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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Seeing a LeSabre and Wildcat side by side though, I don't think the difference is as noticeable as with, say, a Catalina versus a Bonneville. But, according to the brochure at least, the overall length of the Wildcat was only bumped up by 3": ~217" versus ~220". I think the Electra was around 223" (I'm too lazy to pull up the brochure right now). With Pontiacs that year, a Catalina was on a 121" wb while the Executive/Bonneville was on a 124". But Pontiac also stuck some length on the rear, giving them a bigger butt. As a result, I think the Catalina was 215", whereas the Executive/Bonneville were something like 223". There's been a few times at the GM show in Carlisle, where my Catalina would be parked right next to a Bonneville, and the difference in back was really noticeable.
I think those big '74-78 New Yorkers topped out around 230", but I'm not sure. They were on a 124" wheelbase, so in that respect, they didn't have quite the prestige of an Electra/Ninety Eight (127"), Lincoln (127.2") or DeVille (130"). 124" was more in range with a Marquis, Catalina, LeSabre, Delta 88, and some years of Bonneville and Grand Ville. But, that 230" overall length put them in range with those bigger cars.
230" does seem like a lot of car to drive, but think about it...the top two selling vehicles in the United States are that size (F150 and Silverado). And two more are wildly popular (Sierra and Ram). It would be a pain to maneuver in a crowded city, but the city isn't where you sell cars...by and large it's the suburbs.
Also, once you drive something that bulky, you do get used to it. My Ram is 230", on a ~140" wb. I drove my 2000 Park Ave this morning, which seems downright petite in comparison at 206.8" on a 113.8" wb. It felt weird to me...too small.
I don't love '69 and '70 big Chevys, but I think the styling is pretty clean. I actually prefer the instrument panel to the '69 and '70 Buick, in which the right-half is simply padded vinyl. The Chevy at least has that thin strip of fake woodgrain to break up things on that side, IMHO.
Caprices in the early '70's could be had with frilly pattern-cloth seats, or all-nylon, like the '70 for sale in the link has. That nylon wore like iron, particularly compared to the pattern-cloth.
I always liked those big 70's Chryslers, and some of the early 80's models too. Was that silver with black two tone sides actually a factory option? Reminds me a bit of the paint scheme on some of the Mercury. Marauders...and heck, that Plymouth emblem wasn't a bad looker really.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Oh Andre, I think in the 70's the "love boats" actually transitioned to vans. You know, "if this van's a rockin', don't bother knockin' "
Toyota "Stout" pickup truck. Talk about obscure.
I saw a Stout in Bellingham about 10 years ago.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Today I went to a fairly large car show in the area with another friend and mostly enjoyed spending several hours there in lovely weather. Only negatives were the usual awful and overly loud car show music - they have been playing the same '50s playlist forever - and observing a group of 14-15 y-o teens with bicycles hanging out nearby spending the day smoking both tobacco but mostly weed. Depressed me.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I like TTAC for Murilee Martin, not a lot else, some grating commenters there (and this coming from someone who can be jerky, myself).
I have a female college friend who has owned a 1968 4-4-2 since the late seventies. It is a dark maroon, black vinyl top, and maroon vinyl buckets and floor-shift automatic. She was an only child and liked the then-current 4-4-2's with the huge graphics on the side. She was disappointed when her Dad bought her the '68. Sadly, although it's been kept inside, it hasn't had ideal storage and she is now 56 and hasn't really done anything with it.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I have to comment how good the photographer is at planning the shot. On my cell phone the amber of the sky at sunset matched the amber in the parking and marker lights. The gray of the sky above that serves to alliterate the gray of the chrome in the picture as well as the gray of the blacktop. The only flaw in the visual setup is that there's a seam in the black top about a foot away from the left front wheel paralleling the car; it pulls the eye away from the car and the sky backgrounds. Otherwise, the picture moves the eye with major points at 1/3s of the scene. I like a little longer focal length but I suspect the photographer wanted to exaggerate the left front corner of the car.
That would be a good enlarged picture to frame.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I wonder why they designed the rear bumper on those to be 4 separate pieces? Doesn't look like it would be that hard to stamp it all out of one piece of bumper stock.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Edit, a checkpoint, I see. That'd be annoying.
That would be a really smart trick if GM did use those same end pieces on different cars, and simply changed the center pieces. But looking at pics of a '64 Chevy II and Chevelle, they're different bumpers. And, oddly, they look like one-piece bumpers!
Spotted today, a ~68 Eldorado and a ~70 Corvette, about 30 seconds apart, going different directions in traffic. Must have been a small time warp.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
My Grandmother's '85 LeSabre had the clock in the stereo's readout, so it made for a cleaner look, IMO. I also remember the dash padding being of a thick, high quality stuff that resembled leather, and was very resistant to cracking. My '79 Chryslers use similar material, and so did my '89 Gran Fury. The stuff Chevy used seemed like it would crack all to hell pretty quickly. I wonder if it's because it really was inferior, or if it was because the padding in the Chevies would extend all the way to the windshield. With the LeSabre, as well as the Mopars I mentioned, the padding only extended a few inches forward and then there was a solid hard plastic panel that went the rest of the way to the windshield.
I wonder if that Palm Springs edition got its door panels from the Electra? They look higher-quality than what I've seen in the LeSabres.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I thought the '86 LeSabre looked good too, with its inset quad headlights. I don't think they had a T-type that year, but there was some kind of "Grand National" package in black that had sort of a hatchet-job treatment done to the rear quarter window.
I used to work with a woman whose husband had an '86 Delta 88 coupe in black. I don't think there was anything really exotic about it, but in all black, with the Olds alloy wheels, it was still a pretty sharp looking car.
Some cars seem very prone to the dash cracking. The '69-73 full-size Plymouth (also used in some Dodges) is notorious for that, along with the Chevy you mentioned. Both were lower-priced lines, so maybe they used inferior or thinner material.
The Palm Beach brochure mentions that it had trim from the LeSabre Limited, so maybe that was the same as found in the Electra. Those armrests and switchgear look very similar to what I had on my '79 Park Avenue.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Living in Ohio, I've gotten interested in Warren G. Harding the past few years as he was the last prez from OH, plus it seems that the conventional wisdom/sound bites of the last however-many decades don't or can't seem to give him credit for one single thing, despite some solid accomplishments during his administration, the shortest in the twentieth century--even shorter than Ford's. I've read three books on Harding and none suggested he knew a thing about Teapot Dome, which broke after he died in office.
I've visited his home a couple times in the past year, the last time only about a month ago.
You may have heard that DNA testing proved in the past week, that his long-rumored love child is really indeed his. His mistress wrote a book in 1927, after Harding and his wife were dead, that said he was the father of her daughter. The Hardings had no children and while some belittled the mistress, Nan Britton, for writing "pornography" as some considered it, others believed her. It's now confirmed. Lots of articles online about this now.
Anyway, I saw an interview with Harding's grandson (born 1950) a few days back, and he included a 1968 photo of his mother (Harding's daughter) and his grandmother (Harding's mistress), next to a nice '64 F-85 Deluxe or Cutlass pillared coupe with wire wheelcovers and spinners. Nice car! If Harding's daughter would move I could see if it said "F-85" or "Cutlass" there! LOL
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/08/dna_tests_confirm_portland_man.html
Harding died in 1923, and his mistress died in 1991! I find that amazing. The daughter died in 2005. The mistress was sort-of the Monica Lewinsky of her time--if Monica had had Clinton's baby but had no hard evidence of that. Harding's mistress dealt with that for almost seven decades!
The F85 is nice looking. The wheel covers almost look too heavy for the car's style, which has a lithe graceful look.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Oregon Road Trip Leg 2 - World War II Bombsite and the Oregon Coast - 2015 Ford F-150 Long-Term Road
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
The other was a 1975 or so Ford Granada. Body was definitely not restored but there was something special under the hood based on the rumbling of the exhaust.
Saw a W210 E55 today