My Grandfather just sold his 83 Trans Am a year ago, I forget all the options but it only had 14,000 miles on it and an auto transmission. Anyway, we took it out for one last short ride and hit the gas. It sure made a lot of noise but didn’t really go very quick. I looked up the quarter mile and 0-60 times and the…

I never thought AWD had much purpose until I started driving in mountainous terrain. In rural areas where you rarely stop it isn’t so bad. When you are trying to get moving at a stop light or side road AWD can be a massive help.  

Optional.

I think I finally get where you are coming from!

I’m not sure what you mean by GST being a deduction from corporate income tax.

I agree that the cost of healthcare is not covered through sales taxes. That is exactly what I had been trying to state but must not have been clear enough. When I said “The GST is not necessarily tied to healthcare costs” I meant that general taxation is the main driver that covers the cost. Sorry if I was not clear.…

Aren’t they 110m long in the USA? 137m long in Canada which always throws me off.

5th Gear - I’m writing from the other side. I miss the USA. I support the boarder closure and given how slow we are moving it will be a while before things are back to normal. But still, I really miss going to the USA. We aren’t meant to be separated for so long.

Good writeup! Looking at the vehicle styling in the picture my mind jumped to Brazil. I was completely wrong about the size of the vehicle though. I was expecting a stretched compact car platform, not a modified F250!

Part of the reason Buick does so well in China is they established a presence there in the 90's, when there was little competition and the domestic Chinese brands were not up to speed. Now every world player plus the Chinese brands are competing in what is the worlds largest market.

I saw on Car and Driver that they lowered the overall height by 1.5". I can’t imagine they lowered the floor of the truck in any way so I am afraid they took it out of the head room. I dislike moonroofs for the same reason you mentioned.

I quite like the look of the design. I had a 2013 frontier and have a soft spot for the vehicle.

Most of the good reasons have already been stated.

I’m surprised how low Hino’s N. American sales are. I see quite a few of them around. I would have guessed they were a major player in the Class 4/5 truck market but it must just be more popular in my region. The Woodstock Ontario factory is only 15 years old.

I’m going to share my best stuck in the snow story. It was a super snowy day and my girlfriend wanted to learn to drive in the snow. We were coming off a side street to a main through road and she went and stopped right on top of the snow plow ridge with no way to get any momentum. I was about to get out to push when…

I think the biggest factor is the asperation. For various reasons people respect the pickup trucks and aspire to get one. There was a time when you impressed the neighbors with a large Cadillac but now it is a well equipped truck that gets attention. The manufactures have responded to this demand by putting huge…

Buick was my first thought. I would have said a regular Regal. Extremely comfortable and good for soaking up the miles. Also I think the high depreciation they have means you can get an almost new one for the suggested price. Might not be as sporty as he wants but it checks all the other boxes.

Thorough article with lots of pictures. I appreciate the effort!

The style of those reminds me of my old 6th Gen Grand Prix. I liked that Grand Prix back in the early 00's but you are right. It is just not a looker and certainly not a classic.

If you are ever near Buffalo NY you should check out the Pierce Arrow museum. While most of the cars are Pierce Arrow they have some other oddities from defunct manufacturers and a cool collection of early 1900's electrics.