I walked out forever the day a pushy salesman actually had the ‘nads to ask a Marine Gunnery Sergeant if he was “man enough” to own a Harley.

There are those who bottle up this stuff for a long time. On the other hand, there are those who join the Marines, go through ICT, and then go home to settle a few scores.

You know that the A-Class I drove in Norway is basically an economy car, right?

Pretty much. But there’s been much good and bad both posted about that. Innovation is good, but often carries it’s own new problems.

Good comment, but I balk at the ‘different for the sake of being different’ thing.

Which is really smart, to be truthful.

I’ll give you a star for accuracy. But isn’t this Jalopnik? The home for disgruntled people not happy with many of today’s offering? Den of those who want station wagons and shooting brakes, and more Miatas?

Okay, now I’m hungry.

Actually, I get sort-of my wish. The A-Class coming to the U.S. is a American-special-only version. It is nothing like the one I drove in Norway.

Maybe it is a mental thing for me. I rode a motorcycle for many years. And commuting on I-5 in L.A, or 285 in Atlanta... you get accustomed to risking your life every morning. A Golf feels unGodly huge to me.

I look at it as some kind of demented, closed, self-perpetuating cycle... People need vehicles, but what they want isn’t available, so they buy what they see. Our small trucks disappeared, and when someone needs a truck, they buy what they can. Then, there’s no reason to make a smaller, less expensive version.

Because it’s not $6 a gallon for gas. I see the point, what I don’t see is the choice.

The problem is, we aren’t getting the good small cars, we’re getting leftovers. The Smart isn’t bad, it just doesn’t do anything besides move two people around. I saw a hundred different wonderful vehicles in Japan, not one of which is available to us. Germany? They had this little Ford thing that was like a chassis,…

And Ford and Chevy cut out making small, economical pickups... why? Maybe because a Silverado crossed the$40,000 mark, and that’s where the money is?

So, I once worked for a company that did computer service for several big companies. While I myself, as a User, find those ToS agreements long, boring, difficult to grasp on the basics, etc., I find there’s a reason for many of the paragraphs.

I saw some nice little SUV-looking things in Germany.

I don’t feel THAT old, but the SS interior is my kind of thing. I love symmetrical vents instead of those trapezoids stuck in between useless trim shapes.

5th... that is total BS... TOTAL. The only reason our small car market gets that way is because we can’t have the really nice, really useful small cars available to everyone else on the freaking Planet!

I had a musical friend named Mac who bought a Fleetwood just for the giggles.

Get with it! Letters are cool now. Who would possibly want a car called the Fleetwood, when they could drive the XRST-V, or the EIEIO?