[KishoreC]

Originally Posted by blackasta

I also have never seen any Indian drive an american car, save for a guy in our apartment complex driving a chrysler sebring convertible.

I have seen only one indian till date who drives a golden Sebring convertible. He was my roommate and is a good old field. The guys name was Rohit.

Hopefully he is not the one stayinf in your apt. complex.

[pranava999]

Nice to see that you bought yourself a small slice of Americana and stayed away from the Jap car syndrome. Yes, the American cars are truly VFM and I thoroughly enjoyed renting a few american cars especially the cruiser from chrysler, during my college days though I could not afford to buy a used one.

OT- Whats happens to all the nice ICE on the adventure, lend me the car and I will make sure the ICE won't freeze for a year

[maglev]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

1) You must be missing something here.

Attachment 214080


2) Please educate us on the 3rd pedal. It looks like a Auto Tranny to me, but whats the 3rd pedal? Doesnt look like the dead pedal.

Attachment 214081

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

What if somebody presses the pedal while in motion wou;dn't it cause the brakes at the rear to lock up and cause the car to skid.Is there a safety feature to prevent such mishaps ?

Originally Posted by prasadee

Why would anybody press anything with their left leg? Also, the parking brake is not in the same level/line as the other two pedals. One would have to bring their left leg back, then raise it, and press for it to engage. Bench seats, steering mounted auto trans lever are popular among these full fledged ships built by GM.
-Prasadee

Originally Posted by blackasta

Experienced the same type of steering mounted shift stick and floor pedal parking brakes on a chevy uplander.

Mercs in India come with the same kind of Parking brake.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by KishoreC

I have seen only one indian till date who drives a golden Sebring convertible. He was my roommate and is a good old field. The guys name was Rohit.

Hopefully he is not the one stayinf in your apt. complex.

Did he/you used to stay in Gateways apt. at Randolph in NJ anytime between March 2007 to April 2009?

[akbaree]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

about the front seat for kids, in most states it's allowed if rear seat is not available. the kids are really at a higher danger while in front seats.

IIRC the manual said that the car is certified to seat 6 people. I need to refer to the manual today. I agree that kids will be at higher risk in front seat but I would love to seat my son in the front seat for short city trips to groceries etc. During highway runs, I will put him on the rear seat. But I am still not sure if I can put him on the front seat. I have to go to BMV soon to get the license plates and my Ohio State driving license done. Will check with them.

@akbaree, I have to see your car this weekend man!

You are welcome. I have no plans for the weekend. Give me a call in case you wanna drop by.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

1) You must be missing something here.

Attachment 214080

How a sixth person can seat if the car has floor gear shift? As some others pointed out, the car has classic style steerind mounted gear shift lever.

2) Please educate us on the 3rd pedal. It looks like a Auto Tranny to me, but whats the 3rd pedal? Doesnt look like the dead pedal.

Attachment 214081

The photograph is indicative. Again as others pointed out, the lever is actually far and upwards. It is highly impossible for someone to press that pedal unless they want to or they don't know what the pedal is for.

Originally Posted by pranava999

OT- Whats happens to all the nice ICE on the adventure, lend me the car and I will make sure the ICE won't freeze for a year

Well the ICE cannot freeze because I miss it so badly that it would be hiccuping all the time.

[vivekiny2k]

here you go, looks like within tristate you won't have a problem.
Child Restraint Laws

edit: while you may love to have him at your side, it will be difficult to convince him to sit in back seat when you go on long drives.

[akbaree]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

here you go, looks like within tristate you won't have a problem.
Child Restraint Laws

edit: while you may love to have him at your side, it will be difficult to convince him to sit in back seat when you go on long drives.

Thanks so much for that link. And you are absolutely correct. I will rethink to have him sit in front seat at all.

[pranava999]

Hiccups?? Now thats not a good thought. Leave it to me and I will ensure both the ice and the adventure run smooth Take care mate and enjoy your new ride.

[akbaree]

This weekend I chanced upon a book on Concept Cars written by Autoweek journalist - Larry Edsall. And got to know more about the LeSabre heritage.

He writes that LeSabre was only the second concept car developed in 1951 (1st being Buick Y Job). It was conceptualized as a convertible with a rain sensing mechanism that will trigger the top to close when it senses rain.

It was designed under the most iconic design head at GM - Harley Earl and drew inspiration from F86 jet fighter. I will let pictures talk the exterior design cues but even the interiors have many cues from the fighter jet - like the seats were made of heated fabric as those on which bomber pilots sat.



However the most interesting fact about the car is that it remained a daily drive for Harley Earl for few years. And the car is with GM even today in perfect workign condition. It is in it's original paint, and no work has been done on the mechanis including powertrain. It now has close to original 24000 miles on the odo.





The car finally went into production in 1959 and remained in production till it was discontinued in 2005. Wiki has all the models since 1959. It has been GM's best selling full size Sedan for many years and the engine has also got recognition by being in top ten world engines for quite some years.



P.S.: I took these pictures from the printed book and are just for illustration.

P.P.S.: I will be posting update from my detailing exercise in couple of weeks.

[thorpe]

OMG... i love your car!! many of its features are still not in India... power driver seat for both sides, aircon system on co-driver side, Driver information system is awesome and 3800cc engine!! :drool:

[maddy42]

Congrats on your choice man. Well i am trying to get my license but none of my batchmates are willing to give me company for the same!! Damn. Anyways will surely get one this month so that i can go on a longish drive to my cousins place

[khan75]

Looks a bit weird to see a young Indian guy drive a Buick. Anyhow, it looks to be in pretty good nick. How much did she cost you? Any mods in the pipeline?

[akbaree]

Originally Posted by khan75

Looks a bit weird to see a young Indian guy drive a Buick. Anyhow, it looks to be in pretty good nick. How much did she cost you? Any mods in the pipeline?

What's so weird. I am not that young anyways.

[khan75]

Nothing weird as such but it strikes me as a bit odd that you probably had over a dozen or so fun to drive and economical cars in that price bracket yet you chose a solid American beater with a (kinda) thirsty engine.

Anyhow, its your purchase.

[redfire]

Originally Posted by khan75

Nothing weird as such but it strikes me as a bit odd that you probably had over a dozen or so fun to drive and economical cars in that price bracket yet you chose a solid American beater with a (kinda) thirsty engine.

Anyhow, its your purchase.

I drive a Mustang, what would you say? This is the point what I never understood! I get advices / stare / some kind of alienization after owning my beautiful stang. This is like a rule that if you are a Desi, drive a corrola...ah

Man this is your life time chance and time to live with dream. If there were no enthusiast in this world but only economical / price bracket people, what world would that be? For many of us (I am sure), cars are not just tools to take us from point A to point B, but part of our life, personality and much more!