Racist bastard at dinner tonight

[protege]

The biggest car I've ever driven, was my neighbor's early-1980s full-size Buick. That thing was huge! I mean, we're talking *cruise ship* proportions...just the thing a brand-new driver should *not* be in, especially when the car they usually drove was a beat-up '87 Tempo.

As for the big-car hatred, I think it stems from the road actions by many of the users. Quite a few people use the car's size to bully people on the roads. Also, most big cars are usually driven (at least here) by older folks at 25-30mph, no matter what type of road...even on the highways

[FuzzyKitten99]

The biggest car I've ever driven, was my neighbor's early-1980s full-size Buick. That thing was huge! I mean, we're talking *cruise ship* proportions...just the thing a brand-new driver should *not* be in, especially when the car they usually drove was a beat-up '87 Tempo.

oh, that's nothing... an 80's buick was nothing compared to a 66 Cadillac Eldorado. My grandfather inherited his father's, which was the convertible version. It had been purchased brand new off the showroom floor in South Dakota. He only drove it yearly from May 1 up until the first snow, then it was garaged and babied until everything thawed. When my grandpa inherited it 7 years ago, it had only 27,500 miles on the engine, which was still as sound as the day it was installed. Everything on it except stuff like wipers and tires and other annual replacements, is the factory original. Even the headlights still work. I got to drive it myself the first time 3 years ago. Talk about a cruise ship of a car... VERY nice ride though.
Here is a pic (not his car, just one I found online) of what it looked like ('cept his is a greyish-blue):

We bought a 92 Cadillac Seville 2 years ago because we needed a 2nd car (DH changed jobs and no longer had company car), and the price was right. While it isn't as big as the older Caddys were, it is still heavy, as it has the 4.9L aluminum V8 ::insert Tim Allen grunt here::. If I drive it consistently for more than a week, then get in my Impala, I feel like I am whipping my Impala around like a go-kart for the first 6 blocks.

[blas]

I used to swear up and down that my Buick New Yorker was the size of the Star Ship Enterprise.......

[jb17kx]

Fuzzy kitten, congratulations on making it one of my life's goals to own or at least drive a '66 Eldorado. It's beatiful.

And protege? I'll trouble you to not insult Rolls-Royce styling. I'd take a Rolls over anything American style (apart from pre-'75 crusiers like the Eldorado and the new Camaro - oh yes...)

Anway, GM are also masters of badge engineering. The abovementioned Camaro is Holden VE Commodore running gear (although with a Chevy-derived engine)

[Gabrielle Proctor]

We had some guy come into the hobbyshop that was prejudiced against Colorado. Yes, a state.

He had bought a quarter folder and was trying to pack the colorado quarter into it's slot, it was a tight fit and he complained all the way. "Ugh, stupid colorado. I don't like colorado anyway, it's a bad state." I asked him what was so wrong with it. "Oh it's infested with liberals." ........ I told him, "Yet, Focus on the Family is located there along with one of the biggest evangelical bases in the world(Ted Haggard used to preach there, until he was outed). My friend lives in Denver, and Colorado Springs is about 2 hours away. It isn't as liberal as you think, and if it was it wouldn't be a bad thing."

[nhollywood]

I've ridden in (not owned) a 1956 Bentley and a Rolls-Royce Cornish II and am suprised to say that the ride is rather stiff. I own a German made car (Mercedes) and have to say that I love it. The Germans haven't done anything wrong to me personally and in recent years, I haven't heard of Germany or Japan bombing anyone. May I suggest to the older generation: "Let's move forward"?

[AFpheonix]

I haven't driven a large car, per se, but I've driven a few one ton trucks hauling 4 horse goosenecks before.....

And motorhomes are about as unwieldy as a beached whale, but you get the bonus of a fridge and a potty back there, so that's nice.

[jb17kx]

And motorhomes are about as unwieldy as a beached whale, but you get the bonus of a fridge and a potty back there, so that's nice.

One of my father's retired friends was very unimpressed by the handling of a caravan (trailer, to you yanks) he was trailing, but still wanted the portable home and facilities thing.
His solution? Buy and renovate an old bus! He ended up buying a Renault PR100.2, which offered him a 11.57m long, 2.5m wide vehicle to work with, prefitted with a 24V/80A electrical system, all for AU$10,000. The kicker however was the engine - a 6 cylinder, 9.8 litre turbocharged diesel, putting out 240HP at 2100RPM, and 940NM at 1400RPM.

All in all the works took him a little over 6 months and cost a little under AU$20,000 - compared to AU$35,000 for a comparable caravan, without the means required to tow it. And he got to have everything exactly as he wanted it.

Sorry for the OT there

[CancelMyService]

As far as German law on Nazi items, they're pretty much banned on anything that doesn't have some sort of historical/educational context. Like books can have pictures of WWII airplanes and such, but they can't sell games or toys with those symbols.

Also Kiss had to change their logo since the font made the last two letters look too similar to the Nazi SS. The German logo looks more like "KIZZ".

[Canarr]

Ironically, he LOVES Germany and all things German..... (he's Jewish). (however, you can't even jokingly use the word "nazi" in conversation with him... he gets very upset).

Coincidentally, most Germans do, too.

[protege]

And protege? I'll trouble you to not insult Rolls-Royce styling. I'd take a Rolls over anything American style (apart from pre-'75 crusiers like the Eldorado and the new Camaro - oh yes...)

I'm not saying I wouldn't have a Rolls...but I prefer the older ones. Give me a Corniche, Shadow, or even a Silver Cloud. As for American cars, well, I'm not sure what they were smoking when designing some of the current ones.

Badge-engineering started overseas though--it wasn't until the '70s when GM embraced it with their line of FWD cars. That turned into a fiasco when the Cadillac Cimarron came out--people couldn't see paying up for what was essentially a cheap Chevy with a chromed grille.

Getting back on topic here, I can't see a reason why some people are still stuck in the past. As the Germans and Japanese haven't done anything to me personally, it's impossible for me to hate them...even though both countries did horrible things in the past. They weren't the only ones though--nearly every country has some skeletons in the closet...

BTW, Germany's not the only country that restricts things with Nazi symbols on them--it's difficult to find even model kits of WWII-era planes over here. Many times, the swastikas aren't included in the kits. As much evil as that came to symbolize, to me, a WWII German fighter just looks wrong without it!

[Bella_Vixen]

OT, the other day someone drove into the 'Lounge lot driving what he said was a '79 Protege or MG or whatever it was.

My boss just about died when he saw it.

I'm not a car person, so I was "eh" about it.

[tollbaby]

Coincidentally, most Germans do, too.

I know.... being neither Jewish nor German, it never really occurred to me. I've been given the nickname "grammar nazi" on more than one occasion, and the soup nazi episode of Seinfeld is one of my favorites, but I now only use that word in private conversation in the privacy of my own home. I don't want to upset or anger anyone inadvertently....

There are probably many other words I shouldn't be using (holy cow! comes to mind). *sigh*

[tamezin]

I'm sure he heard me when I said that if he only knew that most companies here use Asian-made electronics...

Not to mention that many of the American models use parts made in other countries, or how about the foreign models are frequently assembled in factories here in US.

[jb17kx]

I'm not saying I wouldn't have a Rolls...but I prefer the older ones. Give me a Corniche, Shadow, or even a Silver Cloud.

Same here - I'm quite a fan of the Camargue (mmm, Pininfarina...), although I saw a lovely cobalt Corniche running around the other day.

As for American cars, well, I'm not sure what they were smoking when designing some of the current ones.

What ever it was, I hope there's a law against it...

They weren't the only ones though--nearly every country has some skeletons in the closet...!

We're not innocent either - the Stolen Generation and the White Australia Policy come to mind. Open institutional racism at a federal government level.