Out of adversity arises creativity. Alec Issigonis’ brilliant Mini was conceived in the depths of the oil import embargo brought on by the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956. Just like our energy crises gave birth to the Chevette and the Cavalier. Ok, no more GM references. This is the Mini’s fiftieth birthday, and it deserves our undivided adulation. Well, at least from a safe distance, anyway.
China’s BAIC is not giving up on its aspirations to buy a foreign brand, if Gasgoo is not mistaken. Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), already a joint venture partner of Germany’s Daimler in China, may bid for General Motors’ Saab unit. Saab piqued their interest, as BAIC’s attempt to acquire Opel looks unlikely to succeed—at least for now.
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What Car? magazine’s award for the year’s greenest car goes to the Volvo S40 DRIVe. The British magazine picked the diesel because its CO2 emissions are basically the same as a second generation Prius, but it’s considerably more fun to drive. The car is not available in the States, and the Honda Insight and 3-gen Prius were not available across the pond in time for eligibility. Still, it makes one wonder: Is the hybrid really the way to save the planet. I’ve driven both the S40 (regular gas) and the Insight, and, well, it’s like comparing apples and ice cream. If I could get all my vitamins in a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s, I’d never hear a crunch again, know what I mean?
The Volvo puts out 104 grams of CO2 per kilometer. Toyota is claiming the 2010 Prius puts out 100 grams of CO2 per kilometer. For comparison sake, that’s half of what an Audi A8 emits.
Thanks to my free market-based, anti-bailout stance, some of TTAC’s Best and Brightest view me as an autoblogospherical arch-conservative. Which often leads to comparisons to or, at least, invocations of Rush Limbaugh. This despite the fact that I’ve pointed out that the liberal’s largest (in all senses of the word) bogeyman has been sucking on GM’s adver-teat for years, artfully slipping references to “wonderful GM products” and “this great American company” into his rants. Until, that is, Ralph Nader filed a complaint with the FCC. At which point Rush continued to accept GM payola for his personal imprimatur, only with a disclaimer. During this “transition,” I’ve highlighted Limbaugh’s (and Hannity’s) resulting philosophical discomfort (i.e., hypocrisy) on the Motown meltdown. Blame it on unions, congress, anyone but the people signing their paychecks. OK, so, the Detroit News reports that el-Rushbo is now calling for a GM boycott. Ish.
Bloomberg asked Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne whether Fiat would pull out of the Chrysler deal (money for nothing and your Fiats for free) if it’s not completed by the automaker’s June 15 deadline: “We would never walk away,” Marchionne said. “Never.”
The brilliant lawyer, author, and ex-blogger, Bill Patry (now senior copyright counsel at Google), wrote on his Patry Copyright Blog back in 2005 about the greatest Biblical scholar of all time, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhak (whom everyone affectionately calls “Rashi“.
You’re a ZipCar customer.
You have an iPhone in your pocket, and would like to know where the nearest available car is.
You open the ZipCar application.
The map shows you a wide selection of cars. You specify the type, the selection shows those.
You touch the screen and reserve a car.
As you get to where it’s parked, you press a button, which makes the car honk, helping you find it.
And then you open the car, enter and drive off.
Owning cars just changed—a lot.
Candidate Barack Obama made few concrete statements on the subject of transportation during the 2008 campaign. Now that his cabinet has been sworn into office, President Obama has turned his attention to filling the lower-level positions that are frequently responsible for making major policy decisions. At the US Department of Transportation, these new appointees all share a love for speed cameras and toll roads—especially Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s new number two man. “With great pleasure I want to bid a hearty welcome aboard to our new Deputy Secretary, John Porcari,” LaHood wrote yesterday. “And, though he’s been on duty less than a week, he already has done some heavy lifting for us.”
Enthusiasts consider this idea every once in a blue moon. “If you could have just one car for the rest of your life, what would it be?” Last-gen BMW M5? Porsche 911? Corvette? Pontiac G8? Lotus Elise (just kidding). But how about folks who don’t care about cars? What should they get? The Camrolla and Civords would likely be at the top of the lists for the frugal and apathetic. But maybe a Grand Marquis or Crown Vic Interceptor would do fine. Then you have pre-Daimler Jeep Cherokees, RWD Volvo wagons, Subarus of certain stripes, and old Benzes that may now require German translations and Indian parts. The 10+ year old used car world has several winners for the tightwad crowd. But what about new and late model cars?
TTAC commentator bumpy ii writes:
I have an S2000 with just over 50,000 miles on the clock. The first thing I did when I bought it three years ago was to change the oil to Mobil 1 10w30 and install the OEM filter. I’ve put about 4,000 highway miles and a few autocrosses on the oil since then, with two or three minor top-offs. I’m planning on changing the brake fluid and coolant this summer (did the transmission and differential last summer). Should I change the oil too, even though it’s still that happy golden color? How about the filter?
They say that “Less is more”, whoever they are. The Lotus Elise would seem to be a reasonable proof of that statement. Most of the Elises sold in the United Kingdom are 134-horsepower models powered by the same Toyota engine which, bolted to a base (in all senses of the word) Pontiac Vibe, permits America’s daytime strippers to make their late-morning commutes without mechanical incident. From what I’ve read, the base Elise is a stimulating, wonderfully balanced sporting car that permits man and machine to operate in perfect “B-road” harmony.
China’s automobile sales will “definitely break the 10-million-unit barrier” in 2009, says the China Passenger Car Association. Scratch that. The association said that “automobiles sales in China will touch 11 million units this year, on the basis of the total number of vehicles sold across the country in the first five months.” The forecast wasn’t made by reading green tea leaves. Sales have risen for the fifth consecutive month. May left everybody stunned with a 55 percent rise. China’s double digit growth came to a screeching halt last year. Now China is off to the races again and feeds dust to all others.
Auto Motor und Sport has driven VW’s “Blue Concept Sport” roadster (in concept form, limited to 100 km/h), and praise its agility, steering precision and weight distribution (48:52). Not to mention it’s near-production feel. Word is that the two-liter diesel (180 hp) convertible could go into production by 2013 at a €22k-25k price point. Building the better MR2 sounds like a good place to correct one of Toyota’s major errors: surrendering the fun.
Adding to the wild uncertainty surrounding Chrysler’s situation is the revalation that Fiat may can the firm’s eponymous brand. In a piece on Chrysler’d ad budget flexibility, Automotive News [sub] paraphrases a “source close to discussions” as saying that “Fiat is already studying whether to keep the Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler brands and might well eliminate the last.” A Chrysler spokeswoman reveals that “although she herself had heard that talk, it’s premature to speculate on whether it will happen.” Chrysler executives themselves considered killing off the Chrysler brand earlier this year but finally opted to keep it.
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