Look what showed up at a local salvage auction! '77, imported in '94 from Sweden. I don't think it's worth restoration anymore, but still interesting.
Here's a question for all of you car folks: Which generation of the B-Body Charger do you prefer the most?
Gen 1. Dodge cheaped out on the subsequent gens. Also, when looking on searchtempest for old 911s, I found this atrocity of a robo-generated car ad: https://providence.craigslist.org/cto/d/intercooler-porscher15/6718485802.html
Not sure if I have mentioned it before, but a bus that I sometimes get on, Arriva Southern Counties 3417 (Dennis dart SLF 2004). Has a terrible boost leak, its way down on power, and when the driver accelerates it makes a chuffa chuffa noise as the turbocharger is blowing all its air everywhere. Engine is a Cummins ISBE (3.9). It also makes some odd noises, it's much more higher pitched than the other buses. I think the engine might be on the way out, or it's just noise from having the pressure side of the turbo exposed. Either way, I'll be surprised if it is ever fixed.
I like all generations but the fourth one, since the fourth one is not what I'd call a Dodge Charger. It would've been better to call it the Dodge Cordoba. I think I'm like everyone else, I'm more lenient toward G2.
You know, some things just kind of got me thinking about the Isuzu Impulse (Piazza anywhere else), and when I went to look it up it finally hit me that Isuzu really used to make stylish, powerful, dynamic passenger cars, using the best European talent they could get hold of. And then, at some point, they turned into an outlet mall for rebadged GM trucks, and then fled the US market entirely. Looking for information I found many factors which could have affected their leaving the passenger-car market and the death spiral that followed, from the collapse of Japan's economy in the mid-1990s, to emissions & safety standards getting tougher, to their aggressively hiking SUV prices right as their development stalled and new competitors flooded the market, to buying themselves back from GM with money they desperately needed to develop new product. Eventually they ran out of GMs to rebadge and called it quits with this market, though they still sell (utility vehicles only) in Asia, Africa, and South America. What really stuck out to me, though, even though it wasn't really emphasized as a main reason, was GM's constant meddling. First they drove a wedge between Isuzu and their long-time stylist Giugiaro by making last-minute changes to the styling of the second-generation Gemini (I-Mark/Chevy Spectrum) which the stylist took as an insult, then they started trying to conform Isuzu's US product line to their own system of market segments (I seem to recall from a Bob Lutz book I bought a long time ago that the early 1990s was when all of the Big Three started importing marketing witches from Procter & Gamble in the vain hope that they'd be able to sell cars as well as they'd sold baby wipes and dish detergent, and also that GM had a hideously complicated market-segmentation system). Even as they gave Isuzu access to Lotus and Irmscher chassis tuning that they could use to really shine, they meddled their passenger-car business to death. Granted, there were a lot of external factors, and a lot of dumb decisions on Isuzu's part too, but I really do have to wonder if we'd still have Impulse RS sport compacts competing at Car & Driver's annual Lightning Lap competition if GM had given them a little more autonomy in the first place.
This place never ceases to amaze me. You think you've seen all the wacky imports, then stumble across a Unimog just chillin' in the woods.
Well, we got the production form of the X7 already revealed now! https://jalopnik.com/2019-bmw-x7-jesus-christ-this-thing-is-huge-1829797412 It hasn't even been a month since we got pictures of the new 3-Series and we now got the X7.
My god. BMW is amazing, they really are. They're masters! I can't believe they could possibly make something so vomit induceingly ugly with zero redeeming qualities about it because it's not a proper SUV like a Range Rover! It'll sell like hotcakes.
So while it is huge, it is actually narrower than a Volvo XC90, so I guess that is something? Interestingly the Volvo XC90 is both wider, and lower. Which depending on weight distribution, could give it a helping hand at being more sporty than the BMW around corners. I guess the real question is, who wears it best?
Well, basically anything BMW sells now will be hits. My problem with the car currently is the oversized grille. Same goes to the 2019 X5.
Reduced the grille size somewhat (with some crappy 1 min photoshop skillz). Do people actually prefer this? Or is it just as bad?
@aljowen The shortened grille just needs to be moved up, and it'd look a bit better than the original design.
Personally I think I prefer lower, since it makes the car look more estate like. Since putting the grille up that high feels like they puffing out their chest to look bigger than they are.
IMHO, I prefer it higher. It fitted well with shortening the X5 grille, and It actually doesn't look too shabby.
Trash tier photoshop intensifies... I think grafting an M3 grille on is probably worse, but not entirely sure. On a side note, these should totally be a pair of sunglasses for the type of people who drive expensive BMW's
