Ah, the Mazda RX-8. Given that it shares many underpinnings with the NC Miata, has a high-reving, silky smooth powerplant, 4 doors and a useable backseat, it should be a shoo-in for my next car, right? Not at all.
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Category: News Blog
Some folks like music. Or at least a series of sounds that vaguely resembles music.
They will rip CD’s. Collect several yards of vinyl. Develop a nice little Youtube playlist. Perhaps even have an Ipod-like device with hundreds of digitized recordings. Some play. Others listen. But the enjoyment is always there.
Right around the early to mid-30’s something happens to these people. Either they become more into music. Or they have music merely serve as background noise for other hobbies.
Or, if they are among the Best & Brightest who regularly visit TTAC, they surely have certain types of music that reminds them of certain cars.
Those are the ones that truly enjoy a musical Nirvana. Or perhaps a Welk-ish purgatory.
The Portland city council two years ago put in place regulations that force limousine and sedan services to charge a $50 minimum for rides to and from the airport, and at least 35 percent more than taxis for trips to any other destination. And these transportation companies cannot pick up customers until at least an hour after the customer calls for a ride… “The main thing is that you don’t want the Town Cars to take all of the best fares, which are to the airport, and not leave any for the taxi industry,” [a city official] said. “That’s why there’s a minimum fare and a one-hour wait requirement.”
That’s right: the city of Portland is attacking the Lincoln Town Car, by name, in legislation and public speech. To the diminishing community of people in the United States who give a damn about the so-called “Constitution”, that’s called a “bill of attainder”. Nor is it empty talk: the city recently fined TownCar.com $635,500. Why?
Volkswagen’s SEAT has been a bit luckless recently. The victim of the Mediterranean malaise seeks to improve its odds by exporting cars to China. Lacking new models to introduce, Seat showcases a new culinary delight: Blondes on a stick. Read More >
When it comes to car blogging, China has long bypassed the rest of the world. Even much larger sites than TTAC look like midgets compared to the Chinese giants. Nothing shows that more drastically than the Beijing Auto Show. Read More >
Toyota will launch a domestically produced plug-in hybrid in China before the year is over and will follow with EVs once certification is completed, said Dong Changzheng, executive vice president of Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., to a small group of reporters at the Beijing Auto Show. The cars will be marketed under a yet to be announced “Chinese” brand. Read More >
Coda Automotive withdrew a Department of Energy loan application after two years of waiting. The $334 million loan was supposed to have gone towards establishing an assembly plant in Columbus, Ohio, but for now, production will continue in China.
Big news today; the Ford Shelby GT500 apparently packs 662 horsepower in addition to its 200 mph top speed. The big question now is “why?”
The first fruits of a large scale joint venture of a leading U.S. supplier and a consortium of Chinese automakers will debut in FAW’s Hongqi (Red Flag) luxury sedan. BorgWarner United Transmission Systems (BWUTS) will supply DualTronic control modules and clutch modules for a seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission (DCT) that goes into FAW’s Hongqi in late 2013. Read More >
Sometimes, journalists are in the pockets of people. This time, people are in the pockets of journalists: More than 40 theft cases were reported in the first hours of the 2012 Beijing Auto Show. Read More >
Most people are pegged on the predictable and reassuring.
It’s not that they hate. It’s that they are comfortable in their world and prefer familiar borders over new horizons.
Our human mind may have gradually evolved to a higher state of being and capability when it comes to complex problem solving and reasoning. But it acts not too differently from other simpler life forms when it comes to the ‘daily routine’. It takes pleasure in re-mastering the known… and avoiding the unknown.
Fear, familiar pleasures and adrenal driven instincts are reflected in the vast conformity and commonness of what we buy.
Do our choices eventually come about because certain products are truly better than others? Not at all. We’re slaves to the marketing of ‘great’, and the mental satisfaction that comes with accessing ‘good enough’. Any product, service or person that simply does what is promised, and nothing more, will almost always win out over an unknown that has neither the name, nor the societal track record.
Today is a busy day. Bertel and Ed are off somewhere plotting their next round of skullduggery, Murilee is prowling the junkyards of Denver for the elusive 1991 Isuzu Impulse AWD, Jack is laid up in bed with an illness certainly caught from his child’s pre-school, Steve and Sajeev are collaborating on their next hit column and I am commiting a cardinal sin according to the Church of Panther…fraternizing with the enemy.
Back when we reviewed the Chevrolet Orlando, we noted that it had trouble catching up to its chief rivals, the Mazda5 and the Kia Rondo. No longer.
Here’s a quick example of Gen Y marketing done right, but this isn’t so much to do with the product.
This is a work of fiction. All usual disclaimers apply — JB
He woke up in a perfectly anonymous aqua-tiled hospital room somewhere, a million years’ worth of hallucinogenic dreams after stepping on that IED back in Afghanistan. He couldn’t remember where he’d been before that. His friends, his childhood, even his name — all of that was locked somewhere he couldn’t reach. Instead, he had a Brooks-Brothers-clad, aggressively-tanned young man standing at his bedside, grinning at him as if they’d just shared a particularly private and risqué joke.
“We’re feeling better, I see!” the man offered. “Let me get the boss.”
And just like that, the hospital room was empty and he was alone. Not for long, though; his overly-cheerful companion was soon back with a distinguished older man in tow. With a shock, he realized that he recognized “the boss”. Tall, powerful-looking, military bearing, with a perfect mane of silver hair.
“It’s you! I’ve seen you on television! You’re—“ The big man reached down and placed a powerful, masculine, dreamy finger against his lips.
“Never mind who I am. Your name is now Michael Sloan. You lost your life in the service of your country. Or, you would have, anyway, if we hadn’t taken you to our secret clinic and rebuilt you from the ground up. We had a reason to. In Afghanistan, you were one of the best. Elite. The question I have for you is: Are you ready to give your life for your country again?”
“I… suppose so,” Michael replied, “but what are you doing here, if this is a military operation? Don’t you work for… General Motors?”
“What’s good for General Motors,” the big man replied, “is good for the country. We saved your life because we need a man who exists in the shadows. Sometimes, direct action might provide the only feasible solution. I’ve tried so-called secret weapons before, but they turned to be buffet-browsing shills for garbage product. You’ll erase that shame. But you won’t be working alone. We’ve created the perfect partner for you. Better than human. The very latest twenty-first technology. Are you ready to meet your partner? We call him… VOLT.”
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