Back To The Borderlands

What's Happening To Ford?

It's 1983, and Ford introduces the new Thunderbird. Sleek, aerodynamic, and different from everything else on the road, it signals the beginning of a styling tour de force from the Blue Oval. The next year Ford brings out the Tempo, once again a sleek, stylish design. 1986 marks the high point in Ford design with the debut of the Taurus, still one of the best looking sedans ever made.

Forward to the nineties, and you can see Ford's designs start to lose their direction. Ford attempts to regain the initiative with it's new edge styling, but it's a half-hearted effort that only really shines on the Focus.

Now it's the 2K's, and what are we getting from Ford? New grilles that will differentiate each of Ford's three lines, and a strange desire to have every model's name start with the same letter as the division. Instead of keeping well known names, Ford wants each of it's cars to start with the letter "F", so out with Taurus and in with 500.

It boggles my mind that the new 500 is based off a Volvo that has more adventerous styling than Ford's. What used to be a company that dominated the domestic styling arena is now retreating into mediocrity as sales lag behind the competition. Now Chrysler in the king of design, and it's sales are on the rise. Ford is heading down the same road GM took in the 80's, badge engineered cars that all look the same, with only a different grille to distinguish between them.

J Mays, group vice president of design, is not the man who is killing Ford, he's just the one killing the spirit of design that used to make Ford something special.

Never Again

via Cox and Forkum

10th Anniversary

What's an automotive enthusiast in Nashville supposed to do for Labor Day weekend? Why, the 10th anniversary celebration of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, of course! Seeing all those Corvette reminds one that GM can still make magic.

If you're going down I-65 through Kentucky, don't pass this museum by. It's well worth the cost of admission, and you can't help but admire the 'Vette.

Today we're going to start with some horsepower again, actual horses! I love holidays!

Bad News Is Good News

The headline reads GM Recalss The Troubled Aveo. Sounds like there's something majorly wrong with the car, doesn't it? The recall, "the rear seat belt can lock and become unusable", is not something that is really newsworthy. This is not an "Aveo's spontaneously exploding" type deal here, so why is the Aveo "troubled"?

Why, because "GM has had substantial problems with the Aveo since it went on sale last year. In February, the company ordered dealers not to sell the cars for a week after they were involved in five crashes that caused injuries. GM found that the vehicles weren’t to blame for the wrecks and let dealers begin selling them again." Seems to me like GM was acting more like a company afraid of getting sued , a la Ford Explorer and their Firestone tires, than a car with substantial problems. All this does is damage the reputation of a car that does not deserve it.

Double Take

Take this Detroit News Headline, SUV glut signals dip in interest. Hmm, makes it seem like the slaes of SUV's are down, right? Autoguy takes from this that SUV sales are down 5-10%. Yet, right in the middle of the article is this gem...

Still, SUV sales growth continues to outpace the overall U.S. new light vehicle market. While industry sales are up 2.4 percent this year, sales of entry-level SUVs are up 4.3 percent, midsize SUV demand is up 6 percent, full-size SUV sales have advanced 3 percent, and demand for luxury SUVs is up 29 percent.

So which is it? Are SUV sales up, flat, or down? They're up, but the Detroit News is trying to convince you the end is near, the party is over, America is finally realizing the error of it's ways and buying smart. It's all wishful thinking, trying to force the facts to fit a preconcieved notion of what vehicles people should buy, instead of letting people decide for themselves. I'm no fan of SUV's, but I'm a big fan of the free market, and this article is a thinly veiled attempt to convince people niot to buy SUV's. So what if the facts get in the way, the SUV must die!

Bluegrass Adventure

Wednesday I took the Escort up to Lexington KY. Took a look at a '92 Toyota Paseo, and I ended up buying her. She needs a new motor, and a new front fender, but is otherwise beautiful. Bobby and I are going to put the new motor in ourselves, a first for me, and the first time he's ever replaced a motor on a FWD car. Should be, well, interesting. We're going on Sunday to pick her up, and will probably stop at the National Corvette Museum, since it's on the way.

Of course, wednesday being a mini-roadtrip, there were a few unusual thing seen along the way. Washington County is a "certified clean county", so I guess someone goes around and verifies that everyone takes a shower each day. Passed a farm with "used cows for sale", but I didn't see abunch of rusty, dented cows with faded paint anywhere, big disappointment.

The Gamboy Advance Tune Up

Now you can use your Gamboy Advance as a programmable automotive tuning tool. I guess it's cheaper than a laptop, unless you get a nice used one off eBay.

Mini Madness

Cant afford to get a Mini just yet? Download the Mini Costume and you can act like you own one. Danger: just 'cause you dress your car up like a Mini, don't expect it to handle like a Mini!

Time Travel

Two days ago I received a shipment from eBay. It's a complete set of Car and Driver issues, 91-92. I've been reading each issue, and it's been like a journey back through time. The early nineties were truly a great era for enthusiasts. Just look at what was available.

Mercury Capri XR2 - Not as good as the Miata, but much more attractive now on the used car market.

Geo Metro Convertible - Convertible for those on a tight budget.

Nissan Sentra SE-R - Nissan hits one out of the ballpark.

BMW 325i - The new 3 series were stunners, and still look good today.

Dodge Spirit RT - A nice effort by Chrysler before the LH sedans came out.

Ford Taurus SHO - Proving that a Taurus does not have to be boring.

Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 - aww yeah.

Nissan NX2000 - A Sentra SE-R for those who want to be more stylish.

Lotus Carlton - Never available here, but wonderfuul nonetheless.

Dodge Stealth and Mitsubishi 3000GT - Mitsubishi really hit their stride in the early nineties.

Lexus SC400 - Lexus makes a car with passion!

BMW 850i - Not great, but still desireable.

Mazda MX-3 - A 1.8 liter V-6, Mazda proves they're still strange.

Lotus Elan - A FWD Lotus? Who would of believed it.

Nissan 300ZX - Still one of the best ever sports cars ever made.

Toyota Celica GTS - Not everyone liked it, but I think the design was the sexiest Celica ever.

GMC Syclone - GMC goes crazy on us. Someone at GM has passion!

Subaru SVX - Never caught on, but Subaru built a true GT car.

Nissan Maxima - When Nissan referred to it as the 4-door sports car, and it was true.

Mazda RX-7 - Mazda took the RX-7 back to it's roots, and made a true sports car.

That's just the '91 issues, but you have to admit that performance was the main course during the early nineties. Before the SUV crowded onto center stage, there were cars in every price range that spoke to the enthusiast. I miss those times.

First SUV

Found out this Sunday my sister bought a new vehicle. It's ugly, but in a spunky way, and with the rubber mat floor instead of carpet, it's definitely going to be useful to her. It's a Honda Element. Not quite sure what to think about it yet.

eBay Gets Better

Finally, eBay lets you search for cars, and will sort by distance. No more having to click on the item to see just how far from me that car is. Now, if they would only let me filter out things like transmission type, I'd be thrilled. Wait, cancel that, about 10% of the vehicles I look at have the trans listed wrong. And don't even get me started about the spelling errors, or things like a Mazda RX-7 with a 4-cylinder rotary engine!

How Much Is $2,000 Worth To You?

Lo and behold, the sales of big SUV's are dropping. People are considering the price of gas when making vehicle purchases, yet overall, SUV sales continue to rise. People are just choosing smaller SUV's, or opting for a V6 instead of a V8. What I find interesting about this article is what some people consider a "gas guzzler.

The first example is someone who wanted a big SUV, then settled for a Toyota 4Runner. Not exactly the most efficient vehicle out there. Then there's the guy who wanted a Toyota Sequoia, but decided on a Toyota Sienna. Why? "It's not a gas guzzler" was the response, and yet the Sienna gets 19 MPG in city driving.

Somehow I think the SUV is going to survive our "fuel crisis", stronger than ever.

$2.00 Gas Is No Big Deal

$nbsp;While the price of gasoline continues to climb, it could be worse. Consider what drivers in Japan have to contend with...

>Average cost of mandatory driving school is $3,000.

>It is mandatory to obtain a garage or a space to park your car and register that space with the local police station. Average cost id $300 a month.

>Every 2 years your car must undergo a mandatory inspection process that can cost upwards of $3,000.

>Car taxes are due every year and are based on either the weight of the vehicle or the engine displacement. Cost varies from $500-$1,000.

It's The End Of The World

There's a Mitsubishi Montero that inhabits one of the parking spaces close to my apartment. It's a damn fine looking vehicle, brutish and big, and it has a presence that many a sedan lacks. You notice the Montero, a predator among the sheepish Camrys and Accords that mull around the parking lot.

It will probably never venture off the paved highways and romp through the wildlands of Tennessee, and logocally a mini-van would have fulfilled the owner's needs better, but logic always fails when it comes to the defining characteristic of the American consumer, passion.

There's a lot of buzz going around about the rising cost of gasoline, and how that's going to impact the automotive world. It's having an effect, but cruising around the auto internet gives you the impression that America's love affair with SUV's is about to collapse and we're all going to start driving Honda Insights and Toyota Prius'. It ain't gonna happen.

Passion has to be thrown into the mix, otherwise we would be in the middle of a mini-van craze rather than an SUV craze. People have been buying SUV's because that is what they want, what they desire. Yes, large SUV's are going to take a hit with rising fuel costs, but to say that the dominance of SUV's has already come to an end is jumping the gun. Smaller, more fuel-efficint models will gain in popularity, the process of basing models off car vs. truck platforms will continue, and mileage across the board will increase.

SUV's are at a bump in the road, not a roadblock.

No So Titan?

The sales results for the Nissan Titan are out, and it has not met sales expectations. Instead of capturing 5% of the market, it now stands at about 2.6%. So is the Titan a failure? Absolutely not.

Like anything worth doing, it's going to take time for the Titan to hit it's stride. The truck is supremely capable, and unlike the Toyota Tundra, it's out the gate full-sized and with a V8. So why the weak start?

There's a reason that full-size trucks are the last bastion of the domestic automakers. For a long time there were no other choices. While full-size truck customers seem to be lmore loyal than car buyers, I believe that's more from a lack of choices in the market.

There's nowhere left for the domestic's to hide. The Titan is here, and a new, larger Tundra is on the way. It's not going to be a dramatic changing of fates, but change is on it's way. If the big three think that the loyalty of their customers are going to keep them competitive, then they haven't been paying attention the last thirty years.

I Must Be Adopted

My Stepmom has a new vehicle, an Audi A4 Cabriolet.

What does my father thinkof it? It's too small. It doesn't have a large enough trunk. I swear I'm adopted. It's a freakin' convertible, it's meant to be impractical. You drive it to renew your soul, enjoy the weather, and have a blast. My father and I will probably never see eye-to-eye on cars.

Mitsuless?

Daimler-Chrysler is not going to bail out Mitsubishi, leaving the Japanese company in some trouble. There's speculation that Mitsu might have to pull out of the US market. Chrysler has long relied on Mitsu for engines and platforms, but has never taken advantage of sharing resources like Ford and Mazda have. Chrysler has been distancing itself from Mitsu for a long time, and it now seems that a permenant disconnect is about to take place.

It's too bad Daimler-Chrysler pulled the plug on Plymouth. It would have been an excellent way to help Mitsu out. Just rebadge their cars as Plymouths, the Lancer could be a new Duster, the Galant as a new Breeze, the Eclipse would become a new Laser, the Diamante would make a fine Caravelle, and the Endeavour could become a new Raider. It would give Mitsu more sales outlets, and would have solved Plymouth's problem of being just rebadged Chrysler and Dodge models. Yes, they would have been rebadged Mitsu's, but once sales improved they could have invested in differentiating the two brands.

It's just a pipe-dream, since it's not very likely, but it would be a shame to see Mitsubishi leave.

Eurotrash

The Detroit Free Press has an article about the high price of gasoline, then compares it to what the Europeans pay.

In the United States last week, gasoline was averaging about $1.76 a gallon for regular unleaded, with some motorists in California paying more than $2.
The average price of gasoline in Britain was $5.38 a gallon, a bargain compared with the Netherlands, where it was $5.69 a gallon. In Germany it was $5.01. The French got away with paying $4.78.

The article is rather condescending, another one of those we're more enlightened than you responses from Europe about America, but who's really being stupid? We're not the ones paying 75% tax on gasoline. Our pices are driven by the free market, not controlled by some government buerocracy.

They simply drive less, take public transportation more, buy more fuel-efficient cars and — get this, Americans — occasionally they’ll walk to the corner to pick up milk rather than drive.

I live in Nashville, and have had to walk "to the corner" to get some milk when my car wasn't running. It's an hour round trip by foot, and unless I'm off from work that day that's just not a realistic way to for me to get some groceries. It's 10 minutes by car, round trip. America is not Europe, and never will be. We're just a bit larger, with more open spaces, and taking a short trip by foot or bicycle is not a reality for most Americans.

Enjoy the price of gasoline. It may be higher than we are used to, but at least it's not artificially inflated 75% by our government.