Re: Funny quote about the SAAB 9-3 based Cadillac BLS

the 300c kicks ass. My Dad has one and it is a great car for the money.

I recall the Top Gear 'review' of it. If you can live with the 'gansta looks' it's good value. Still handles like a barge though.

Where are you posting from btw ?

Graham

Going back to the original post, it's a tongue in cheek article. Quite amusing actually, included on the same page is a report of how the Mazda MX5 has been made 15% more manly.....

If you look in their archive, issue 8 asks "what's a SAAB?" and fondly takes the mick out of GM in particular and Americans and Swedes in General, with references to Ikea and ABBA. It's all in good humour and should be viewed that way.

Al

I've seen some of those here in the US. I did kind of a double-take and thought "what in hell is THAT ugly beast!?"

A new contender for the Ugly Award, along with the Honda Element and that old favorite the Pontiac Aztec. Peugot are welcome to enter a few of their models, but so far it's a US-only competition.

As far as I can remember back, and that's many years since my childhood, new cars launches have always been accompanied by claims of substantial increase of torsional rigidity. Say, if this is 50% each time, then new cars must be about ~1.5 ^12 = 130 times stiffer than they were in the 60'ies. Amazing!

I am posting from USA. Yes, the car is big so it is not going to handle like my Saab 9-3 Aero or my brothers CTS-V. But for its size it handles very nicely.

the 300c was the N.A. Car of the Year

a lot of people must consider it a good looking vehicle. [snip]

Ahhh..the aroma of pure, unadulterated euro-elitism ;-) I've never been much of a Cadillac fan myslef, but I hold out hope. Their cars are generally brash and much less subtle than their cousins in the luxury car segment. Notably, one of the worst Cadillacs ever ever was actually designed by Europeans...remember the Allante?

I'm not convinced the designers (presumably americans) took their styling cues purely from an American perspective on this car. It actually looks very similar to the Bentley Arnage...a car clearly intended for a supposedly "more sophisticated" Euro-centric audience. The stance and general outward appearance on both cars are almost identical. The biggest difference is really in the price tag.

- tex

yes, it's either a Cadillac (or most other US car) or a BMW...

-- MH '72 97 '77 96 '78 95 '79 96 '91 900i 16

And if you're posting from the US...... just think what us Europeans make of it !

I can only comment that US tastes in vehicle styling have generally always seemed somewhat eccentric to me.

As for your Dad's 300c - If he's happy with it - great.

Europeans roads are better suited to rather less large and nippier handling vehicles though. More ( tighter ) corners, narrower carriageways, and stuff like that.

Graham

I think that's a very large part of it.

A Saab on the other hand has always seemed to me to be the ultimate 'subtle' upmarket car in a nicely stylish but pleasantly understated kind of way.

I didn't know about that. Must look into it.

You sure about that ? I think they ( Bentley ) were always targeting the US market.

That's for sure.

Graham

In what way? The most popular car in the US is a Honda Accord and it has been for several years. If you want to identify US tastes, look at the car most people buy, not the oddly styled products that are trying to grab attention and market share.

I found all the comments about the oddly styled Diamler-Chrysler cars funny because that company is all German upper-management and it also has been that way for the past several years.

Walt

If they were targeting the US market, it was a wasted effort. 99.99% of the US popluation seeing a Bently go by (if that should ever happen) would think it is a Rolls-Royce with a funny grille, assuming that they would recognize a Rolls-Royce. Even fewer would know where to buy one. If they got past all of that and had the wherewithall, they would purchase the Rolls because of its name recognition. I don't even know how these models apperance has changed after the Rolls-Bently selloff to the Germans.

Actually, most people in the US think the same of a Rolls-Royce as Europeans think of a Cadillac - gawdy, bloated, ostentatious, overpriced, horribly uneconomical and it is one of the few cars where buyers get to pay the US "Gas Guzzler Tax" as part of its purchase. GM has managed to avoid that tax in all but the Holden Monaro based Pontiac GTO with automatic transmission. Even the typical Cadillacs and Corvettes manage to avoid this tax.

Surely the Hummer H2 doesn't avoid this tax?

John

I can't really disagree with that description. The current model is especially grotesque.

Graham

In this case, size has nothing to do with handling. If you want, you can even make a Crown Vic handle - like the police cars. The Grand Ntional was not a small car, but it had power and handling. But as you stated, for its size it handles nicely and not every one wants a SPG or Aero - especially on a rough road.

When Congress ask Chrysler who bought who, they said the compnay was called

Chrysler-Diamler and it was a US owned and US run company. I think the compnay

was asking for tax breaks or something to prompt these questions.

Sorry - have to disagree - big time !

More like weight than pure size actually.

Ever driven an earlyish Golf GTi or even an Alfasud ( pref cloverleaf ) ? 'Point and shoot' cars. Unbelievably responsive ! You simply can't make a large heavy car handle like that.

Uh ? What's a Crown Vic ?

Aeros aren't intended for rough roads. They're intended for 'metalled' roads. You may prefer to consider a Land Rover in your case however.

Graham

See:

Commonly used in the US as a police vehicle...for size (accomodating equipment), speed (having a sizeable V8, fews cars will outrun it), durability/reliability.

You can say that again! Read my recent post "Another winter tire question...frost heaves".

- tex