Thank goodness for Autoweek. Someone has to ask the goofy questions that turn internet forums into raging wildfires of obtuse wishful thinking, and A-Dub is there to lay it all on the line. The latest episode centers around a line from Ralph Gilles’ press release on the new Viper ACR:
When we have partners across the ocean who are known as the best sports-car makers in the world, the future opportunities are huge
Which is like giving a two-thirds of a through-the-clothes handjob: just plain mean. If disappointment undimmed by crushing obviousness isn’t your thing, skip the next bit.
The Civic’s messy engine compartment was quite a challenge. But blkstss stepped up and called it out pronto. He must have spent some time staring into that abyss of vacuum hoses before. Somebody in the comments asked for an interior shot, and here it is, along with my best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Just don’t forget to take a short break from the eating and find out if your guess was right. See you then.
Managing debt is a most American exercise, and after finishing the third quarter of this year owing $26.9b in debt, Ford is in management mode. According to Reuters, Ford will repay $1.9b of its $10.7b “mother of all subprime mortgages” revolving credit line, part of $23.5b in loans Ford backed with all of its assets (up to and including its logo) in 2006. $7.2 billion of revolver debt is being pushed on down the road though, from November 2011 to November 2013, and $724m has been converted to a term loan due in December 2013. More worryingly, lenders refused to roll over $886m of the debt Ford requested, bringing it due in December 2011.
No wonder GM decided it couldn’t give up Opel… it would have lost Buick as well! Expect this Buick Excelle (a rebadged Opel Astra in the style of the new Regal) to arrive in the US under a different name (and probably in sedan form only) around the 2012 model year.
Our daughters have a beautiful first name that must not be associated with a car, so let us unite to bring pressure on a multinational which is going to destroy this pretty name for our children. It is a scandal that they are able to use common first names for products
Sébastien Mortreux of Auby complains about Renault’s use of the name “Zoé” for a new electric car, being shown in concept form. French parents are rising up in anger, reports the Times of London, signing online petitions protesting Renault’s choice of a name that recently became one of Frances most popular. Now, I don’t plan on ever having children, but if I did, “Twingo” would have to be at the top of my list of potential names. Besides, as a Renault spokesfolks point out, the practice has good precedent, dating all the way back to Emil Jellinek’s 1902 decision to name a car after his daughter, Mercedes. Plus Renault already has the Clio and Mégane. And really, would these people be any happier if the car was named something like Bipper Tepee?
BS, we said, “there are ways to circumvent this nasty detail.” The best way to avoid taxes are losses. Actually, losses will get you a hefty tax refund. We were sure that VW’s CFO Hans Dieter Poetsch would know how to come up with hefty losses. Poetsch did not disappoint. (Read More…)
Autocar reports that the next-generation of Smart city car is being co-developed by Daimler and Renault. The rear-engined platform is being described as “modular,” with variable wheelbase and track, and will underpin the next Smart ForTwo and ForFour as well as several Renaults. Initially Mercedes will provide three-pot engines with six-speed manual and seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions. Eventually, the two firms will develop a series of 1.8 liter engines to power the ForFour, as well as the new Mercedes A and B classes and future Renault Twingo, Clio, Modus, Mégane and Scenic models. Both firms plan EV and hybrid versions as well, although the firms have not decided which will lead development of these drivetrains… which can’t be a good sign for Tesla which has a Smart electrification contract with Daimler. Equally undecided is whether Nissan will get a version to match up with Toyota’s iQ. In any case, it’s become clear that what began as a unique-platformed, niche brand was going to have to change. By sharing costs, developing a viable four-seater on the same platform and offering advanced drivetrains, Daimler may just be able to pull Smart’s fat from the fire.
There are only two roads going in and out of Tiburon, California, a feature the Tiburon city council wants to exploit to give citizens a sense of total security. Accordingly, they have spent $200,000 on six cameras which will record the license plate numbers of every car driving in and out. Though Tiburon is located on the tip of a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay in toney Marin County, and has low crime statistics (especially compared to the greater Bay Area), council members insist that this only makes the impact of crime more noticable. “If you’re out and about the way I am, every day you run into someone who was affected by a crime or knows someone who was,” Tiburon Mayor Alice Fredricks tells NPR. “So it’s real.”And though cameras are supposed to purge their data every eight hours, UC Berkley technology and public policy expert Jennifer King explains that such initiatives rarely maintain their original parameters, and that data can even be subpoenaed for civil proceedings like divorce trials.
They may start today by keeping it eight hours, but I’ll almost bet you that what they’ll find is that somebody will come back and go, ‘If only we had the data from those cameras.’ We call it ‘scope creep’ in the technology world. That scope can really crawl, really grow very quickly.
The Lincoln MKT is a Looney Tunes cartoon: based on previously made creations, packaged into something unique. While the animated series started from the Warner Brother’s impressive music library, the MKT comes from an old Volvo S80 platform, sharing a motor with the Mazda6. So both creations are downright looney. Which explains the MKT’s krill […]
The video showing the destruction of 46 of the 55 Chrysler Turbine Cars we posted recently generated lots of heated discussion. The key issue is, and has been for years, whether import tariffs played a material role in Chrysler’s decision. There is a wealth of sites and reprinted vintage articles dedicated to the TC, and the import duty conspiracy theory reoccurs throughout them. Interestingly, Wikipedia, which is not to be trusted in all things automotive, is the only source that throws some doubt on that story: “The story at the time that this was done to avoid an import tariff was incorrect[citation needed].” Lacking that citation, it was time to do some further sleuthing, and either join the tariff theorists, or put a stake through it once and for all. (Read More…)
I’ve just got my first “commuter” car – 2009 Civic DX-G and I’ve been surprised at the amount of dew on all the windows most mornings and how much ‘crud’ dries on after rain. Compared to any of the cars/minivans we’ve owned or our current family driver (’06 Mazda 5) it’s really annoying. And it’s not just the front / back (although the lack of rear wiper is lamentable) – side windows are also an issue. So what’s the ideal product – RainX or another brand? And any concerns for application (like don’t get any on the non painted side mirror covers or that sort of thing)? And how long does it last? Note – this product needs to also deal with frost and snow as I live in Calgary.
Also – is this common on Honda’s? We’re looking at a new minivan next year, and if the Odyssey is more likely to do this than the Sienna then I’d like to plan for it.
Automotive News [sub] is reporting that Toyota will replace or reshape some 3.8m accelerator pedals to reduce the risk of them becoming lodged against floormats. Toyota will also be replacing some floormats as it battles a recent unintended acceleration scare. But far more interesting than the prosaic alterations to pedals and mats is Toyota’s decision to take modifications a step further on certain affected models. AN [sub] explains:
Toyota will install a brake override system on the involved Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES 350, IS 350 and IS 250 models “as an extra measure of confidence.” The system will shut off engine power if drivers press the accelerator pedal and brake pedal simultaneously.
Oy. More proof that it only takes a few idiots thinking their car is possessed to ruin burnouts for everyone. Well, everyone who owns a slushbox Toyota or Lexus, anyway.
Of course, that day could come as soon as next week, when GM’s board holds its monthly meeting. And unless a serious bid shows up post-haste, Saab will most likely be euthanized at that point. In the meantime, GM’s management is happy to keep the Swedish government hanging on. “I talked to GM last night and my impression is that they have not given up hope,” Joran Hagglund, state secretary at Sweden’s Industry Ministry tells Automotive News [sub]. But after the months of wrangling to get the Koenigsegg deal where it was when it fell apart, Sweden’s government acknowledges that “for every day that passes the challenge gets bigger and bigger.” While we await word on Saab’s uncertain future, and worry about how the boys at Saabsunited are holding up, we’ve dispatched our man in Sweden to sort through the hand-wringing and recrimination in the Swedish press and report some key findings. Frankly though, this is feeling like the end of the line for Saab.
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