No, we’re not talking about the long-gone Honda Element today, but perhaps one day we will. As bad as vehicle design was in the 2000s, the Element at least offered buyers a quirky choice in their family hauler.
Today we’re talking about that fun, exciting, aspirational ride you bought to cruise the warm, sun-baked streets of Anytown, North America back in late spring or early summer… and what happened come November. (Read More…)
A family member asked me advice about a possible vehicle purchase over the weekend. The vehicle in question was something they had been thinking of for a while, seeing it as just the thing to support the day-to-day lives and vacation preferences of a traditional nuclear family. While lesser vehicles could easily cover most of the family’s needs, albeit with some concessions on the part of kids, pets, or luggage, this one did everything.
It may come as no shock that the mystery vehicle here happens to be the world’s best-selling vehicle. (Read More…)
Just the other day, I was making a left turn onto a busy street, and just when I thought the course was clear, I look up to see a Volkswagen GTI bearing down on me from the passenger side.
In last Wednesday’s Question of the Day post, we discussed vehicles ruined by the facelifts foisted upon them by their manufacturers. This week we will flip the question around and consider the most successful examples of automotive nip/tucks; the ones subtle enough to look great, yet noticeable enough to catch a second glance.
“How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?” – Charles de Gaulle
I have a friend, one whose living room is decked out in red shag carpeting, who often jokes that his tastes in fashion and other trappings of life tend to straddle the line between respectable and… over the top. Cheeseball, in other words. Many times I’ll find myself suggesting, in that delicate manner long-time friends are so good at, that perhaps he’s teetered off that fence and fallen solidly on the wrong side of it.
In the auto realm, cheese is more than ever relegated to the aftermarket, but perhaps OEMs haven’t left this dairy product entirely in the past? (Read More…)
On Friday, our fancy-pants Associate Ed asked what you’d like to see out of a FCA-PSA shotgun nuptial. The answers were varied as they were predictable: 208 GTI, Panda, and the like.
Alert readers with long memories will certainly be quick, and correct, to point out this is hardly the first time Chrysler has gotten into bed with someone from France. Today, we ask you: what product couldah been a contendah the last time Franco-American relations were undertaken?
As you learned yesterday, Fiat Chrysler and France’s Groupe PSA have agreed on a merger plan, paving the way for the creation of the world’s fourth-largest automaker. FCA boss Mike Manley calls it a “compelling” opportunity. PSA chief Carlos Tavares claims it heralds a “bright future” for the combined entity.
Renault is left wondering what could have been.
Should the marriage come to pass, it opens up an opportunity for North American buyers to have greater access to a range of French cars, not to mention models built by the formerly GM-owned Opel. What would you like to see at your local Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram dealer? (Read More…)
Face lifts are a tricky balancing act when it comes to automobiles. A well-done lift can enhance looks while bringing youth or perhaps modernity to what was previously dated. But taken too far, results can end up cartoony, or even grotesque. We got a small dose of this particular topic recently on a Question of the Day post that covered bad Nineties sports car design from America. Specifically, we took a look at how Ford altered the appearance of the Mercury Cougar four times over its last few years as a personal luxury coupe. Today, we are all about face lifts and how they can go wrong.
We’ve all had time to think about Ford’s “Mustang-inspired” electric crossover, a vehicle which seems ready to adopt styling cues — if not whole swaths of real estate — from its pony car stablemate. Imagine an other automaker grafting a close facsimile of the stem and stern of a storied sports car onto a high-riding, four-door CUV. Seems laughable, no?
Well, this exact scenario seems to be what Ford has planned for a vehicle it needs to be successful. If the final product ends up turning heads and not stomachs, can you see the company’s rivals attempting the same? (Read More…)
There is definitely a sense of pride piloting a machine — be it car, pickup, or an off-road rig — that you built up with your own tools and your own two hands. We’re not talking about Factory Five levels of build-it-yourselfness, however, but rather the satisfaction of putting in the wrench time to either restore or modify something to your own liking.
YouTube is rife with channels of gearheads doing just this, so when the DIY Gang Family completely rebuilt this barn burner of a Hellcat, it got your author thinking: what’s the most-ambitious project you’ve ever attempted?
Yesterday brought the big reveal every Volkswagen aficionado has waited breathlessly for: the Golf Mk. 8, VW’s latest iteration of a fun and sprightly hatch that’s put smiles on the faces of Euro-leaning Americans since the debut of The Rockford Files.
And…we might not see a regular Golf again, at least not in the United States. Falling sales of the seventh-gen Golf prompted VW brass to remain noncommittal about the introduction of a next-gen model lacking GTI or R badging.
Looking at the variety of mild and plug-in hybrids offered to Europeans come 2020, one reader recalled America’s not-too-distant TDI love and wondered aloud why greenies in the U.S. (presumably) can not get a crack at an electrified Golf. Do you think they should? (Read More…)
The heart is a strange animal. One day, it despises something, but give it time and you’ll one day find yourself enjoying something you once turned up your nose at. It happens in the kitchen, the voting booth, and hell, maybe even the bedroom.
As human beings, our individual tastes, preferences, and ideologies evolve slowly over the span of many years, just as the societal trappings around us cast off old clothes for a new wardrobe. Architecture, music, and automotive styling, to name a few examples. Sometimes it doesn’t take long to correct past styling mistakes and light a fire in a person’s heart; other times, it takes many generations of vehicle before an automaker bakes a cake you’d actually want to eat.
What’s one car model you once hated, but now can’t wait to own? (Read More…)
Today marks the final entry in our Question of the Day series discussing bad sporty car design from the Nineties. So far we’ve covered America and Europe, and we now finish up with poor sports car designs from Japan. (Read More…)
Once a fancy feature reserved for legitimately sporty or luxurious vehicles with ample power to generate grins regardless of electronic intervention, “sport mode” is now nearly ubiquitous. It appears in tepid (but efficient!) economy cars. Your mom’s crossover probably has a button, dial, or shift lever position that fiddles with shift points, firms up the steering, and makes the accelerator pedal touchier than a friend whose long-term relationship just went south.
Auto journos quickly make use of the feature when hooning an automaker’s latest and greatest, but does it ever serve a purpose to you, the owner? (Read More…)
It’s Election Day north of the border, meaning you can be sure of one thing once all the ballots are counted in the wee hours — no one’s going to be happy.
Regardless of the Great White North’s political carping, we have three automotive topics on which to cast your vote. So sharpen your pencil, step up to the ballot box, and beware of hanging chads.
Recent Comments