General Automotive News
Cars Vs. Cows?
Bob Lutz, voluble vice chairman of General Motors,
tries on occasion to divert some blame for global warming from cars to cattle.
Indeed, livestock flatulence does produce methane, a more powerful greenhouse
gas than carbon monoxide from motor vehicles. "Will somebody please talk
to the cows?" he thundered at an Automotive News World Congress a few years
back. It turns out somebody is at least trying to curb their "emissions".
Scientists in Australia have concluded that a bacterium found in kangaroos keeps
them from producing methane. If the bug can be made to work in cattle and
sheep, they, too, might stop emitting methane.
- Newsday, Friday,
December 21, 2007
Muscle Cars Return
There was a time when $2 worth of gas lasted a
week, not a block.
Gangs wore Chevy, Ford or Dodge T-shirts, not tattoos.
And long black strips of tire residue filled the roads, not construction
barricades.
It was the muscle car era, a time in the '60s and '70s when Chevy, Ford and
Dodge said it all - and "import" referred to the Volkswagen Beetle.
It was a time when "mine is faster (not more fuel thrifty) than yours" was in
vogue. Batteries were things stuck in your transistor radio.
Oh the heady days before fuel economy and safety.
But wait. What's that in the rearview mirror? Mustang and Dodge Charger?
Soon to be joined by Camaro and Challenger?
"I'm not sure it's a return of muscle cars or a return of a sports car niche,"
said John Fitzpatrick, marketing manager for Camaro and Impala at Chevrolet.
And one aimed at a range of buyers.
"Let's see, they'll be young and old, men and women, left- and right-handers,
tall and short, fat and thin," says Jim Hossack, vice president of AutoPacific,
a West Coast marketing and consulting firm.
"By offering V-6 or V-8 engines and manual or automatic transmissions, there
will be different power and different price choices to appeal to a broad spread
of people - everybody."
Decades have passed since the original muscle-car movement, kicked off in 1964
when John DeLorean, then of General Motors, and some colleagues surreptitiously
stuffed a beefy V-8 engine into a modest Pontiac LeMans, creating the GTO.
It ended with the oil embargo in the 1970s.
The lag will benefit the returning machines, says Greg Grams, owner of the Volo
Auto Museum in a suburb of Chicago.
Guys in their 50s and 60s will buy the new ones, people who remember the old
ones but want to drive the new one with air-conditioning and a Bose sound
system," he said.
Don't count out the "youngsters", adds Art Spinella, general manager of CNW
Marketing Research, the Bandon, Oregon, company that studies why people buy the
cars they do.
Car that captures the past
"You're going to have the young under 35 years of age and the young of heart
over 55. For both it will be a fashion statement, a car that generates image and
cachet for the buyers and generates profits for the manufacturers."
Hear, hear, says John Sloan, director of rear-wheel-drive marketing for Chrysler
Group, in referring to what he calls "amusement rides."
"These are refined nostalgia pieces that open a portal to the past for people to
relive a wonderful time in their lives. When we did a market analysis for the
Dodge Challenger, we saw a market for muscle cars as rewards for boomers, people
with tremendous disposable income and a passion for cars, who couldn't afford
one when younger."
However, there remain those who focus on mileage rather than muscle and suspect
any car that zooms to 60 mph rather than racking up 60 mpg.
"We're keenly aware of gas prices," Chevy's Fitzpatrick said, the reason for the
V-6 in the base Camaro, same as in Mustang.
Even Challenger and its Hemi V-8 will shut off four cylinder when not needed to
conserve the petrol.
"People remember the old muscle cars as better than they were," Sloan said.
"They got 8 mpg, and our Hemi V-8 gets 20 to 25 mpg today with multiple
displacement so you can have top performance when you take off or top mileage
when you cruise."
Automakers flexing their muscle
Of course, the primary reason the automakers are flexing their muscle is simple.
It's to send folks scampering to the showrooms and to make money doing so.
"Some people call them halo cars. I call them hello cars," said Jerry Cizek,
president of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, which represents more
than 500 dealers. "Dealers can't wait to get them because it means showroom
traffic, just like when the Dodge Viper came out and brought a ton of people
into the showrooms to see it. Cars like this get them in the door and once in
the door, that's when people buy the cars they really can afford."
Hossack sees another force at work. "These cars are making a comeback because
Ford restyled the Mustang in 2004 and people liked it, bought it, and Ford made
lots of money. In this industry, when it comes to making money, monkey see,
monkey do."
Good sales expected
Mustang never left the Ford stable, though some Ford executives gave it some
thought. "At one time Ford was considering replacing Mustang with the Probe, one
of the worst ideas it ever had. You never take an icon out of the lineup,"
Spinella said. That's something Chevy and Dodge have learned.
Ford is expecting to sell at least 170,000 Mustangs annually, Chevy 100,000
Camaros, and Dodge 50,000 Challengers. Hossack said, "Not huge numbers, but
profitable numbers while at the same time providing consumers with something not
all cars do, a grin and fun for the dollar."
How much fun? If that trio reaches the 320,000 annual sales mark, it would top
by 70,000 the number of hybrids sold in the United States last year.
- Jim Mateja,
Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Sunday, May 20, 2007
Muscle Cars Come Back, With Eye On
Fuel Gauge
The battle lines have formed.
The Dodge Challenger is set to return in 2008 followed by the Chevy Camaro in
2009, both ready to duke it out with the Ford Mustang, which doesn't have to
return because it never left when everyone else gave up on muscle cars.
Soon they will be at it again, trying to eke out more power and lower
zero-to-60-miles-per-hour times to attract followers.
Muscle cars, which generally are small coupes packing large engines, were
popularized in the late 1960s and '70s and put out of business in the '80s when
the oil embargo gave burning less gas a leg up on burning rubber.
But even with gas running $2 to $3 a gallon in recent months, the new
high-performance Camaro and Challenger will soon be roaming the roadways with
Mustang again.
To celebrate, the Specialty Equipment Market Association used its recent annual
convention in Las Vegas to pay tribute to the American muscle car.
The show featured the Big Three, with the domestics teaming up to display
examples of old and new muscle, from legendary 1970 Hemi Barracudas and rare
1069-'70 Boss Mustangs, to supercharged 2007 Mustangs and Corvettes.
And to top it off, Dodge revealed it will sell a crate (so named because it
comes in a crate ready to install in your car) version of its 6.1-liter Hemi V-8
through its dealerships. It's rated at 540 horsepower, and there's no word
on price. You can slip that crate engine into your car now or wait until
2008 to substitute it for the 6.1-liter, 425-hp Hemi that will be offered in the
factory version of the Challenger.
But though American muscle is returning, it's a different era. Just like
the 8-track has given way to the iPod, one eye is kept on the tachometer
with the other on the fuel gauge.
Camaro, for example, will be powered by a 6-liter, 400-hp V-8 that promises to
smoke the radials yet offer fuel management to shut down four cylinders when not
needed, giving it a 30 mpg highway mileage rating.
Ford is dusting off old Mustang monikers. It will offer at least one
limited-edition Mustang each year starting in 2008, with the return of the
Bullitt, named for the 1968 movie that featured a stunning car chase through San
Francisco involving a Mustang and a Dodge Charger.
At SEMA, Ford also announced that it is reviving the legendary 5-liter,
302-cubic-inch V-8 for the aftermarket with a new line of Boss 302 crate engines
rated at 340 to 500 hp; they will go on sale early next year.
Despite the new Boss crate engine and a variety of customized Boss Mustangs
created by aftermarket shops on display at SEMA, Ford won't confirm it will
bring back the famous Boss as one of Mustang's factory-built derivatives.
But Ford division general marketing manager John Felice said the automaker is
going to fall back on its rich Mustang heritage for its limited editions - and
refused to rule out a Boss.
While Camaro, Challenger and Mustang got most of the attention, Pontiac managed
to grab notice with some mini-muscle: a concept Solstice GXP-R. Like the
GXP version, the R comes with a 2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but
with a boost to 300 horsepower from 260.
And Ford and Chevy stole a little of their own thunder with muscle trucks.
Saying that more than 70 percent of new truck owners spend an average of $1,500
to customize their machines, Ford wheeled out the concept F-150 FX2 Sport
Extreme. The trucks packs a 5.4-liter, 450-hp supercharged V-8 that's
available through Ford dealerships.
Chevy countered with a concept Silverado 427 powered by a 7-liter, 505-hp V-8
that's also available as a crate engine through Chevy dealerships. No
price was announced.
- Jim Mateja,
Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Sunday, November 12, 2006
No. 1 With A "Bullitt"
In anticipation of the August "Dukes of Hazzard"
film, Hagerty Insurance, a Michigan company that insures collectible vehicles,
conducted an online survey to find out what people think are the most exciting
Hollywood car chases. The winner: "Bullitt" (1968), in which Steve McQueen put a
1968 Ford Mustang through its paces. Next up were "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000)
and "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977).
-
AutoWeek, Newsday, Friday, July 29, 2005
The 'Hy' Road (Detroit now a Hive of
Hybrid Activity)
Ford
and General Motors are working on several new hybrid vehicles in a bid to catch
up to their Japanese rivals.
Ford, the nation's second-largest automaker behind GM, is to start selling a
hybrid version of the Mercury Mariner SUV this year - a year earlier than
originally announced - and begin full-scale production of a hybrid Mazda Tribute
SUV within two years. Ford owns about one-third of Mazda Motor Corp.
The company has said that hybrid versions of the upcoming Ford Fusion and
Mercury Milan sedans will be on the road within three years. The new vehicles
will join the Ford Escape Hybrid, the world's first gas-electric hybrid SUV,
which went on sale last summer.
General Motors is to introduce an Opel Astra diesel hybrid concept, which it
said will be 25 percent more fuel efficient than comparable compact diesels. The
concept is the first in the collaboration between GM and DaimlerChrysler AG to
build hybrid engines.
The company also plans to introduce a hybrid SUV concept called the GMC Graphyte,
with an engine system similar to hybrid versions of the GMC Yukon and Chevy
Tahoe SUVs, due in 2007. The Graphyte would get 25 percent better fuel economy
but still have the power of a comparably sized SUV, GM said.
GM and Chrysler already sell hybrid pickups, but the systems are less advanced
and fuel-efficient than those developed by Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co.
and Ford.
Toyota, Japan's No. 1 automaker, said in October it would double the number of
Prius hybrid cars for the U.S. market in 2005. The company aims to sell 300,000
hybrid vehicles worldwide by the end of this year. More than 100,000 Priuses
have been sold in the United States since 2000. Toyota also plans to begin
selling hybrid versions of its Highlander and Lexus RX SUVs here this year.
Last year, Honda began selling its third hybrid car in the United States, a
high-performance version of its popular Accord sedan.
Even as the popularity of hybrids grows, automakers have said gas-electric
engines are a transitional technology that eventually will be replaced by
hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Experts say those vehicles are at least a decade
away, though.
GM said it hopes to start using fuel cells in marketable cars by 2010. Its
Sequel concept - roughly the size of the Cadillac SRX - can travel up to 300
miles on its hydrogen supply and accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 10 seconds.
Ford said eight of its hydrogen-powered E-450 buses will debut in Florida in
2006.
- John Porretto, The Associated Press, Newsday, Sunday,
February 6, 2005
In 2004, Change Was Key To Success
(Automotive Year in Review)
Think of our relationship with
the internal combustion engine as a roller-coaster ride. We've had our ups and
downs, but 2004 was the first year most people could see, clearly, that the
tracks were out ahead. Some Americans saw gasoline hit $3 per gallon and not for
the last time.
The future belongs to automakers who embrace change. Toyota surpassed Ford as
the world's No. 2 automaker in 2004 and probably will overtake GM in 2005, when
it will sell more than 100,000 hybrid cars in the United States. Some analysts
predict a million hybrid sales per year by 2010.
It was a good year for machinery. We saw a gangsta Chrysler, a $90,000 VW, the
Ford Mustang and Ford GT born in clouds of vaporized-rubber glory. We saw a
617-hp. Mercedes-Benz SLR and the $450,000 Porsche Carrera GT - these cars,
collectively, might be called the Excess Express.
Here are some of the great cars of 2004:
Scion tC: $15,950-$16,750. The Scion brand was invented to appeal to a younger
generation of buyers for whom the name Toyota might mean Camry. It didn't take
long for boomers to latch on, though, and the compact coupe tC illustrates why.
As a value, this car is unbeatable. A maxed-out tC sells for about $19,500 and
includes a 160-hp. engine, 17-inch alloy wheels, side and curtain air bags,
power everything, AM-FM-XM-CD audio, moon roof . . . well, you get the idea. All
of this goodness is poured into an attitude-intensive body that makes its econo-box
competitors look like corrective shoes. The lesson? Value knows no demographic.
Land Rover Range Rover: $72,285- $73,085. The Range Rover's off-road credentials
are impeccable - it's equipped with height-adjustable independent suspension, a
torque-rich V8 and permanent four-wheel drive - but the main attraction is the
bold, beautiful styling: the shark-gill accents, "floating roof" design. . . .
All in all, a wonderful, lordly perch from which to see and make the scene.
Dodge Ram SRT-10: $46,075-$50,100. Pickups, those agrarian beasts of burden,
went exurban in the past decade. Private-use pickup sales far outweigh sales for
commercial use. With all the asphalt in their diet, pickups have become faster,
and none more so than the Ram SRT-10, a Dr. Moreau-like experiment combining the
mainline Ram with the 500-hp., six-speed powertrain from a Dodge Viper. It's got
curb appeal, all right, including enormous 22-inch forged aluminum wheels and
more aerodynamic body cladding than an F-22 aircraft. A blunt-force trauma of a
vehicle, the Ram SRT-10 - like a lot of country music lyrics - doesn't make a
lot of sense. And that's the point.
Ford Mustang: $19,410-$26,330 (base price range). The new Mustang
"re-imagines," as they say in Hollywood, the great Mustangs of the 1960s and
early '70s, from the vertical tail lamps to the fast-forward nose.
Maserati Quattroporte: $95,500. This new Maserati, a stunningly potent,
wonderfully crafted sedan, has museum-quality lines that make the competition
from Stuttgart and Munich, Germany, look positively Russian. The 394-hp.
Quattroporte's performance is stellar, but it's not a particularly easy car to
drive. Its DuoSelect six-speed paddle-shifted gearbox makes parallel parking
downright comical. But just look at it.
Ferrari F430: $190,000 (estimated base price). There are cars and then there are
these cars - Ferraris. The new F430 - a 490-hp., mid-engine Berlinetta - goes
from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds and from 0 to ohmigod in less than that.
People on the street get that gape-mouth, bulging-eye look - like koi - when
they see it.
Chevrolet Corvette: $44,510-$52,245. The new Corvette - known as the C6, for
sixth-generation Corvette - is the best car built in America. End of story. The
Corvette flat out embarrasses European GTs costing twice as much and in terms of
comfort and drivability makes the Dodge Viper feel like a truck.
Mini Cooper convertible: $21,500- $24,950. The Mini Cooper, built by BMW in
England, is one of the great cars of the past decade, an indispensable lesson in
form, function and the power of emotion. Still double-take cute after three
years on the market, the Mini Cooper got a haircut this year with the
introduction of the convertible. Sharing a lot of BMW's drop-top components, the
Mini Cooper convertible offers effortless access to the sun with the touch of a
button. The polished aluminum roll bars in the back make an aesthetic virtue out
of a safety necessity, and the whole car has been given an extra dose of chrome.
Acura RL: $49,470. The new RL is the smartest car around. Let's crunch numbers:
300 hp., all-wheel drive, five-speed automatic, 18 city/24 highway fuel economy,
0 to 60 in 6 seconds. A technological starship, the RL offers a list of
amenities as gold-plated as the most shameless government project, including a
satellite-based real-time traffic information system. Meanwhile, the RL cabin is
handsomely executed in piano-quality wood and leather and limned in an
effortlessly classic style.
Honda Accord Hybrid: $29,990. Hybrids are cool. Hybrids are sexy. In Los
Angeles, for example, there is a six-month waiting list for the Toyota Prius and
Ford Escape Hybrid. Just in time to be fashionable, the Honda Accord Hybrid
arrives, offering everything a regular Accord does, only it goes faster. The
hybrid version of the car is a full second quicker to 60 mph and gets better gas
mileage, too (37 mpg highway, 29 mpg city). Some might argue that more expensive
hybrids don't pay for themselves in gas savings, but the Hybrid Accord neatly
end-runs that argument. And history shows that people will happily pay thousands
more just to go a little bit faster.
- Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Sunday,
January 16, 2005
Top Vehicles In Film
With the recent news about Ford
Motor Co.'s product placement efforts in Hollywood, we thought you might be
interested in what car enthusiasts rate as the top vehicles of TV and film
history. According to a survey by Hagerty Insurance, a Michigan company that
insures collectible cars, the top 10 in order are:
1. The General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazzard"
2. The 1968 Mustang from "Bullitt"
3. The 1967 Shelby GT500 from "Gone in 60 Seconds"
4. The 1983 DeLorean from "Back to the Future"
5. The Batmobile from "Batman"
6. James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 from "Goldfinger"
7. The 1977 Pontiac Firebird from "Smokey & The Bandit"
8. The 1963 Volkswagen Beetle from "Herbie the Love Bug"
9. The 1974 Ford Torino from "Starsky & Hutch"
10. The Black Beauty show car from "Green Hornet."
The General Lee was a 1969 Dodge Charger -- a name that the Chrysler group plans
to revive in 2005.
- Automotive News, Newsday,
Friday, March 19, 2004
This page was last updated on
12/17/11
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