When I started as a budding (and driver’s license less) copywriter on the Volkswagen account in fall of 1973, they were just introducing a (for Volkswagen) highly unusual car. They called it the Passat. After that followed in rapid-fire fashion the Golf, the Scirocco, the Polo. They turned the company around. And kept me employed for more than 30 years. With the Golf being the volume Weltmeisterr, it is often forgotten that it was the Passat that started a new era at Volkswagen. And now, the car enters its 7^th generation. (Read More…)

When Alan Mulally took over at Ford and sold off Jaguar and Volvo, a few people (me included) wondered as follows:

Having “Ford” as a global brand is well enough, but how will they compete in the more profitable luxury market? (Read More…)

A few weeks ago, one of our overabundance of resident Germans wrote about how Volkswagen wanted to marry the Italian bride, Signorina Alfa Romeo. The project was colloquially called “Italian dressing” (Those Germans and their crazy sense of humor(!)). But it was soon dismissed as a throwaway comment from a company hell-bent by taking over ze vorld. Well, now Piech himself is getting involved, and if Piech wants something … (Read More…)

Japanese automakers keep saying the ever appreciating yen will be their undoing. So their government intervened, sending the yen back to 85 to the dollar. Once the intervention stopped, the yen continued its march upwards. Today, the Japanese currency stood at 83.31 to the dollar. Which is losing strength across the world. The Europeans received $1.36 for their Euro today. A higher yen making Japanese cars more expensive should hurt Japanese car exports, don’t you think? Let’s see. (Read More…)

Take a look at the above picture and have a think about what’s wrong with it? Answer after the jump. (Read More…)

After reading Tal Bronfer’s review of the Euro spec Honda CR-Z, I made arrangements to get a North American model for a week.  The car arrived the same day that Michael Karesh’s second review of the CR-Z ran on TTAC. Instead of a third review, Ed and I discussed doing a comparison with an original […]

The Pontiac GTO generally gets bragging rights as the first of its kind: the classic intermediate-sized Detroit muscle car. It first appeared in 1964, and pretty much defined the category. But the Olds 442 also first saw the light of day in ’64, as a special performance package available on the F-85. The main differences between them: 59 cubic inches, 15 horsepower and healthy dollop of marketing savvy. The last one made all the difference: the Goat outsold the 442 by over ten to one in ’64. Chalk it up to John Z. DeLorean and the Mad Men. (Read More…)

Impressive indeed; partsisparts matched the LS markings to the I Mark. I was thinking that there was a better than even chance of it not being guessed. Nothing is too obscure for the B&B. Well, I suspect this one might go pretty quickly though. I’m off to bed, so you’ll have plenty of time, if it doesn’t go fast.  Savourer!

While TTAC gets scorn for lofty criticisms of mainstream vehicles, should we demand perfection in a $405,000 (as-tested) vehicle? Because the Phantom is inches away from yesteryear’s glory: the highest regarded, finest engineered luxury vehicle before anyone cared about luxury vehicle upstarts like Mercedes-Benz or Lexus.

That’s not to say the Phantom isn’t drop dead gorgeous. The suicide doors are dumbfoundingly awesome. That Hooper Coachwork inspired design is impossible to miss: clock the long hood and short deck. And an elegant swageline, strong and stoic at the front, gently falling earthward before the taillights. Which are suitably small, drawing your eyes to the beauty of finished metal instead of the overwrought lighting details of lesser vehicles. (Read More…)

Porsche just announced something highly unusual: Record full-year revenues from selling Porsches. No more option plays with attached sheet metal bending operation. Revenues rose 17.9 percent to a record €7.79b ($10.5b), and Porsche said it expects to see the positive trend continue in the current business year, reports Reuters.

And where do all these sales come from? Definitely not from Porsche’s core markets, the U.S.A. and Germany. (Read More…)

So Daimler had to hand over $185m to the U.S. government  for settling Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) allegations that Daimler bribed officials in Russia, Thailand, Greece, and Iraq (have you ever done business in some of these places?). Then they had to hire former FBI director and Lewinsky-sperm-on-blue-dress investigator Louis Freeh as anti-corruption compliance officer. Can they possibly do more? Yup. (Read More…)

Did you know that Champagne, as we know it, wasn’t invented by the French? It was invented by the British. Christopher Merret documented the addition of sugar and molasses to a finished wine to create the bubbles in Champagne. This was six years before Dom Perignon (the supposed creator of Champagne) went to the Abbey of Hautvillers. And 40 years before Benedictine supposedly created Champagne. Merret presented his paper to the Royal Society which detailed the process now known as méthode Champenoise in 1662. Did that surprise you? Now check this out… (Read More…)

Recently, I’ve been watching a TV show called “Man Vs Food”. After watching the first season, I’ve learned 2 things: 1. There’s way too much food in the United States and 2. Getting greedy always causes problems. Setting a highly ambitious target only to figure out you’ve set the bar too high is embarrassing. But if you have a big enough stomach or a big enough ego, you can succeed. I suspect Martin Winterkorn has the latter. (Read More…)

The Volvo 740 was a rolling pile of boredom for most folks. A typical midsized sedan that was a bit heavy, a bit underpowered, very safe, and downright spartan in base form. Where’s the fun in all that? Well it depends on where you drive it. Take this video and marvel in a car that could drift like a 240SX given the right combination of snow, skinny snow tires, and a driver that could have easily passed for the stig’s Swedish sister . If there is anything that can get me into my 1993 Volvo 940 (the 740’s twin brother), it would be a video like this. How about you? Any video flights of fancy that remind you of the greatness that is your daily driver?

It’s not like I traveled to Paris to look for old American cars. Although there certainly aren’t exactly a lot of vintage French cars on the streets. But the French have always loved American culture, and one of the icons of that is the Mustang. Since they have excellent taste, which particular Mustang might one expect to encounter in traffic? The best one ever.