Damn, it was so sensible my mind refused to process it as one of his. 

Notice the lack of Torch, Raph or Dave.

I put around 150K on a GTO until some twat drilled it. The idea I can never buy another new bogan hate machine saddens me greatly.

As an aside:  someone put a virtually new (like, less than 1000 miles) 2006 GTO up for sale in West Chester (PA) not long after mine got totaled last winter. I was slightly tempted.

I’m going to hazard a guess: It was on the receiving end of a relatively minor whack at the bottom of the depreciation curve when it was utterly worthless regardless of condition. Either the owner repaired it, or someone saw an otherwise clean E30 at a salvage auction and realized they could fix it on the cheap.

Assumin…

As I’ve said elsewhere, that will be weighed as there is some relaxation regarding patents when dealing with government contracts. However, for virtually all intents and purposes, the only difference here is the consumer was the military. Now, Ford specifically changed the grill on the M151 to avoid any issues with…

Wow, that is a complete failure to read the attached link. The M151 was developed and initially produced by Ford.

I wonder this as well. I’m guessing the key is to shut your yap and don’t upload the trip files from your Garmins until the statue of limitations runs out, while hoping no one else working at/with the third party notices an anomalous set of GPS logs out there.

IIRC, they all do. With the fuel onboard, you’d probably get half to three-quarters of the way across the country without stopping at highway speed. At the speed these dudes are traveling at, your fuel consumption is just enormous.

I ended up going German with its replacement: an E90 335i xDrive, manual trans with the N55.

I might pick up another GTO somewhere down the line. Depends on how the aftermarket treats them. There was a drought for awhile but new sources of parts have been coming online. The cars themselves are even starting to…

Which is why I said “far less” instead of “irrelevant.” It’ll be a factor weighed but the second will be more heavily weighted given its direct one-one similarity to the situation. In both cases you have an off-road vehicle with lineage tracing to the MB/CJ featuring similar profiles with altered grills.

They are very…

First part of your statement is far less relevant than the second. To avoid any trademark issues, Ford changed the grill. Mahindra has a precedent they can point directly at.

I say “FCA” because FCA is the current owner of the relevant companies, and therefore lugs that history along for the ride. Also, Kaiser is not about to rise from its corporate grave to answer that question in the court case.

Now, the M151 helps establish the case that a “Jeep” in the context of a small, open-top…

I remember reading that the best legal solutions to IP conflicts leave both parties somewhat dissatisfied. This is probably the best, and most equitable, outcome: Mahindra pays a fat licensing fee but gets to use the Jeep brand and grill. Lean into the CJ-5 heritage and SxS market by calling it something like the…

Here’s Mahindra’s legal mic drop. Go on, FCA, tell me where you successfully prosecuted this?

Neat. The X-Type’s one of those cars that I don’t think got quite the respect it deserved. Yours AWD, too? 

I used to daily an olden Holden (well, Pontiac GTO) until this year. (Some twit smushed it.) Winter tires vastly improve things but I’ve been a convert for some flavor of AWD in the white stuff for a while.

Late-GenX, mid-level engineer here, too. I was actually pondering the notion of building what I called the “TrollStang”: find a Fox-body GT and ditch the 5.slo and stick axle in favor of the old turbo-four and a Cobra’s IRS. Then Ford had to ruin my fun by essentially building that car new. It’s kinda two extremes but…

I’d be slightly terrified of this as a daily. Awesome weekender, yes but operational and maintenance costs could be brutal. . . I mean, I could be completely wrong as I’ve little feel for modern Jag expenses but. . . Hoofah.

Think you might’ve been in the Chevy dealership.

Mustangs around here seem to be driven by middle-level management and late-boomer/early-GenX senior technical staff. Or their wives.

Not to be that guy, especially as I think on the basic level we’re both preaching to the choir, but don’t you mean “aren’t”? Mutual exclusivity is about two things that can’t functionally exist together, like a screendoor on a spaceship or an underwater open-air sundeck.

Here’s a hybrid and a manual, living together in…

Shhhh. . . I still hafta due that.

Truth be told, I kinda prefer the “warm” tone of the original halogen bulbs (on my E90) but the LED ones do a better job of illuminating the entire ring. Ironically, when the bulbs due finally die I will probably order yellow/orange LED replacements, which I guess puts me somewhere…