First of all, I thought I had already been to the launch party. Wrong. I thought I had driven the thing. Wrong. I learned today this was a pre-announcement-pre-party, and the cars I had seen were “production prototypes.” I see. Then, this splendiferous event with a rock band, canapés and apple juice must surely be the launch festa, I thought. (The dear reader knows by now that the average Toyota launch event in Japan entails a card table, two speakers, PowerPoint and a bottle of water.) Wrong again. It’s kind of a pre-announcement. The car itself will come in — we’ll talk about that when we talk timing.

However, I was told that today, that now we have real specs and prices, and the cars (which looked deceptively like the production prototypes) are the ones that will be sold. In Japan. As for America –– we’ll get to that. Here are the vital stats of the hachi-roku JDM spec: (Read More…)

I spent all day at the launch party of the Toyota FT/GT86/86/Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ  “new compact rear-wheel-drive sports car” at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo. Could have been Chiba already. I came back with so much information about Toyota’s new “honest sportscar” (as Akio Toyoda likes to call it) that I declare today Hachi-Roku Thursday. (Read More…)

I’m standing in the office of the New Orleans Guitar Company when I see it: a odd-looking, neck-through double-cut six-string, tossed in the corner and smothered beneath a completely opaque layer of sawdust. I pick it up, brush it off. It’s gorgeous; a combination of rare woods, mirror-matched and burnished to a gleaming finish. It’s easy to imagine this instrument occupying pride of place in some anesthesiologist’s home studio. Grasping the neck in one hand, I gesture with the other: How much?

Vincent Guidroz, who for all intents and purposes is the New Orleans Guitar Company, replies defensively: “Oh, that’s a primitive effort, really, compared to what I’m doing now… and it survived the flood here, I really couldn’t sell it, I want to keep it around, I’m sorry.” I can feel the frisson travel from the soles of my feet to my furrowed brow. In a world which has gone utterly mad for authenticity, this is weapons-grade guitar uranium.

I can just see it hanging on the wall next to my pair of Marv Lamb H-357s and my hand-made Korina Moderne, silently lending authority to my collecting savvy as I tell the story: “And, you know, when the water receded, and the looters were gone, this lone instrument lay on the floor of the workshop, perfect despise the immersion… I wouldn’t call it ‘immersion’ so much as ‘baptism’, really… You say you own a PRS Private Reserve? How, ah, financially impressive.”

No dice. Vincent won’t sell. As a consolation, he offers me directions to a “real New Orleans place to eat.” Authenticity on the half-shell. My companion, the infamous Vodka McBigbra, is already waiting outside in a car which offers a fair amount of authenticity itself: a 2011 Nissan Cube. After just three days, she loves the little box without reserve, but I’m personally afraid that, in this case, authenticity is something to be avoided. I will explain.

(Read More…)

Kelley Blue Book was right when, a week ago, it predicted that 900,000 cars would be sold in January. It was 913,284, up 11 percent over January 2011. The SAAR, or seasonally adjusted average rate (= if the rest of the year would be as good as January, how much for the year?) climbed to 14.2 million. (Read More…)

I may be the only auto journalist who hates the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. Funny, because I like station wagons. And I like the CTS-V. A lot.

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The breadth and diversity of TTAC’s readership is such that I really cannot manage to offend you all at once. If I talk about evading the police at night, some of you just shake your heads and say, “What a scamp!” If I admit to selling a female friend’s body to a wealthy industrialist for five thousand dollars, most of you assume I’m either fibbing or just, well, allowed to do that sort of thing. Even my use (while quoting someone else, admittedly) of an infamous term commonly used to refer to a bundle of loose branches resulted in as many pro-Baruth comments as anti-Baruth ones. I admit it: the commentariat can’t really be trolled. You win.

Some people aim higher than I do, however, and Jalopnik’s Ray Wert is one of those people.

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Volkswagen unveiled their most important new platform, dubbed MQB (a German acronym for “Modular Transverse Matrix”). The MQB will underpin everything from the Up! to the next (European) Passat, and all points in between.

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Some of you may have noticed that it is no longer possible to add HTML code to comments. If you ask now “What is HTML code?” then nothing is lost for you. If, on hearing this, you are inclined to write “<strong>WTF!</strong>” then don’t do it. It is futile. We locked-out HTML.

Why? Two reasons. One, as you may have noticed, some people added huge pictures and sometimes videos to comments, causing the site to load slower than it already does. Second, it’s  safer for everybody. Sure, we could have written code that separates “bad” from “good” HTML. I decided that’s discrimination.

American carmakers cast worried glances on Senators and union groups that want to create a level playing field with China. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Sherrod Brown, alongside union representatives and the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute try to push “the administration to bring a possible case at the World Trade Organization or begin a U.S. Commerce Department investigation that could lead to duties on Chinese-made auto parts,” as Reuters reports.

A study by the EPI alleges that the Chinese auto parts industry has received $27.5 billion in government subsidies since 2001. The study forgets that large parts of the U.S. auto industry would not be here anymore, would it not have been bailed-out by the U.S. government.

Why are carmakers horrified by the surely well-meant suggestion? Several reasons: (Read More…)

Now, this isn’t something I picked out of my nose. This is Suzuki’s new A-segment concept, a car that weighs a mere 1600 lbs.

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Even though it’s been revived more times than Pete Doherty, the Volkswagen Bluesport roadster is apparently back on track at the insistence of Uli Hackenberg, VW’s chief engineer.

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The year starts on a high note, at least when you are Chrysler. Chrysler reports a jaw-dropping 44-percent gain in domestic auto sales. Also up: Volkswagen, up 48 percent to 27,209 vehicles. Nissan sales in the U.S. are up 10.4 percent to 79,313. (Read More…)

Today, Chrysler reported its first yearly profit since 1997. It was $183 million net profit on $55 billion net revenue. Not earth shattering as car companies go, but a start: Chrysler wants to turn this into $1.5 billion of net profit in 2012 and $65 billion of revenue. At the same time, Fiat-Chrysler cut its 2012 revenue target to 75 billion, due to a slowing demand for cars in a weakening European economy. Fiat will not pay a dividend for ordinary shares in 2011. (Read More…)

Sajeev writes:

Dear Best and Brightest,

As you already know, the Piston Slap series is meant to put a spin on the typical automotive Q&A advice column: combining the mad power of Google searches, the wacky fun seen on any enthusiast forum, informed (or not) advice and a ton of opinionated, half-cocked rants written by yours truly.  What’s not to love?

When I pitched the idea to Robert Farago many moons ago, I had no idea it would work this well. Except for now. (Read More…)

You see quite a few W126s in junkyards these days— in fact, the rise in scrap steel prices seems to have doomed all but the the most flawless of the big 1980s Benzes— but the S-Class of the late 1960s is seldom seen in The Crusher’s waiting room. Here’s one that I found in a Denver self-service yard last week. (Read More…)