While we get the Chevrolet SS with a naturally aspirated small-block V8 and a two-pedal transmission, customers in the UK get a much more aggressive package.

(Read More…)

Last time I opened my mouth we went on an exhausting worldwide roundup that crowned the new generation Toyota RAV4 as the most impressive performer. So this time I thought we should just relax and enjoy the sights of California.

Sales by state is a rare luxury so please indulge…

…but don’t expect too many pick-up trucks or Fords or Chevrolets though…

(Read More…)

After having been trotted out at car show after car show, and after having been relentlessly covered by occasional TTAC contributor Tycho de Feyter of Carnewschina, China’s “Red Flag” Hongqi H7 Sedan is finally going “on sale to the public tomorrow after a $300 million overhaul, pitting the symbol of Communist privilege against Volkswagen AG’s Audi for China’s elite,” reports Bloomberg from China, where the wire was blocked last year. (Read More…)

Former Saab Chairman Victor Muller “will be called in to answer questions related to a Swedish inquiry into alleged tax offenses at the bankrupt carmaker,” Sweden’s  Economic Crime Authority told Reuters. (Read More…)

PSA Peugeot Citroen told Reuters it is not true that it is low on cash, and that it needs  to ask shareholders for an infusion. France’s La Tribune says that Peugeot is looking at a capital raise after burning through 2.5 billion euros ($3.23 billion) of cash in the past year.
(Read More…)

The perceived usefulness of full-sized station wagons of the Malaise Era dropped down to about zero when minivans and SUVs became mainstream family-hauler options in the late 1980s. You see a few wagon freaks restoring these things nowadays, but for every Country Squire that gets restored (or even preserved), a hundred others get sent to the knackers. Here’s a well-worn ’76 that I spotted in Denver a couple weeks back. (Read More…)

When TTAC’s Mike Solowiow tested the Camry SE V-6, he didn’t spare the rod or spoil the child: “…in situations where steering feel warns of problems (hydroplaning, ice, collision avoidance) the Camry SE gives lifeless to the point of useless. Beating at the steering column with a wiffle bat and screaming like Yvette Fielding in […]

The much debated Volkswagen Law most likely will remain much debated for a while, says Automobilwoche [sub]. The matter is pending  at the European Court of Justice, and no decision has been rendered, however, “an influential expert witness” (Automobilwoche) rendered the opinion that the current situation is within the law. (Read More…)

Something I’ve long maintained (and that has been backed up by many of the B&B) is that young people still like cars and do care about them. The issue of falling car ownership among young people is largely an economic one. The cost of living is going up while wages are stagnating. Gasoline is expensive. Student debt, smartphones and rent are more important obligations than car payments, insurance and fuel. All of that can be quantified with data.

What hasn’t been so easily demonstrable was that young people still like cars, despite the wishful thinking of many who cheer for the end to the automobile era. Now we finally have some good research that backs up my gut feeling.

(Read More…)

There is more chaff ejected from GM’s media department than from an airplane under missile attack. Sifting through the chaff, one finds a message that is the same as it was for decades: Things will be great real soon now, promise. Leave it to Fortune to present three questions GM should ask and answer (don’t hold your breath) : (Read More…)

The last week or two, I’ve been getting the Toronto Sun free of charge. The Sun, as it’s known, could be compared to, say, the New York Post, but it’s really more in the vein of a British tabloid paper. Like the Post, the front page always has some sensationalized headline, and it’s often looked down upon as the newspaper of the uneducated middle class, but if you want to know what’s really going on in Toronto, especially our farcical municipal politics, The Sun cannot be beat.

(Read More…)

TTAC Commentator PartsUnknown writes:

Hi Sajeev,

I have a transmission issue, but to mix it up a little, it’s not attached to a Honda.  This is my dad’s 1999 Dodge Dakota with the 3.9 liter V6 boat anchor.  When shifted into drive, it will move forward but will not shift itself out of first gear.  Moving the column shifter does nothing.  Reverse gear works fine. The level and condition of the trans fluid is good.  The truck isn’t worth much as it’s a 2WD regular cab (worthy of a scarlet A in New England), but here’s the thing: it only has 74,000 miles and is in otherwise good shape.  (Read More…)

Despite a wistful tribute to one of the most outrageous sports cars on the planet, Jeremy Clarkson was wrong. We will see another car like the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. But something is missing.

(Read More…)

We have all been there, posing proudly with our car alongside some curvy country road on a sunny afternoon. It doesn’t matter if the car is new or old, is just going through the break-in procedure or is on its last legs, what matters is the moment. A photo like this is a powerful talisman against old age, wherever we go and whatever happens to us, we have simply to gaze upon it and we are transported back to that special time in our lives when the road was clear and the only thing we needed to be serious about was having a little fun.

(Read More…)

Elon Musk is turning his sights towards the Nissan Leaf. The Tesla Motors founder says his ultimate goal is for a sub-$40,000 car that’s better than Nissan’s EV, and he’s hoping to make that happen within 4 years.

(Read More…)