Cadillac 16

[Carroll DeWeese]

Sunday night at the Detroit Opera House, GM unveiled an ultra-luxury Cadillac concept car. It has a 1000 hp and torque variable displacement by demand push rod engine. The car weighs under 5000 pounds. On a drive from California to Detroit, it got 20 miles per gallon. It is loaded with interior goodies, such as a Bulgari clock, Tuscan-leather covered seats, etc.

On a power to weight ratio basis, the Cadillac 16 is about equivalent to a 500 hp Cobra.

If the Cadillac goes into production -- probably starting with a 750 hp engine, according to Bob Lutz, vice-chairman of GM -- it will be the first US entry into the ultra luxury market. He indicates GM is seriously thinking about producing the car. The price would probably be in excess of $250,000, possibly up to $350,000. The appeal is to multimillionaires who would spend money on an ultra-luxury car instead of a second yacht or a third ski chalet.

I will take a Cobra, but it is nice to dream about having the money to be able to buy a Cadillac 16. As long as you do not need the "goodies", the Cobra is inexpensive. If your spouse complains about the cost of a Cobra, just point out that it is cheaper than a Cadillac 16.

[mustangmendez]

Man too much money .I rather have the money in hand and but a Gt 40 for 110k but for now I have a Lincoln LS Sport V8 DOHC 5 Speed Auto w/ Selecto shift traction lock dual exh all the Lincoln goodies 4 wheel independent Suspension 51 /49 front to rear and 17s its runs like hell and corners like its on rails with all the comforts you can Cruz at 100 mph like nothing its unbelievable all for 40k so I still have some left to finish my other toys .This car will get you in trouble .Shoot I just Leased it so I don't even have to worry bought wearing it out its not mine after 3 more years any way and all under warrantee .
T

[Jeb]

We've got people complaining the Viper's hood is too long. Have you seen that V16's hood? You'll need to bring back those 'corner locators' at the corners of the hood again.

At some point, I think it's time to say enough. And to ask if you can get a 1000HP and 20mpg, why can't you get 333HP and 60mpg?

Let's go to war with Iraq and the whole mideast to fuel this monster and its progeny.

I for one liked the 289 Cobra because it was small, and fast, and didn't gulp fuel. Characteristics that have become lost in the mists of time admittedly, but real. Then came everything since.

Efficient engines are powerful engines, at least comparatively speaking. As a society, we just have to come to some sort of understanding as to just how much is too much and just plain unneeded.

My opinion

[james-w]

Jeb, honestly you should not have to worry about the milage of a vehicle we all consider a weekend "toy". I could care less what mileage my cobra gets. But right now it is about 15 which is in line with my Surburban and LS400. Notice the common theme? All are V8 powered. If I was worred about MPG I would drive one of those compact piece of S*** that clutter the road. While I am all in favor of buying less oil from the Millde east why did the Senate vote NO on drilling in the Alaska wild life refuge? We have alot of untapped resources here in the US.

Respectfully

James

[Excaliber]

You think the guy who would buy that Caddy will be telling his friends, "Oh, and I get 20 mpg." Yeah,,,right,,,,,,ha ha! I know a FEW Cobra owners are concerned about their gas mileage, BUT only because you have to stop to often to fill up! Solution? Get a 40 gallon tank, NOT a smaller motor, lol.

Ernie

[Alan Schup]

James,

My Cobra does not use near the gasoline than the racecar circuit, thus I am not contributing to the unnecessary reliance on Middle East Oil. Dragsters idle at 1 gal per second and the monster cars / tractor pulls that consume 2 gal per second. I enjoy driving my gashog Cobra, and I am also with you concerning the waste usage of oil products that force the US to rely more upon foreign oil than necessary (such as power plants and factories), but completely ruining the ANWR environment for both human and wildlife is not the answer. (No impact, yea, right! Think of the infrastructure that would have to be put in place to support the construction, mining, maintenance, and transportation. At least 2 years of creating roads, pipeline, offices, and such even before starting mining that area...)

In the year 2000, over 18,745,000 barrels of oil is consumed by the USA each day on average, of which 7,745,000 barrels were imported each day. Thus, the foreign oil import is roughly 2,829,000,000 per year. The Department of the Interior reports that the total oil reserve estimate in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge is at most 13,800,000,000 barrels of oil, of which 3,570,000,000 is attainable on the North Slope and 4,800,000,000 barrels in the Coastal Plain.
(See http://www.xist.org/charts/ixch.htm and http://www.anwr.org/features/estimate.htm).

If we completely mined all the oil in the Alaska Coastal Plain (which cannot be done), that would only extend the USA less than 2 years of not depending on foreign oil, assuming the USA did not increase its consumption of oil.

Is 2 years of oil worth losing one of the very few remaining untouched prestine wildlife areas? I think we ought to negotiate mining the Caspian Sea in the Soviet side where it is said there is more oil than the total combined reserves in the Middle East.

Later,
Alan (now off my soapbox)

[Carroll DeWeese]

The government does not have to force the motor vehicle manufactures to produce more fuel efficient cars. If the government would raise the price of gas (most of the cost is taxes) to European levels, people would demand more fuel efficient cars. When gas costs less per gallon than bottled water, milk, soft drinks, etc., the cost of gas is not very important in people buying a car. If the cost of gas was $4 a gallon or higher, the motor vehicle manufacuters could not build enough fuel efficient cars to keep up with the demand.

One arguement against higher gas prices is that it would hurt the poor since it is a greater percent of their income. This could be handled by some form of tax credit or negative income tax. The money raised through additional gas taxes could be used to fund the tax credits or negative income tax.

Of course, no one like higher taxes and it is more politically popular to blame the auto manufactures for the problem. Government would rather hide behind regulations and not use the market to get the desired social behavior.

We have lots of people saying that we need more mass transportation. The mass transit system of the US is the car. Those promoting "mass transit" tend to have an elitist, political agenda wanting to mold others into their vision of utopia.

The auto manufactures are in a bind. We try and build cars that people want and will buy while meeting many government regulations. Our vehicles must be sellable and as policically correct as possible. If the government would do its job in creating the market instead of trying to regulate it into shape, we would get the best of many worlds. We could have both fuel efficiency and performance based upon a person's desire to pay.

[392cobra]

having worked from herchel island (off the north coast of canada),offshore across the north side of alaska.then turning south at point barrow,thru the bering strait,then down to dutch harbor in the aleutian islands.with multiple stops at barrow,kotzebue, nome and dutch harbor. this was aboard a class A ice-breaker hulled geophysical seismic survey vessel i managed.

i've been there and it is pretty ,but a few caribou won't be missed and they are great as bbq.

i'll take 2 years worth of gas for my cobra.


sure hope this isn't too non-pc .

[Jeb]

Jeb, honestly you should not have to worry about the milage of a vehicle we all consider a weekend "toy". I could care less what mileage my cobra gets. But right now it is about 15 which is in line with my Surburban and LS400. Notice the common theme? All are V8 powered. If I was worred about MPG I would drive one of those compact piece of S*** that clutter the road. While I am all in favor of buying less oil from the Millde east why did the Senate vote NO on drilling in the Alaska wild life refuge? We have alot of untapped resources here in the US.

I think the senate voted no because the new plan is to tap the oil reserves that we haven't been able to recover with drill and pipe. They're planning on open-pit mining the oil fields and have decided to start the project in Texas where multiple benefits are seen accruing. First of course, Oil, and lots of it. Second, the overfill is to be piled along the border...border control at last. Third, climate control, an inland sea will be allowed to form though the landfill people just want to fill it otherwise as do the nuclear-energy people with their waste.

As for your Cobra...isn't a Cobra a compact POS? And you're proud that your infrequently used toy gets as good as mileage as your everyday vehicles. Perhaps there's a Fourth unacknowledged benefit to turning Texas into one large hole? And be honest now, isn't Alaska's Brooks Range more beautiful and vibrant and alive than most of Texas?

[Back in Black]

If you count in Mexico, central America, the coast off the people's Republik of Kalifornia, Texas, and the midwest........this is well documented..

The reason we do not do this (and so heavily involved in the middle east) is not because of environmentalism, but for OTHER reasons.. relating to who really controls the USA today...do some thinking about it.

[joey]

I was there last Firday for the charity fundraiser. That car is unreal. It looks like nothing I've ever seen before. I'm waiting for Ed Combs to shoehorn one of those babies into his next DV project. It makes his V10 look like a 2-cycle weedwacker.

Hek, they got Ed's motor on a motorcycle now. That Tomahawk is something else too.

Looks like they've taken the bar a little higher for Mr. Combs.


Joe

[james-w]

Jeb if you consider a Cobra a compact POS then I think you may have joined the wrong form. I think www.tree-huggers.org OR www.yugo's-forever.com may be more your speed.

My cobra like most peoples is small, but it is not a POS. What is next will you will complain that all the Cobra's that don't have any emission controls are causing global warming?

Please understand that I did not initially intend to insult you. If you took it that way I am sorry. As for your comment about Texas, that was uncalled for. If you consider a frozen waste land beautiful then PLEASE go live there. The beauty of America is you can live where you choose. Also remember that oponions are like A-holes everyone has one. Some are just more vocal than others. Remember that when you spew your comments.

Again respectfully

James

[Jeb]

The Cobra is a compact POS.
It's easily crushed in a accident-the most recent example of this is the one that was sliced in two by a mid-sized Cutlass. It is small, the very definition of compact. It is a POS because it creaks, groans, dents, has no warranty, is cold, drafty, at times wobbly.
But then the same could be said for some wives. Why marry them? We all have our own reasons, so we do.

As for the Brooks Range as a frozen wasteland, obviously you've never seen or been there. I would move there in an instant if it was more easily accessible or even purchasable (it's a federally reserved park for the most part). As for global warming, I'm thinking that in a very few decades (too many for me personally though), the Brooks Range will be quite habitable once the temps go up globally and it then will be under pressure to be developed for recreational purposes instead of for oil exploration.

I believe in personal responsibility. I also believe in society. I do not believe we are on this planet alone and that our actions only affect ourselves. We are all connected. The globe is one, the continent is one, the country is one. What we do individually affects all. I do not drive an SUV or anything that even remotely resembles such a thing. I don't need it. That doesn't mean I can't see the need for such a vehicle.

Enjoy Texas while it's still habitable; I hear Houston is nearing the limit in that regard.

[Bill Wells]

Jeb..guilty until proven innocent, eh ?

your comments are assumptive, tasteless and insensitive...

a real class act, low class...

it is unfortunate that so many delight in sensationalism and blame making without fact or knowledge. unfortunatley, the real truth in so many accidents no matter the vehicle involved go unknown and unsolved. what ? it couldnt be from a blowout, a swerve to miss an animal unseen by witnesses or other victims, a stray over the centerline act by an oncoming vehicle who was truly at fault , a stuck throttle, black ice...my, the list of possibilities is endless.

i am sure the families and friends of those involved reading this thread appreciate these allegations and conclusions made by a few that are without true fact. and the truth may never be known. the benefit of the doubt seems to be what should be the case.

may the goodness of all prevail over the weak and anonymous postings of those that are guilty of insensitivity and lack of taste and courtesy.

rest in peace our fallen brothers and sisters. bill.

[Clois Harlan]

Jeb,

Interesting "Facts"! What agency did you say you are with? Why would anyone as "INTELLIGENT" as yourself even want a Cobra, after all there just a POS? I find it very unusual that someone like yourself would have any interest in a Cobra or for that matter any interest in anyone in this forum.

I respect what you believe, as long as your beliefs are yours and not forced on me or others. I also believe you probably read well. I too believe in many of the same things as you say you do but I disagree in your theory and forecasts. As far as limits go I believe you may have exceeded yours!


Clois

[Sizzler]

I have to agree with Jeb that the Cobra is a compact POS.
Just as most Cadilac's are large POS's, especially if you own it for longer than the warranty period when all the fancy doodads start failing and you find out just how expensive it is to maintain it in good operating order. I think this also applies to the larger German luxury brands.

If he owns an original, then it is no doubt a POS by this time. Cobra's didn't lanquish on dealers lots for years in the 1960's for no reason.

The accident is tragic. I'd like to get more facts. Have any more come to light since the one article? Was drinking involved?

I don't know about the Brooks Range, but Denali is one of the most spectacularily beautiful areas on earth. My personal opinion only of course.