Jan. 18, 2007 - 2007 North American International Auto Show, All Others

The North American International Auto Show is an international event (says so right there in the title), and while the domestic two and a half automakers did dominate the proceedings, the foreign brands did not hold back.  Here are some highlights:

Toyota showed its assault weapon of choice in the pick-up truck wars, which has been dominated by the domestics as long as there has been a pick-up truck market.  The new Texas built Toyota Tundra—and its massive quad cab derivative-- is the first Asian brand truck that might stand a chance against such segment stalwarts as the Ford F150, Chevrolet Silverado, and Dodge Ram.  It certainly has the size to compete.  And while the Tundra’s power-train options are not as varied as that of its US competitors it will be interesting to see how much of an impact it can make in the most nationalistic of market segments.

Proving that nobody is immune from the Toyota onslaught, the Lexus division kicked off the “F brand” within brand.  When it comes to solid luxury, Lexus has no equal, but when it comes to driving enthusiasm and passionate performance, Lexus is left wanting.  Like spilled coffee on a messy desk, the Toyota machine is seeping into every open segment, niche and crevasse in the market.  The IS-F is the first of the performance tuned Lexi put up to do battle against the M, AMG, and RS branded cars from the Fatherland.  With a 400 plus horsepower high revving V8 engine, 8 speed auto-manual gearbox, massive Brembo brakes and stiffer springs, Toyota has the basic formula down.  The question remains if all those parts come together in a satisfying package.  At the very least, those less hard edged people that went to BMW M or Mercedes AMG because there was little other choice now might find the perfect compromise between bullet proof quality, seamless luxury and at least some sport over at Lexus.

Mitsubishi introduced their new Lancer compact sedan, which shares the global DCX platform on which the Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass/Patriot also ride.  Along with the updated Lancer, which is actually quite handsome for its class, they showed the “X Concept” previewing the next Evolution.  Labeled a concept, I can’t imagine how much more toned down it needs to be to be called production.  My guess is that the exterior of the concept is exactly what we can expect on the next Evo X.  Most of the interior save for some of the switchgear and the suede dash covering will make it into production as well.  With a rumored 300 plus horsepower turbocharged engine, rally inspired all wheel drive, and aggressive handling this will be one fun car.

The BMW group chose to show off a trio of new convertibles, from its premier brand Rolls-Royce to MINI and BMW in between, all brands had a new ragtop of sorts to show off.

MINI unveiled for the first time to the American public the second generation new MINI.  Slightly larger in almost every way, the new for 2007 MINI and MINI Cooper S is a very calculated evolution over the last generation which was so successful.  The 07 MINIs don’t break any new ground in exterior styling.  Underneath and inside is where the redesign action went with a set of new engines and better quality interior materials.  Gone is the engine that was developed jointly with DCX and built in Brazil and in comes a new range of engines, this time jointly developed with Renault.  The little 1.6 liter 4 cylinder now has BMWs patented fully variable valve lift and timing VALVTRONIC engine technology.  The base engine has 120 hp and the Cooper S engine with added turbo-charging musters a 175 hp and 177 lb-ft torque, with an over-boost effect during hard acceleration providing brief bump up to 192 lb-ft torque.

The new MINI Convertible is actually the old MINI with a new name and equipment package.  Called the MINI Convertible Sidewalk it is based on the outgoing model and makes due with unique colors, graphics, and equipment.

The most impressive display of hardware at the show was tucked underneath the BMW lounge mezzanine towards the back of BMW’s display.  They had every iteration of M car available on the market today parked in a single row—all in sparkling alpine white paint—ready to pounce.  Lexus and its “F” cars have a long way to go to match BMW’s rich heritage in the factory tuned category.

The fourth generation of BMW’s four seat 3 Series convertible, now with a folding hardtop in place of the usual cloth, took center stage up front.  The new convertible will come in 328 and 335 guise and offer all the amenities already available on the 3 Series coupes.

The most outrageous car, and one I must confess that I absolutely love for its pure (and fitting) audaciousness, was the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé.  This is a larger than life car befitting the long and storied history to the Rolls-Royce marque.  With its optional brushed stainless steel hood section and teak wood deck that covers the largest convertible top on the market (while its stowed beneath the belt line) the Drophead is a $400,000 plus jaw dropper.  The convertible Roller shares much of its underpinnings and drivetrain with the sedan, but gets unique styling including a swept back grille flanked by menacing looking lights.  If I had the money, this car along with its sedan brother would be in my fleet…

Audi brought their mid-engined super car, the R8, to Detroit with little fanfare, having already introduced it in the streets of New York back in the fall.  Based on the Lamborghini Gallardo chassis, the R8 is very much its own car nonetheless.  One of the most beautiful cars at the show the R8 is currently outfitted with the RS4’s 420 hp V8 engine but it is rumored that it may eventually have a sport tuned diesel engine in honor of Audi’s diesel powered LeMans winning prototypes.

What really had people singing over at the four ringed VW offshoot was their ridiculous Q7 6.0 V12 TDI concept SUV.  Sporting a 500 hp, 737 lb-ft 6 liter diesel engine, the Q7 concept car was meant to showcase… what I’m not exactly sure.  It did have the whitest of white pearl paint and enough bling accoutrements that would make the most ostentatious of hip hop stars happy.

Porsche continued its assault on its good name by introducing an even uglier Cayenne sport-ute.  The only saving grace at the Porsche stand was the white GT3 tucked in the back corner.  Let us have a moment of silence for what Porsche was, and still could be as proved by the GT3, were it not for the overthrow of the engineers by the marketing and finance departments.

Back in Italian row, where Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini were situated not much new was debuted.  Then again, if you’re Ferrari, Maserati or Lamborghini and you flank your lust worthy cars with beautiful models you don’t really need to show much new to keep the hoi polloi journalists salivating.  A new automatic transmission for the Quattroporte, 60 year anniversary for Ferrari, and a new engine at Lamborghini sums up the news from Italy.

So the North American International Auto Show in Detroit may be a home team favorite, but it has enough clout in the world of car shows that even those pesky foreigners show up with serious iron.  

A side note about the venue: we get predictions every year that the show will lose its stature if floor space isn’t increased and every year we get grandiose plans to fix this, yet Detroit politics being what it is, nothing ever gets done. 

The automakers may complain that they need more space and the journalists may bemoan the idea of coming to Detroit in the winter, but the character of this show would surly be missed if it were changed dramatically or didn’t exist at all.  Its relative compact dimensions compared to the foot blistering, time wasting expanses of Frankfurt or even Chicago may worry the organizers and local politicians but not me.  You’re blinded by all the sights and sounds the minute you step into Cobo Hall thanks to displays set up back to back and side to side with one another.  How interesting would Tokyo or Manhattan be if it were spread out like Los Angeles?  It’s the density of sensory delights that makes the Detroit show what it is, and while it could use some more space because of the increasing number of cars and brands in the market, I hope it never grows too large.

More info and pictures at www.vrperformance.com/mt

Jan. 16, 2007 - Vee Dub Marketing Round Three

Back in May of 2006 I ran some stories about the marketing campaign at VW.  First there was none and then there was what I considered the annoying “Fast” and German professor ads.  The ads were entertaining yes, but not exactly a call to action for me to buy a GTI or any other VW.  The brains behind the campaigns were VW executive Kerri Martin who came from MINI and ad agency Crispin Porter who helped Ms. Martin with the MINI marketing while her tenure there.

Well, the in your face ads brought attention the VW but not sales.  As a result, Martin is gone and Crispin Porter may be on thin ice.  Check out the full story here:  http://adage.com/article?article_id=114283&CFID=3452585&CFTOKEN=98052162

Jan. 12, 2007 - 2007 North American International Auto Show, the Home Team

For more info and pictures, go to http://www.vrperformance.com/mt/

Nov. 29, 2006 - Cool Cars

Cool cars do not come around very often, and when they do they are usually not noticed until they are gone.  Sure there are interesting cars that create an immediate lust from car aficionados with even the vox populi chanting its praises but they are not really cool, they’re just fashionable.  I put most every exotic car from Ferrari, Porsche, et al into that category.  Sure many of them are lustfully beautiful and fast as all get out, but they’re all a bit prissy with their high strung (albeit very powerful) little motors and fine honed details.

No, really cool cars are not fine in any way and they fly under the radar with only a small cult following.  They are typically bulldog handsome, have big thumping engines designed to spin extra large tires at will and leave long patches of anti-social rubber behind.  Needless to say they are not tuned at racetracks in Europe or anywhere else for that matter.   

The Dodge Magnum is just such a car, especially in SRT-8 guise.  From its brutal in your face station wagon design to its old school rumbling Hemi V8, the Magnum is the coolest car on the market today.  Thanks to its useful but unloved extended roof line it’s a car that flies in the face of convention, and is tanking in the market because of it.  Now that’s cool.

http://vrperformance.com/mt/

Nov. 9, 2006 - SEMA 2006

Much like Cher, Madonna, and Sting, SEMA has grown so large that it’s known within the car world by just one name.  “SEMA” is actually the acronym for the Specialty Equipment Market Association, a lobbying organization founded by early automotive go fast parts makers. 

What started as a small annual convention of primarily Los Angeles based parts makers 40 years ago has turned into the single biggest automotive aftermarket industry orgy this side of the moon.  Parts makers from all over the world come to Las Vegas the first week of November each year to peddle their latest wheels, tires, exhausts, audio/visual equipment and pretty much anything else that can be welded, bolted or glued to a road going (and some not so roadworthy) vehicle.

SEMA says that the aftermarket business rung up $34 billion in retail sales this past year--up 8% from 2005.  $5 billion of that came from the sport compact market alone, one of the fastest growing segments of the industry.  Thanks to size of the market the big automakers are now beginning to really take notice.  This year’s show-- which as always was open only to those working in the industry and not to the general public-- had 14 automakers on hand displaying cars with their own in-house brand of bling. 

Despite the “American Muscle” theme of this year’s show, there was still plenty of Asian and European tuning on display.  Sub-compact cars like the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris seemed to be the most prevalent showcars on the floor.  There were fewer Nissan 350Zs, Mitsubishi Eclipses, and BMW M3s than ever before—due more to their end of lifecycle timing than popularity I suspect.  SEMA is about new if it’s about anything; especially in the sport compact end of the industry which caters to the fickle “what have you done for me lately” young ADD generation.

Oct. 30, 2006 - C30 Designer Blog

If you're like me and appreciate great small cars, and particularly great small car design, there's a very interesting blog up and running that you should check out.  It's populated by Simon Lamarre, a Canadian born designer working for Volvo design in Sweden, and it’s about Volvo's new small car, the C30. 

The first time I saw the C30 show car I was immediately smitten by its muscular stance, nice proportions, and its nod to Volvo heritage while at the same time remaining completely modern.  It carries forward the new corporate design language expertly; which seems to work as well in this small package as it does in the rest of the line. 

Anyway, if you ever wanted to know how a single car is designed, from a designer’s perspective, check out Simon's blog: http://c30designerblog.blogspot.com/

Oct. 25, 2006 - Let’s Get Real, Who Needs Whose Help at DCX?

The media is at it again, breathlessly reporting on the supposed collapse of the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler AG. And automotive trade publications seem to be regurgitating the same crap. The story goes that Dr. Z, under pressure from the German dominated supervisory board, had to send in—irony of ironies—a German manager to help the hapless staff operating behind the big “penta-star” window at Chrysler HQ in Auburn Hills, Michigan to cut costs. Are they serious? Who taught whom how to cut costs at DCX? It sure as hell wasn’t Mercedes, or anyone from the bloated half of the merger of equals.

The inefficiency at Mercedes was as legendary as its once vaunted quality. At the time of the merger, the Mercedes unit was in a perfect storm of high costs and terrible quality that thanks only to its century old reputation and aging, slightly senile owner group it was able to weather. Mercedes was saved years of painful reorganization by lifting ideas from the systems that Thomas Stalkamp, Dennis Pawley, Bob Lutz, and gang fostered at Chrysler before the merger was even a twinkle in Schrempp’s eye. Chrysler brought efficiency and low cost to the table, Mercedes brought high price points and arrogance.

And now what do we read in the papers and on the automotive websites? The Detroit News reports: “With the Chrysler Group once again sapping DaimlerChrysler AG, the company has assigned teams including top Mercedes-Benz managers to find ways to increase efficiency and cut costs by $1,000 per vehicle at the Auburn Hills automaker.”

The fact that Chrysler may report a $1.5 billion loss in the third quarter is not due to inefficiency or unit costs, but instead is a result of building the wrong vehicles at the wrong time for way too long. And it was Dr. Z and his minions at the time that prescribed loaded full sized Dodge Rams, butt ugly Jeep Commanders and Dodge Durangos for a buying public that was becoming increasingly sick of high gas prices. The result can be seen all over the metro Detroit area—once empty lots are now packed full of unsold Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products. Dealers are choking under the force feed antics of Chrysler’s sales and marketing group, headed by yet another one of those “top Mercedes-Benz managers.”

Talk to any Chrysler engineer or manager below the top floor and you’ll hear the same thing over and over—the troops are over worked and under staffed and because of that completely demoralized. This latest round of search and destroy cost cutting, ceremonially headed up by papa Mercedes may look good to the German investors and the sloppy media, but it will do nothing for Chrysler in the long run.

The time and effort should be spent designing, building and marketing great new cars. Chrysler is losing its edge thanks to razor thin staffing leading to underdevolped vehicles, big time blunders by sales and marketing, and spotty (read: ugly) styling… not because the cars they are building cost too much.

Read more at www.vrperformance.com/mt

Sep. 22, 2006 - I'm back, sort of

I woke up this morning and realized that summer is over.  It was noticably cool in the house, and the AC was not on-- as matter of fact, it has not been on for the last month or so.  There was a definite smell of autumn in the air which is not a bad thing for this Midwestern born and raised guy.  Unlike many of my fellow Michiganders who seem to hate the state when it's not summer, I enjoy every season and pity those who live in bright sunshine and warm temperatures year around. 

I am woefully behind in my logs thanks to the busy summer I've had.  And one of the items I've been working on is the workshop's website, www.vrperformance.com.  Between it, the many customer projects, and the patio of a local wastering hole, I have neglected this blog. 

But alas, a new season is upon us and as the days get shorter, I'm sure I'll be checking in on a more regular basis here and at a new blog site I invite you all to check out: http://vrperformance.com/mt/ 

Please take a look and leave any comments that you wish.  Cheers.

Jun. 25, 2006 - Ultimate Marketing Machine

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the new BMW ads popping up in places like your favorite car magazine or cable channel, or more outré websites like www.theonion.com and www.flavorpill.net  but I, your humble servant, has.  Ushered in by the new marketing director who discovered that a whopping 75% of the people he had surveyed weren’t even considering a BMW for their next luxury class vehicle purchase, the new ads come from the Austin, Texas based ad agency GSD&M. 

GSD&M is best known for their marketing campaigns for Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines and Krsipy Kreme donuts.  BMW’s new Vice President of Marketing, Jack Pitney came over from MINI.

The feeling is that BMW’s marketing has been too narrowly focused on the driving enthusiast by touting almost exclusively the performance aspects of BMWs.  With new BMWs coming on line that are branching into areas where BMW has never been before, such as the X5 and X3 trucks, and a new minivan-like crossover car based SUV thing, Jack and company have decided it’s time to branch out the marketing theme as well.  The 33 year old tagline “The Ultimate Driving Machine” is being given a rest in the search for a new class of customer, a class referred to by GSD&M as the “creative class.” 

The creative class includes such people as artists, architects, engineers, writers, entertainers and scientists—people who use their creativity to solve the problems of their chosen professions.  These people are believed to be early adopting trendsetters whom the rest of the hoi polloi will clamor to emulate.  And thus the other 75% of people who do not find BMW on their radar yet will begin to see a blip as the hand sweeps round.

To a guy like me who sees the “Ultimate Driving Machine” as the best tagline and motto for a car company ever conceived this “creative class” marketing scheme sounds like nothing but mumbo jumbo wrapped in a $500 an hour consulting bill.  But I’ve been wrong before—I couldn’t stand the evil rabbit “fast” ads or the truly terrible, almost offensive, mad German scientist ads for VW, and have since been told they worked.   Not sure what class of people they were aiming for there.

At least some of the ads I’ve seen from BMW’s new collaboration with GSD&M are good, no matter what their reasoning may be.  The first one that I saw is what I’ll call the “match the car company with the parent” print ad.  It made the none-too-subtle point that, of all the high snoot car companies out there, BMW is the only independent one.  Mercedes-Benz is beholden to the Daimler and Chrysler merger, Jaguar and Land Rover must ask permission from Ford, Lexus sprang from the loins of mother Toyota, and Audi is merely an offspring of the lowly People’s Car Company.

Another ad talks about creative risk by boldly highlighting the rear end of a new 7 Series—the design that shook the BMW world, and by the looks of the many me-too copies on the market today (the new Mercedes S-Class is a case in point), influenced car company design houses around the globe.  I find this ad particularly funny because it not only pokes an exhaust pipe in the eye of the august motoring media; it also speaks to the letters section of the Roundel and all the amateur style police that write in their monthly Bangle grievances.  It still doesn’t make that rear end look any better, but at least BMW is not shirking from it.

There are many more new style ads coming so be on the look out and see if you’re part of the creative class that BMW is looking for.

May. 16, 2006 - One Lap Insanity

I just got back from the enormous Tire Rack facility in South Bend, Indiana.  The final act of the Cannonball One Lap of America was played out there this past Saturday.  If you’re unfamiliar with the One Lap, it is basically a week long, 5000 mile rally with timed stages at various race tracks around the country.  Competitors drive large distances, and spend an insane amount of time in their “race” car only to perform a few laps at the chosen tracks.  If it sounds like a week of hell, you’re probably right.  Those of us who have completed a lap or two like to say that it is an event you hate doing, but love having done-- if that makes any sense.  My brother and I competed in the One Lap in 1995, 96 and 97, and many times during those events we asked ourselves why.  The minute the event was over though, we started planning for the next year.

The king of American automotive journalism, Brock Yates, is the author of the madness.  A quick look at the overall standings proves that this year’s event concluded in typical, scratch your head, One Lap style.  While insane horsepower and huge tires tend to help, more than any other racing event that I know of, driver skill is the biggest deciding factor for who comes out on top.  A Civic Si in fourth place beating out Nobles, Vipers, Corvettes, and Porsches?  Certainly!  How about Chevy HHRs and Honda minivans ahead of AMG Benzes?  Anything goes.  The One Lap is truly a contest of skill, luck, and preparation.  Many high horsepower cars tuned to the nth degree simply don’t last the entire race.  Many less than skilled drivers in expensive rides find themselves backed into Armco or simply struggling to keep up with the more fleet footed drivers in their high strung sport compacts.  The One Lap of America is brutally honest in that way.

Top 50 Finishers of the Tire Rack 2006 One Lap of America sponsored by Car and Driver:

1     1 Porsche           996 TT            SSGT1 BB        7095

2    25 Chevrolet        Corvette Z06      SSGT1 BB         6595

3     8 Mitsubishi       Lancer Evo 8      MidPri Sed       6520

4    71 Honda            Civic Si          Econo Car        6475

5     6 Subaru STi       Top Speed         MidPri Sed       6470

6     5 Ultima           GTR               SSGT1 BB         6300

7    31 Noble            M400              SSGT1 SB         6235

8    43 Subaru           STi               MidPri Sed       6155

9     7 Subaru           WRX STi           MidPri Sed       6115

10    33 Noble            M400             SSGT1 SB         6010

11    10 BMW              M5               Luxury Sed       5960

12    12 Porsche          996TT            SSGT1 BB         5940

13    42 Chevrolet        Corvette         SSGT1 BB         5940

14     4 Chevrolet        Corvette Z06     SSGT1 BB         5845

15     2 Dodge            Viper            SSGT1 BB         5690

16    49 Dodge            Daytona CS       SSGT2 SB         5665

17    36 Porsche          911 Turbo        SSGT1 SB         5475

18    14 Dodge            SRT-4            MidPri Sed       5340

19     9 Jeep             Grand Cherokee   S U V            5330

20    15 Porsche          930              Vint For         5230

21    53 Mazda            RX7              SSGT2 SB         5150

22    38 Volkswagen       Beetle TDI       Retro            5110

23    74 Dodge            SRT-4            MidPri Sed       5045

24    41 Subaru           WRX-STI          MidPri Sed       4890

25    56 Mercedes-Benz    E55              Luxury Sed       4845

26    19 Chevrolet        Corvette Z06     SSGT1 BB         4825

27    66 Chevrolet        Camaro Z28       Vint Amer        4825

28    20 Ford - SVT       Shelby GT500     SSGT2 BB         4815

29    44 Dodge            Neon             MidPri Sed       4795

30    27 Porsche          997S             SSGT1 BB         4765

31    50 World Class Mot  Ultralite        SSGT2 SB         4740

32    17 Ultima           GTR              SSGT1 BB         4695

33     3 Hennessey        Viper            SSGT1 BB         4660

34    47 Chevrolet        Cavalier         Econo Car        4590

35    24 Chevrolet        Corvette Z06     SSGT1 BB         4560

36    60 Mini             Cooper S         Retro            4550

37    37 BMW              M Coupe          SSGT1 SB         4525

38    69 Dodge            Charger SRT8     Luxury Sed       4390

39    57 Dodge            Magnum SRT8      Luxury Sed       4335

40    13 Dodge            Viper RT/10      SSGT1 BB         4315

41    65 Dodge            Viper SRT/10     SSGT1 BB         4145

42    59 Jaguar           S Type R         Luxury Sed       3965

43    68 Datsun           280Z             Vint For         3935

44    48 Chevrolet        HHR              Retro            3935

45    87 Subaru           STi              MidPri Sed       3760

46    81 Ford             Focus            Econo Car        3740

47    58 Cadillac         CTS-V            Luxury Sed       3700

48    72 Honda            Odyssey          S U V            3585

49    30 Mercedes-Benz    CLK500           SSGT1 BB         3480

50    18 Porsche          GT3              SSGT1 BB         3310

May. 1, 2006 - Rash Marketing by Dodge

The Chrysler group is taking Dodge global, introducing the brand in Europe alongside its already familiar Chrysler and Jeep products.  Unlike the new mini-SUV Caliber hatchback, the ram tough All American branding of Dodge will not make it across the pond.  The Ram logo goes from tough to almost evil, and the marketing in general is much more edgy.  Check out www.ramrash.com to see what I’m talking about.   To me it looks like Dodge wants to be to the Euro market as VW is to the North American market.  Interesting stuff.

Apr. 30, 2006 - The Decline and Fall of Car and Driver, or Where the Hell is Brock?

I’ve been an unabashed fan of Car and Driver magazine for damn near twenty years now.  The filter through which my automotive ideals are seen is tinted by the many years of reading the works of William “don’t call me Bill” Jeanes, Don Sherman, David E. Davis. Jr., Patrick Bedard and Brock Yates—all writers for Car and Driver at one time or another.  Of this esteemed bunch of automotive hacks, my favorite has always been Brock Yates. 

While working at Car and Driver in the 1960s Yates, along with Davis, revolutionized American automotive journalism.  Enthusiast magazines up to that point were either successful hobby centered tomes like Hot Rod magazine, or quaint periodicals run by anglophiles that liked to extol the virtues of outdated little sports cars from across the pond month after month.  Car and Driver was arguably the first magazine to take the craft of automotive criticism seriously.  And I do not mean without humor, instead I mean the writing was of a caliber equal to the best of any magazine or newspaper on the market.   All types of automobiles from around the world were actually tested, analyzed, studied and reported on.   The editorial content dealt with matters beyond the car, delving into politics and social issues.  Car and Driver became known for it’s often times irreverent view of the automotive landscape and the characters prancing around in it.

David E. Davis, Jr. bounced around the automotive magazine business, leaving C&D for the advertising world, coming back to C&D, and finally leaving again and starting his own automotive magazine, appropriately named Automobile Magazine.  Brock Yates on the other hand, stayed with Car and Driver in one form or another through those many years, contributing articles and editorial content monthly.  He carried on the rebellious, sometimes shocking, yet serious journalistic spirit we have come to expect from C&D. 

Brock Yates is much more than just the modern patriarch of Car and Driver; he is probably the best American automotive pundit on the market today.  The decision to retire him from the magazine’s masthead (as announced in the May issue) is perplexing.  And worse yet was the rather dismissive way it was announced; a few sentences in the last paragraph of the current Editor-in-Chief’s editorial column.

It’s been speculated that Car and Driver has some serious cost issues, as well as a desire to cater to a younger demographic, which has lead to the decision to “early retire” Brock Yates among other changes.  I will not get into the speciousness of this move, but to say that a proper editorial send off was in order nonetheless.  I would have expected some sort of retrospective that dealt with the contributions that Brock Yates has made not only at Car and Driver, but to the world of automotive journalism.  He has written many award winning books, movie scripts, and has worked as an on-air commentator. His work should have been celebrated and not just grudgingly acknowledged.

Whatever the behind the scenes reasons were, the character of a publication is the extension of that of its editors and in this case Car and Driver was left seriously wanting.

Apr. 26, 2006 - NY Auto Show

I have read that this year’s New York Auto Show was one of the better ones, but I found it disappointing nonetheless.  While it is held in one of North America’s most important cities, the annual springtime auto show at the Jacob Javits Center is simply no match to the much larger (in significance) North American International Auto Show held in Detroit and it is barely on the same footing as the Los Angeles and Chicago shows.  The New York show is considered to be the last major auto show of the season; a season which begins in September in Europe at either Frankfurt or Paris (they are alternating shows), moves to Detroit in January, Geneva in March and finally to the big apple in April. 

One of the main reasons for my booking a flight to NY this year was the expectation of seeing the new BMW 3 Series coupe, code named the E92.  I figured since the NY Show would be the last major show before the car went on sale, and so many scantily covered prototypes were already uncovered by all the major automobile enthusiast outlets that it made sense for BMW to trot it out.  No such luck.  Instead we were introduced to the M Coupe—a thrilling car to be sure, but a car we have seen in one iteration or another already before.

Porsche did not bring over their 911 GT3 either, though the 911 Turbo was given a proper introduction off site.  The statistics for the new Turbo are pretty awesome, but the car simply doesn’t thrill me as much as it used to.  Maybe the shape is just becoming too familiar, or maybe it’s the prodigious weight gain along with its move up market that has taken the dropped jaw factor away.  Either way, it’s a really spectacular car that has lost some of its luster.  

One of the most interesting new vehicle introductions for me ended up being the redesigned Audi TT.  Call it a hairdresser’s coupe if you like, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this stylish Golf offspring.  It symbolizes the traditional German Bauhaus school of design perfectly.  The wide bottom and narrow greenhouse, wheels positioned at the outer reaches of the sheet metal envelope and the many industrial details made it stand out from the fickle coupe crowd.  And thanks to those squat proportions, it drove reasonably well. 

In a few short years it became an iconic design if not for the entire German automotive industry, at least for Audi.  The brand found its design mojo in the form of that little round car.  So when it came time to update the icon, I was not the only one skeptical.  After seeing the newly updated version at the NY show, I can say Audi’s careful reinterpretation worked very well.  You’ll have to trust me until you see one yourself, but it looks much better in person than in pictures.  It is instantly recognizable as an Audi TT, yet it is very different in effect.  The overall stance and presence is much more masculine, much more aggressive.  The old TT was never an all out sports car, and the new one isn’t either—the styling alone forces too many compromises—but  it was a very good sporty car and I am confident in saying the new one will only be better.

A few other introductions are worth mentioning.  The mother of all hybrids, the Lexus LS600h was introduced with such bravado you would have thought you were at a Mercedes press conference.  Toyota and Lexus have been heretofore modest to the point of embarrassment when it came touting their cars.  Not anymore.  In Toyota's own words they set out to produce the best car in the world, and by their immodest estimation that’s exactly what they did with the Lexus LS600h.  They say it can match Mercedes superfluous gadget for superfluous gadget, and beat Benz with superior quality and dealer service.  We’ll have to see if they can keep up that golden quality record, because this new car is so horribly complex that major problems are almost inevitable.  

The always interesting Carlos Ghosn introduced the new Infiniti G35 with such simple and straight forward conviction you wanted to give him a down payment right then and there.  More of an evolution over the previous design than a revolution it is a stunning car nonetheless.  The designers took the clean but conservative lines of the previous generation and added some emotion.  Much like the TT, it is a car best enjoyed in person.  The many curves and subtle lines form to make a pure sculptural statement that pictures cannot convey.

Finally, Saturn introduced a couple of interesting new vehicles and at the same time re-introduced the brand.  Forget that homespun Tennessee Americana, Saturn has gone international.  GM’s German operation, Opel, is donating much of the new Saturn DNA.  Bob Lutz noted that many international motoring scribes asked why the General doesn’t bring over some of the fun to drive Opels from Europe and market them in North America.  With the new Aura sedan, Saturn is doing just that.  And, according to Lutz, many more future products will be shared between Opel and Saturn.  This may be the best idea GM has had for Saturn since the Springhill Homecomings.

Mar. 26, 2006 - The Racing Season Begins

The racing season for me is in full swing now that I watched my first MotoGP race of the year, first ALMS event and second F1 parade. 

As is typical of the last few years, MotoGP motorcycle racing leaves me breathless after each event that I witness.  The wheel to wheel duals in almost every race are as exciting to watch as anything on TV.  Constant running order changes brought about by valiant overtaking maneuvers is common.  A person without any idea of the series or the personalities therein can be drawn in within a few laps, which proves one does not have to have that much invested in the driver/riders to appreciate a good race.  We have only a few Americans in the series, Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards to name two, the rest are from across the pond and hardly household names.  What trumps all in a MotoGP race is the race-- an increasingly novel idea in motor sports.  

The opposite holds true for NASCAR, where the off track shenanigans of the WalMart set provides the majority of the entertainment and the race itself is not the denouement, the back flip off the roof of the winning car is.  I’m not a fan.

Formula One is precariously close to becoming irrelevant, with ever increasing technology and incomprehensible rules “packages.”   We now have complex elimination races to determine starting positions, with the rules changing in each of the three rounds.  These little sprint races are actually more interesting then the feature races themselves since you see some risk taking by the drivers and off track scrambling by the crews. 

When it comes to personalities, the F1 circus also fails miserably.  The drivers seem to have disdain for the hoi polloi and don’t feel the need to hide it.  Arrogance is a common side effect of being a top athlete in the pinnacle series of any sport, but in F1 it is a downright epidemic.  Since the outcomes of the races usually comes down to attrition, fuel strategy, and luck there is little in the form of excitement to watch.  I’ve been disenchanted by F1 the last few years, yet every new season I give it a chance to win me back.   They are losing me, race by race, year by year.

The best racing in my humble opinion is endurance racing, and in particular Le Mans racing, including the 24 hour French classic and its American series offspring.  There is something about the grit required to compete in a race for hours on end that makes the drama that much more intriguing to me.  It’s not only a struggle against the competitors sharing the track; it’s a struggle against time and machine.  Throw into the mix different classes, different cars, and woefully different speeds and you have the recipe for an exciting race.  And frankly, the cars are beautiful, be it the diesel powered Audis, the nimble Porsche Spyders, or the wing and fender bulge bedecked Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Corvette race cars in the slower classes.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Mar. 26, 2006 - Piling On

Mar. 12, 2006 - Vee Dub Marketing Round Two

I don’t mean to be picking on Volkswagen, but I have a follow-up to a post from a few weeks ago wherein I complained that VW was not marketing the new GTI very well (see “A Little Marketing Would Help” February 3^rd, 2006).  Since then the GTI has been splashed all over the place, you can hardly browse the internet without seeing a GTI ad pop up somewhere.  TV has seen a full array of GTI spots, and a GTI ad is in all of the enthusiast magazines as well as many lifestyle rags-- so much for not marketing the GTI (though my complaint of tardiness still stands).

What I have to complain about this time is the way it’s being marketed; specifically the latest round of TV ads featuring the SNL style German Professor “Wolfgang” along with his dominatrix female side kick, “Helga”.

The first wave of TV spots, introduced during the Olympics, featured ordinary looking 30 something males being possessed by an evil looking rabbit called “Speed.”   These ads are just off kilter enough to be noticed, while remaining funny in a perplexing sort of way.  Okay, you get an evil mascot when you purchase the rather benign looking GTI (maybe that’s the point: the evil rabbit makes you overlook the uninspired design of the 5^th generation Golf).  These ads may not have been stellar but they got the point across and they did highlight features of the new GTI.

The second round of ads first seen on alternative cable TV channels such as MTV, are the ones making me scratch my head.  You have the aforementioned SNL style characters thumping around to a European discothèque rap and destroying outrageously garish tuner cars.  The point being that the GTI needs no tuning because the standard German engineering is all that’s needed.  This may be a valid point for the parents of the target consumer, but not for the kids in the market for a hot hatch.  My question is this: does it make sense to denigrate the potential consumer of your product?

Contrast this approach with that of Honda and its new Civic Si, a direct competitor to the GTI, and also vying for the young male demographic.  Where Honda has finally embraced the market it almost single handedly created in the 1980s with its Civic line by working with the aftermarket, working with the “tuner” clubs, VW has decided it will make fun of them.  Honda is showcasing everything from tasteful performance tuned Civics to wildly outrageous customized cars and their ads have a video game feel perfectly in sync with the target audience.

It remains to be seen who wins this battle of the sport compacts, but my money is on the Civic Si.  Not because the car itself is better—they are both very evenly matched—but because of the audience appropriate marketing.  Honda has really immersed itself in the enthusiast culture and has gained respect for it.

Kerri Martin, the director of VW’s brand innovation department came from BMW’s MINI group.  And she brought with her MINI’s ad agency, Crispin Porter+Bogusky.  The “brave” marketing may have worked for a brand like MINI which was going after a style conscious, older demographic, but it will not work at VW.  At least not from what I have seen thus far.  And I really like the GTI.

Feb. 19, 2006 - Cost Cutting too Far?

Chrysler has been on a roll of late, introducing cars that people want to buy.  The 300 line has been a phenomenal hit, the trail rated Jeeps continues to do well and the SRT tuned models are the best performance bargains out there.  But things are beginning to slow down, and rather dramatically at that.  Fourth quarter 2005 earnings were down and inventory is way up.  Dealers are beginning to complain that they are being force fed vehicles they can’t sell, even with the industry’s highest average rebates.  The once hot 300 is a little bit cooler, the Magnum and Charger never really got out of the gate, and the Grand Cherokee is losing out to the Pacifica of all things.  Thanks to the draconian cost cutting measures implemented by its savior from the fatherland, Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler still had a profit for the year 2005-- which stands in stark contrast to its cross town rivals-- but for how much longer?   Has Chrysler cut too much from the cost of its cars and consequently made them less appealing in the long run? 

The one thing that Chrysler had going for it the last few years was good product at great prices.  The SRT line of tuned cars is the perfect example of this philosophy of rigid cost controls creating good value, and the just introduced SRT-4 Caliber is its new poster car.  And it may also be the beginning of the end, because eventually customers notice those cost cuts and begin to question them. 

In the case of the SRT-4, a collective gasp was heard when it was announced that the SRT folks plan on harnessing 300 horsepower through nothing but the front wheels of their Caliber.  This may be one of the biggest blunders the carmaker has made since the Zetsche era began, and is a clear indication that cost has become the preeminent consideration at the Chrysler group.  Prices were not yet announced, but my guess is the Dodge SRT-4 Caliber will close in pricing to the outgoing SRT-4 Neon, which itself was already a great performance bargain. 

Knowing what the engineers at SRT are capable of-- don’t forget the fire breathing Viper SRT-10 and Competition Coupe sprang forth from their fertile minds—you just have to think they wanted to use all the available wheels to put the 300 horses down, but somebody said too expensive to build, or too expensive to sell, or both.  It is admirable to offer good value, but in the case of a 300 hp front wheel drive economy car value has to be considered along with sound engineering.  And sound engineering would suggest that the torque steer in this little beast will be a handful, bordering on the uncontrollable. 

The Chrysler group could get away with cost cutting moves like low rent interiors in their mainstream cars because people didn’t expect more considering the prices they were paying, but when that cutting gets in the way of sound engineering, the value equation changes.  Enthusiasts especially will notice this gaffe, and the street credibility so important in the performance market will be lost before the race even begins.  Let’s hope that the astute engineers at SRT can convince the bean counters that value is not just a cheap price, and 300 horsepower coupled to front wheel drive is not an appropriate money saving solution.

Feb. 13, 2006 - New Media v. Old

I was reading Peter DeLorenzo’s appropriately categorized “rant” against the car magazine business the other day at http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant and felt compelled to write a little something myself.  Visiting the autoextremist.com site is fun every now and again, not for any pithy insights into the auto industry, or cogent arguments but for how the various authors-- and Peter being the biggest culprit-- can take idle gossip and spin it into a credible sounding story.

But I digress; back to the rant against car magazines.  He argues that the ability of the web to instantly disseminate information around the globe necessarily makes print media obsolete.  He goes on to say the cozy relationship that the manufacturers have with the big print media outlets has castrated the irreverent writing of yore.  While I can somewhat agree with the latter in regards to new model reviews, I take exception with the former.  If car magazines were only about automotive news, scoops and daily press releases they would have been done in by newspapers and weeklies long ago.  Sure monthly magazines print spy photos and scoops long after the internet has beamed the information to legions of automotive junkies around the world, but that misses a big part of the magazine’s mission.  

The monthly magazines offer considered insight into the products made by the automotive industry.  Full on tests and reviews of new models do not need to be broadcast instantly.  Nor do travelogues, interviews, criticism, or analysis.  All of these categories within automotive journalism benefit from a reasoned approach to assembling, interpreting and presenting the information.  I have found that often times the immediacy of information availability on the internet has lead to a loss of the big picture.  Instant information alone cannot provide the proper context for understanding.  And that doesn’t even take into consideration the propensity of internet information being inaccurate.

Witness how real time reports from the front lines of the war on terror often illicit knee jerk reactions from the public and politicians alike.  Without a reasoned consideration of the facts, the information fog of war distorts the reality on the ground. In a much more trivial way this fog can distort what is the truth in the automotive world as well.