Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

phoenixsac said:
Couldn't have been a Noble - they were never imported to the U.S. Must have been a Rossion Q1 instead.

This is a Noble M400:
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/ph/phoenixsac/2011/08/07/Noble_M400-2.jpg

This is a Rossion Q1:
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/ph/phoenixsac/2011/08/07/Matte_20_20Black_20Rossion_20Q1_20004.jpg

I don't understand how you could confuse one for the other. ;)

(At the SEMA show a couple of years ago I met some people from Rossion. They really didn't like it when I called their car a Noble.)
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No, it was a Noble. It was even the same color as the one you posted and said Noble on the back. It was a traffic jam, I was the car right behind it. I assure you it was definitely a Noble.
 
Yep - I found out that about 220 Nobles were imported to the US.

Starting in 2007, though, Rossion got the rights to the M400 and are selling it as the Q1.

So not only did Kat see a Noble, she saw one of only 220 that were imported to the US. She also took the title of "rarest car seen on the road" away from me! :shakefist:

(I once saw a BMW M1 in Virginia Beach, VA in 1988 and a Series 2 Aston Martin Lagonda in San Francisco in 1996.)
 
phoenixsac said:
Yep - I found out that about 220 Nobles were imported to the US.

Starting in 2007, though, Rossion got the rights to the M400 and are selling it as the Q1.

So not only did Kat see a Noble, she saw one of only 220 that were imported to the US. She also took the title of "rarest car seen on the road" away from me! :shakefist:

(I once saw a BMW M1 in Virginia Beach, VA in 1988 and a Series 2 Aston Martin Lagonda in San Francisco in 1996.)
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I tailed it until my highway exit when the traffic cleared too. :lol:
I am sure the driver was baffled on why they were being chased by a beetle.
 
Probably not but they do have mirrors. :lol:
 
phoenixsac said:
(BTW, did you know that the battery for a Saturn Ion is located in the trunk? I didn't until tonight.)
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Yes, I did. And they even give you lugs up front just for jump-starting the thing, so you can do it from either end.

I know this because I once listened to a dealer try to sell me one. It was practically the one and only selling point other than "It's a car!"
 
HansGruber said:
Anybody here know why BMW never produced the Nazca C2?

1993_ItalDesign_BMW_Nazca_C2_Spider_01.jpg
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because it isn't a BMW? ItalDesign made that car on their own account, and only used a BMW engine...
 
EyeMWing said:
Yes, I did. And they even give you lugs up front just for jump-starting the thing, so you can do it from either end.

I know this because I once listened to a dealer try to sell me one. It was practically the one and only selling point other than "It's a car!"
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Buy this car, it is easy to jump start it when it breaks down!
 
EyeMWing said:
Yes, I did. And they even give you lugs up front just for jump-starting the thing, so you can do it from either end.

I know this because I once listened to a dealer try to sell me one. It was practically the one and only selling point other than "It's a car!"
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Even I would probably say no to the Ion..and that's saying something...:p

TBH, the Cobalt was really the better car of the two, with Astra being the best of all three Delta platform cars.

M_Bolc said:
New car this week! Can't stand the wait =D
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w00t! Congrats! :)
 
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argatoga said:
Buy this car, it is easy to jump start it when it breaks down!
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You know you've hit a new low when the salesmen points that out. Saturns, if maintained I'm sure aren't that bad, they're just ugly, except the L200's. Kind of....
 
bone said:
because it isn't a BMW? ItalDesign made that car on their own account, and only used a BMW engine...
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I'm fully aware of that, but BMW obviously partnered with them by allowing them to use the BMW name. Otherwise it wouldn't be called the Italdesign BMW Nazca C2. So I find it highly suspect that BMW would allow Giugiaro to build a concept car with their name and not have even a smidgen of interest in producing it or a car at least derived from the concept...

Taken from Top Speed:

"Originally it was speculated that the Nazca might enter production as a BMW, taking over where the BMW M1 left off."

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/1991-bmw-nazca-c2-ar35098.html

BMW clearly had somewhat of an interest in producing this vehicle as their own, even if it wasn't by their own account.
 
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Speedtouch said:
Dare I ask why? The Saab is made of the things and I've found nothing wrong with them. :dunno:
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They suck terribly in all respects. For one they are not exactly the same size due to how tricky the drivers are, for two they strip way too easily. The worst thing is if they use them in places where a socket would have been better (read damn near everywhere).
 
93Flareside said:
You know you've hit a new low when the salesmen points that out. Saturns, if maintained I'm sure aren't that bad, they're just ugly, except the L200's. Kind of....
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No, they are that bad.

- Saturns started out a generation behind their competition. Between the day the first one went on sale and the day GM just gave up and made it into essentially a rebadging operation for Opels, they never caught up.
- Saturns did sell fairly well to start and they sold quite a lot of them. However, the number you see on the street on a daily basis keeps dwindling and most are found in junkyards.
- Those that are found in junkyards are rarely missing significant amounts of parts - not because they don't need them but because those parts are just as likely to be broken as those on the prospective customers' cars.
- Many junkyards have discovered this and will no longer buy Saturns except as something to be sent to the shredder or smelter immediately.
- You can maintain a Saturn in the most rigorous fashion according to the book and owners' forum advice and it will still disintegrate. There is nothing you can to do to keep it from dying.


prizrak said:
They suck terribly in all respects. For one they are not exactly the same size due to how tricky the drivers are, for two they strip way too easily. The worst thing is if they use them in places where a socket would have been better (read damn near everywhere).
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This. On top of which, while technically Torx wrenches are available, good luck finding them at a local store. Wrenches are required for any sort of close work where you can't fit a socket and ratchet, L-shaped key or T-handle driver - which is part of why working on Saabs is such an enormous pain in the arse. They use regular Torx and inverse Torx everywhere and they often use the 'wrong' ones for a particular location.

Plus, when you inevitably round out a Torx-head fastener, if you can't hammer in an Allen key and get it out that way, you're basically screwed and have to break out the drill-out and re-tap kit. Round out a hex-head and you can file it down, use vise grips, certain specialty sockets among other solutions to remove it.
 
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argatoga said:
But how many < 25 year olds will be renting a truck? It's based on statistics.
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Anyone moving out of their parents' house or going off to college.
 
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