stevelegel, I'm not fond of the Explorer Sport-Trac either. I prefer a truck to be a truck and a car to be a car and an SUV to be an SUV and a minivan to be a minivan without mixing any of them together.
joeyr, I'm sure your right about the power that rappers have due to the history of influence the musicians have over people for the last 50 years. Elvis's hair style rubbed off on guys, as did the Beatles ungroomed appearance. Girls want to dress like Brittney Spears just like girls wanted to dress like Madonna before her (and act like them on top of that). On a daily basis I see the power that they have with the fact that I see more underwear on teenagers and adolescence than I see in Wal-Mart.
I'd think after at least ten years, that would go out style (or at least I hoped it would)[:'(].
I also agree that Cadillac is doing better than they have for years. They are getting people my age to talk about considering one of their cars from an audience that used to only talk about getting a BMW or Mercedes. That is a more than noteworthy accomplishment since the only people I knew before hand that would get a Cadillac were senior citizens and funeral homes. It's not a good thing to depend on a dying segment.
Skippy, I've heard that the XLR (the convertible that is actually a Corvette) is not selling very well unfortunately, but when you think about it for a minuet, it makes sense. Why spend $70K to get a mear 320hp, when for the same price or less you can get a Z06 that has 500hp and a more recognizable nameplate. I'm not sure how long the XLR will be with us if things don't change.