The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Outpost Cafe => Topic started by: Dave W on June 22, 2014, 10:04:05 PM
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The downside of not having cable is that you have to slog through network TV ads. I don't watch much TV but I swear I must have seen the latest Buick ad 40 times this weekend and 100 times the past week.
Cars that look EXACTLY like Buicks, with Buick grilles and big Buick badges, and none of the imbeciles in the ad recognize the cars as Buicks. Ridiculous music playing in the background. Are they trying to out-stupid the moronic Toyota "Jan" commercials?
Now if they showed the Buicks in flaming crashes due to GM's faulty ignition switches, that might be worth watching. :P
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Some enlightenment please, where's the ad to watch?
The first Buick I saw in my life (outside of movies) was one of those late fifties tailfin behemoths which someone in our small town owned for a while in the mid sixties (there was GM plant not too far away and though that did not produce Buicks it meant there were a lot of Opel/GM dealers that would also import the odd other brand from GM hence the availability of Buicks). It looked something like this here:
(http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Sycamore-show-5-25-2012-017.jpg)
It has shaped what my mind expects a Buick to look like to this day. :) It looked out of this world to me at the time (German cars of even the later fifties had not taken the tailfin design to the same excess), like a sedan version of the Batmobile. I remember touching (fondling?) the pointed "bullet bra" rearlights in awe - no doubt one of my early cryptosexual actions ...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tLZBTx7nMlA/UO4JQU3kmDI/AAAAAAAADLs/hbn698ZsnCE/s1600/bullet+bra+4.jpg)
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(http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Sycamore-show-5-25-2012-017.jpg)
That's a 1959 Buick. Very restrained design compared to the 1958 model. It and the very similar Oldsmobile set a record that year for chrome plating, around 55 lbs of it IIRC.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/ME/1958Buick_zpsbdb2a218.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/ME/1958Buick_zpsbdb2a218.jpg.html)
This is the Buick I remember as being the first I ever saw. My uncle bought one new in 1953. Four portholes, top of the line!
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/ME/1953Buick_zpsae87810e.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/ME/1953Buick_zpsae87810e.jpg.html)
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Here's the ad. Not much change from recent years. But none of the dumbshits in the ad can recognize that big Buick emblem.
"Five expectation-shattering models." If you're expecting something good from today's GM, your expectations will be shattered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNW_U_cDYTc
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Looks more like a Skoda.
Or a Hyundai Cloaca.
:popcorn:
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From what I hear, the new Buick sedans like the Regal and LaCrosse are pretty good drivers.
It's worth noting that Pontiac and Olds went away, but Buick survived. I've heard that it's a BIG seller in China, and if so, that may be the reason for its survival.
And those '58 and '59 Buicks are worth a LOT of $$$ now in good condition.
My brother had a '66 Skylark convertible with the V6 in it - had a ton of fun with that car. Bought it at a Sheriff's auction, rebuilt the motor, learned a lot doing it. (Photo found on da interwebs)
(http://fastlanecars.com/images/Cars/d1a96d84-46bd-42b2-9b54-b76c8fe750e8/064x-001large.JPG)
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I remember touching (fondling?) the pointed "bullet bra" rearlights in awe - no doubt one of my early cryptosexual actions ...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tLZBTx7nMlA/UO4JQU3kmDI/AAAAAAAADLs/hbn698ZsnCE/s1600/bullet+bra+4.jpg)
That sweater is SO cute, now I'm all sproingky - here at work. I just need 12 seconds in a dark corner :sad:
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It's worth noting that Pontiac and Olds went away, but Buick survived. I've heard that it's a BIG seller in China, and if so, that may be the reason for its survival.
(http://fastlanecars.com/images/Cars/d1a96d84-46bd-42b2-9b54-b76c8fe750e8/064x-001large.JPG)
Olds was spotted just a tad under Buick in the old GM hierarchy, Pontiac just above Chevy). When GM made the decision to cut brands Pontiac and Olds were the easier choices.
The Buick brand in China covered both Buick and Opel and a Chevy derived minivan when I was living there. My Taiwanese partner had a Buick Century, the first GM offering, 2.8L V6. We drove a lot of miles on some very bad roads in it before he bought a 5 series BMW as a replacement. He drives Mercs in Taiwan. I saw many more Audis than I did Buicks in China. The Buicks are assembled in China, ditto the BMWs and a lot of non China brands for domestic and export markets.
GMs growth overseas provides very few new American jobs. They plan on opening 4 more assembly plants in China by 2015. Those bad roads are pretty much gone.
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Here's the ad. Not much change from recent years. But none of the dumbshits in the ad can recognize that big Buick emblem.
Similar to what they are currently doing with Opel in Germany where they have celebrities drive a new Opel and marvel at it "I can't believe I'm driving one of their cars!", "An Opel? You're joking!" or "I didn't even know they still made cars!" They are trying to resurrect a brand image and I suppose that - much like Opel - Buick went out of fashion as a car brand quite a while ago in the US.
I always liked how the name pronounced itself - "bjoo-ick", that was snappy. It's also the brand I would identify the most with typical oversized "US-Straßenkreuzer" (as we call them here: "US-street-battleships"), no doubt due to that first formative encounter with one.
As for the new Buick breed, individualistic looking they are not, but then - contrary to what car magazines sometimes give you as an impression - the market of car buyers with an individualistic taste is limited. Most people want reliability and something that is technologically somewhere between state of the art and affordable.
Speaking of Opels: The grill of that Skylark Convertible just yells "Opel!" to me, it could have been on anyone of the larger Opel models of the time.
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One of my first cousins had an Opel GT back in the day. Just remind her of it and she'll instantly be in a bad mood.
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That was a lovely car, Dave! Like a Corvette shrunk in size. Yes, it was underpowered, but it had a hardy little Opel engine you could easily replace or repair.
My dad used to test-drive GM cars - they would just give them for a week or so to employees to see how they fared in everday traffic. And one day he arrived in a yellow Opel GT and took me (plus the neighborhood girl) to school with it, both of us rather cramped on the front passenger seat, but I can't say we didn't enjoy the ride or the dramatic exit from the car before the schoolyard. :mrgreen:
(http://i.auto-bild.de/ir_img/7/9/5/4/0/2/Opel-GT-junior-1971-729x486-99c0612e1de3bbea.jpg)
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Looks more like a Skoda.
Or a Hyundai Cloaca.
:popcorn:
I'm not sure they really call their cars "Cloaca", Rob!
Your team made the next round, not bad!!!
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I loved my little '73 Opel wagon! I could fit the Acoustic 360 just right in the back with the seat down. Flight case slid in next to the bottom. My dad liked it so much that he went and got one, but it was the Opel by Isuzu model. His wasn't quite what mine was.
(http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/73-Opel-Wagon-800x514.jpg)
And my favorite Buick also doesn't really look like a Buick, despite using a few real body parts from early Roadmasters.
(http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/gallery.php/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=17164)
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTV88c1ZSXzvqfdA81r-rVM4b7H_DKr0VIxvwH8w4wU1DY68XEW)
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That was a lovely car, Dave! Like a Corvette shrunk in size.
(http://i.auto-bild.de/ir_img/7/9/5/4/0/2/Opel-GT-junior-1971-729x486-99c0612e1de3bbea.jpg)
Yeah, this one...
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/CARS/68-VETTE.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/CARS/68-VETTE.jpg.html)
...which owed its design to this, readily admitted by the Chevy designers.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/CARS/1962_ferrari_250_gto_zps3e4127a7.jpeg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/CARS/1962_ferrari_250_gto_zps3e4127a7.jpeg.html)
A '63 250 GTO sold for 20.2 million pounds in 2012. I was happy to see my '68 Vette go for a lot less in 2003.
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I know I have a trash taste, but I think those C3s look hot!!! Always have, always will. Never mind about the chassis which even by mid-seventies standards wasn't anything near to what you could call "sporty" (later Corvette generations did much better in that department). In a German auto-test the C3 received the scathing remark: "a mock sports car that drives like a cangaroo". ;D But what a beautiful cangaroo 'twas!
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I still want an Opel GT. ;D
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I know I have a trash taste, but I think those C3s look hot!!! Always have, always will. Never mind about the chassis which even by mid-seventies standards wasn't anything near to what you could call "sporty" (later Corvette generations did much better in that department). In a German auto-test the C3 received the scathing remark: "a mock sports car that drives like a cangaroo". ;D But what a beautiful cangaroo 'twas!
I bought mine when I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taking it into the city was not fun. 4 speed with a burpy carb and nonfunctional E brake, typical of Vettes. Disastrous on those city hills. But it was a head turner. I drove it to the The Mark Hopkins one night and the valet parked it right out front...today I realize he probably had no desire to drive the beast any farther than he had to.
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I'll agree that the Opel GT was a great looking little car. My cousin's GT was in the shop almost as much as it was out and running, and that turned me off of ever wanting to buy one. Could have been worse, I suppose; could have been a Triumph TR-7. And at least it wasn't as bad as my '74 Saab 99, a truly evil car that should have been given a long ride off a short pier.
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I loved the Opel GT when I was a kid. Mini Corvette! At the time, I thought it was cooler than Maxwell Smart's first car. Then when I was older, I realized that first car was a Sunbeam Tiger, which would DESTROY the Opel!
(http://image.motortrend.com/f/features/auto_news/8467534/112_0803_02z%2Bsmart_sunbeam%2Bsunbeam_tiger_side_view.jpg)
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I liked them, too.
But my favorite 'Vette of all time (not that I'm really a big 'Vette fan) was the 1962. Round quad headlights in front, Sting Ray pointed tail:
(http://www.vettefacts.com/images/1962-red-convertible-corvette.jpg)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the body lines aren't that different from the 1958 Fiat TV Roadster I owned for 40 years:
(http://www.automobile-catalog.com/img/picto28h/fiat/1-3-290.jpg)
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Here's the ad. Not much change from recent years. But none of the dumbshits in the ad can recognize that big Buick emblem.
Thank You!
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My fav Vette is the 63-67, followed by 68-72.
(http://www.67fso.com/new67parkback.jpg)
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i used to a total gm guy but over the years i have become a big ford fan. especially the trucks. you can keep your redneck porches(corvettes) and give me a comparable mustang anyday.
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My fav Vette is the 63-67, followed by 68-72.
(http://www.67fso.com/new67parkback.jpg)
The guy who painted the Buzzard I worked on restores Vettes and has that exact '67 except for the stripe and 6 taillights.
My fave is the 56-57.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/ME/57Vette_zps8fdee735.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/ME/57Vette_zps8fdee735.jpg.html)
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Speaking of Vettes, Stolen Corvette found, being returned 33 years later
(http://www.freep.com/article/20140625/NEWS05/306250111/stolen-corvette-returned-detroit)
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This corvette didn't fare as well - it was the last one to be recovered from the sinkhole:
http://www.freep.com/article/20140410/BUSINESS0101/304100065/Corvette-museum-sinkhole
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I loved my little '73 Opel wagon! I could fit the Acoustic 360 just right in the back with the seat down. Flight case slid in next to the bottom. My dad liked it so much that he went and got one, but it was the Opel by Isuzu model. His wasn't quite what mine was.
Nice! I still have a thing for wagons. I've had a Peugeot 505 and more recently a Roadmaster Estate:
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/ebay/roadmaster/DSCF0001.jpg) (http://s87.photobucket.com/user/0chromium0/media/ebay/roadmaster/DSCF0001.jpg.html)
That thing was a beast, and sure could move (LT-1 8))
My dad had a Manta way back when... always kinda liked those and the GTs.
(http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/7376/opelmantaagte2.jpg)
My wife was in a hit and run last Oct, and her car was out of commission for a while. She ended up with a Buick Lacrosse rental for about a month. Some of the stuff they choose to automate just baffles me - like the engagement of the parking brake via a console switch instead of a mechanical lever (or pedal)... just more s4!t that'll end up breaking. Overall, though, it was a pretty nice car. My first impressions were good - but I have no idea how it would hold up over time.
I bet a lot of it is "global platform" - Open/Vauxhall, etc... Sure looks it.
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Re Manta, my mom had one like that too, the A model, just as above. Silly kid brother crashed it in a roadside ditch when he took it out age 13 or something (legal driving age was 18 back then in Germany!). The first of many car and motrcycle crashes he had, his guardian angel should really receive a Nobel prize for overtime work and endless patience. It only got better once he started turning 40, but let's not jinx it!
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Not only is GM still running the same retarded Buick commercial, now they have a Chevy summer event commercial with Kid Rock yowling and caterwauling at the top of his lungs. It seems to be playing about every 15 minutes. I might wear out the mute button on my remote if this keeps up.
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Latest review from Consumer Reports (which some like, some don't) rates the Buick Regal as competitive with BMW and ahead of Cadillac in small sporty sedans. Interesting.
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cadillac in the small, sporty sedan class. the world is over! they do however, have this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NNybM217_ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NNybM217_o
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Under 11 seconds is big-time speed. TheV8 Caddies are indeed very quick cars....although that one is far from stock.
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from what i understand caddy offers a few after market set ups farmed out to other shops. this one of them.
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GM couldn't shake the old folks reputation of Oldsmobile, I doubt they can do it with Caddy.
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Caddy is working hard at it, but the image takes years to change. I hope they make it, because I really like what they've done over the past few years.
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When I bought my Lincoln MKX a couple of years ago, I was doing some online comparison between the Caddy SRX and the MKX Lincoln. I accidently popped up the CTS supercharged wagon and flipped when I saw some of the stats. 565 hp was the first one that that hit me, but the 0 to 60 and quarter mile times about knocked me over too. I can't remember exactly what they were, but take the 565 hp and let your imagination do the rest :o.
Rick
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around here the standard old folks car is a buick regal. you can bet on it . runner up is the ford galaxie 500. the biggest and cheapest cars you can buy i guess.
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around here the standard old folks car is a buick regal. you can bet on it . runner up is the ford galaxie 500. the biggest and cheapest cars you can buy i guess.
My parents last car was a Buick Century. It was the car that provided easiest access for my ailing mother.