Continuing its recession-defying act, Subaru posted a 41% climb in October sales over last year. That makes it the fifth straight month of sales increases, and a stellar 13% increase year-to-date. AWD traction for the win! Subaru does tend to do well well with the highly educated demographic, which has been proportionately less impacted in the recession.
The first number are in, and Ford has posted a 3% increase over last year’s miserable October results. Year to date, Ford is still down 21%. But the good news is that Ford has posted increases in three of the last four months. Taurus more than doubled and deliveries to retail customers almost tripled from year-earlier levels. Fusion was up 24 percent, and the Lincoln MKZ sedan increased 27 percent. More details later…
The dance of EV partners has a new breakup: in a sign of the quickly changing and consolidating EV landscape, Green Car Congress reports that Ford and Smith Electric Vehicles have terminated their partnership to build the electric Transit Connect for the US. UK based Smith, which is gearing up production of its electric Newton truck, has decided not to dissipate its energy and development dollars on the light delivery Transit Connect, and stay focused on its larger truck and existing Ford partnership for the UK . Smith expressed concern that the market for electric car-derived vans would become increasingly competitive; a competition that’s being fueled by the numerous DOE loans to battery and EV makers. And leading inevitably to competitive advantages to those with the largest scale of production efficiencies. Ford announced it will instead partner with with Azure Dynamics Corporation to deliver a pure battery electric Ford Transit Connect van for the United States and Canadian markets in 2010.
How exactly did the Volvo 122 Amazon achieve its mythological stature? Naming it after the eponymous nation of all-female warriors was a good start. Legendary ruggedness and durability solidified its status. Sporty performance burnished it further. Then there’s the magic belt: one of the twelve labors of Hercules was to secure the girdle of Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons. Giving up her belt ended up costing Hippolyta her life. But it was a worthy sacrifice, because the Amazon’s first-ever three point seat belt has saved untold others theirs, and established the Volvo safety myth. That may now have run its course, but the Amazon’s status on the automotive Mt. Olympus is secure. (Read More…)
Kudos to Steve-O, who was able to distinguish between fake vomit, grandma’s fridge, and naugahyde to identify the Dodge Aspen. And his was the first guess, of many. Regrettably, today’s clue is small, but don’t let that discourage you.
Comments to last Tuesday’s Curbside Classic pointed out the lasting stylistic influence of the BMW 6 Series on such cars as the Acura Legend coupe. That reminded me of this out-of-focus shot I took of a 1990 Infiniti M30 last winter. I try to stick to cars 25 years and older anyway, but this is a car that has really fallen off the radar, as well as my camera’s auto-focus function. The M30 was a left-steering version of the Nissan Leopard, which in turn shared its platform and basic configuration with the legendary Nissan Skyline R31. Performance was quite another story: the M30 had a 162 hp version of the Nissan 3 liter V6, and came only with an automatic. Given its weight of 3330 lbs, performance was modest. But with the availability and interchangeability of Skyline and Nissan 300Z turbo components, the M30 is the easiest way to end up with that unique JDM-Skyline look on these shores.
While the human Seven Deadly Sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride – clearly play a part in any automaker’s fall from grace, Detroit cultivated its own favorite deadly transgressions. Chrysler’s recurring dirty little habit was premature ejection: spurting cars out of the factory door before they were ready. The shoddily built 1957s devastated the company’s hard earned rep for solid, well-engineered cars. Chrysler only barely absolved itself through the penance of hard work along with the blessing of the sacred A-Body. But in 1976, Chrysler fell from grace again, and this time it took the intercession of the Great White Father in Washington to keep it from eternal damnation. And not for the last time, either.
You all seem to like C pillars, so let’s do another one. This time, the vinyl roof grain historians are going to have a big advantage as compared to the chrome window surround experts this past Monday. Congratulations to rev, who called out the 635 coupe; but then he had a head start, given that he owns one just like it. Does anyone own an example of today’s mystery car?
Somewhere deep in the comments to last week’s oft-misunderstood Datsun 210 CC was this: “With all the beautiful cars in the world, why do you insist on picking shit boxes all the time?” Well, it’s not like the streets of Eugene are lined with Delages and Delahayes sitting curbside in the in the rain. Did you miss my endless homage to the beautiful 1970 Camaro? Anyway, CC isn’t Hemmings or the Robb Report. It’s about the love of old cars still earning their keep, beautiful or not. But there are two kinds of auto-love, and a self-consciously beautiful car like this 635CSi has the higher hurdle to clear.
We set a new record with the Datsun 210 Clue: 50 guesses! Wow. And SFO In Training nailed the woody. And for those that question what’s going on here, this is our way of warding off dementia. You know, use it or lose it. And this sure beats crossword puzzles. Happy hunting!
Biological mimicry is when a group of organisms share common perceived traits with another group. One relative rare classification of this otherwise fairly common phenomena is automimicry, when a vehicle parked too long with other vehicles of a different species begins to take on those qualities. It’s not yet fully understood what advantages are incurred to the automimic, but we can surely speculate.
With what words shall I express my overpowering feelings toward this tin can wrapped in vinyl wood appliqué? Jeremy Clarkson once called the Sunny “the worst car in the world ever” (probably not for the first or last time). To show he meant it, he hurled one to its death from a trebuchet (sorry, I couldn’t find it on You Tube). Richard Hammond piled in on the flame-fest too, incinerating another Sunny in the scorching business end of a rocket car. If graphic language is going to offend your delicate sensibilities, better skip the jump:
Commenter the duke is being promoted. He’s now the king of CC Clue, for nailing Monday’s most difficult ’51 Packard. We bow down before you.
For today’s clue though, we don’t need no uppity royalty, because this is not a brand fit for kings; this is a job for a lower class: woodworkers and carpenters. Please step up and identify the make of this well-aged grain of wood. And if you’re really good, you’ll count the rings and tell us how old it is.
You would be forgiven for mistaking this modest-looking sedan as a low-end Dodge, Pontiac or Mercury. A Packard? The very name conjures images of exclusive cars from the classic era, like this illustrious coach-built V12, or perhaps its last gasp luxo-boat, the 1956 Caribbean. But finding this lowly 1951 Model 200 sitting curbside just a few blocks from my house was actually more fortuitous (and likely) than finding a glamorous one. Because in the history of this fabled brand, this car played quite a pivotal role: it brought Packard down.
The clues were too easy, I was dropping hints left and right, and DweezilSFV named the Comet on guess number three. No more Mr. Nice Guy; no more hints. If someone names this car quickly, I’m going to very unhappy, but impressed. OK, get your Google Image tabs ready and…go!
Recent Comments