paid extra to ride the bus. My Granddad on my Mom's side of the family was retired, and we lived across the street from them, so usually he picked me up, either in his '76 GMC pickup, '81 Dodge D-50 Ram (until that one pulled its sudden acceleration stunt at the gas station and Grandmom made him get rid of it), or Grandmom's '82 Malibu Classic Estate wagon, wtih its stationary rear door windows.
Well, one weekend, I was going to stay with my other grandparents, so they drive up that afternoon, in the Granada. One of my friends looks out the window, at the cars lined up at the curb to pick up the kids, and asks which one's my Grandparents. I point at the Granada, and he almost falls all over himself. He's like WOW, are your grandparents RICH or something?! That's the best looking car out there!!
But hey, it was 6th grade, what did we know? And, BTW, his parents drove a W126! Looking back, in restrospect, I hope that evening he didn't tell his parents that they should trade that Benz in on a Granada! :surprise:
I doubt I'd feel the same about it today, if I had to re-experience it, but at the time, that Granada did seem like a pretty classy car. Nowadays though, it just seems too boxy, upright, and on too stubby of a wheelbase. And, a car that looks better as the 4-doors, as the 2-door is really more sedan than coupe, anyway...
Umm, no, they want room for something else........LOL I won't say it as this post would deservedly be deleted;)
I don't think that's shoulder room, I think what you're refering too is range of motion for the tilt steering! As in, that scene from National Lampoon's Vacation that they deleted when they showed it on network TV! :shades:
I don't think that's shoulder room, I think what you're refering too is range of motion for the tilt steering! As in, that scene from National Lampoon's Vacation that they deleted when they showed it on network TV! :shades:
ROTFLMAO!!! That's exactly what I'm talking about LOL!!!!
Comments
ILX in Greensburg, Indiana
RDX in East liberty Ohio
and lastly, the new NSX which will developed and built! in Ohio (unnamed facility)
The new RDX is now at the top of my list for my next daily driver. :shades:
I avoid those as well...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Sunoco to Move Refinery from US to India?
It's a mothballed refinery that some Indian company has proposed buying, dismantling and reassembling in India.
1) Sacramento Dodge Dealerships (2 different locations).
2) Sacramento independent transmission shop.
3) the San Luis Obispo Dodge Dealership
4) Tow truck drivers and companies in Sacramento (4 per 65K miles).
I can't argue that buying American supports the local mechanics and tow truck companies.
However, I'd rather spend my hard earned money on things I don't NEED, but WANT. I NEED to get my car running, but I don't NEED an HDTV, I want an HDTV.
I don't NEED an awesome home stereo and sound equipment, but I want it, but I definitely need to be able to drive to work reliably. I don't like having to rent cars where you get overcharged and ripped off by most rental agencies, but that does support rental car companies.
I don't NEED a car that performs well on twisty back country canyond roads, but I WANT to be able to save the money from maintenance and repair costs from one vehicle, so that the next one can be even better.
Go free trade!
Note the Avalanche-style detailing where the bed meets the cab, too.
And they are still our "most favored" trader given full access to our markets.
I was thinking PVC pipe, but you win.
Logo should not say JAG, it should say LOL!
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/02/02/california-woman-wins-civic-hybrid-lawsuit-ag- ain/
that settlement, which would see plaintiffs get a $100 to $200 and $1,000 discount on a new Honda and trial attorneys get $8.5 million
That is total baloney.
Please respond to pr@edmunds.com by Tuesday, February 7, 2011 with your daytime contact information and a few words about your experience.
Also, if those EPA estimates are so out-of-whack and that's normal, then shouldn't the beef be with the EPA, rather than Honda?
And, the part about the
lyerslawyers walking off with $8.5M is total BS. I wonder how much the lawyers made off of the '73-87 Chevy pickup saddle tank fiasco? I remember at the time, the truck was still in my grandmother's name, and she got a voucher for for something off the price of a new GM vehicle. I believe it was a good-faith measure by GM, even though they were exonerated from that fiasco. And, I'm sure the lawyers still made out like bandits on it. I think the voucher was $2,000 initially, but if you waited too long it dropped to $1,000, then $500, and then expired. We ended up just letting it expire.Turns out, their '85 Silverado was the last new GM vehicle they ended up buying. The truck's still alive and kicking, although Granddad passed away in 1990, and Grandmom had to give up driving in 1999.
And lawyers wonder why they are hated...
The courts (both the class action one and the small claims judge I guess) decided that Honda went way beyond the EPA numbers in making fuel economy claims, and it was the ad copy that led people to buy the cars. And when they didn't get good fuel economy, they sued Honda.
The fun is just beginning for the small claims woman. Honda could pay and go away, but they can appeal, and on appeal bring in their lawyers. My wife read that the woman reactivated her law license so she can continue the fight; I guess that means she'll be able to do more as a lawyer than just as a plaintiff.
Even if she eventually loses, she's received her pound of flesh. She probably wishes she had loaded up her web page with ads.
Mileage ratings are such an in effect subjective area - the driver determines what a vehicle does around EPA numbers more than any other factor. Personal accountability is trumped again.
I seldom root for a corporation, but this time I can't see any other choice. I hope they lawyer up and destroy her.
In 2007, when they used a different methodology, the EPA ratings dropped to something like 40/45, with a combined of 42.
Another issue they brought up is that supposedly there was some sort of software update that they got owners to come in for in 2010, some kind of re-flash that was supposed to prolong the life of the battery, but at the expense of fuel economy. Dunno the specifics behind that one, though.
Remember the Top Gear where they drove a Prius like a race car and got like 15mpg? Maybe that's worthy of legal action, too.
We laugh, but our cumbersome legal system and excess of lawyers really is hurting us as a country. Competitiveness, medicine, business...you name it. Ultimately, legal settlements aren't paid by the company, they are passed down as price increases, job losses, etc.
If you think the BBB or the AG's office is going to keep the companies honest, then I truly hope you never have any kind of run-in with the system. But thanks for trying to take away my rights to use the court system to protect myself, (not that I could afford to make any kind of dent against their attorneys anyway). :sick:
We're the most litigious nation on the planet, and look where we are going.
On the other hand, people have been "trained" to buy one car over another because in the special driving test used by the EPA the first car gets 1 more mpg more than the other car... as if it actually made a difference in everyday driving where the person's own driving style has more of an influence on the fuel usage than the EPA rating has.
I'm agreeing with your point, I believe, but I think people are doing as the car companies and Gov have wanted them to do.
i recall meeting my grad school friend at the Detroit Auto Show and he commented his AMC car had gotten 26 mpg driving over from Cleveland. He talked about how the difference between 24 and 26 meant little in terms of gallons of fuel used due to that relationship being a hyperbola. The difference between 18 and 20 was more meaningful in that era.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The relative difference between 18 and 20 is a bit larger than 24 and 26, that makes sense. I wonder if that AMC was claimed 27mpg, if he could have sued :shades:
And, in those days, they published the old fashioned raw numbers, which are more generous than the 1985-2007 numbers, and way more optimistic than the current 2007+ rating methodology.
On the EPA's website, for whatever reason, in 1979 they only list the city rating, where my '79 New Yorker, with its 360-2bbl is rated 14. In '78, they listed city/highway/combined. A '78 Fury/Monaco or Magnum/Cordoba with the 360-2bbl was rated 14/22, with 17 combined, so I'm sure that would be a close approximation to my '79.
I think I'd faint if my NYer ever got 14 mpg in local driving! I'm lucky if I see double digits! Now, out on the highway, it has gotten 21-22, in the right conditions, but usually I'm happy if I see 18.
I have the old school mileage estimate in the owners manual of my fintail, before EPA stuff - purely manufacturers claim. It claims 17/22 - which I almost get in the slow traffic here, and I actually do hit on the highway virtually 50 years later.
That must of been the ultra rare diesel model. IIRC our '85 Tempo 4cyl auto had a highway rating of somewhere around 28mpg.
According to fueleconomy.gov an '85 tempo auto was rated 21/27. That shows how far cars have come. You can find 250hp cars that weigh twice as much that get that kind of mileage.
IIRC, my Expedition is rated for something like 12/17. The 12 is easy to get, but I have to really drive slow to get 17+. At 70-75mpg I usually get 15.5-16.5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMTACdUc30g
Those cars do show how far we've come. Of course, even in the year 2000, a 200hp V6 was considered nice...now a big 6 will have 50% more power and better economy too.
I can easily get 25mpg+ out of the E55 in normal highway cruising, this from a car that will do 0-60 in 5 flat all day, probably break light speed when de-governed, and has an engine that is purely 90s tech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdw0L0SrFmA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DopsbWCubbc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPatuT5W898
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DYWm_DOd90
90's Mercedes tech is probably comparable to current detroit tech. Neither Ford's current 5.4 v8 (admittedly it's close to the end, but is an '04 design) and GM's 5.3 v8 don't put out anywhere near the power of the 5.4l v8 in your E55. It basically took Ford until 2010 with the new 5.0 DOHC to match/surpass a late '90's Mercedes v8.
I remember some of those commercials, what an embarrassment. Those Granadas were steaming piles of crap. A friend of mine's mom had one with a 351 and I still remember them having to pour oil into it to go anywhere. It didn't have 60k miles on it when the mains were going bad while spewing out oil everywhere..
One way to tell - the Mercedes is the one that's running.
My dad had a Grenada for a while. A Fairmont, too. I think the biggest difference was we mostly hated the Grenada from day one while the Fairmont we only viewed as mediocre for a while.
LOL
Regarding the 70s Ford smaller V8s, I think I also remember my dad telling me they could be troublesome. I know the "they don't make them like this anymore" line was a reason my mom kept her gigantic 70s T-Bird with a 460 well into the 80s, even though it didn't make it much past its 10th birthday. How things change.
I bet some Chinese copycars could be marketed similarly :shades:
I remember a Chevy advertisement for the Caprice back around 1986 or so where they bragged about it having more shoulder room than any Mercedes S-class ever did.
But, in a similar vein, people don't buy Benzes for their shoulder room!
Do you mean the new 4.6L twin turbo v8? Yes that engine is simply amazing.
Cadillac will have to develop a new V8 if it truly plans on competing with the S series. A v6 or turbo v6 isn't going to cut it at that level.
15-20 years ahead, sounds right when I think about my fintail with FI, discs, 4 speed auto, etc.
To be fair, I don't expect a $30k Ford or Chevy to be on par with a Mercedes v8. But if Cadillac and Lincoln want to play at that level, they have a lot of work to do.
But, in a similar vein, people don't buy Benzes for their shoulder room!
Umm, no, they want room for something else........LOL I won't say it as this post would deservedly be deleted;)
My grandparents on my Dad's side of the family had a '77 Granada coupe that really didn't get much attention, but then they traded it for an '81 Grandad coupe in a 2-tone beige/brown that, for some reason, seemed to draw the spotlight on itself.
I wasn't with them at the time, but I remember them driving it to some local mall that was going south real fast. I think they wanted to go to the Hot Shoppes or something like that. As they go to park, some young thug on the corner points and shouts at his hood-rat buddies "LOOK, it's the NEW GRANADA!!"
The following year, I was pulled out of public schools and put into private. I think the big fight that erupted at the local high school, where they got a car into gear and tried to roll it over a kid, was part of my Mom's motivation. Well, at that school, you paid extra to ride the bus. My Granddad on my Mom's side of the family was retired, and we lived across the street from them, so usually he picked me up, either in his '76 GMC pickup, '81 Dodge D-50 Ram (until that one pulled its sudden acceleration stunt at the gas station and Grandmom made him get rid of it), or Grandmom's '82 Malibu Classic Estate wagon, wtih its stationary rear door windows.
Well, one weekend, I was going to stay with my other grandparents, so they drive up that afternoon, in the Granada. One of my friends looks out the window, at the cars lined up at the curb to pick up the kids, and asks which one's my Grandparents. I point at the Granada, and he almost falls all over himself. He's like WOW, are your grandparents RICH or something?! That's the best looking car out there!!
But hey, it was 6th grade, what did we know? And, BTW, his parents drove a W126! Looking back, in restrospect, I hope that evening he didn't tell his parents that they should trade that Benz in on a Granada! :surprise:
I doubt I'd feel the same about it today, if I had to re-experience it, but at the time, that Granada did seem like a pretty classy car. Nowadays though, it just seems too boxy, upright, and on too stubby of a wheelbase. And, a car that looks better as the 4-doors, as the 2-door is really more sedan than coupe, anyway...
1981 Granada
I don't think that's shoulder room, I think what you're refering too is range of motion for the tilt steering! As in, that scene from National Lampoon's Vacation that they deleted when they showed it on network TV! :shades:
ROTFLMAO!!! That's exactly what I'm talking about LOL!!!!