Recent posts

#1
General Automotive / Re: New Car!
Last post by Morris Minor - March 28, 2024, 02:58:44 AM
It's gorgeous. It's sad how BMWs morphed into being overwrought & ugly.
#2
General Automotive / Re: Car Chat
Last post by FoMoJo - March 27, 2024, 12:27:14 PM
The ultimate shade tree mechanic...


The best part is there's no talking.

Part 2.

#3
Head to Head / Re: Looking for a new car
Last post by MrH - March 27, 2024, 07:25:57 AM
Yeah, Honda's entire lineup is pretty good these days.  Civic Si is the best deal out there for a manual daily. A Type R for $46k isn't absolutely heinous if you can get it for MSRP.  I'd probably try like hell to stretch to $53k for the Integra Type S though.

I'd have a hard time justifying either over a GR Corolla if you're able to get it for MSRP too.  There's $5k between a GR Corolla and Type R.
#4
General Automotive / Re: Cars named after places wh...
Last post by Madman - March 26, 2024, 11:19:34 PM



Part 20: Opel/Vauxhall/Holden Monterey


This one is a bit tricky.  For starters, this SUV has gone under more different names than a Mafia capo in the Federal Witness Protection Program.  Then there's the name, itself.  The spelling suggests it was named after Monterey, California.  An alternative spelling, Monterrey,  is used by cities in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.  Meanwhile, Monterrei  is a town in the province of Orense in northwestern Spain, a region famous for its wine.  Based on the spelling, I'm going to go with the coastal town in California, about one hundred miles south of San Francisco.

If you're looking at that photo I posted above and thinking "Hey, wait a minute, that looks sort of like an Isuzu Trooper!" then give yourself a pat on the back, my friend, because that's exactly what it is.  Back when the first SUV boom started to take off in the 1990s, GM's then European and Australian outposts were caught with their pants down, having nothing to offer buyers who suddenly wanted to pretend they were the sort of rugged, outdoorsy types who liked to hike trails and climb mountains even if they never did.

Opel, Vauxhall and Holden needed some rough & ready trucks to lure the four-wheel-drive fashionistas into their showrooms, pronto!  Presumably nothing in the General's North American portfolio was deemed suitable for sale across either pond, so GM got on the phone to one of their Japanese partners, Isuzu.  Despite some generally positive reviews, the Monterey sold poorly in Europe and is all but forgotten there today.  In Australia, the Monterey name was used on the upmarket version of the vehicle otherwise known as the Holden Jackaroo.  Holden had much better luck selling the Jackaroo/Monterey than Opel or Vauxhall.  You can thank Australia's predilection for four-wheel-drive vehicles for this success.

Elsewhere on Planet Earth, you could buy this SUV under a few other names.  A fancy, leather-lined version was sold in North America as the Acura SLX.  The Japanese could choose between an Isuzu Bighorn, a Subaru Bighorn, and a Honda Horizon.  In Indonesia and South America. it was the Chevrolet Trooper.  And in China it was the Sanjiu 3-Nine Trooper.

But if you lived in Monterey, California and you wanted to pay tribute to your home city by driving through it in an SUV named after it, you were out of luck.  The best you can do is buy an Isuzu Trooper and swap the grille and badges.


#5
Head to Head / Re: Looking for a new car
Last post by CaminoRacer - March 26, 2024, 04:02:41 PM
I'm a big fan of the current Civic. Even the Type R looks more mature. I thought about an Si or Type R last summer but they were still being marked up and I wasn't playing that game.
#6
Head to Head / Re: Looking for a new car
Last post by Lebowski - March 26, 2024, 02:43:20 PM
Quote from: Raza  on March 26, 2024, 02:31:10 PMIt is still pretty ugly—the Civic is just an awkward looking customer no matter the trim. But the performance value is pretty good. It's got basically no options, so it's out the door right at 30K, which is kind of a bargain these days. It's worth considering, for sure.

Interesting, I think this generation of civic is pretty good looking, inside and out.  There were definitely some civic gens that were ugly, but not this one IMO.
#7
Head to Head / Re: Looking for a new car
Last post by Raza - March 26, 2024, 02:31:10 PM
Quote from: Lebowski on March 24, 2024, 01:02:48 PMCivic Si is not bad looking, and not as boy racerish as the R.


It is still pretty ugly—the Civic is just an awkward looking customer no matter the trim. But the performance value is pretty good. It's got basically no options, so it's out the door right at 30K, which is kind of a bargain these days. It's worth considering, for sure.
#8
General Automotive / Re: Cars named after places wh...
Last post by Madman - March 26, 2024, 01:22:19 PM
Quote from: SJ_GTI on March 26, 2024, 10:49:39 AMThis is a fun thread. Are you writing this all yourself???


Yes, it's an idea I've been kicking around for a while now.  It hit me one day when I noticed the incongruity of all the 1960s and 1970s Detroit dinosaurs named after places where, in reality, you'd never have a snowball's chance in hell of selling such a gigantic, gas-guzzling barge of a car.

When I finally started brainstorming the cars named on this list, it never even occurred to me how long it would eventually become.  And I'm still not finished!  I haven't even got to the names of trim packages and special editions (Fiat Panda Antarctica, anyone?) which, were I to include them, could keep this thread going for a VERY long time!


#9
General Automotive / Re: Cars named after places wh...
Last post by SJ_GTI - March 26, 2024, 10:49:39 AM
This is a fun thread. Are you writing this all yourself???
#10
General Automotive / Re: Cars named after places wh...
Last post by Madman - March 26, 2024, 09:44:35 AM




Part 19: Oldsmobile Firenza


Built from 1982-88, the Oldsmobile Firenza was one of about a bazillion variants of GM's J-car architecture.  Its name is derived from Firenze,  known as Florence in English, and also renowned for it's architecture.  The city it a bit older than the car, obviously, having been established by the Romans in 59 BC.

The city of Firenze  is widely regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance.  The Oldsmobile Firenza was the result of decisions made by the suits at GM's Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit.

Firenze  was home to the Medici family.  The Firenza carried American families in a variety of body configurations; a four door sedan, a two-door coupe, a three-door fastback hatch, and a five-door station wagon.

Alas, despite all of the apparent similarities, Firenze  and the Firenza never met.  As any tourist can attest, the Italian peninsula is somewhat lacking in Oldsmobiles.  However, Italy did get a cousin of the Firenza, the Opel Ascona C.  The Ascona, of course, being yet another J-car variant.