You want see the power of torque? Watch these over-boosted big rigs lift front wheels and twist frames as they haul full (oversize?) loads up a hill at the 2009 Rodeo du Camion in Quebec. There’s several more races to chose from after the first. Who said those Canucks were all mild-mannered socialists?

Yesterday’s pursuit of ugliness is going to spill over a bit into today’s TTAT. I consider the late’55- ’56 Chevy’s face to be one of the finest ever in the history of trucks. It’s a terrific adaptation of the remarkably clean ’55 Chevy sedan. The classic egg crate grille is nicely balanced by the single headlights, and ornamentation is kept to a minimum. GMC has been in the business of trying to differentiate their otherwise almost identical trucks forever, usually to poor effect. The other day, I ran into what has to be the most egregious example of ruining a fine face. Brace yourselves: (Read More…)

I knew the F-10 coupe was reminding me of something else in my CC repository. And then it hit me: the Renault R 17! Unfortunately, this one’s front end wasn’t available, but here’s a nice one: (Read More…)

After two beautiful coupes this week, it’s time to get ugly. Seriously ugly, as in a serious contender for the ugliest car ever sold in the US. Yes, there’s competition for that title, one of which we’ve covered (Gremlin), and others we will soon. But let’s behold this Datsun F-10 Coupe, for which I am thankful that one is still around. It’s driver bought it new in 1977, and she’s still in love with her beautiful baby. Which raises the question: is ugliness in the eye of the beholder? (Read More…)

In my (probably failing) memory, yesterday was the first CC Clue that went un-identified. It was hard, being so dark and all, because you’re anything but clueless. So I’ll throw in a Friday bonus CCC, which we normally don’t do. But it’s a make-up session, so it’s still dark and finny. But not nearly so hard. Here’s your chance to pull up your grade!

In India, they take their smallest and cheapest car and somehow stuff 20″ wheels on it. In the US, we take (what was once) the proudest luxury car in the land and put 13″ wheels under it. It takes all kinds of wheels to make the world go ’round. Close up: (Read More…)

A good window into someone’s soul is their screen saver/wallpaper. You’re looking at mine. (Read More…)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest Pontiac of them all? Pontiac’s golden decade, starting in 1963, has plenty of contenders. The ’63 full-size Pontiacs, headed up by the mile-stone Grand Prix shocked and revolutionized the whole industry. Some love the swashbuckling and hippy ’65 GP, or the even the more voluptuous ’67. The midsized Le Mans and GTO has its fans, as does the ’71 Firebird . But the ’69 Grand Prix may well be the one, for sheer dramatic effect, proportions, and its more restrained size. Well, even if you don’t think the ’69 is the one (and I may be in your camp), I’m going to blow my horn and say that this photo is pretty fair. Does it remind you of something you’ve seen before? “It” was in the back of my mind when I was shooting this GP, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well I had remembered “it” when I got back home: (Read More…)

I didn’t give you much to go on with the Dodge Daytona except the Reliant behind it. But fincar1 gave it a shot, and it was the right one. In honor of his name, I give you fins, or whatever you want to call these. Have fun!

We have so many facets of VW history to cover, and in the inimitable randomness that defines CC, we’ll do it non-linearly (except for Honda). But the Passat (and that’s what I’m going to mostly call it) plays a very pivotal one. It marks the beginning of VW’s successful entry into the modern world of light, roomy FWD cars, and it presaged the Golf, the mother of its category. But before we give VW too much (any) credit for this brilliant car, let’s not forget that the Passat was nothing but an Audi 80 (US: Fox) with a sloping hatchback rear end. (Read More…)

And for anyone wanting to relive the past further, here’s a link to a MT Daytona IROC R/T review. Don Sherman’s comments (at the bottom) are the best (brutally honest) part.

Honda’s results are following the pattern for the major Japanese makers: a decent rise in December (up 16%), capping a market-mirroring decline of 20% for the year. The Honda brand did much better (up 19%) than Acura (down 8%) for the month. And Acura also did worse for the year (down 27%) than the Honda brand (-19%). The topthree bestselling Honda models for 2009 were the Accord, 290,056; Civic, 259,722; and CRV, 191,214. Here’s Honda’s take:

Accord monthly sales increased 17.3 percent for December to 28,238. Monthly Civic sales increased by 19.8 percent to 22,319. The CRV, the country’s bestselling SUV in 2008 and 2009, increased sales by 24.5 percent to 18,686 for a new December sales record. Additional models with monthly sales gains included the Pilot, up 26.6 percent to 9,184, and the Odyssey, up 19.8 percent to 8,966.

“The good news is that the market appears to be stabilizing and we have more reasons for optimism in 2010,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. “There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel; let’s hope it’s not another train coming, but rather, brighter days ahead.”

And here’s the full details for you number junkies: (Read More…)