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Yeah that's true even though the CTS seems to be most popular. Regardless a limited run of Sixteens would be real cool.
Well, no doubt, the Sixteen is cool - I just didn't understand your reasoning for wanting to brand it as a CTS. It is somewhat akin to Chevy rolling out a Malibu ZR-1.
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I knew the ATS vert wouldn't be near the XLR especially since the XLR's price was beyond itself. XLR pricing was close to Vipers, ZR1s, GT40s too and Caddy was still in the process of revitalizing its image in the luxury car market. I don't even think an XLR would do much better now or anytime soon as two seaters aren't selling as well nowadays.
On paper, the XLR deserved the price it had - folding hard top, magnetic ride control, Northstar engine with either 320 n/a or 443 s/c power. It just didn't have a nice enough interior and yes, two seaters are a tough sell. But having two vestigial backseats like the SC430 does and having a cheaper top mechanism like the BMW 6-series does - hasn't helped either of those two put a dent in Mercedes SL sales.
The Stagea and Roadmaster wagons are two of my favorites and I love the CTS-V wagon. (I even like the regular CTS wagon and hope to get a used one in a couple of years). Speaking of the Stagea, here's another cool JDM wagon we never got, the Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4:
LOL I am just thinking all those lowered wagons with massive body kits would be terrible for the Pacific northwest or any other place that gets 2-3 inchs of snow fall a year
I really like that Stagea and the Legnum, although I'm not a fan of those body kits. Maybe the Stagea or a variant of it could be introduced over here as an Infiniti at some point. Anyway, I think this is probably the sexiest wagon out there right now, also not available in the US of course:
Mercedes Benz DR520 Estate (basically an AMG C63 Estate on steroids)
LOL I am just thinking all those lowered wagons with massive body kits would be terrible for the Pacific northwest or any other place that gets 2-3 inchs of snow fall a year
Yeah, one of the things I like most about my wagon and a lot of older ones is that it's compact but somewhat tall (compared to similarly sized cars). I guess you could say it's an SUV without the bloat. And it's great fun to take off road!
Face it, they don't make wagons anymore because that would cut into their SUV market on which they make lots more $$$$.
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Originally Posted by meet4
99% of the time I get answer - SUV is "safer" from general US crowd. So original intent to sell vehicles with higher profit margin, is achieved by playing "safety" card. Smart, hard to argue with that
Face it, SUVs (which were around since the beginning. In fact, the 2 box SUV form factor is what all automotive sedans were for the first 30 or so years o the automobile) took over for wagons for a number of reasons. the primary one being CAFE standards which really killed the bigger BOF wagons (which were the SUV of their day in suburbia). Those big wagons were deadly battering rams to other cars, got horrid fuel mileage, but, unlike SUVs, didn't have as much vertical cargo height (which is why the old Suburbans, Jeep Wagoneers, and International TravelAlls and CarryAlls were much more useful than the wagons of their day).
Small wagons were always a compromise, basically for those that wanted a smaller sedan but needed a little bit more carrying capacity. But for actual utility, they, like the CUVs today, are half-measures.
When CAFE regulations threatened to kill off the traditional wagon, SUVs were right there to take up the market slack. THen came minivans, which were very useful, but much more carlike. But notice how BIG they've got. Modern minivans are as large as traditional full size vans, and get worse fuel mileage than the early minivans.
Actually, looking at the NHTSA numbers, SUVs may be twice as likely to roll over as sedans, but in total numbers, they roll over half as often as sedans and coupes, and kill half as many people from those rollovers. And, since the stats are used to scare people, the fact is that rollovers for EITHER one compromize less than .01% of all accidents, and affect less than .001% of all vehicles of either class. Yes, that's the stat you really need to know: less than .001% of SUVs roll over, and almost ALL of them are due to DRIVER ERROR. So if YOU don't do anything stupid, YOU won't roll over in one. Anti-SUV people tend to make it sound like you're gonna roll over and die automatically just for getting in one.
The Stagea and Roadmaster wagons are two of my favorites and I love the CTS-V wagon. (I even like the regular CTS wagon and hope to get a used one in a couple of years). Speaking of the Stagea, here's another cool JDM wagon we never got, the Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4:
Oh man, when I worked for Toyota/Lexus, at one point I was at a dealership that had Toyota and Mitsubishi. I was on the Mitsubishi side for whatever reason, walking by the service department and... lo and behold... a LHD Legnum VR4 with manufacturer plates I found the company rep who'd driven it there and talked with him a bit; they'd shipped over a dozen of them for evaluation purposes - this one had one of those data-gathering disc things on one wheel and its badges said "Galant." It was right after they'd brought the Evo over, and I guess they were giving it some thought. Only two of the Legnums they brought over were VR4's.
I saw some photos of a white base Legnum wagon in a US port a few years later, I guess that they quickly decided not to bring them over (since no one buys the Galant in the US), I guess Mitsubishi destroyed most of them and kept a couple as dock vehicles in San Pedro.
One of my first cars was a '91 Galant VR4. It was an awesome car when it was running right!
LOL I am just thinking all those lowered wagons with massive body kits would be terrible for the Pacific northwest or any other place that gets 2-3 inchs of snow fall a year
But for us Californians... PERFECT!
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I found the company rep who'd driven it there and talked with him a bit; they'd shipped over a dozen of them for evaluation purposes - this one had one of those data-gathering disc things on one wheel and its badges said "Galant." It was right after they'd brought the Evo over, and I guess they were giving it some thought. Only two of the Legnums they brought over were VR4's.
