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

stickguy · July 2004

Saw a Scion tC on the road also. Actually, I wil be seeing it a lot, since I bought it. Am curious to know when I will see the first one that doesn't belong to me though!

ghulet · July 2004

...a maroon Xb, have yet to see an Xa except at the Chicago Auto Show.

The Bangle 5-series is also growing on me, at least the front and back, with their 'cateye' appearance, are cohesive, if nothing else. Still, I parked next to one (a 525i) at Blockbuster today; nice looking, but this one had black paint with plenty of orange peel, puny looking 16" wheels (said it's come to that, since that was huge ten years ago). Combine that with the smallish back seat, whopping 184hp and massive ~$44k price tag, and I think there are better ways to spend money, y'know? A G35 or TSX and ten or fifteen large, respectively, come to mind.

andre1969 · July 2004

the new Galant was on my mind going home from work today. I actually saw two of them on my 3.5 mile trip home, which I think is a record for me!

stickguy · July 2004

I don't think I have seen a new Galant out on the road. If I did, it certainly didn't make much of an impression.

andys120 · July 2004

not the five door hatch...seen in an Enterprise RAC lot. I couldn't tell what it was at firs seeing it from behind. I looked at it harder thinking it appeared to have a 'Yoda emblem on back but was too low a good looking to be a Highlander or Matrix. The tailgate and tailights resembled a Toureg but again, too low to the ground.

Then it hit me--it's the 6 wagon. It's about the size and shape of a B6 A4 Avant, with the same roofline tapering to the rear. Very nice lokking actually.

lemko · July 2004

...a black Scion xB traveling south on Roosevelt Blvd. in Philly. It was the first one I've seen on the road.

vikd · July 2004

...I test drove a Mazda6 Wagon about 4 weeks ago; wife is looking to replace her vehicle already. It's one of the nicer looking wagons on the market, imo. With the sport package, its pretty darned entertaining to drive too. The engine is a littel less refined than what I would prefer but it's a decent deal for the money...

Regards... Vikd

stickguy · July 2004

The dealer where I bought my tC had a black Xb that hadn't been prepped yet, that had black steel wheels (no hubcaps). It may have been the single ugliest vehicle I have ever seen. In a different color with the right wheels, I sorta like it though.

ghulet · July 2004

....just went out for breakfast and as I was looking out the window onto Lincoln Avenue, a very pretty blonde got out of a brand new Maserati Cambiocorsa convertible, in a nice looking but subtle blue with light tan interior. I guess the same could be said of the whole car--nice looking, subtle and I'm sure very fast, but just didn't look like a ninety thousand dollar car to me. I also don't imagine it will have the resale value of something more conventional in its price range, like a 911 or SL, though maybe the opposite is true. If nothing else, she certainly won't see herself coming and going in a Maserati.

seminole_kev · July 2004

Saw my first Audi A4 convertible (cabriolet?) on the road yesterday. Sharp, sharp looking car. Lady driving it looked to be, oh....I'd say 120 years old.

ateixeira · July 2004

Coincidentally, yesterday I saw one also. Black, top down. But what's funny is that I was following him, and we passed yet another A4 convertible with the top down. Both black!

-juice

seminole_kev · July 2004

This one was a nice dark blue.

lemko · July 2004

...A Scion xC coupe - black with alloy wheels. It certainly looks better than the rest of the Scion lineup.

ateixeira · July 2004

Saw just my 2nd ever. These things are just not selling.

Come to think of it, I might have just seen the same one twice!

-juice

lemko · July 2004

...geeze, I'm more likely to see a Duesenberg phaeton than a VW Phaeton on the road. The only time I've seen one was on a display stand at the Philly auto show. Too bad. The car would've made a really nice Audi.

andre1969 · July 2004

with the name "Phaeton" on it, it was a pimped-out Town Car stretch limo!

player4 · July 2004

Yesterday 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton, and yes these things aint sellin they wasted sooo much money building the Phaeton factory for a slow selling vehicle in Europe sales are very low and they are even lower in the US. Also saw a 2005 Ford Focuz ZX5.

andys120 · July 2004

Weird! How'd the Phaeton name get attached to these steel roofed cars.

I have seen a couple, one at a dealer, the other in a restaurant parking lot.

OTOH it looks like the Toureg is a big hit for VW. I see them every day now.

lemko · July 2004

...was also used on 1957-58 Mercury hardtops and convertibles. The word "phaeton" has become as corrupted as "roadster" these days - as in those pimpy "roadster" fake convertible roofs on sedans. I recall Ford built cars called "pillared hardtops" in the '70s - a contradiction.

andre1969 · July 2004

actually, all of the Big Three offered "pillared hardtops". GM offered a slim-pillar Electra and Ninetey-Eight 4-door in the mid-late 60's. It had frameless windows, but still had a slim B-pillar.

The '73-77 GM intermediates were referred to as "Colonade Hardtops", which was basically just a car with a B-pillar, and frameless windows, even with the 4-doors.

With Ford, they offered "pillared hardtops" in full-sized models in '73-78. The earlier, c1969-72 style had them as well, I believe. And the '72-76 and '77-79 midsized Ford sedans and wagons had frameless windows, but a B-pillar.

I think the only Chryslers that were referred to as "pillared hardtops" were the 1979-81 R-body Newport, New Yorker/5th Ave, St. Regis, and '80-81 Gran Fury. They even had a different code to denote "pillared hardtop" in the VIN code. "41" denoted a 4-door sedan, and "43" denoted a 4-door hardtop. They came up with "42" for the R-body, which denotes "pillared hardtop".

The '95-99 Neon also had frameless windows, and I guess you could call it a pillared hardtop. I don't know how to decode modern Mopar VIN #'s though, so I dunno if they actually used a different classification for it or not.

andre1969 · July 2004

I know I also saw a '56 Mercury 4-door hardtop with a "Phaeton" badge at a car show once. So evidently they used it more than just 2 years.

ateixeira · July 2004

I see plenty of '05 Focii already. They're all over the place. Perhaps the quickest 2005 model launch out there.

Saw 2 convertible bugs yesterday. The nice weather seems to draw them out.

-juice

andre1969 · July 2004

2005 Focuses. I've also seen a few Tauruses that look just a bit different up front than what I'm used to. The grille, instead of being so oval, is squared off a bit on the sides. Is that an '05? And I've seen a few '05 Altimas...I like the look of them.

a_l_hubcaps · July 2004

Andre-

Those Tauruses are '04s (well, they could be '05s too, I think they recently switched over).

Today I saw an '04 Diamante, with that odd new front-end treatment. It makes a little more sense in reality than in the press photos, but not much more.

Also I saw a Scion xB Release Series (orange paint, custom grille). That certainly catches the eye. It was almost the same color as my brother's '77 Celica.

-Andrew L

wimsey1 · July 2004

Oddly, I also saw the previous gen 500SL seconds before, around the corner, and then the generation before that 1/ hour later.

ateixeira · July 2004

Saw one of the new drop-tops. Very sharp.

It's neat, also, how they manage without a B-pillar. Much cleaner than the BMW 6's design.

-juice

wimsey1 · July 2004

Saw a Crossfire convertible on the road today.
Top down and looking good.

acura32tltypes · July 2004

... silver one at a Toyota dealership. while I appreciate the uniqueness of the xA's and xB's, the tC (IMO) is far more attractive. Fit and finish are excellent inside, and comes standard w/ 17" wheels. While it is a small coupe, it's a bigger car than photos/images convey - all basing in the mid-16Ks. For the money, this is easily a better buy than the base Celica. This car should be a big sales hit for Scion.

andys120 · July 2004

I spotted a special ed xB in that metallic orange.
It might not look good on every car but the colors works well on the xB.

lemko · July 2004

...a black Cadillac XLR travelling west on Rte 63 near Sumneytown, PA. It's the first time I've seen one on the road and in another color than silver. That baby was sharp!!!

player4 · July 2004

Today Cadillac XLR in loke some kinda metallic gold, also saw a Chrysler 300 in black, Chrysler 300 Touring in green, and a Chrysler 300C in dark blue they were alll very nice!!!! Also saw a Scion tC in some kinda dark red.

fintail · July 2004

I saw 4 300s today, all the "lower" models with no chrome wheels, and a Magnum

ghulet · July 2004

...was likely a midrange model, and had a BRA on the front. I thought these ugly things died with the '80s. Yes, they protect from bugs and road rash, but the bra also indelibly stains the paint by trapping dirt and moisture underneath, at least eventually (I know, I peeled the bra off my old '86 SAAB after it had been on for probably ten years and it was a big mess). It's scary that bras are even offered for a brand new model like the 300.

andys120 · July 2004

those bras have pretty much been supplanted by the 3-M film that's nearly invisibly yet offers good protection against stone chips.

player4 · July 2004

today i saw a 2005 Jaguar S-Type in dark red, and aslo saw a 2005 Chrysler 300C with a mesh grille!!

wimsey1 · July 2004

Saw first Magnum on road rather than at a dealer.
Same with a Mazda 6 wagon.

ateixeira · July 2004

Saw a dark green Phaeton at my pool. And two Touaregs within minutes of each other. So maybe VW owners live near each other? ;-)

-juice

lexusguy · July 2004

I saw one of the new Rolls on the opposite side of the highway. Its definitely a head turner, thats for sure.

jaserb · July 2004

Saw a Chevy SSR - cartoonish, but not in a bad way. Also a new style A4 Avant. Nice.

-Jason

andre1969 · July 2004

from the all-Mopar nationals at Carlisle PA, and can now say that I've seen more Dodge Magnums than you can shake a stick at. Rode in one too, on a test drive event.

They also had a pre-production model of the Dodge Dakota, in crew cab form, and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both of them look really nice in person. I was really impressed with the way the Dakota's bed was put together. It makes the Colorado look like crap in comparison! The Colorado's bed is pieced together with several different sections that look like they were finished off with roofing tar out of a tube, and then painted over. In contrast, damn if I could see the seams in the Dakota's bed!

The Dak did look a little sloppy around the headlights and taillights though. Hopefully that was just because of it being a pre-production model!

They also had the Charger concept there. Damn they NEED to build that thing!!!

wale_bate1 · July 2004

Which Charger concept? The one from '99-'00, or a new one?

This AM: 645Ci - black/black/black. Came up on its six and from about 100-50 yds back, I thought it was a slammed Eclipse GT! When I got closer, the bustle became more pronounced (flat light this morning), and I recognized it for what it was.

So, from straight on at the back it's not great. From the side is OK; still kind of Sebring-ish to me. Looking in the rearview, I like the front from head-on. Very aggressive and business-like; tough. The rest of the car just doesn't match up.

Still, if someone gave me one...

andre1969 · July 2004

well, it looked like the same Charger concept that's been floating around for awhile now. Kind of a burgundy/maroon color, low slung, and from the rear slightly evokes memories of the '68-70 model. Very sexy...ME WANT!!

wale_bate1 · July 2004

Yeah, that's the '99-'00!

They should've built it. It's a knockout, and unless you knew it was a sedan, you wouldn't know it was a sedan. Genius.

ateixeira · July 2004

I've seen a couple of SSRs on the road, and yeah, they sure do grab attention. It'll be the new cruiser car this summer.

-juice

stickguy · July 2004

The Charger should be a simple build on the 300 chassis. Not really more than a reskin, and sport up the interior, and there you go. Of course add a S/C option for the hp crazies.

lemko · July 2004

...I saw, (or think I saw) a Volkswagen Phaeton. It closely resembles a Passat, but the car seemed slightly bigger and had different taillights so it had to be a Phaeton. This example was black.

wimsey1 · July 2004

ateixeira · July 2004

Can you believe they're doing a 4 door version? I bet they sell every one they make.

-juice

player4 · July 2004

yesterday 2005 Scion tC in white.

the 4-door version of the SRT-10 should be awesome that would force Ford to make a 2-door adn 4-door version of their next F-150 Lightning!! the competition just gets better and better!!

andre1969 · July 2004

will ever jump into the high performance truck fray. Sure, I guess you could argue that they have the Silverado SS, but in comparison to the Ford Lightning and the Dodge SRT-10, the Silverado just comes up as kinda lame. More along the lines of Chevy putting a 200 hp 3.8 in a Monte Carlo and calling IT an SS :-/

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

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