The past couple of Wednesday editions of Question of the Day have been full-on Nineties design in their subject matter. First, we considered American marques, before moving on last week to the European set. This week we’ll do it once more, talking about Asian car designs from the Nineties that still hold up today.
Break out your soap bar memories.
Last night, as I drove to the spot where I run in the woods like a creepy person with something to hide, a silver Chevy Spark drove past. The owner of this sub-subcompact model, which has so far managed to avoid Mary Barra’s axe, had outfitted his pint-sized ride with fairly presentable aftermarket wheels. You know the ones: black spokes, chrome outer rim. Not obnoxiously oversized, either.
This driver was motoring with precision and purpose, making good use of his 98 horses. It got me thinking. Clearly, this was all the car the driver could afford (base Canadian MSRP: $9,995 before destination), but he wanted to make it special. Just a little bit better. He wanted to put a personal stamp on his econobox; make it something he could be proud of.
And you know what? That’s great. It made me a little nostalgic of my first car purchase, but it also got me me thinking about the car that didn’t make the cut. (Read More…)
Top brass at TTAC had a chance to sample the new Supra last week at Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia. You’ll read about it on these virtual pages shortly.
Cars like the new Supra provide a chance to mull an age-old question: in the car world, is it better to share parts of a family tree or not exist at all? Your author has strong opinions on this matter, those of which that are printable will be explored after the jump.
This is not a knock on the usefulness and broad appeal of the vast crossover segment. It exists for a reason, and you still don’t have to buy one if you don’t want to. Yes, yes, buyers don’t know what they’re doing and should demand better/something else, but you’re stuck living your life and no one else’s. Face up to it.
While crossovers do perplex, annoy, or just plain bore a great many of us, the segment is not immune to style. Some models are, for sure, but the heightened competition of recent years has seen designers go bolder with their brushstrokes. Sculptors have grown more daring, more willing to envision a set of hips, and maybe… well, you recall those 1950s Cadillac bumpers.
Eyeing these new family haulers, is there a particular model you’d dare call sexy? (Read More…)
In a QOTD post last week, we walked down Nineties memory lane. The topics of discussion were the vehicle designs we still found stylish in The Current Year. In that post, conversation was restricted to domestic brand offerings.
Today, we go foreign.
You are an obsession
I cannot sleep
I am your possession
Unopened at your feet
There’s no balance
No equality
Be still; I will not accept defeat
The lyrics to that old ’80s song, which arguably marks the pinnacle of that decade’s cheesy musical excess, applies here to some degree — albeit without the remarkably dark and disturbing subtext.
We’re not talking abduction, forcible confinement, and a heinous act that’s best left unstated here. No siree. We’re talking an obsession of the automotive variety. The pursuit of a certain type of perfection that often leads to misery and tears. (Read More…)
Most of the gearheads in this audience turn a wrench or three. It’s part of what makes the community at TTAC such a great one: authors and readers alike enjoy (and understand!) wrenching on cars as much as they enjoy driving them. Those attributes aren’t a requirement for hanging around these digital pages but it sure does help.
You author spent a leisurely few minutes changing over the tires on his trusty Dodge Charger from winter to all-season rubber. While spinning lug nuts, I started thinking: what is the first tool bought by most gearheads?
No shortage of once-innocuous locales and situations qualify as “unsafe” these days. If that bad chicken restaurant comes too close to a college campus (or Toronto), expect to see protesters demanding its removal, simply so people (ie – the protesters) can feel safe.
We’ve never been less safe in society, it seems, despite existential threats like polio, lead paint, and all-out nuclear war fading from view decades ago. Still, there are scenarios in which even those who scoff at these “unsafe spacers” grow sweaty palms.
Some cars, you see, do not instill confidence and courage. (Read More…)
Monday brought news few people feared: the dwindling, one-model Smart brand (we refuse to use a lowercase “S”) is gonzo after 2019, at least in North America. Finally, some of you might be thinking.
It’s not likely there’s a large contingent of readers who can claim to be an owner of a Fortwo, or a Fortwo Electric Drive, or a Fortwo EQ Somethingorother, but it’s not inconceivable that a Smart played some part in your automotive history.
Given that the Smart brand lives on — and is destined to breed a new crop of global vehicles from its future Chinese plant come 2022 — it’s worth asking: can you see the brand returning to these unfriendly shores? (Read More…)
There are some Q-Ships which are designed to simply eat up the miles. Despite the proliferation of cheap(er) airline tickets, there is definitely a group of people who would rather drive to their cross-country destination than get in a metal sky tube with a hundred other humans. Fair enough.
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: select a machine for our fictional friend so they can drive themselves from New York to L.A. in comfort. It can be a brand new vehicle, but that stipulation is not a necessity. You’ll see why after the jump.
People and cultures, like the arts, traditions and cuisine born of those cultures, come in all flavors, and so do cars. The great thing about global trade is that we have choice in nearly everything we buy. Few, if any, people are forced to purchase a product because no alternatives built by rival companies exist.
And, because we’re not living under the thumb of an oppressive apparatus that demands us proles buy dismal crapboxes from a sole state-owned factory, our driveway diversity is off the charts. Maybe yours tops them all. (Read More…)
They used to be commonplace, but the last decade or so has seen this automotive phenomenon fade from memory. Today we talk special branded editions, and how it’s time for them to make a comeback.
A few miles north of the American border lies a humble, affordable town called Vancouver — a town which just set a record.
That record? The highest gas prices anywhere in North America, ever. Surely, a feat worth celebrating, especially by Car Twitter personalities who own half a dozen vehicles but believe gasoline should cost $7 a gallon to stop people who aren’t them from driving. Well, such purveyors of hot takes got their wish, though for now it’s relegated only to the southwest corner of British Columbia. On Monday, gas stations in Metro Vancouver reported 87 octane prices hovering around $6.55 a gallon, though one station was seen selling it for $6.77.
During afternoon rush hour, quaffers of high-test faced prices of $7.23 a gallon. And prices are expected to rise by the end of the week, too. If transplanted overnight to this bastion of sin (taxes), how long would you continue driving what you’re driving? (Read More…)
Today’s QOTD requires those who respond to give away a bit of information about themselves — their age. Or, y’know, you could just grab a random year from the ether.
Whichever route you choose, our question is this: what is, in your opinion, the worst car on sale the year you were born?
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