I’ve enjoyed watching the game these Germans play, acquiring other brands to expand their market reach into niches where their own products can’t compete. VW’s Lamborghini and Bentley worked out well for all involved. Ditto BMW’s reinvention of Mini. But Mercedes Benz.....Swatch/Smart and....Chrysler...?

that’s an attitude that keeps explorers home and inventors working retail

Considering the commitment some owners make by investing in chargers that probably can’t do much else, it shouldn’t be surprising

I’m sure mine doesn’t even exist, and likely didn’t even when I first learned of it nearly 50 years ago: During the sixties, GM sent something like 1,900 Corvairs to England. These weren’t assembled cars but ‘CKD’s -Completely Knocked Down- that were built here, taken apart and shipped overseas to be put back together…

that is one sweet hue

If you come across a seemingly perfect example at a ridiculously low price, DO NOT BUY IT! (...but please send me the contact info instead...I’ve always wanted one too.)

and here I was picturing a Fiat 850 Spider with a lift kit and Desert Mauler tires...

My 1968 Corvair: wonderful in so many respects, with lines that could have come from Pinifarina...except that awful owl-beak nose that houses the ‘frunck’ lock cylinder. I’ve reworked in 1/24 scale plastic a dozen times and several in full-size steel, but that damn thing just refuses to be attractive.

Having lived in southwestern Connecticut and southeastern New York -and commuted both ways to work- I’d choose the Merritt over I-95 almost any day...the exceptions being days after wind storms when the Merritt’s natural beauty is strewn all over the pavement. Those overhanging trees may be pretty but they can tie up…

if not, stick with the unimpeachably forgiving mass of steel

my thoughts as well, though mine would likely be made of plywood and 2 x 4s.

we’ve got to assume that this classification system will be simply bleed over to be applied to combustion-engined vehicles as well. It’ll be a lazy shift, like the way ZIP codes have replaced real geostatistical boundaries, to simplify things for marketing people and the insurance industry.

Thank you. I wish more people would think that way.

Those fender fin blind spots swore me off Corvettes of the 1970's.

But then you’ve got to wait at the baggage claim. If they’re young enough, they’ll probably meet the carry-0n limits and you can just stuff them into an overhead compartment.

is he wearing a medallion or is that a growth on his chest that should warrant some medical concern?

While any car becomes noteworthy when it’s simultaneously old and brand new, that’s about all that makes this vehicle interesting. No dice at any price.

what bugs me most - yet also gives a little thrill- is when I have to explain the car’s features and flaws to a clueless rookie salesman. I once had a Hyundai salesman call over his (eventually five) colleagues for an explanation of why I’d have readily purchased a Genesis coupe as a naive youth but wouldn’t touch one…

so I wasn’t the only one

smoking something cooked up in a slop sink from old batteries, match heads and sudafed perhaps, but could have used some nice bud instead, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation..