Not to inflame the passions brought on by our CAFE regulations and pickup trucks article, but take a look at this still from a movie called “The Dentist 2”. Keep in mind, this is the very old second-gen Explorer that is busy dwarfing a GMC C-20 full-sized pickup; the modern, D3 unibody 2011 Explorer is a foot longer and three inches taller.
If you had to guess what vehicle underpins this Guangzhou GAC Trumpchi, what would you guess? Here’s a hint: if you’re basing your answer on exterior styling, you will definitely get this one wrong…
20 years. Most marriages and capital offenses don’t have that level of commitment. To think of how long that is for any daily driver, consider what was not in most cars back then. Airbags, anti-lock brakes, cd players… heck ‘premium sound’ usually landed you nothing more than a cassette deck and four speakers. Now consider that this one owner 1990 Buick Century has a design dating all the way back to 1982. We’re talking about a period of design where the world’s most popular entertainment consisted of Pac-man & Atari 2600’s. Ancient times. Good times. But bad times for Detroit. Very, very bad times.
When I attended the launch of the Buick Regal, Buick’s product reps were anxious to talk all about the forthcoming Buick Regal GS, the high-performance version of the Opel Insignia-based sedan. At the time, the Buick Boyz were anxious for input; what, they asked, would enthusiasts prefer: a manual transmission or all-wheel drive. My answer: all of the above. Surely, I thought, Buick would be bringing a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia OPC, with AWD and the GM 2.8T V6 from the Cadillac SRX Turbo and Saab 9-5 Aero. No, came the answer. The 2.8T was not approved for use in a Buick. Stung by past oversharing between divisions, GM had decided that the 260-325 HP, Australian-built LP9 engine would be limited to applications in Caddys and Saabs. But now, it seems that GM may have penned some kind of deal with Saab, as GMInsideNews reports that the LP9 has been discontinued from its last remaining Cadillac application, the SRX Turbo.
After my X-themed rant the other day, you’ve gotta figure I’ll be looking for more excuses to quote X songs. (Read More…)
As this is both the end of the week and the beginning of the year, let’s reflect, scratch our heads and ponder: Who won’t survive 2011? Car brands never die, they just go to a new owner. (Not always…) So let’s make that: Who won’t survive 2011 with the same owner? (Read More…)
Yo, wazzup?`Want to get your hands on Russia’s first homegrown hybrid, yo? All you need to do is get yo sorry azz over to Moscow, dat Russia for you, yo. According to Itar-Tass, the Russian yo-Auto company shows their “yo” hybrid at the yo-mobile pavilion in downtown Moscow from January 2 through 11. Yo, dat’s right. (Read More…)
Do you live in a challenging neighborhood, like, say, Afghanistan, Sudan, Downtown Detroit, or St. Louis? Then you’ll like Land Rover’s latest offering: The new Discovery 4 Armored, a car impervious to road rage of all kinds. (Read More…)
There’s a slightly used 1977 Peugeot 504 on the market, and the last bid stood at one million $.
One owner only: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His car was put on an international auction this Saturday, Iranian state media reported as per the Business Recorder. According to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, the bid came from an Arab country. (Read More…)
I was struck with an odd feeling of deja ecrit while cranking out the Capsule Review of my old 2001 Nissan Frontier, but since I literally had thirty-two minutes to write the whole thing and click “Publish” before heading out the door, I didn’t pause to think about it. Earlier today, however, I realized that […]
So. Yesterday, Jan 1, was the first day of the grand car rationing in Beijing, China. From now on out, only 20,000 new vehicles per month are allowed onto Beijing’s roads. (If you trade old for new, this rule doesn’t apply.) And what did Beijingers do? Take a taxi? The subway? No, they swamped the system. (Read More…)
Back in the day, where could you go for a cheap supercharger? Maybe grab a grungy 8-71 off a million-mile transit bus? Thanks to GM’s decision in the early 1990s to plop Eaton blowers on all manner of 3800 V6-powered machinery, the going rate on a junkyard supercharger is well below a C-note. (Read More…)
The ritual torching of cars has become a New Year’s tradition in France. Last New Year ’s Eve, 1,137 cars went up in flames in France, a tad less than the 1,147 set ablaze the year before. This year? We’ll never know. (Read More…)
Bloomberg has it that Tata’s Nano sales are rebounding after the parent has given the little car some TLC and attention. The Nano sales rose 1136 percent from the month before. In real numbers: 5,784 in December after 509 in November. (Read More…)
Yes, Saab purists, someone has installed an incorrect two-stroke three-cylinder engine in a Saab 96. Well, it’s mostly Saab 96; the Adopted By Jets Saab was assembled from a bunch of random Saab parts found in some Saab fanatic’s back yard. Today, Index of Effluence glory! (Read More…)
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