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Detroit, 8:59 PM
Fri Nov 20
28 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/16/09
11/15/09
1st, to Franzouse; Thanks for the images of a very European Ford(s).
Now onto another topic, and that has to do with European Vans that are in the US, or about to be in the US. I did a road test of the Sprinter Van for another blog. It was fantastic, and I wonder why the hell Ford and GM are still making their ancient vans in the US.
Dodge is loosing their ability to sell Sprinters after January 1st, 2010, leaving the 45 Freightliner Dealers to sell them, along with about 120 Mercedes-Benz dealerships.
Dodge is exploring the possibility of bringing in the Iveco Vans to replace the Sprinters, along with a smaller van to augment the offering.
And Ford is exploring the possibility of bringing in their full sized Transit vans to replace the ancient Econolines. There is talk of bringing them on-line by 2013. This is due to the tremendous acceptance of the Transit Connect model so far. #van
11/15/09
IVECO is a natural for FIAT and Chrysler, and they have plenty of Eurovan experience, as well as a developed US truck dealer network to leverage.
Of course, Citroen also makes a work van... #van
11/16/09
i'm hoping they stick with the old style.
i drove a couple of company sprinters at a job for a few years. they got rid of their 15+ years old econolines and bought them from a dodge dealer.
they were great at first, but we missed the old fords within six months since the sprinters seemed to fall apart at the seams. the doors seemed to be a real p0roblem, and a co-worker was even stopped by police once when the previously latched but brtoken back door had opened and dumped some cargo on the road. next the turbocharger stopped spinning on one and service didn't seem to be able to fix it.
they seemed to be highly fuel-efficient and had some nice features, but there were no major problems with the old econolines like there were with the new sprinters. #van
11/15/09
11/15/09
Yeah, that must be it.
Either that, or the driver is her Dad looking for her because she's SO in trouble for skipping school again. #eurosport
11/15/09
11/08/09
Um, this is incredibly advanced for some of us.
The above pic comes from a '95 Mercedes E320, a car which retailed for $45K-50K back in 1995.
I wish for a hyphenated label! The "alarm activated" light is the right-most item.
I wondered what it was when I bought it in January, 'cause while it looked OEM, the car is 15 years old...so you never know what stupidity is lurking.
Fortunately, it blinks every few seconds when armed, so the first night, I figured it out.
Please note the rocker switch which uses vacuum release to flop the rear headrests to the parcel shelf.
I have to admit, this is an advance over the '89 W126 I had which had -0- indication of an OEM alarm system. Imagine my further embarrassment when I found this out during trying to get it unstuck, moving sand/rock by hand in the Vegas desert landscape. #1980s
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/08/09
11/08/09
What I find interesting is that the mirror, dimmer, and general layout in that part of the dash hasn't really changed that much in a 2007 Infiniti M35. Same with Hondas (the sunroof switch was in the same spot until just recently), and Toyotas have used the same digital clock for at least 25 years (why do I know all this). #1980s
11/07/09
Man, I miss boxy gray dashboards with fake stitching, squared off, airbagless steering wheels and haphazard buttons placed with no consideration of ergonomics. #1980s
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
I will suggest Anti-Theft
as a solution. #1980s
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
Nice find. #1980s
11/07/09