Just last week the faithful gathered here at TTAC to debate the relevance of motorsport to the business of selling cars. But good Saint Chapman, it seems, had already noticed that Formula One cars rarely resemble anything available to the buying public. And lo, he instructed his one true church to sell a car that changes all that. Thus was born the Lotus T125, a 630 HP, 1,433-lb, F1-style trackday car complete with Cosworth V8, carbon fiber everything and sequential gearbox. And lo, the Ferrari 599xx felt a bit silly, and Chapman saw that it was good. Deliveries of the T125 will begin in April 2011, for a small offering of around one million American dollars. [Autocar]
Yesterday, Cammy asked what could be the ugliest car. She said “currently on market,” but that limitation that was soon forgotten. Being a customer centric blog, we opened it up to the ugliest of all times. And who knows, ugly as they are, they still might be “on market,” looking for a buyer with a vision problem. Or a warped sense of humor. And with this, we present to you: TTAC’s Top Ugly Car Picks Pics. The Best and the Brightest pick the worst of the worst. Read More >
Anybody who made it through the last 12 months or so with their passion for the Saab brand intact deserves some kind of free psychological screening and endangered species protection award. Hell, anyone who made it through the last 20 years… you know what, this isn’t the moment for cynicism. Through the wrenching chaos of GM’s often-abortive attempts to sell Saab, the website SaabsUnited has stood by its brand, aggregating the most complete Saab sale coverage on the web, and generally consoling the faithful. Oh yes, and suffering through a relentless stream of cynicism from yours truly (sorry guys, it’s all we know). Anyway, for being the keepers of hope when all hope seemed lost, Saab has named and annual award after SaabsUnited which
will be made annually as the company’s way of expressing its gratitude to people like [SU founder Steven Wade] and others who continue to show us such great support.
New vehicle buyers who are influenced by motorsports typically love cars and trucks and they are opinion leaders for other car buyers – they give an average of 25 or more vehicle recommendations per year to others. More importantly people follow their advice – and we have measured it. So, there is a downstream impact from the races in the form of on-going word of mouth recommendations. That’s why we say that the roar from a race car continues away from the track.
Steve Bruyn, President of Foresight Research breaks down an intriguing finding from his firm’s “2010: Automotive Marketing Return On Investment” study [via PRNewswire]. What makes Foresight’s finding so strange is that from Formula One to NASCAR, OEMs have been grumbling about the irrelevance of major race series to their automotive products. Meanwhile, there’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence to suggest that automotive enthusiasm is on the decline in general, a reality which implies that racing is less important to automotive buying decisions than ever. So just how effective is the oldest form of automotive marketing? Read More >
Just because I want to believe doesn’t mean I should. Or that I can. Even by the gonzo standards of 1970s Italy, the Stratos was always a wild one… precisely the kind of car that has no obvious place in the homogenized, safety-crazed world of 21st Century automobiles. Besides, Lancia and Chrysler are becoming two names for the same brand, and it’s tough to imagine a Chrysler Stratos ever coming stateside (if only to avoid the “Cloud Car” associations). Besides, if Fiat is keeping Alfa around as a sporty brand, why would it develop a Lancia sportscar? Other than Old GM-style branding confusion, of course. But the least believable part of these pictures, purportedly showing a Stratos prototype testing at a Fiat test track [via Italiaspeed] are the photos themselves… and the story going along with them.
If you want, and if you don’t feel discouraged by Ed’s op-ed piece in the New York Times, you can go to your friendly GM dealer and pre-order the 2011 Volt for an MSRP of $41,000 (before a $7,500 federal tax credit). A 36-month lease costs $350 a month, with $2,500 down. Bring a cot, we are given the impression that there are long lines at the dealerships. GM’s spokesman David Darovitz told Automotive News [sub], that based on customer reactions, GM expects demand for the Volt to exceed the 10,000 units it will build between its launch and the end of 2011. Read More >
Car & Driver’s endearingly awkward Editor-in-Chief Eddie Alterman took to the interwebs today, with a “viral-style” video imploring enthusiasts to “save the manuals.” And though Alterman can’t help but sell the faux-sincerity, the message is brain-hurtingly mangled by his attempt to be the Old Spice Guy of the car world. Read More >
We don’t know for sure, but Dr. Sanjay Mehta (TTAC commentator doctorv8, awesome brother) did the deal on a 2010 Corvette ZR1 for 0% while the autoblogosphere still had it in editing. Not that the Internet is slow, he’s just that damn fast.The dude’s been keeping tabs on the inventory nightmare, calling out for GMAC’s corrective action on the Corvette Forum…almost a month ago. It’s so nice to see the two brothers speak The Truth About Cars, via different media. Read More >
17 year-old Steven Ortiz is the envy of his friends at Charter Oak High School. The reason? He drives a Porsche Boxster S to school. And before you say it, it doesn’t belong to his parents. It’s legally his. Now I know what you’re thinking at this stage, “How does this punk drive a Porsche to school and I had to make do with a Ford Pinto?” Well, the answer lies with 3 things, an old mobile phone, a little time and Craigslist. Read More >
Automotive News [sub] says it’s been five years since GM ran a Corvette ad… and if the last ‘vette ad is the one I’m thinking of, Chevy had to pull it after safety advocates protested. Is it a coincidence that this new ad has GM comparing itself to that other federally-funded money pit, NASA? With both the automaker and the space agency fighting for their futures, the cross-branding works well, and it allows The General to indulge in some trademark nostalgia without digging too deep into its own past. All in all, it’s a quite effective ad… provided you don’t think about it too hard.
Fiat retreated from U.S. shores in 1983, but that doesn’t stop die-hard Fiat fans from keeping their Fix-it-again-Tonys alive, and from congregating once a year. This weekend, the annual convention of the Club Fiat-Lancia Unlimited was held at the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. At their closing dinner, Laura Soave, Head of Fiat North America, made Fiat fans an offer they can hardly refuse: Read More >
Now that the World Cup is reaching its end, and Brazil has been eliminated, traffic is getting back to normal. Not to mention safer because authorities usually turn a blind and sympathetic eye to some traffic violations perpetrated in the name of the sport. Can’t stop the celebrations! Anyway, during this month-long event whenever you went out driving you’d see people draping their cars in the flag, putting little flags on the doors and other “decorations”. It’s rather interesting to see import driving Brazilians being so nationalistic. Funny thing was, as soon as Brazil was eliminated, the flags disappeared. This I guess is the norm for talking badly about our country, among ourselves and to foreigners, too (though to a lesser extent) is a national pastime. Do Brazilians only love their country in victory? Are we only patriotic in World Cup times?
In the previous edition of the Big Buff Book Cover-Up series, we looked at the Cumberford Martinique, a BMW & Citroen based retro roadster designed by a small startup that never got beyond prototypes or demonstrators.
The last of the three-part series shows (for starts) that you don’t have to be a small startup for your concept to stall at the prototype stage.
You can be a small British luxury marque with a storied but financially checkered past. Read More >
Anybody who made it through the last 12 months or so with their passion for the Saab brand intact deserves some kind of 
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