In America, certain European cars ostensibly set their drivers apart as willfully unique characters. Cars like the Volvo C30, or just about any Saab indicate that the driver’s desire to be seen as quirky iconoclasts outweighs any of the more rational metrics that might guide the car-buying process. And while in the US, compact size and European pedigree are the keys to stepping out of the automotive mainstream, making an automotive statement in Europe requires the opposite approach. Pickup trucks, muscle cars and American SUVs are the signifiers of choice for the Europeans who find themselves marching out of step with their efficient hatchback-driving fellow citizens. As a result, European advertisements for motorized guilty pleasures, like the one above, play on the perception that big V8s are downright antisocial. By refined European standards, no one should drive a brutish Camaro… but what’s more fun than blowing a supercharged raspberry at social niceties? And though the marketing for American muscle cars in Europe practically writes itself, global brands like Chevrolet don’t necessarily want the Ameri-barbarian associations… which might explain why Chevrolet has canceled plans to build a right hand drive Camaro.

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Quick: Which country will have the world’s toughest DUI laws? You won’t believe it. (Read More…)

With Maybach folding up its tent after an uninspired campaign to unseat Rolls Royce at the top of the luxury sedan heap, only Bentley and Bugatti remain as potential challengers to the Phantom (Geely doesn’t count). Bentley has always had a slight inferiority complex when comparisons to Rollers come up, and though the new Mulsanne offers an alternative to the Phantom, it won’t replace it as the undisputed champion of four-door luxury. No, it seems as though the Volkswagen Group is trying to bracket BMW’s Phantom, with the Mulsanne nipping at its heels, and the Bugatti Galibier concept indicating what on might purchase in order to put all the Phantom owners in their place. It might not be as purely luxurious as the Rolls, but the Bugatti name, the 800 HP and the Galibier’s dramatically opulent looks have the potential to yield an icon capable of unsettling the high-end, four-door order of things. But will it be built? According to Autocar‘s Bugatti sources:

It will be made one way or the other.. We’re the smallest VW Group member and there’s a recession on so we’ve not been a priority. But we can expect to announce something by the summer; it looks good, people like it and it wouldn’t be a great financial commitment in the context of the Group.

But evo Magazine’s Harry Metcalfe says it ain’t so. The Galibier, he says, is over, and with it Bugatti’s ambition to build the world’s most powerful and expensive four-door.

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With both Niedermeyers away, Friday’s heroes were Steven Lang and Cammy Corrigan. The two of them, sometimes at odds over matters of faith, saved TTAC from an otherwise assured traffic disaster, caused by the absence of our dear leaders. The two most read posts on Friday’s TTAC were Steven Lang’s review of the Kia Optima in first place, and Cammy Corrigan’s “Ask The Best And Brightest: Have A Favourite Car Ad” in a close second.

Who says there is justice in this world? Steven had to get, drive, and describe a Kia Optima. Hard work. Cammy only had to ask “what are your favourite adverts or advertising campaigns from the auto world?” And the nominations kept pouring in. At the time of this typing, there were 112 comments, most of them with a link to an ad, as required. Some incorrigibles posted without a link, shame on you, stand in the corner.

Not only were the ads posted, they were watched. Due to the work of our Canadian crack coders, we can see how many times someone clicks on a link. Data derived from the click-count are the key to the easiest to write category: “By Popular Vote.” And the winners are… (ranked from most clicked on down:) (Read More…)

Today, Daimler’s gullwing SLS AMG sports car is going on sale in Germany. Mercedes dealers all around Deutschland are celebrating the occasion with the appropriate pomp & circumstance. The Hamburg branch of Daimler for instance welcomes its guests with an easter egg hunt.

Do you have the €177,310 ($237,000) in disposable funds to get behind the wheel of that 571 hp, 197 mph fast beast? Take a number. (Read More…)

In June 2009, Fiat was handed 20 percent of a washed and rinsed Chrysler for no cash, and despite protests, the deal was rammed through. The UAW was given 55 percent, the U.S. and Canadian governments controlled 8 and 2 percent, respectively. Often overlooked, or forgotten, the deal came with an option for Fiat to raise its stake to 35 and eventually as high as 51 percent if it meets some rather vague financial and developmental goals, hashed out with the U.S. government.

Sergio Marchionne thinks the goals are met. He plans to increase Fiat’s holdings in Chrysler to 35 percent within two years, says Reuters. (Read More…)

The first thing I thought when I stumbled across these pictures on Flickr while searching for a photo for the previous post, was that they must be photoshopped right-wing agitprop. Not so, it turns out. According to the site mexicoreporter.com, a Fiat dealership on Avenida Insurgentes in Mexico City has changed its name to Obama Motors. As a result, we get these images which look like something straight out of a Tea Partier’s Government Motors nightmare. You just can’t make this stuff up… [UPDATE: Having successfully solved America’s major political issues, comments on this thread are now closed. Just enjoy the funny pictures.]

TTAC contributor jrominski writes:

My close relative is professional engineer, leaving his posting in the rust belt at a soon-to-closed, Tier 1, UAW supplier factory. Not wanting to move to Detroit, he accepts a promotion out of the quickly settling debris implosion, to run engineering in a component plant in Saltillo. Which was formerly the Athens of Mexico, but is now the Detroit of Mexico. So he stays employed. But wait, it gets better: a car allowance, 45k USD. He loves RWD and AWD in that order. Had plenty of FWD. He is an AWD drivetrain engineer. Taste runs to BMW and Audi.

What to buy? Cars there are 30% more than in US for comparable. Not quite the same lineup. Below are his first thoughts and my responses.

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Some vehicles hit my tightwad tendencies like a nickel split into two quarters. Take this one for example. A base, five-speed unpopular car in an attractive color going through it’s very last year of production. The last of these Optimas went for less money out the door than a mid-level Corolla or Civic thanks to […]

Paul Niedermeyer is not alone. Well, it’s a little different this time. Here’s exhibit one: the pedal assembly from my 1988 Mercury Cougar XR-7. Far from your average Reagan-era Yank Tank (and kudos if you spot all three modifications) the Cougar sat around for a year while I was hunting for parts, waiting for arrival and installing them.
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The top forty speed traps in the state of Texas raked in a total of $178,367,093 in speeding ticket revenue between 2000 and 2008 despite having a combined population of less than 56,000 residents. Motorist Aren Cambre collected ticket issuance data from the state’s Office of Court Administration to identify which towns generated the most revenue per capita from speeding tickets.

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Both Niedermeyers, the younger and the elder, are off and away on some family thing for the day.

BS, assisted by Cammy Corrigan somewhere in Great Britain, is home alone!  So if you miss Ed’s wit and Paul’s curbside classics: Don’t despair. They will be back.  Tomorrow.

I’m off to see some seedy bar in Beijing for Friday night.  During that time, all TTAC commenting policies are not in effect, so fire away.

But wait until daddy BS is back.

Reuters says GM is making a big deal out of sending a $1b check to the U.S. Treasury next Wednesday, “attempting to settle the loan with the government ahead of schedule.”

Who are they kidding? (Read More…)

In the world of automobiles, it appears that China isn’t the only fruit ripe for the plucking. Brazil is buzzing. They’re weathering the current economic fragility very well, and companies are looking to invest in there. Down in Brazil, economically speaking, it’s car-naval time! (Read More…)

I was having a look on YouTube for car adverts and came across this belter from Toyota. Which got me wondering: what are your favourite adverts or advertising campaigns from the auto world? Chevrolet’s “An American Revolution”?  VW’s “Unpimp your Ride”? Or maybe it’s a foreign spot you’ve seen on the internet, like Volvo UK’s famous SIPS advert. My favorite’s the one above, which features what I think is one of the best taglines ever. What’s yours?

Please put a link to a picture or video in to the comments, and have your name immortalized in this weekend’s TTAC’s History Of Whackiest Car Ads.

PS: If your suggestions don’t come up immediately, that’s because they have to be approved  due to links or whatever. Don’t despair, BS will approve them the minute he’s back from his Chinese pub crawl …