The light in the grille is the SuperLite available on 1969-70 full-size Dodges.
From Wiki:
"Dodge topped off the new 1969 cars with a new option, which forecast the projector-beam halogen headlamps that came into use years later. It was called "Super-Lite," and consisted of a $50 optional road lamp mounted in the driver's side of the grille. The premise behind the Super-Lite was to enhance visibility at night in situations where more light than the standard low beams was needed but the high beams would cause glare to oncoming drivers. Despite the fanfare surrounding the Super-Lite that had been introduced the previous year, Dodge dropped the light option at the end of the 1970 model year because of a lack of consumer interest and challenges to its legality in some states."
I like the first M, the ~2003-04 model - very much a JDM interpretation of American styling. I saw one the other day. The newer ones don't appeal to me somehow.
Why did the US have such ridiculous legalities regarding lights? It set styling back about 20 years, where Europe and Japan moved to flush lights but the domestics did not.
No BMW - no Hofmeister kink. But it could be a German Acura with its pointy nose and angularity. That being said, I don't mind the new style E - I like it more than the predecessor, but I think I'd prefer the AMG version.
People with extra money laying around buy all the options just to say they have it - they don't use them. E class can be configured in an almost infinite amount of ways, creating MSRPs from under 50K to almost 70K, and over 100K for the E63.
The baby shift lever is weird. Certainly not sporty.
Yeah, but those last Qs had super-loafy rear ends in them; basically a Japanese Town Car. A bit ironic since the Nissan Cedric/Gloria that the first M45 was derived from was a Japanese Town Car in Japan.
I'm with Juice on the M; first-gen is old school Japanese square styling, which it not surprising as it was a gussied up Nissan Gloria. I like the look in a sinister yakuza kind of way. But, JDM styling meant JDM interior space...way cramped if you are 6 ft tall. Deal killer for me. I like the looks of the newest one too, actually. Second generation; not so much.
Funny that the Cedric would be a town car when it is one of the more masculine and tough looking sedans to come out of Japan in some time. Too bad it apparently isn't big inside...that's one reason I like German cars, you can be over 6' and still have plenty of room.
Looks like the headlight scheme didn't work.
As a coincidence, today's new car sighting was a new style M.
We were pretty thin on new cars this time. We did have a student show up with an Audi S5, in a nice, understated gray. I agree about the LED running lights, they're at 15:01 of their 15 minutes. We also had two 997 GT3s, one in gray, the other in the obligatory burn-your-retinas yellow.
The day before (open track, not part of the school) there was somebody out there with a new Z4 (retractable hardtop) in a very dark blue. We don't allow convertibles without a full cage at the school due to concerns about rollover safety. He was running with the top up, and I wonder how well those stand up to being upside down.
..a black Rolls-Royce Phantom in the same neighborhood as the white one I spotted the other day. Strange! This neighborhood is a lower middle-class neighborhood at best.
I saw one parked at the mall the other day, with temp tags on it. Looked fine. totally innocuous, and could pass for just about any maker. Taillights as rear end did resemble an Audi though.
will have to stop at the VW dealer next time I am nearby to check one out.
Black, moving at a good clip on the highway this morning.
Anonymous looking profile and has that fat, dumpy Buick-like stance to it where the back end sags because it's got too much "junk in the trunk". Yet, only one occupant...
Saw a new S60...meh. I mean, it's nice, but doesn't bowl me over. Also saw a facelift GL...meh again...and it had some tacky Brabus/Lorinser style kit on it, and was white - quite tastless. Driven by a stereotypical local trophy wife looking thing, of course. Ford dealer had a couple of Fiesta sedans too...tiny sedans just don't look right.
fin: I've been noticing these, and I dunno about the rental car theory. I'm seeing them on older cars, cars with toll readers stuck on windows, etc. In other words, mostly non-rentals.
They must be for access to gated communities or commercial parking garages as well.
Are the cars also late models with no license plate frame?
I guess I'd have to see some pics. It is awfully coincidental that models that are known to be fleet queens also have these identifying criteria, where I never see them on a 3 series or a Bentley etc.
Not sure what happened to them, but Honda used to have very nice looking cars. Now, they seem to be trying to out ugly (to an aztec level) with every new one that comes out. combined that with getting bigger (at least the accord) and it is not promising.
At least they still seem to be keeping some of the driver's car aspects in tact.
I don't think tailfins can work in any modern design language, and vertical light assemblies won't work with modern MB themes either. A new fintail would be really weird.
Although, on the new E , there is an accent line above the rear wheel opening that is from the ponton and fintail.
That sounds like a plan, because every pre-beak Acura looks better than its replacement. Honda is getting to that point also, where every new model is uglier than what it replaced.
I currently have 2 Hondas in the garage, and an Acura (older TL) with my son at school. So I guess we qualify as a Honda family.
But, if I was to go out today to look for a car for any of us, I would not even bother to stop at the Honda dealer, since they have zippo that interests me.
I might stop at the Acura dealer, since the MDX is still nice and the TSX is not too bad. If we happened to be looking for something of that type (and wanted to pay that much extra).
But nothing at Honda, and at Acura prices, I could find a lot of other tastier and cheaper options (some new or used).
Honda is not the only company infected with ugly disease. BMW did a pretty good job of going from some of the best designs ever to much uglier, even tortured, replacements.
Honda/Acura got a "C-" from Car and Driver, only exceeded by Toyota/Lexus' "D+". I think those grades should be reversed, actually. "repulsive" rates lower in my book than "entirely forgettable"...
Well, maybe not as bad as a Crosstour and not really new but today i got caught behind a blinged up previous generation DeVille with gold package and insanely chrome wheels. I wish I could remember the vanity plate on it because it added to the mess. All the while I am thinking 'that's enough to put lemko into a Toyota!"
I really hate seeing a pretty car destroyed.
Meanwhile i saw two Corsicas today. Did we go back to the 90s and no one told me?
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
Blame the dealership and the car's owner for that self-destructive add-on junk. All that stuff is aftermarket garbage. I can't believe anybody finds that trash desirable. My DTS is free of all that mess.
Saw a ZDX today. Eek...at least it was black, so it was unobtrusive.
I saw a ~2005 STS with a thick padded cabrio top the other day. Hard to get respect with that. Although locally there is a period custom W126 with a vinyl top, but no padding.
Comments
Concessions to the US market.
Those outer ones aren't sealed beams, are they?
My NA Miata had sealed beams and in darkness it went from pitch dark (off) to merely "dark" when you turned them on.
They were so horrible I swapped them out for e-Codes, and put in Halogen H4 bulbs. Huge improvement.
When you drive a small car you're invisible to others, so bad lighting had to be addressed.
From Wiki:
"Dodge topped off the new 1969 cars with a new option, which forecast the projector-beam halogen headlamps that came into use years later. It was called "Super-Lite," and consisted of a $50 optional road lamp mounted in the driver's side of the grille. The premise behind the Super-Lite was to enhance visibility at night in situations where more light than the standard low beams was needed but the high beams would cause glare to oncoming drivers. Despite the fanfare surrounding the Super-Lite that had been introduced the previous year, Dodge dropped the light option at the end of the 1970 model year because of a lack of consumer interest and challenges to its legality in some states."
People with extra money laying around buy all the options just to say they have it - they don't use them. E class can be configured in an almost infinite amount of ways, creating MSRPs from under 50K to almost 70K, and over 100K for the E63.
The baby shift lever is weird. Certainly not sporty.
I like the new ones, too.
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
Looks like the headlight scheme didn't work.
As a coincidence, today's new car sighting was a new style M.
This must have been a Continental Supersports model or a Continnental GT.
The car has an interesting shape. Black.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
They're odd, to be honest. They look very pixelated. It's back to the low-res video games from the 80s, like Asteroids.
The day before (open track, not part of the school) there was somebody out there with a new Z4 (retractable hardtop) in a very dark blue. We don't allow convertibles without a full cage at the school due to concerns about rollover safety. He was running with the top up, and I wonder how well those stand up to being upside down.
Federal standards require closed cars to be able to hold 150% of the car's own weight.
IIHS tests go much further than that, however. To be a Top Safety Pick I think they have to withstand 400% of its own weight.
I wonder if folding hardtops have to meet that 150% standard.
IIHS usually does not test low volume cars like those.
BMW 3 series convertible, Volvo, VW Eos, ... none have been through the roof crush test.
will have to stop at the VW dealer next time I am nearby to check one out.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Anonymous looking profile and has that fat, dumpy Buick-like stance to it where the back end sags because it's got too much "junk in the trunk". Yet, only one occupant...
Meh.
They must be for access to gated communities or commercial parking garages as well.
I guess I'd have to see some pics. It is awfully coincidental that models that are known to be fleet queens also have these identifying criteria, where I never see them on a 3 series or a Bentley etc.
Saw another LED-ized C-class today, the new tailfins.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
At least they still seem to be keeping some of the driver's car aspects in tact.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Although, on the new E , there is an accent line above the rear wheel opening that is from the ponton and fintail.
I usually notice them while driving so I haven't been able to snap pics.
They're just trying too hard.
But, if I was to go out today to look for a car for any of us, I would not even bother to stop at the Honda dealer, since they have zippo that interests me.
I might stop at the Acura dealer, since the MDX is still nice and the TSX is not too bad. If we happened to be looking for something of that type (and wanted to pay that much extra).
But nothing at Honda, and at Acura prices, I could find a lot of other tastier and cheaper options (some new or used).
Honda is not the only company infected with ugly disease. BMW did a pretty good job of going from some of the best designs ever to much uglier, even tortured, replacements.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
BMW seems to have come to their senses as their latest designs are de-Bangled. The 7 looks much better, the 5 lost the Dame Edna face, etc.
Element.
In fact the CR-V became the best-selling SUV only after the Element came out.
Honda's business plan:
1. use only parts off the shelf
2. sell tons of them without cannibalizing the CR-V
3. ???
4. profit
Crosstour is a different story - it's getting clobbered by the Outback, and sales are way below projections.
I really hate seeing a pretty car destroyed.
Meanwhile i saw two Corsicas today. Did we go back to the 90s and no one told me?
I saw a ~2005 STS with a thick padded cabrio top the other day. Hard to get respect with that. Although locally there is a period custom W126 with a vinyl top, but no padding.
Edit to add link:
http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2010/10/2010-honda-crosstour-vs-subaru-out- back-the-numbers.html