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

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

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

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/

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.

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/

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

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.

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.

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