Now that we’ve looked at the corpse of a GM product that flopped in the American marketplace, let’s exhume an example of a GM product that sold like crazy: the Middle Malaise Era Olds Cutlass. Read More >
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C.V. writes:
I am a mechanical engineering student looking to learn how to work on cars.
My friend has given me the opportunity to take his 1988 Mazda B2200 extra-cab 5-speed. When I drove it, I saw why. The catalytic converter has broken off, and apparently pieces of it are in the exhaust. Would it be possible to just replace the catalytic converter, or should I replace the whole exhaust?
By the mid-1990s, The General’s top thinkers had finally figured out that 90-year-olds don’t have many car-buying years left in them, which meant that Cadillac had to convince some sub-nonagenarians to buy their cars. Naturally, the focus of this effort would be more on marketing than on the vehicles themselves, but even Cadillac’s most PowerPoint-adept marketing wizards knew that they couldn’t slap Day-Glo orange “Brougham d’Elegance EXTRËËMË ËDITION” badges on the Eldorado ETC, hire Napalm Death as celebrity spokesmen, and expect hip/well-heeled 30-somethings to ditch their imports. No, a different kind of Cadillac would be needed. Hey, how about slapping some Cadillac emblems on the Opel Omega? Problem solved! Read More >
Over the past couple of weeks, we have traveled to Iceland, The Entire World (yep!), France and Germany. This week again we won’t go too far and cross just another border to land in the Czech Republic.
Now if beer, beer, Prag and beer are not your thing, I don’t believe you – but hey that’s fine because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away!
The Czech Republic is, logically, the kingdom of Skoda, but with Skoda’s range expanding every year the brand now has a stronger hold than ever on the best-selling models ranking…
Yesterday, I wrote about the Melbourne Grand Prix and its inability to solicit cars for its stars for the purpose of a celebrity race. Would you believe this made me an intellectual property infringer? No? Just wait.
This morning, I find an email from a tej@transportbrokergroup.co.uk who writes: Read More >
This Desoto has four wheel disc brakes and is the nicest Detroit iron I found...
(Some of the best stories in TTAC are told by the Best & Brightest, our readers. Many a TTAC career (mine included) started with a comment, then the odd story, and before you know it … Today’s story is from Ted Grant a.k.a. Maybelater. He sent in some pictures from a trip to Cuba. Maybelater is Canadian, he’s allowed to.
When asked for a few words, Ted said he’s not a writer. Then, he wrote the email that follows.
If you have a good story to tell, in words, pictures, or both, send it to me. It will be pro bono, but who knows, it could be the start of a glorious writing career. – BS)
I just returned from holidays in Cuba and snapped some shots of some vehicles in and around Santa Lucia. Most of the pre 1959 Detroit iron is heavily reworked and tired, but the fact that they are still in use is a testament to the original design engineers and the Cuban nationals’ ingenuity with limited resources. Our tour guide told us that even the ugliest POS vehicle that still runs commands big money and is a luxury for the locals. Some older cars have been handed down in families, but the majority of car owners have rich relatives in foreign countries that help them with the purchase. A typical 50’s Detroit ride runs 10 to 15 thousand so they are indeed a real luxury. Read More >
To me, the resemblance between the ’83 Subaru Leone hatch and the ’83 Honda Accord hatch has always seemed pretty obvious, and I was reminded of this when I found one rusty silver example of each at a Denver self-service yard. Read More >
The 72 MG Midget beckoned to me from Craigslist like an opened pack of Oreos grinning from the cupboard. I ignored the wisdom of all my gearhead buddies, insisting the little yellow car would be different; it would not leak, not rust, and be as reliable as a nail.
Of course, it isn’t, it’s British. It stranded me six times, the lights don’t work and it usually requires help to start. That is life with an MG Midget.
But I was right. It is different. Read More >
When I was a young pup working the approvals desk at Ford Credit, we called it “First Payment Default”. New car buyer takes delivery of new car and just, you know, never gets around to sending in a check. Most first payments were due between thirty and forty-five days after delivery. By the fifty-day mark, we were either on the phone with the person listening to excuses or furiously skip-tracing. Happened more often than you might think. Some people simply aren’t cut out to be on the debtor side of an automotive loan.
The trackday equivalent to this is the “one and done”. New guy shows up. Sometimes he is full of braggadocio, other times he is a church mouse in a motorcycle-spec helmet. Doesn’t matter. By the end of the day, he will be on the wrecker, having destroyed or seriously damaged his rather expensive and sporty daily driver. With any luck, he’ll be unhurt, but regardless, he won’t be coming back. One-and-done stories are the Beluga caviar of lunch-break stories among seasoned instructors and racers: short and delicious.
Here’s mine.
An in-development Microsoft smart phone app designed to help drivers and pedestrians avoid unsafe neighborhoods is proving controversial among some minority rights groups that find the software potentially discriminatory.
Well, it sure would have helped Sherman McCoy and Reginald Denny, but is it good for society?
Since many of you old-timers see us young folks as self-absorbed brats, I decided I wouldn’t spam TTAC with my “angry young man” rants too often – but today is a special case, with the results of a Deloitte study on Gen Y being released. As you’d guess, they are about as accurate as Toyota’s notion that consumers aged 18-30 would want to buy boxy subcompacts that they can customize.
If you’re familiar with the story of kickbacks and dodgy dealings at American Honda in the 1970s and 1980s (yes, copies of Arrogance and Accords go for $150 a pop these days), you know that getting a new Accord was quite a challenge for American car buyers during the Late Malaise Era. You sure as hell weren’t going to get that shiny new Accord hatchback for anywhere near invoice, if you could find one at all… but hold on now, what’s that affordable, Japanese-built, gas-sipping front-wheel-drive hatchback at the dealership across the street, the car that looks so Accord-like? Surely it must be every bit as good as the Honda, yes? Read More >
TTAC Commentator supremebrougham writes:
Hey Sajeev…
I just got done reading the Ranger piece on TTAC, and I decided that I want to ask you something. A few months ago I lost my Father, and last week my Mom gave me his ’03 Ranger to use as a trade for a new Escape. Read More >
Last time on Generation Why, we discussed Chevrolet’s youth-oriented concepts, and how the big problem related to marketing to young people was their poor economic prospects. But what about those that can afford a car? Are “connectivity features” like Toyota’s Entune, really the way forward? What about the good old-fashioned notion of just building a car that people will want?
BCA Auctions in Derby, UK; Courtesy of Zimbio.com
I get a lot of emails from auto enthusiasts. About 60% of what I get comes down to this question.
“Can you get me a high demand vehicle at a disgustingly low price at the auctions?”
The short answer is no. Just as an athlete can’t contradict the laws of physics, I can’t control the free market aspect of a dealer auction. In my world a car is bid on by dozens of professionals until the last man pays the most. If you want a Toyonda or the latest and greatest wheels that are based on yet another ‘”Fast & Furious” ripoff, then you have to pay the premium.
As for unpopular cars, they are a different story.
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