Please advice: Planning to buy Camry tomorrow.

How old is old? Avalon old? ;)

I'd unass some ducats and go out and get myself the newest Supra I could, if I could!! Take it to a tuner shop, put in stage three turbos and then go out and creep up to stop lights, so when the Blings with the Hondas come up along side, see the "Old Man in the Supra" and start grinning, you can BLOW THEIR DOORS OFF!!!

But, that's just one middle-aged dude's opinion...

Hachi,

The Chicago Auto Show had some interesting sleepers on display.

The Pontiac GTO, V-8, RWD, looks like every other Pontiac on the road - take off the GTO badges cuz we don't need no stinkin' badges and have fun with the Hondas.

Cadillac has managed to transform itself from a division catering to the aging country club set to the choice the young rapper set, even though the music on their commercials has been around for a long, long time. The crowd at the Caddy display seemed to be more $150 sneakers and baggy pants than Sans-A-Belt. The CTS-V will be out soon with the Corvette V-8 instead of the currently available V-6 choices. Good choice for rapid departures from drug deals gone bad and drive-bys.

Last year, there was a Lexus IS with the 4.3 liter V-8 engine - think RWD Corolla-sized car with some muscle.

IMO, a car that gives the sensation of speed, whether it is actually quick or not, is not only fun to drive, but gives the driver (me at least) a clue as to how fast you're going so at least you're aware that you may have to talk to the folks with the red and blue lights on their cars.

Gas is approaching $2.10 a gallon up here in metro Detroit , I think i'll keep my 4 cylinder Camry that gets close to 30 MPG . The car is comfortable as can be and if I want to feel like a hotshot I can take it on the expressway get it up to 100 MPH if I want to..........I don't miss the 6 cylinders or the V8's AT ALL. -Dana

-Dana

Wow! Gas is a bargain in Detroit compared with stations within the city of Chicago! I reluctantly paid $2.39 for premium and am seriously thinking about dropping down to 89 octane and letting the ESA retard the daylights out of the timing.

One of the reasaons I like my older Toys: when you're GOING fast, it FEELS like you're going fast!!! I like the driving-by-the-seat-of-the-pants feel of my older cars.

I once had the hachi up to about 128 on the Trans-Canada from Kingston ON to, uh, gee, I believe it was Mosport (fitting). We were doing 75MPH and a Honda Prelude and a Volvo 760T went past like we were standing still. I thought, "There's the ticket" and decided to give chase, staying back enough so I could see if the Mouties were gonna go after one of them.

I started going faster, and faster, and faster, until it felt like the front end was going to lift off the road. That was at about 128, so I backed it off to 125.

The Volvo and the Honda just walked away...

The hachi was also a lot younger then...as was THIS Hachi!

Now: while my Calica GTS was having a new engine installed, I was driving the LHS. It took about 6 weeks, only because my mechanic had other jobs that needed to get done, and I had 4 other cars to choose from. Since the LHS was the only one that was LEGAL (well, sort of...you know dealers!) I was driving that. Well, after 6 weeks in a plushmobile, the Calica felt like it was buzzing itself to pieces! It took a whole hour to get back into the groove, though...I love the sensation. From that comparison I can only imaging what an Indy car feels like...

Approaching? Oh, are you talking Regular? I paid $2.03 for 89 today, because the LHS demands it. Reg is still under $2.

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Don't know from Avalon, but.old enough to remember Roosevelt's fireside chats, Red Skelton's early radio broadcasts (the mean widdle kid), Pius XII, Fibber MaGee and Molly, Lux Radio Theater with Cecil B. DeMille, Mr. Anthony (Mr. Anthony, I have a lady in the balcony), Major Bowes Radio Amatuer Hour, Elmer Davis, the Chrysler Airflow, the Hupmobile, Lincoln Zephyrs, the NRA, and the WPA. Anybody else out there in my category??

That would be great fun, but I don't think my heart could take it.

Well thanks very much. Nice talking to you.

Rod

I just thought of a cheap mod to improve the illusion of speed on plushmobiles - just pull off the wheel weights!

You've got me by at least 30 years... I came in at the middle of the whole Vietnam mess. But a lot of the stuff you mention was still in reruns then, so I at least got an overview of it...

Ahh, but it's a GOOD feeling when they think they can guttersnipe you at a light, and you stuff them instead. Age and experience...

The best one I ever got had his ricer's rubber bands all wound up tight, he was 'staging in the traps' and ready to pounce on the green light - but he wasn't watching me watching /him/ in the "Big Slow" (half empty NOT slow!) Truck. ;-)

Light goes green and he drops the hammer, already had it up to 20 MPH by the middle of the intersection - then he looked over and saw that I'd slammed the door tight on him... ("Hello!") 8-0

How he managed to slow down to drop in behind me before plowing into the back of that Metro Bus at the bus stop I'll never know - I think he was sideways for a bit...

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Phew!! Raised my pulse just reading about it! Great going Bruce!

Rod

You can put regular in the LHS. It will adjust. Just lose some hp.