All American

VOTE

2007-04-03T22:54:00.003-07:00

I know it's been a while, but this is important. Chevy is asking for your help in guiding their design studios toward a new subcompact. With the Aveo costing at much as 15K loaded up, and about 13-14K on average, this is important if you cannot afford to spend a lot, and need a 7 year 100K mile power train warranty.

Go over to vote4chevroletand vote for your favorite concept. I cannot post pictures of the cars because of copyrights, but I will give you a few links to where they can be found:

Pics at Autoblog

The new littlest Mazda could be the next best thing to happen to the B-segment

2007-03-04T20:16:00.001-08:00

As I am sure you all know, Mazda is a major player in the Premere Vehicles Group Owned and opperated by Ford Motor Company World Wide. As such, everytime a new Mazda comes to America, everyone wished Ford would rebadge it. A good example of this is the Ford/Mazda C1 platform whish is the Ford of Europe Focus, the Mazda3/Axela and the Volvo s40. The platform is modified and used for other cars like the Mazda5 micro-minivan, but for the most part Ford dealers really want to stop selling the old Focus 170 platform and start selling the Focus C1.

Although that will not happen until 2009, at which point it might be too late, Ford dealers may get a breath of fresh platform soon enough. Enter the newest, and smallest Mazda for the new decade. The 2008 Mazda2 is to show it self in Geneva, and is poised to amaze even the most anti-mazda/ford guy around.

This little car is the best answer to the Honda Fit. There is no other car in the b-segment that can compair to the Fit in total package. The Toyota is nice, but still does not seem to impress or have the sportiness that so many of the sub-15K buyers desire. The Scion comes close but as the (re)starter of the b-segment in America, the xA and xB are old and are going to be replaced both by the xD a kind of streached xB. I don't care how different and out of the box the box-like Scions are, they are still boxes.

Ode to Oldmobile

2006-12-13T17:11:00.001-08:00

Oldsmobile is one of the worlds oldest (no pun intended) automotive manufactures. As such, General Motors had to do a lot of explaining when the brand was cut from production in 2004. There was a general out cry when then new to General Motors Bob Lutz told everybody that he tried to save the brand, but was too late. It seemed as though the General had no real reason for killing the oldest General Motors brand.

There was a reason, but it is now understood as a very bad reason; Oldsmobile was selling less than 200,000 copies a year and that is grounds for immediate termination. Now that General Motors is on a fast track to being back in black, there are many vehicles now in production that would fit into the Oldsmobile line up that would bridge the gap between Pontiac and Buick.

The gap I speak of is the high performance (soon to be) rear wheel drive car platforms on the Pontiac side and the (also soon to be) high luxury front wheel drive car/SUV/CUV platforms on the Buick side. There is a huge gap there that can be filled with some performance cars, some semi-luxury cars, and the same in SUV and CUV forms.

Imagine a new version of the 4-4-2 based off of the upcoming Camaro (zeta) platform, or what about a Hurst/Olds Bravada based off the Trailblazer SS. I would have liked to see the Vibe and the Torrent moved from Pontiac to Oldsmobile when the rear wheel drive change over happens.

What upsets me the most; is that Saturn has for all intent and purpose taken over the void left by Oldsmobile. Some of you may not remember when Saturn was a sub-Chevrolet brand. A modern day comparison would be Toyota to Scion. When a Chevrolet Caviler sold for $12,000 a Saturn sold for $10,000. That is about the same difference between a Corolla, and a xA/xB (the tC sells for more than a Corolla).

Now, Saturn sells for just about the same cost as a Chevrolet, but with different designs. I tried asking Saturn salesmen where the Saturn brand fell in the General Motors line up and he did not know what I was talking about. I then explained that “back in the day” the line up was divided into the five main brands in order from lowest (least expensive) to highest (most expensive) Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac.

When I mentioned Cadillac, he told me that such a division of brands no longer fits in General Motors because the new Saturn Aura sells for sub $20,000 MSRP but has the same Cadillac v6 power plant. This is backed up with professional reviews from Edmunds.com “The spirited 3.6-liter V6 in the XR is the same mill used in the Cadillac CTS…” Now, any idiot will know that General Motors now operates under the mass economies of scale business protocol, instead of the planetary brand isolation business protocol.

Simply put, up to about the 1980s, General Motors’ brands had all unique and very individual brand identities, “a car for every purse and propose.” After the Asian invasion of Mr. Honda and Toyota, General Motors streamlined everything and no longer was there a Chevy 350 and a Pontiac 389, or a Olds Rocket 88, or a Buick Nailhead, or a Cadillac v8.

Fearing that a mistake was made Cadillac, and for the most part Corvette, was excluded from the engine and platform sharing. Hence the Northstar v8 and the somewhat exclusive LT and LS engines. That all changed when the Northstar was planted (along with the whole platform) in Buick show rooms in the form of the Lucerne.

Well, the point is that Saturn is now taking the place of the former Oldsmobile. In the heyday of Olds, the brand was billed as the technology leader of General Motors. This was so Cadillac could have a launch platform for many of the standard features found in the upscale marquee. A good example of this is the 1966 Oldsmobile Tornado—the first full sized front wheel drive “personal car” which is the same as the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado.

As such if Olds was still around, I would like to see the brand go up against some of the most advanced technology out there. Things like the iDrive system in BMWs and the Navigation system in the Lincoln all the way up to the self parking Lexus LS 430—all for about half the cost. My imaginary Oldsmobile line up for 2007 would consist of the following vehicles (or platforms):

An entry level mid sized sedan Cutlass based off of the Epsilon platform

An entry level mid sized coupe Tornado based off the Epsilon platform

An entry level mid sized SUV based off the Theta platform

A special “halo” mid sized coupe 442 based off the upcoming Zeta platform

A mid level sub full sized sedan 88 based off the Sigma platform

A mid level full sized sedan 98 based off the Sigma platform

A mid level full sized sedan Aurora based off the G platform

A mid level full sized SUV Bravada based off the GMT 360 platform

Well that’s my rant for today; maybe I will post a second chapter on the ode to Oldsmobile. Let me know what you think.

Prejudice.

2006-12-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

So is looks like Edmunds.com is done with their year long road test of the Pontiac Solstice roadster. After a year with living with the small two-seat, what have they learned, and what did they report to the public? That is a question I am still pondering, even as I enter into my Human Factors final exam.

I mention my exam because Human Factors is what the Edmunds staff complained about the most. Human Factors covers most of the ergonomic issues, things like why people prefer the HVAC controls to be in turn-knob style as opposed to push button or toggle switch style. Human Factors also incorporates statements like “This thing is beautiful!” as well as the overall design of a product, (too much wind noise, or level of connectedness to the road). Basically, Human Factors is the one thing designers are most worried about, and understand the least.

That being said, the Edmunds staff had a lot to say about why the Mx-5 is so much nicer, but totally ignored the basic formula General Motors was following. It is my understanding that GM set out to create a modern take on the original Corvette, i.e. a simple, basic, two seat roadster that the majority of people find well designed (looks good), handles, and gives them a sense of romance (think of the flash back scene from Casablanca).

Edmunds even admits that the Solstice was never really given a chance because of prejudice toward the Pontiac. Oh sure, they say they wanted the Pontiac to do better, but it just didn’t cut it. I find that a little hard to believe myself, because most of the entries in the log book were about things that make a roadster, well a roadster.

One editor complained that the transmission grabbed gears too well, saying, “…the clutch engages like a light switch -- minimal progression... it grabs and you better get your foot out.”

Others thought is was necessary that this roadster have a trunk the size of a TownCar, I counted seven (7) different entries about the lack of trunk space.

I am going to go off a little about this. I don’t know who said the Solstice (or Mx-5 Z3, Z4, 350Z, TT, XLR, Crossfire, Corvette, s2000, SC430, etc.) are everyday cars, but whoever it was should be drug into the street and shot. All compact two seat convertibles have roots as roadsters and the few that continue to be roadsters should not be asked to do things that larger cars do.

That means no trunk space because they were not meant to be driven long distances; it’s a weekend car to have fun with people! Let me just say for the record, what a traditional roadster is; it is a car that has no top or (now) a manual storable top, has no side windows or (now) manual rollup windows, front engine rear drive configuration, two seats, no radio, no navigation system, no CD player, no CD changer, manual shift transmission, and no sound deadening. Roadsters commonly have quick steering ratios and quick gearing ratios, they have basic suspension setups and are lacking in anything luxurious.

Why Edmunds.com, Car and Driver, Road and Track, Autoblog.com and all of the other main stream and not so main stream publications insist the Solstice go on long road trips and not have any wind or road noise, float over potholes, and in general not act like what it is (a roadster) is beyond me.

I stopped reading the updated log book when I found one editor complaining about the canvas top, wishing that the Solstice had a vinyl top like the Mazda (if the cat did not sleep on it this would not happen). I had to laugh a little because I knew full well that if the Solstice did have a vinyl top, like the Mazda, then everybody would say that the Pontiac was being cheep in top material. So it is really a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation with the Solstice.

Before you start thinking I am just complaining that all of the editors are not really doing their job of being candid in their reports, I will say I was a little disappointed in Erin Riches, the Senior Content Editor’s entry at 17,269 miles. What Riches found was the seat leather was starting to ripple form being sat in all the time.

I would like to think that the people over at Edmunds are not adding too much extra weight to the all ready heavy Solstice, and will entertain my fantasy that all of the editors are Hooters models and Playboy Playmates. Getting back to reality, this problem is due to one of two reasons (or both as might be the case here). The first what Riches thinks, “… whoever cut the leather for the seat wasn't given very exact dimensions.” and second what I think, the foam that makes up the seats mass disintegrated. Either way it is poor quality control, and Pontiac should be advised that such short comings are going to damage the brands revival.

So why do I feel the need to review a review? Simple; I think it is wrong to fault a vehicle for doing what it was designed to do. This is akin to complaining that your alarm woke you up. You set the alarm, you told the alarm to go off at the time it did; the alarm did nothing wrong—besides doing what it was programmed to do.

The Mazda has been king of the hill for so long; I can see a prejudice toward any car that might threaten the royal reign of the Mx-5. For the first time in almost 15 years, there is a car out there that is priced, designed, and follows the same formula of the Mx-5, and the powers that be are scared.

I drove both cars back to back and I found that both have nice points and not so nice points. The Solstice, for example, has more body lean than the Mx-5; but the Mx-5 has a harder suspension than the Solstice. So which car is better? Well that is a matter of opinion—nothing more. Build quality has nothing to do with it here, Mazda and GM are not officially rivals and it will be a long time until one or the other rises on top.

I will just ask that all future reviews of the Solstice are done in taste, and do not fault the car for being too low, or not having enough trunk space. As the first in more than 50 years of trying to produce an inexpensive weekend roadster, GM should be given a shot to prove it self. Instead, GM is given a snub and not a second look—Edmunds even opens saying the only reason they bought the car was to see what all the hype was about, and not to really test out the car.

I leave you with one request as consumers. If you want a car that will fit your stuff, don’t buy a roadster. Buy a sedan, if it has to be sporty, than buy a 2+2 coupe at the least. Do not think a Solstice or a Mx-5 for that matter, will become something its not just because you really want it to be.

FuelCard.org

2006-12-07T09:20:00.001-08:00

Hey guys, I know you think the price of gas has gone down a lot over the past few months, but don't be fooled! No, I am not going to make some big dooms day rant about how OPEC and the "big [bad] oil companies" are trying to rip off unassuming Americans. What I will say though, is don't forget that during the summer months gas prices do go up to compensate with demand, and right now is the calm before the storm.

But there is hope! Remember that little plastic card on your key chain? No, not your key chain credit card, I mean the savings pass from your grocery store! Well what if you could have something like that for your favorite gas station? Guess what! You can! Just sign up with FuelCard.Org and when they launch, you will get your card in the mail to show to the pump jockeys and you will get up to 20 cents a gallon back!

That means if you own an SUV with a 40 gallon tank, (40*.20=8) that's eight bucks you get to keep! So sign up now and spread the word!

WTF?!?!?!

2006-12-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

I am going to school for Design in Arizona and as such, I see more of the "west coast low riders" than I used to when I lived in New Jersey. To that end, I was the lucky person to come across this strange Buick one fine morning.

Now, I know what you're thinking; this is just an old Buick Regal, there cannot possibly be anything out of the normal with this car. Well if you look closely, you will find this unassuming Buick is wearing DUBs for shoes. Don't believe me? Well just look at the DUB logo on the center cap.

Why oh why do people buy $500 cars and put $1,000 each rims on them? I was not lucky enough to hear the sound system, but I am sure it is not stock and has more power going to the speakers than my 5.1 surround sound THX approved Dolby Digital Pioneer Elite home entertainment system.

I will leave you with that question; why buy a POS car and put rims that cost more than a new car on it. Think about it for a minute. If you can figure it out, please let me know!

Old news, but still note worthy.

2006-11-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

So, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. She drives an old Audi, and told me "I will never buy American." When I asked why she admitted to having no good reason, only that she has never given a first--forget about, second thought to American made vehicles.

One of my roommates in college last year said he will only buy Toyota. Not just only foreign, or just only Japanese, but ONLY TOYOTA. I could have told him at the time, but he never would have listened to me, but lo-and behold:

"TOYOTA RECALLS ONE MILLION VEHICLES WORLDWIDE"

Yup, that’s right. By comparison, in the first quarter, General Motors announced 113,000 recalls. So, 113,000(x4 = 452000) VS 1,000,000. That means that within the same time frame, General Motors recalled less than half of Toyota's recall quota.

I will admit I am eschewing the data a little bit. The 1-mil recalled Toyotas are of a worldwide production, where my source for General Motor's recalls only quotes the American production. So the 452K does not count Opel, Holden, Vauxhall, and the many other rebaged GM vehicles around the world.

Still, in America alone, 170,000 of one model are being recalled. So what little I am messing up the data, the stats still valid.

I also remember a recall with the Tundra pickup. The Tundra is supposed to be giving the Silverado a run for its money--and is, very well. But that is only because people think Toyota is of better quality. The recall I am, uh... recalling (sorry, I don’t mean to pun) is the Tundra's Ball-Joint recall.

You might remember reading this in Detroit Free Press, "Last year's Tundra recall was for the replacement of ball joints, a suspension component that might have been scratched during assembly."

But the problem, as DFP noted, was that "The safety administration said Monday it has found 142 incidents of ball-joint separations. The part fails nearly twice as often on four-wheel-drive versions, compared with two-wheel-drive models, the investigation summary said."

Compare that to a Silverado recall stated in full here from the NHTSA website:

Make / Models :         Model/Build Years:

   

CHEVROLET / SILVERADO  1999-2000

GMC / SIERRA           1999-2000



Manufacturer : GENERAL MOTORS CORP.    

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 06V066000

Mfg's Report Date : MAR 08, 2006



Component: STRUCTURE:BODY:TAILGATE:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS

Potential Number Of Units Affected : 805368



Summary:

CERTAIN PICKUP TRUCKS HAVE GALVANIZED-BRAIDED-STEEL TAILGATE

SUPPORT CABLES USED TO SUPPORT THE TAILGATE IN THE FULL OPEN

(HORIZONTAL) POSITION. OVER TIME THESE CABLES CAN CORRODE AND

FRACTURE WHEN LOADS ARE APPLIED TO THEM.



Consequence:

IF ONE CABLE FRACTURES, THE REMAINING CABLE MAY RETAIN THE

TAILGATE IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION. IF BOTH CABLES FRACTURE,

THE TAILGATE WOULD DROP AND STRIKE THE TOP SURFACE OF THE REAR

BUMPER. IF ANYONE IS SITTING OR STANDING ON THE HORIZONTAL

SURFACE OF THE TAILGATE WHEN BOTH CABLES FRACTURED, THEY

COULD FALL AND BE INJURED. ON VEHICLES WITHOUT A BUMPER,

THE TAILGATE MAY DROP TO A LOWER POSITION.



Remedy:

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE GALVANIZED SUPPORT CABLES WITH STAINLESS

STEEL SUPPORT CABLES. IN ADDITION, DEALERS ARE TO INSPECT THE

TAILGATE HINGE AND REPLACE IT, IF NECESSARY. THE RECALL IS

EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING APRIL 2006. OWNERS MAY

CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-630-2438 OR GMC AT 1-866-996-9463.

The Note that you really want to read is, "IF ANYONE IS SITTING OR STANDING ON THE HORIZONTAL SURFACE OF THE TAILGATE WHEN BOTH CABLES FRACTURED, THEY COULD FALL AND BE INJURED."

So in other words, you can trip and make a boo-boo if you don’t get your Silverado fixed, or you can crash and burn if you don’t get your Tundra fixed.

Oh well. I guess some people never learn.

About the spelling

2006-11-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know... I am a bad speller. I usually check everything, but because I usually write my entries late at night I miss a lot of errors. I do not have a lot of time to spend writing these entries in the first place, which is why there are so little of them. This is mostly because I am too busy having a life and doing real work. As it turns out, I am a good typist and mostly misspell common words like "because" or mix words like "work" and "word" mostly because I am thinking faster than my hands can type, as I do not pre-write any of my entries.

Any way, to the capital "E" Eurotrash, out there I will try and accommodate you better in the future.

It's not an SUV, it's a CUV

2006-10-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

SUV, SUT, SAV, CUV, CUX, SUX, Crossover, High-Wagon, Tall-wagon, Station-Wagon, 5-Door, Hatch-Back, Nano-Van, Mini-Van, Luxo-barge, Compact, Sedan, Coupe, convertible....

It's bad enough that people have so many automobile choices, the avdrage auto consumer is then inundated with three letter acronyms that many have never even heard of before. Take the SAV, BMW made this one up to market the x5 and x3 not as the American Sport-Utility-Vehicle, but as a German go anywhere "Sport-Activity-Vehicle." what about CUV? A CUV is a "Crossover-Utility-Vehicle" different from a crossover which is more like a 5-door, but not quite a 5-door... Hold on, I forgot what I was talking about.

Oh yeah! That's right, segment names are confusing. So confusing, that even GM is having problems trying to figure out what the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave (vehicles that share the same platform) should be marketed.

As it stands right now, the segment name for these types of automobiles is "CUV." The problem with the CUV name is that it can mean anything from my Mazda Protege5, to a Ford Freestyle (the Ford being about 3 times larger than my Mazda). Cadillac had changed their marketing for the SRX from a sporty-utility-vehicle (still not an SUV) to a crossover.

So what is GM's new type of vehicle? Nobody knows. GM is not even the only company having this problem. DCX markets the Paficia/R-class as a tall-wagon. Which is still different from a high-wagon like the which can sometimes be confused with a nano-van, which is like a mini-mini-van. I think.

SO what about the other 3 letter words? Well an SUT is something Hummer made up for the H2 and H3 with a very small pickup truck like bed. What about the CUX and SUX, well right now either of these are being used, but they are meant to describe the 4 wheel drive on a crossover-ute and a sport-ute. Similar to the "x" badge on BMWs (ex, 330xi).

Another problem is that some vehicle types, like the Station-Wagon, don't mean the same thing anymore. Dodge, for example, does not call their Magnum a "Station-Wagon." Most sales personal like to call it a "performance-Wagon." Mostly because you can burn more rubber than a Lamborghini. But you and I both know this thing is no better than your daddy's Vista-cruiser from 1973.

So why did things become so complex? That's another question for the monks of Tibet. If I where to venture a guess, it would have to be because full line manufactures are designing vehicles that cross over (no pun intended), tradional vehicle types.

BACK!

2006-09-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

THATS RIGHT! I'M BACK AND WITH A VENGEANCE!

check often for reports of the big three and a few others!

BOLD moves... And they aint kidding

2006-06-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ford has just launched the BoldMoves web site. check it out at www.fordboldmoves.com

here is the Prolog:

UPDATE: 2008 Cadillac CTS spy shots!

2006-06-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Remeber a few months ago when the 2008 CTS was spyed and the door was left open but the photographer could not get up close to get a good shot. Well... Now we have one and it is FREAKING AWESOME!

First off let me just say that no matter what caddy says, the first CTS's interior was cheep plastic and not very well designed.
This new interior on the other hand is first rate and may even surpass BMW and Audi, asuming Cadillac can keep the gaps in check and uses real soft touch materials.

The MacPrius.

2006-06-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know... The Toyota Prius is not an American car parse. BUT the Mac computer company IS, and adding things to your car to make it unique is very American. So I just want to give an All American shout out to Jeremy Kusnetz, who put a MacMini into his Prius hybrid. He says that he wanted to be able to take his iTunes collection with him in his Prius and later (as an extra bonus) to be able to play DVDs's for his daughter while driving around in his Prius. I guess nobody told him he could get a new Chevy Malibu Maxx with a 2.5mm in and a rear flip up DVD screen... Any way, some how he figured out how to program the MacMini to do everything he wanted, including use of touch screen nav. Nice.

Jeremy Kusnetz has a web site posted which shows you how he did it and what you need to do to make it work your self. I wonder if he'll do this for my GMC Sierra Denali...

Corvette to LeMans... To easy

2006-06-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Corvette team posted at win in the GT1 class ahead of the second place Auston Martin team by five laps. Congrats to the Audi team for being the first winning CDI powered entry. visit the Le Mans web site so lovingly translated by the French for our injoyment. Way to go Corvette and Audi!

Gas Savings Card

2006-06-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here's something different; a fuel savings card from a third party provider. The short of it is you sign up at FuelCard.org and they will send you a discount card to use at a slected and willing oil company's fuel station. the discounts are to be around 10 to 20 cents on the gallon, which for a person who spends 50 dollars each time could equate to a little over 3 bucks saved. Althogh that may not seem like much, if you fill up say 3 times a month, thats 9 bucks a month, and 108 bucks a month! Actually a little more as I rounded down my numbers.

The orginaztion has just launched their web site, and has not yet teamed up with an oil company. I would guess either ExxonMobile will be looking at this as the nations largest oil company, however Shell, BP, and others may want to get in on this action as well.

The Times saith...

2006-06-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

This just goes to show you how the liberal media skew things to represent their twisted view of the world. I am not going to make grand sweeping political statements here, but the New York Times has not had any problem so far supporting very hard left leaning liberals over "middle of the road" libs and conservatives or hard right leaner’s. The paper is as left as left can get. Anyway, a few weeks ago the NYT’s ran an op-ed about the plight of General Motors and what the company is doing about gas prices.

There is a slight problem with many of the things the author Thomas L. Friedman says in his article. Now although I will fight to the death his right to hold an opinion, TACT is something that I feel many free people must remember to hold. Friedman clams that General Motors is not trying hard enough to make fuel efficient vehicles, especially Sports Utility Vehicles. The problem is not the over looking of facts such as GM's involvement in producing the first full sized hybrid work trucks or the first hybrid city buses. No, the problem is in the choice of words. Remember TACT goes a long way when pointing out the flaws in others.

Friedman makes a good point in that large SUV's do in fact consume a lot of gas by today’s standards. However when Friedman says GM is "like a crack dealer" you might make a few hundred-thousand (if not a few million) people upset. But this clam that GM is a crack dealer is made only to point out that in areas where gas is well over $3.00 a gallon (see a nation wide map for gas averages) the General has introduced "gas incentives".

All it is a Free first 100 miles (or something like that) on us gas card. This is more of a marketing tool than anything else. Only if the "free" gas lasts for year and you drive like Mario Andrei will you realize any true savings than if you bought an X-Tara or Tundra, or maybe your upscale tastes require the X5, which takes only high test.

The out cry from the rest of us INSIDE the automotive business but not within the realm of General Motors is one of "pot and kettle". Friedman points out that Asian manufactures do not have this problem of making gas drinking SUV's so they do not have to offer "free money" to get people to buy the car/truck/suv. However if one actually does his or her research, you will find that in America, EVERY manufacture makes at least one full sized pickup truck and at least one full sized truck based SUV. So the next time Friedman goes looking for a Puris, I suggest he also look at the Tundra sitting next to it in the showroom.

Now, as far as attacking a manufacture on his own turf, some very astute bloggers on AutoBlog link to a Wikipadia entry of something called a Toyota Century. This is a full sized luxobarge and I am sure gets poor fuel efficiency. The current second generation Toyota Century employees a V12 engine block and I can only guess how many MPG you can really go... Then again, if you have the 150,000 dollars to buy this landyacht, who cares right?

Again, I feel as though any one can say what they will about a powerful being. Be he the President, or a CEO, or a company as a whole; this country was founded on the belief of free speech and that of a free press. However choose your words carefully. I do not want to attack the character of Thomas Friedman, but I will say he knows NOTHING of the automotive world and as such needs to do more research than others who may be "in the know"

Deifne; Buick

2006-06-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so General Motors is like an alcoholic family. there is the kid who does all the work to support the family (Chevy); the kid who looks good for the neighbors (Cadillac); the kid who just doesn't care about the rules (Pontiac); the kid who left the family (Olds); and the forgotten kid (Buick). Well Buick is not ready to give up and die on the vine like Olds did and the entire lineup has been completely redone.

Enter the Lacrosse, the Lucerne, and the still in development Enclave. I never thought much about the naming of cars mostly because of the late 90's need to have alpha numeric codes and not real names. The new Buick philosophy is now much more "beyond precision". I have no idea what that means, but I sure hope Buick does. They claim to be narrowing gaps and using higher quality materials and French stitching EVERYTHING.

Buick has still only had marginal sales and seems to be failing in the quest to find more buyers and younger buyers. It is hard to see Buick in this bad of shape, seeing how many of the baby boomers are now in the average age of Buick owners; the problem seems not to be a lack of possible buyers but rather one of not being the best for the money.

It is clear that Buick is the forgotten child of General Motors and as such gets mostly left over capacity. The Lacrosse for example is built on the Grand Prix platform, the Lucerne is a Cadillac DTS, the Terraza is a Buick badged GM global minivan, the Rendezvous is built on the old GM global minivan platform and the Rainier is the millionth recreation of the GMC Envoy. So even though Buick is still alive in General Motors eyes, as far as the market is concerned Buick is dead in the water.

So what is the Enclave anyway? Well that all depends on your view. Some see it as just another SUV to crowd up the parking lot at Target; some see it as a totally new way of life for Buick and others see it as just a waste of time. I don't have any personal view on the Enclave so I looked up the work enclave in the dictionary. This is what I got from Wikipedia: "In political geography, an enclave is a piece of land which is totally surrounded by a foreign territory." Wow, that is quite a loaded statement as far as design goes, and it really fits this Buick.

Now I know some of you will be asking (or rather yelling) that any new SUV cannot be an enclave. First, it is not a land mass; second, it is not any different from any other suv. Well no it is not a land mass, but the thing is huge enough to be one; and although it is another suv, it is different from any other crossover in is conceptual form.

I am a design student so I want to try and decode the design bibble-babble for you. Buick had the chance to build a one of a kind concept here. They did do a lot of things that Buick and General Motors simply does not have the money to build in actual production, like the wood trays in the second row. They did not go too far off into la-la land though and, like the Camaro, created a concept that for the most part could be built as is from the show.

The designers sourced major parts and built the show car on a platform that is (going to be) real and tried not to push to the point of no return. That is not to say they didn't push at all but they knew what could be and could not be done. I would expect to see the show car (minus some wood and with more seats) in CXL trim.

I am afraid that the brass over at GM global design will plastic up and wood down this Buick and then wonder why nobody wants to pay 40 large for it. oh well.

So enough about reactions to the car and lets actually talk about the design! This Buick has all of the traditional Buick style you would expect to see right down to the waterfall grille. What is so nice about this crossover is that it is curvaceous, but not bloated. Just about ever peace of the exterior fits in such a way, you are drawn toward this van in truck's clothing as soon as you set eyes on it. When you open the door to the concept, and look inside for the first time you wonder if the badge on the steering wheel is really a Buick tri-shield or if all of a sudden Lexus bought the Buick logo.

Wood is everywhere in this concept and I hope it stays and that some trees actually die in the process of making this crossover. There is a nice blend of wood and brushed aluminum on the flat dashboard and a seamless integration of the "infotainment" system General Motors is so proud of. The two tone leather dashboard is lovely with its French stitching on every seam, and the black plastic surrounding the 6.5 inch DVD navi screen goes unnoticed. When your eyes settle you will find not just one tree but a whole forest was leveled and a farm of cows killed to bring you this vehicle with a polished wood and leather wrapped steering wheel.

Look toward the rear and you will find that this Buick does not have a bench in the back two rows but rather what Michael Burton calls intimacy or romance, with the sense cachet like that of a private jet. Wow. That’s nice. The Enclave is not your typical eight passenger suv, it is a SIX passenger suv. That means that each person has his or her own personal space. There are DVD screens that fold down, and there are trays for the second row, everybody has something to play with!

Power is going to be a big concern for the final production of this vehicle and we will have to see what Buick is told to put in. For now the Enclave is powered by a 3.6L V6 making 270 horses and driving the front wheels. The engine uses duel cams and VVT technology, so it should run smoothly, especially with GM's new six-speed tranny.

All in all, I would say this is a good trade up for Buick and for General Motors. There will be a total of three Lambda based crossovers including a GMC and a Saturn version. I would also expect to see a bowtie version sooner or later after the 2008 launch. Each version has a different set of rules to play by so don't expect to see three of the same with different badges on the grille.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!

2006-05-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have been saying this for years. It seems as though the Germans and Japanese can do no wrong, while Ford, GM, and Chrysler can do no right. On AutoBlog, a visitor can pick any article at will, it does not even have to be an article directly related to the big three, and there will be many posts about how bad the American car is.

One article AutoBlog posted said simply that the average age for a Camry owner was 52. In the comments, about half said that it is obvious and half said that it doesn’t matter because the Camry is a good car for anyone who is shopping in that class. Many people were somehow able to put in quick jabs at GM and Ford, saying that this news will somehow equate to less people buying American cars.

Now the Camry is a nice enough car and although I will never drive one, I can see why it is so popular among buyers of all types. The Camry is indeed a safe, well performing, comfortable, reliable car; why wouldn't someone want to buy one? But in the same regard, so is the Town Car, and the Lacrosse, and the Impala, and the 300C... all of these cars attack the same problem from different angles, and (duh) reach different conclusions.

This is not just a problem over at AutoBlog, and they are not to blame. AutoBlog is very good at reporting on the industry and they do not in anyway seem bias to me, but look for you self at the responses to the articles, there is a feeding frenzy eating away at the American manufactures. There are even some posts where people open by saying "wow... look at all the GM bashers"

There is an Anti-American mantra in almost all of the Auto reviewers as well. There was a Car and Driver article a few months ago where they reviewed the Lincoln Zephyr (soon to be MKZ). They ripped the car apart because they didn’t like how Lincoln softened the suspension, so the car would ride more like a Town Car. What they didn’t tell you was that although Lincoln is trying to target a younger buyer, they still are not looking to sell the Zephyr to anyone younger than 50 years old. C&D went as far to compare the Zephyr to a BMW 3series! The Zephyr and 3series are not even in the same class! Yes, they are the same size, and price; but one thing abstains--the driveline configuration.

Then there are the countless web sites that rip into cars of American origin. Take Inside Line by Edmunds.com. I like the site, and I go to Edmunds.com when I want to research a vehicle, but there is no need to rip Buick for being Buick! They tore the Luserne a new A**hole because it didn’t handle like an M5 and didn’t use real wood. For God's sake the thing is as big as a football field and costs less than 40K in the most costly version. Buick offers a V-8 which cars (in the same class) that cost about 5-10K more would never be able to do. If nothing else, it is a vast improvement and should be given credit for that at least!

Also many people seem to forget that it is Chevy that gave us the Corvette, and Ford that gave us the Shelby Mustang, and Dodge that gave us the Hemi. It is really a shame that so many people, who seem to have little understanding of the industry and its history, are the ones speaking out. They seem to forget that even though BMW's are awesome cars; they don't meet the needs of millions of Americans. Or that although a Honda is good for some, it's not good for others. It's almost like these people are on a which hunt.

Hell even when the big three do something good, the bloggers of the world unite and rage war. For example the Camaro and Challenger concepts... There are many people out there who think these cars will not sell (even though five people put down $1000 each for a new Camaro) because it's just another American "POS". No they don't mean Police Officer Special, they mean Piece of Shit. Too bad that the C5R/C6R team has kicked the crap out of the Germans over at Lemans. If you believed what these guys say, you would think the Corvette fell apart after the first lap instead of taking 6 1st/2nd wins in a row and a 2nd/3rd win the first year.

Now the big three are not all mighty, and I am not trying to say that all of this is just rederek. But just because you don't like a GM or Ford or Chrysler product does not mean you have the right to bash them willy-nilly. If your going to say something bad, at least back it up... there are posts where after I have said in detail why I don’t like the iDrive system on my mother's BMW, I was told I was a moron because I couldn’t figure out how to set the presets, and preferred the simple push and hold on my car. Mean while if GM shoves a V8 into a FWD car (not something I like either mind you) everybody jumps on the band wagon and bashes the car--they don’t say why. The typical post for news like this is "Wow, yet another failed attempt at trying to stir up emotion for a bland POS." Some people actually state in their posts “GM can do no right!

Toyota (God bless them) can do no wrong!"<-- that is an actual post! Read it for self!

Here's some news to back my point. GM recalled 400,000 compact pick-ups for a faulty light and cruse control--while Toyota recalled 790,000 tundra’s for a faulty steering mechanism. Or how about the recall of Chevy/GMC trucks due to a bad rubber covering that allows the steel cable that holds up the tailgate to rust, while Toyota has a ball joint problem. I would a Chevy with a bad tail gate over a Toyota with a bad ball joint any day. You should see some of the comments! It's down right sad--but some are really funny.

All I am asking for is a little respect. GM is one of the best companies in the world employing millions just in America alone and millions more world wide. Ford is the same way, hell Ford even makes much of the Eurotrash's favorite cars (Jag, Landrover). And Chrysler is now a part of the DCX family, the makers of--you guessed it, Mercedes-Benz! The big three have come up with some of the most powerful, most iconic cars to ever be driven. The designers and engineers need to be given credit for producing cars like the Mustang, the Corvette, the Challenger, the Camaro, the Zephyr, the Impala, the Hemi, the 427, the BOSS 502, etc.

Thoughts about high gas prices:

2006-04-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk about high gas prices, and possable price gouging by "big oil companies". Everyone from the President, to members of congress, to even my close friends and family have compalined about the current state of Gas prices. I would like to formalize my thoughts about all this, and maybe offer a little bit of insight of my own.

A few days ago, Mr. Bush spoke about the daneriously high gas prices, and what he and his adminerstration are going to do about it. Mr. Bush spoke of a multipoint plan in which the dependency of foregin oil will be reduced and hence the price of pump gas will go down. His plan called for

-Increse of domestic production

-Increse of alternative fuel development

-A temperary halt of oil to the nation's reserve

-A temperary relaxing of gas blend standards

-An investgation into the possablity of price gouging

There is a small problem with this plan, that is, it lacks logic. I have supported the President on many other issues thus far, and I am in no way "Bush-bashing"--that must be made clear right now, if you think I am taking potshots than stop reading now. I'll address each point one at a time...

Increse of domestic production: Almost all of the current manufactering facilites are working at peack production. An increse in production will cause them to lose effecency, and we (the public) will be at a disatvantage.

Increse of alternative fuel development: As you all know I am a big supporter of E85, I love the stuff but I also know that we could be just as dependant on corn and trash as we are of oil now. As such, I also support the development of other fuels and other methods of transportation all together. We cannot expect this to be an answer to our current problems and this should have been in a different speech, other than that there is really nothing of value here.

A temperary halt of oil to the nation's reserve: This is total crap. halting the supply to the nation's oil reserve, and directing it to gas pumps around the nation has little, if any, economic affect. the savings that Mr. Bush thinks will be pased on from the government to the oil company to the gas truck driver to the gas station owner to public will ammount to about 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000 of a cent.

A temperary relaxing of gas blend standards: This is the same thing as the nation's reserve. Any savings here would not ammount to a real and tanagble benifit. Also, in the process, there are now God knows how many gallons of substandard gas being pumped into vehicles around the nation and poluting more than before.

An investgation into the possablity of price gouging: This is the last straw as far as I am conserned. there have been four reports that I know of showing that there is little, if any, evdience of price manipulation on any level. Now, I admit that a few single owner gas stations may have a local monolopy where they are the only station for a few miles (this is the case for one place in my home town) and as such he rases his prices higher than other stations further away. This is not price manipulation, this is economics at work. A gas station owner is going to charge the higest price he can for a gallon of gas, while the consumer is going to pay the lowest price he can for the same gallon of gas.

Also the price of gas is really less as it was 30 years ago... A gallon of gas in 1975 cost about $1.50 depending on where you lived at the time, that same $1.50 costs about $5.62. Thats right, now the national avgrage when Mr. Busg was making his speech was $2.91 a gallon, that would mean gas would have cost 78¢ in 1976. With that in mind, about the same percentage of income goes toward the purchce of gas for you car now as it did 30 years ago.

There is a little good about the President's speech the other day, and that is Light, sweet crude prices droped to a june devlivery price of $70.74 a barel from a high of $75. If this is because of the speech, or if it is just the market adjusting it self is yet to be found out. I would think it is simply the market adjusting it self... Spikes are almost alwasy followed by a slight drop in price before leveling out somewhat.

There is one more point I want to make here... If you think you are paying too much for gas, than dont drive any more. If your driving an SUV that gets crappy MPG, than buy a car that gets better fuel economy. If your driving a puris and still think your getting screwed at the pump, than walk, carpool, take the bus/train, or bike to work, the store, your friends house. Dont go out as much, the older among us will tell you durring WWII they stayed inside and the government requested that they not travel unless nessary. In fact, there were gas cards given out to people and gas (and distance) was alloted by which card you had. For example, if you had an "A" card you may get less gas than someone with a "D" card.

Be smart America!

Cha-Ching

2006-04-24T01:21:00.000-07:00

How much do you pay for a gallon of gas? Check out this nation wide map of gas price listings, and look even closer in your area to find a cheeper place to fill up! Wow looking at this map sure beats driving around trying to find a cheeper place every time the prices go up.

2008 Cadillac CTS spy shots!

2006-04-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

comparing these two shots (one of the 2008 test mule, and the other of the current 2006 model), we see a whole bunch of new red reflectors on the mule. Because these appear to be incorporated into the bumper design, and not simply taped on for safety, expect these new lights to add some intrest to the otherwise very large and boring bumper from the first gen CTS

comparing these two pictures, we see that the belt line has been moved up quite a bit and the rear door is a little smaller. This lends to a more sporty look that the CTS desperately needs. It also mimics the MB CLS500 a good idea, as it will add a sense of class and prestige to the sports sedan and one-up BMW (or not) The front door looks to stay just as large, which will allow the fat cats who want to ride in style but hate the bangle-butt BMW's to get in and out with ease.

These shots so the new front end, compared to the out going version. For those of you who saw the 60 Minute's eye opener into the world of GM, you will see something familiar. I posted the shot from the show for the rest of us (I had to see it on the blogs b/c I had a class meeting during that time). Anyway, there is a major refreshing up front, just as over thre rest of the car. The grille is totally different (although not quite the same as the concept from 60 Minute's). The Headlights look a little bigger (if that was possible) and the turn signals have been moved from the bumper to the headlight assembly. In place of the turn signals are what look to be smaller round HID fog lights (again another much needed improvement) and a more aggressive air scoop. This is for sure one Caddy that people will notice on the streets!
Inside it's a whole new story... Although this shot only has a good view of the door panel, you can see it is very different and looks more like the mix of the new BMW 5-series and the old 3-series door panels. Also you can see a small section of the dashboard, and it looks a lot like the STS dash... Hopefully the the huge square ugly cheap-looking center stack is gone for a more Cadillac like console.

Which Sports Car Are You?

2006-04-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

I show you, exhibit A...

2006-04-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here is something I just had to laugh at; even if it was only after a mouth full of slander... Autoblog has posted news that GM will deal with an INTAKE GASKET problem on a case-by-case basis... Read the autoblog capsule here or the full article here

Lets all be alcoholics!

2006-04-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

At the turn of the last century, there were all sorts of different vehicles on the roads of America; internal combustion, electric, steam, you name it. About 20 or 30 years after the Ford model A (the first car ford built, not the replacement to the T) Gas fueled internal combustion engines became the dominant power plant for cars and trucks. Now almost a full century later, the question of self purpoltion has come full circle, and gas seems to be losing the battle this time.

I am not talking about the EV's you see on the news every so often, but rather this 'new' thing called E85. I have posted reports about E85 before, but with () many mistakes. Let me clear the air now, while I have the chance.

E85 is just that; 85% ethanol mixed with 15% regular unleaded Gas. The reason E85 is so popular right now with Ford and GM is because it happens to be the best combo of ethanol and gas. The reason for the mix is for cold starts, idle and a few other more technical reasons that I don't understand because I don't have a PhD. There are some vehicles that can run on E95 or E100 (the only one I know of with E100 is the Saab aero-x). Any vehicle that can run E85 can run on any mix of ethanol and gas less than 85%. So you could for example run E50 or E10 or even on just gas, if you wanted to.

that's good due simply because E85 must be introduced to the public, which can be much harder than it sounds. As good as Ethanol may be, if people do not understand it, or don't know if they can run their vehicle on E85 they will be less likely to acecpt the change from gas to ethanol.

Also Ethanol is less volatile than gas, and so E85 vehicles get less miles per gallon than regular gas vehicles. General Motors has been able to show that performance will not suffer; the Saab Aero-X concept that showed in Switzerland out performed the Corvette, the platform that the Aero-X was largely based from. Because of the lack of "fuel economy", a term I use lightly here, the People may not feel the numbers quite add up. For example, according to research done by IL's Steven Cole Smith "Mr. Nice Guy" "According to the EPA, a new Ford Crown Victoria FFV with a 4.6-liter V8 engine is rated at 17 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway on gasoline. On E85, that mileage drops to 12 mpg in the city, 18 mpg on the highway." that's a drop of 5 mpg in the city, and 7 mpg on the highway. Thats a LOT. This is normal, so no matter what vehicle you own, if it's a Fex-fuel vehicle, then you can expect to fill up at your E85 pump more than your regular unleaded pump.

Still at the sake of quieting the liberal media, and the hippies out there who would rather burn SUV's then ride in them, I would fill up more often. The only real up side to E85, besides not having to import terrorist oil is the fact that the alcohol burns cleaner so it pollutes less. The added bonus is that it costs about the same if not much less than regular unleaded gas, and is a renewable fuel.

Corn is the crop of choice right now, but that is changing even as you read this. According to current research, one bushel of corn can produce 2.7 gallons of ethanol. However other things like rice straw, the stuff left over from rice harvesting, or the left over from sugar cane harvests to even municipal solid waste can be made into ethanol. So how would you feel if you could have your cake and eat it to? All of us, including the hippies, would be driving Chevy Tahoes!

There is still a problem with building the infrastructure, but the Ethanol Vehicle Coalition is at the forefront of raising public interest. Check out e85fuel.com to see if your vehicle is E85 compatible, where you can buy E85, and if there is no E85 fuel station near you sign up to tell them about it. Being from New Jersey (on of the 12 states that doesn't have E85) I have already signed up with my email address, city, state, and zip. That's all you really need, and they do the rest.

I would like to see more people driving flex-fuel vehicles simply because I do not want to be dependent on Oil any more. I do not want to be dependent on Midwest farmers either, and I would also stress the continued research into Hydrogen, or other forms of fuel as well.

Roadster Wars

2006-04-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Not soon after Pontiac re-found its racing and performance heritage, did Mazda redesign its performance sultan the MX-5. This lovely chance of fate (or awesome timing in the corporate word) caused a rift in the roadster galaxy... and none too soon!

Before the Pontiac Solstice was introduced, the choice for small fast cheep roadsters was limited to well, only one; the Mazda Maita. When the Maita was introduced in 1990, GM laughed at it... after all GM's Chevrolet division was the father of the Corvette, they had fun with the cheep car thing, but when it came to performance there was nothing like the 'Vette. But the Maita did extremely well in its first year and never looked back. There were limited editions, and MX-5 performance racer editions; but the car was, for the most part, just a fun little Japanese made 'British' roadster. Fast forward some 15 years, and GM finally see's a market for a Mazda beater.

Enter the Solstice! One of the first things Bob Lutz did when he was hired by GM was to try and save Oldsmobile from death row, he was a little late but not determined to start building cars like that of GM's glory days. When the Solstice was first drawn in the design studio, Lutz knew that this little roadster would be built. There was one small little problem though; GM's red tape was all over the place and the tangle would be a lot to get through. Some how Bob Lutz's dream car came true and in the very late summer of 2005 the Solstice rolled out of the factory and into show rooms across the country.

Now, not even a full year later, Pontiac is ready to prove the small little parts bin car against the well proven MX-5. Will this thing be able to shut down the king of the hill? That is only going to be proved at the finish line, but for now it's nice to know that GM still has some red blood pumping in its veins. The races will be decided on tow factors, besides that of the usual. Driving style, and power devilry...

The MX-5 and Solstice answer the same problem in two very different ways. As a design student, and a car guy I can appreciate this a lot. A simple example would be how do I win this drag race? The problem there would be how to get go as fast as I can as soon as I can to get 1/4 mile down the track? There are many many many many many many ways of doing this... One way would be to simple use a big ass engine with as much displacement to move you down the track. Another way is to use a small engine (whish is also lighter than a big engine) and use the theory of torque multiplication. Yet another way is to... well you get the idea.

In the case of the MX5 vs. the Solstice; the MX-5 uses a high revving engine with torque multiplication coming in at the higher end of the power curve, the problem with this is the driver needs to keep the engine within the higher limits of the power curve to keep the car moving fast. The Solstice on the other hand, uses a lower revving engine with torque coming in at the lower end of the power curve, the problem with this, is the driver needs to shift constantly and just before the power curve starts to drop.

The MX-5 and Solstice also have different driving styles. the MX-5 allows the driver to slide around the corners and really experience over steer, and with a quick flip of the throttle, or a quick downshift will compensate and the driver will experience under steer... both of the are really bad in racing, and nobody wants that to happen. In the Solstice, however because of the wider tires (P245/45R18 in the Solstice vs. P205/45 R17 in the MX-5) the driver will be able to maneuver the car around the corner without too much trouble, however if he want to induce a little over steer because of the flatter power curve, he will not be able to and may exit the corner too slow.

revs vs. torque, slip vs. grip... this will make for some really fun racing that’s for sure.

Capmark Financial Group Inc.!

2006-03-23T20:08:00.000-08:00

It would seem as though General Motors has finally been able to do something right! Just when it seemed like Rick Wagner could not dig GM’s grave any deeper, the former CFO was titled in two awesome announcements; one yesterday with a deal made with Delphi and the UAW; and one today with the sale of a unit of GMAC.

First let’s get the old news out of the way… The Delphi/UAW headache was looking like it was going nowhere fast. Delphi even pushed back threats of asking the bankruptcy judge to order the UAW contracts void. Had that actually happened, the UAW workers would not have bothered to come to work (duh). GM, being the top buyer (and former parent company) would have had a lack of parts and other vital supplies which would equal no more Chevy Tahoe’s, Corvettes or Caddy STS-V’s or any other car or truck. Basically a total shut down of Delphi would mean a total shut down of General Motors; which is why the guys over at Delphi didn’t ask for a court order.

The deal stuck would allow about 113,000 hourly employees to opt for early retirement with a “buy out” of anywhere between 35,000 to 100,000 dollars depending on the rank and age of each employee. About 30,000 employees come from General Motors various factories, the rest coming from Delphi with a few thousand coming from the various “job banks” GM has set up to fire people with out actually firing them.

Now for the best news to come from GM since the 1990 ZR-1 Corvette or maybe the STS-V… well it’s really good news anyway. General Motors Acceptance Group was able to sell 78% of its mortgage unit. This deal is kind of hard to understand because the sale involves three firms and the renaming of the unit that was sold. To try to keep things simple, I will attempt to design an analysis for you, the loyal All American reader.

I am not too sure if I even can do a very good job here; BUT GM has as a part of the larger company, GMAC. GMAC has as a part of the company its commercial mortgage unit. 78% of that unit has been sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Five Mile Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and will be renamed Capmark financial Group Inc. Most importantly Capmark financial Group Inc. will open with investment grade bonds rated at BBB. That is the lowest investment grade given by the S&P500, but it’s a whole hell of a lot better than the junk bond status held by the rest of GMAC.

What this really means for GMAC is it continues to be only division of General Motors that is making money; but more importantly the rating companies may look favorably and rate GMAC bonds under investment grade. The reason for the new name is not just as a formality from the takeover of majority equity but an attempt to fool the rating companies into thinking the legacy of GMAC is no longer a factor. What this means for GM is maybe the company it not so doomed after all. This is not a done deal yet, and everything needs to be finalized.

Dear Mr. General Motors: essay three

2006-03-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

Now that I have covered the some of the history and what I feel are the more important things that need to be done to the product, I would like to tell everyone here a little story about my first car. Like I said before when I gained the privilege to drive a motor vehicle at the young age of 17, I was given the keys to a 1994 Pontiac Grand AM. I did not buy the car my self, but rather my father bought it for my older brother and after my brother moved out on his own, the car was handed down to me. Because it was my first car, and because I have always dreamed of the day when I could drive on my own, I took care of this car like it was a child. I washed... scratch that, I detailed it regularly and kept up with regular maintenance, I never raced it (not like I ever could) and I always parked it in the shade. I guess you could say I had a love for this car, like any red blooded American would for his first car; it's like a right of passage in this great land.

I was shocked and horrified one day to find that my baby was not running the way it always had before. I did what anybody else would do in my shoes, and I parked it in the driveway and took my mothers car for the day. As I was sitting in class I was not taking notes, or listening to the teacher at all, but rather wondering what was wrong with my car. I ran over all of the things I did; change oil? Changed. Check tire pressure? Pressured. Check coolant level? Leveled. The air cleaner? Clean!!! There was about a million and one things that could have gone wrong on any given day, but I couldn't think of one that gave me the driving characteristic I got that day. When I went home at the end of the day, I asked my father what he thought. He told me to put the car up on jacks and drain the oil. I told him I just changed the oil and it was fine, but I did anyway... what I found was a white substance floating in my oil. I knew what had happened and was now seeing dollar signs running up.

If you have never experienced this before, I should hope you never have to. What had happened was a gasket on the intake manifold had failed and as a result coolant (remember I had though about the coolant level) was slowly leaking into the crankcase. If any coolant mixes with the oil in the crankcase, the oil loses its viscosity and can no longer lubricate the engine. I was not experiencing high engine temps because I still had "normal" fluids running (at the least the coolant was working and keeping temps down). after I changed the oil and put the car down off of the jack stands, I called my local dealer and asked the techs for some advise; the person I talked to told me to tow, that's right, TOW the car to the dealer and they will run a diagnostic test and tell me for sure. I was right (duh) and asked the tech working on my car what my choices were.

What I heard next was not to my likening at all. He told me to start looking for a new car, but in the mean time he would try a thicker oil. The reason for all that? The rod bearings in my engine were "shot" and had to be replaced. Total cost of work would exceed the value of the vehicle and so my car was basically totaled. It is a very sad story to tell if you ask me. I realize my car was nothing special, just your run of the mill Grand AM, but still it was my first car, it was a part of me, and I lost it forever. The point of trying a thicker oil (like a 30w-40 instead of a 10w-30) was to see if I could salvage what little was left of my engine for another month or so.

Fast forward to now, and the fact that the same 3.1 liter engine in my 1994 Pontiac Grand AM is still being made the same way, and put into your favorite GM car is scary at best. Any car sold with a 3400 engine has this same defect. Although the chances of it happening to you are low, it can happen and the longer you go the worse it gets. By the way, to replace the gasket costs about $800; the part is only 10 bucks or so, so it is all in labor!

General Motors has done a fine job so far in bringing up the quality of their vehicles, but why the General even let its standards get so low is really the problem. This never should have happened to me. In the 1950's and 1960's problems with Chevy’s leaking oil were considered standard, I know there were black spots on my grandparent's driveway from the 1964 Biscayne wagon they had. But nowadays if your car leaks oil, there may be a very serious problem. Maybe it is really just because everyone is so much more aware of it, and is being more proactive about it.

I doubt that is really it though, and I am sure you will all agree with me when I say I do not want any car I own, be it Chevy or BMW to leak oil or any other fluid on my drive way! Nor would I want my 17 year old kid driving around New Jersey (were it only takes about an hour to cross the state) with a car that might fail him on the high way! Had I been on the high way, moving at the speed limit of 65 with this engine problem, I would most likely had my pistons shoot out of the block. At the very least the engine temps would have gotten to high, and the block would have cracked.

Well, now; Let me get back on track a little here, and establish a real problem within the General... quality is lagging, and there is really nothing in General Motors to fix this problem. Sure, Car Czar Bob Lutz is trying his best to improve the cars General motors produces, but he does not get to pick and chose what engine a car gets, so General Motors brass puts in the old tired engines and drive trains... Hell, a 35,000 dollar Buick still has a four speed automatic, mean while the Lincoln Zephyr (sorry ford, the MKZ) has a six speed. Standard. So why should GM develop new engines and transmissions? The fact is, the General doesn’t. End of story. The old adage, "if it's not broke, don’t fix it" stays true to today. But it is broke, and GM still will not fix it. That’s why they are only making cars that "can now compete" and not cars that are taking the market.

Dear Mr General Motors: essay two

2006-03-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

In the last essay I discussed what I think General Motors should do in order to no longer produce the same vehicle five times over. I touched on a few other points, such as quality and naming, and as such I will try not to readdress these issues. I will however point out that in due time those issues will be addressed in due time. For now, I want to speak a little about production of new cars in foreign counties.

Some people I have come in contact with have expressed a concern that the new 2008 (hopefully) Camaro will be made in Canada. I understand that these people would rather have the American Icon built in America, with American tools parts and labor. It should really come as no surprise, however that General Motors (or should I say Chevy if my last essay has any impact) would consider the Canadian plant for future production. The old Camaro was built in that factory so why shouldn’t the new one be built there as well? Unless both of the factories update big time they will be closed, so fret not UAW, the CAW is taking the punches this time.

Why should it matter, in a greater part, if the Camaro is built in Canada if the Aveo is built in Korea, and God knows how many other cars are built in Mexico? Not to mention that many parts in our lovely GM vehicle are produced overseas regardless where the car is assembled. If this is such a major concern of the consumer then maybe they should quite their job and go work for General Motors as a nonunion worker. This way at least they will have the same experience 30,000 people will go through this year.

I am a big proponent of cutting the UAW work force. I do not consider them to be the only factor; however, they are a large factor. In truth, it’s the Management of about 30 years ago that really is to blame for this. A number of years ago, Business Week wrote a three or four page article about this problem, but I will try to sum it up in three paragraphs. Mostly it is just stupid and greedy people who didn’t care about the future after their tenure.

The last time the General Motors/United Auto Workers contract was up for negotiations, GM was making a boat load of money, Honda and Toyota were not even a blip on the screen much less BMW with the famed 2002. The Gas shortage hadn’t happened or was considered a minor upset in an otherwise business as usual world at General Motors. So GM gave with little argument the UAW its demands for very generous wage structure, retirement plan, and health care coverage.

Fast forward to the 1980’s and shit has almost literally hit the fan. Chrysler is in dire straights Ford is trying to figure what went wrong in the 1970’s (remember the Mustang II?) and GM has now noticed Honda, and BMW. Unfortunately for General Motors, nobody cared enough to start, maybe building better more completive cars then, when they had the money.

As a result, cars like the iconic Corvette were unchanged for 14 years, and technology was being used from over 20 years ago. And even with the joy this writer gets when he says that GM’s small block was the best V8 and largely unchanged from the original 1955 short block, it never should have happened. This also set up the proper conditions for major cutbacks in new technology development. One reason is it still works, so why change it, and the other is now GM started losing market share little by little while maintaining the same production. I sometimes hate to say this as it deals with a perfect world and not the real world, but its simple economics. A surplus was created and now efficiency and quality has gone down.

Well what about the CTS, and the G6, these cars seem to do well up against the competition, (the BMW 3series and Honda Accord). Sure they do, but not good enough. My father looked at a Cadillac STS (or Seville Touring Sedan, for the traditionalists) and found the BMW 530i to be the better buy, he leased it for three years, and if he does not a different car, can buy it for less then market due to a low residual after the lease is up. Compare that to the Caddy, with horrible lease deals, and no resale value, he would have to buy the car, all 60,000 dollars worth in cash. I am sorry but very few Americans have that kind of cash on hand.

Why do these cars not make the par? Well mostly due to the ever changing world of automobiles. When the G6 was being developed, a new Accord was also in the works in Japan, so General Motors is playing a game of catch up. They are doing well; don’t get me wrong, but not good enough.

Other concerns are also plaguing the giant that is General Motors. Mostly, and in the fore front of most headlines is the Delphi bankruptcy made innumerably worse by Dana Corp’s announcement last week. I watched in horror as the stocks of both Ford and General Motors tanked and the headlines raced. The current plight of GM is largely as follows:

-A controlling interest of GMAC must be sold to give GM’s checking account the 10 billion dollars it so badly needs to further its restructuring.

-The 2 billion in cash gained from the 17.4% sale of equity in Suzuki added to the hopeful 10 billion gained from a sale of GMAC as well as the cash gained from the sale of other non-core divisions must be spent wisely.

A buyout or early retirement plan should be offered (as it may be soon) to reduce the current labor surplus from the GM job bank.

The job bank must be killed. I’m sorry (not really but I feel I need to say something) but if I am fired from a company, they do not continue paying me for not working.

New technology and models need to be brought into production quicker, do not rush the production as this may result in poor quality control (my friends GMC Envoy was in the shop more than on the road)

I will continue discussing the quality control in my next essay, and let you all know what happened to my 1994 Grand AM.

Dear Mr General Motors:

2006-03-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hello all and most especially Mr. Lutz, and Mr. Wagner and the rest of the General Motors board who may read, or hear this. I have quite a bit to say here and I do not want my thoughts to be construed as saying ‘GM must do this, or cannot at all to that’ but rather taken into consideration as you end you monthly meeting and try to turn around the giant that is General Motors.

As it is today, I do not own title to a General Motors vehicle, however my first car as a teenager with a new license was a 1994 Pontiac Grand AM. This car’s engine failed one day when an uncommon but well known problem with the lower intake manifold gasket failed causing coolant to leak into the crank case causing crank baring failure. I will speak about this experience in more detail a little later. My father is a classic car collector and holds title to a 1965 Chevy Corvette, and a 1975 Cadillac El Dorado convertible. He and I have restored these two cars, as well as a 1971 Corvette that was sold to purchase the 1965. My father and I where planning on, but did not, restore his fist classic purchase; a 1967 Cadillac Coupe Deville.

I have been what is known as “a Chevy guy” my entire life as my father bought the 1970 corvette when I was nine years old, and owned the 1967 Caddy since before I had conscience memory. I love this company even though I have no real ownership in any part. As such I feel great pain when the stock does poorly, or when I walk into a dealer and the cars I see are nowhere near what they used to be in terms of excitement, quality, and sprit.

Many people I talk to and many of the comments I read on various weblogs, have taken different positions on just what General Motors has become and where it is heading. I would like to think my position is well informed and not as hasty as others. With that being said, I feel as though the “old way of doing things” might be considered. I do not mean how things where done in the 1980’s or the 1970’s as some people consider to be “the old days” and not even what General Motors was doing in the 1960’s (one of GM’s best decades). But rather what made General Motors such a large and prosperous company… That is simply divisionalation.

The new buzz for this concept is “no more badge engineering” but that does not solve the greater problem at hand. SAAB was condemned at one point by someone at General Motors for being its own company even though GM had complete control (or 100 percent equity) of SAAB. I realize that during that time, and even now, SAAB has been losing money hand over fist, but that really has nothing to do with my point. I am merely stating the facts for now, because also during that time SAAB was developing some awesome technology that never would have got to see the spot light as an independent company, but never did anyway, because General Motors thought is not in the greater goods interests. I will take this time to be a little rash, and very harsh and say that sounds a lot like communism to me.

Now that General Motors is for the most part up the creek or so we sometimes say, it is time to shed the bureaucracy that is not General Motors’ management and start making fine automobiles. The badge engineering is still going on, and platform sharing is still running rampant. Even the little things like the naming of products can change the buying dynamics of consumers. An example would be the Grand AM turned G6; everyone knows what a Grand AM should cost, and what to expect, but the G6 left many people saying “I don’t know what this thing is! Is it the same as the Grand AM???” Well YES! It is the same as the Grand AM, so why bother changing the name??? I have been told by my friends in the business world that it was to shed the legacy of the Grand AM (and others) as to improve the image of Pontiac (and others). Okay, I can see that, but still there was no need to kill the Grand AM, while Pontiac was still making the GTO-my-god-it’s-a-holden-monaro.

To end this small rant, I would like to pose a more serious (however funny or curious) question. What’s so wrong with Ventura? Remember the Pontiac Ventura? I know what this car was; and could be again. But these is more to call to question why, if General Motors is going to bring back iconic names and proceed to butcher them, not bring back the more common names of what a car really was, a mass-market sedan or coupe. Cars like the Bel-air or the Parisienne/Catalina, Skylark.

One last thing I want to say for the record: I hate Saturn and everything about it. How dare General Motors kill Oldsmobile and try to upscale Saturn in its place! If anything else please do not think I am so stupid as to not be able to see with my own two eyes just how idiotic this is. Bad, bad, bad managing, just what in God’s name where you thinking? I know that in today’s market a 442 would beat the pants off of a Mustang GT500 any day of the week.

Anyway, there is much more I would like to say, but that will have to wait for a later time, as I do not want to run this too long. A quick bullet point follows:

-divide the company into its original divisions (including Oldsmobile, please)

-drop the late 1990’s foreign naming scheme (numbers and letters) for true General Motors names like ROADMASTER.

-I know I didn’t get too much into this for this post, but quality control is a must, either that, or charge a lot less for the hunk of junk I am buying… I’m going to need the extra money I saved to fix it later.

Thank you for listening to my rant, I realize I got a little hot tempered at the end, and I would like to have said more, but like I said I do not want to tell you how to run your company. I would like to see a 442 on the way though… maybe even a GS455.

PS: my next car (as an ‘everyday’ car) will most likely be a 1963 Chevy Impala because nothing made by any car company today fits my needs or wants.

Dodge makes an AMC?

2006-03-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

Not quite, although the new Dodge concept sealing all of the headlines in the mini-subcompact market (think Scion xB/xA) is named after the old AMC Hornet and the cheep as all get out way of thinking is the same, that’s all these two cars share. The Dodge Hornet is a tiny little Scion fighter that will give the competition a lot to worry about. Dodge has been blitzing the market with new cars, trucks, and minivans for years now, starting with the Dodge Ram 1500, then the 300C and Magnum, with the charger coming in a little later. On the much higher end of things, is the wonderful little crossfire which is built on the old M-B CLK, and the Pacifica built on the same platform as the M-B Rclass. Now there are three new concepts, two of which DCX admits will be built; the Dodge Nitro a crossover built from the Jeep Liberty and the Caliber compact 5-door (which will also have a Jeep twin).

I have tried not to post anything on this car because I feel as though if Dodge is really serious about competing with Scion, then it needs to dedicate a brand to doing it. Don't forget that Scion is really Toyoda. Has DCX thought about bring back the Plymouth brand back from the dead, or will Dodge and Chrysler continue to produce a range of cars from less then 15K (the neon) to just under 100K (the Viper)? Anyway, with that aside, I love this little pocket rocket!

I normally don’t like these buzzy little things, I feel like there are too many civics and c-something-x's around buzzing with turbo's way too big for their engine and causing my eardrums to ring for the rest of the day. When I saw this concept, I wrote it off as just another nitch vehicle and looked at the Caliber and Nitro closer to see if they can touch my Protege5 (we covered why I own one so don't say anything). But this thing, with all of the press coverage and the crowds around the dodge booth the nitro (even if Dodge says otherwise) will now be built. It's not the first time this happened... the Corvette, the ssR, the new Camaro, the Blackwood, the GTO and many more came into the spot light; some did well, others died almost as soon as the show was over.

This little car is not yet intended for sale in the US and is marketed for the small Euro segment of the dodge brand. If you ever go to Europe, look at just how small the cars are over there... Don't forget that the compact segment was new to America when Honda's and Toyoda's started to wash up on our shores. Before then if you asked an American (after he got out of his looooooong Impala, or Galaxy 500 XL) what a compact car is he would most likely say a car that got hit from the front and the back.

Ok, enough making fun of this car, now for the good stuff, and why I think dodge might want to try to sell this car here in America. First... it's good looks. Yes, I am a modernist, and as a design student at Arizona State University, I can say this car look sexy! It is a box at its best. There is always something to say when a small car is not ashamed to say "look at me! I'm a small car, and I will kick you ass!" This is one of those cars, it has a small engine, but it uses a supper or maybe a turbo charger to get fast times on the track. I don’t have any numbers, but in a video from AutoBlog, this thing looks like is wants to move.

If a box can ever look fast while it is stopped, this one does it, and does it well. The wide fender flares and upright grille make this car look like it just got back from basic training and wants to go fight a war! If nothing else, the nice looking concept will be dumbed down for production, and everyone (myself included) will be upset, no matter how unsurprised, when dodge unveils the production version with huge trim gaps, and shiny hard plastic which are now found on the upsetting Charger and 300C. Both of which are cars that looked nice on the turn table, but didn’t quite make it up to par in production.

What Saab should be...

2006-02-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

I hope everybody remembers that Saab was not at first an automotive company... Like BMW, and M-B, Saab started out in the aviation industry. I know I've seen the ad on TV about 1,000,000,000 times, where an F-16 jet fighter turns into the 9-7x SUV (as if you can get all of the speed and handling of a jet fighter like the f-16 into an SUV). But that’s the idea, and until know, I was sure Saab and its owner, General Motors had forgotten just what it means to have such a background. I mean come on, I know this is a blog about American cars, but while Saab is reinventing the wheel with the 9-2x, BMW is making the same wheel lighter, faster, stronger, and better then before, and they are the car to beat when it comes to sports luxury.

I think they might be on to something with this here Aero-X concept showing in Geneva. What a wonderful, sporty, innovative, and fast as all getout coupe Saab came up with. Although Saab doesn’t say if this is a stand alone one off concept, or if the basics are the same as the Opel GT (aka Saturn sky, Pontiac Solstice). I doubt it, but it never hearts to ask, maybe the Aero-X is more production ready then Saab is willing to let on.

With common lines aside, this Saab concept is one hell of a car! First let’s look at the shell... ok, nothing really new at first glance, but wait, where are the window pillars??? There are none! Saab used an innovative "jet-fighter cockpit" design to give the driver friendly coupe 180 degrees of clear vision. The cockpit's canopy opens on a central hinge moving up, and toward the front of the car (awesome!) Although nobody has any pics of the interior word is Saab chucked the traditional knob and button layout of controls and gauges in favor of a more Star-Trek way of doing things, with a plexyglass material... I have no idea how this works, and as I am stuck here in the US, I am waiting on pics from the front lines to give me a glimpse on how this thing works.

But wait, I did say this thing can move move move!!! That’s right, computer sims have placed the Aero-X's 0-60 time with that of the corvette, and M3 at 4.9 seconds! WOW! But that’s not all. Saab, in true GM fashion (now a days anyway) has developed an engine that runs on only Ethanol... as in the stuff made out of corn that is now being mixed for many of the US gas pumps at about 10%E and 90% regular gasoline. Or maybe you’re more familiar with GM's E85 program with many govt. cars and trucks and the new full sized consumer trucks (E85 is a mix of 15%e, and 85%gas). So this little sucker's only exhaust is WATER! I wouldn’t drink from a Saab anytime soon, but WOW! Oh, by the way, it's a twin turbo (anything else would just not be up to Saab's specs) V6. I don’t think the number of cylinders is really important here because the thing makes about 400 horses! Again, that’s Corvette and BMW M3 territory.

All I can really say in summary is this:

10 simple reason’s this car rocks!

1) Saab, way to go! Hope you make more like this one.

2) I want this engine sooooo bad, I hope they figure out soon if and when it will be in a production car. NOTE: the US has an Ethanol shortage so don’t be too quick to say this is the wave of the future just yet, but it is coming sooner then this writer thought.

3) I would like to see Saab get a version of the Kappa (GT, Sky, and Solstice) for it self. I know this does not go with the position I took against badge engineering, but still the more the merrier...

4) A 400 hoarse Saab!?!?!?!? I want this engine soooo bad!

5) A jet-fighter Saab actually inspired by a jet-fighter? WOW GM's designers are not so stupid after all!

6) Engine, Saab, E100, 400 hp, now!

7) All hell, can't I just have one of these things for my self?

8) Build the damn thing already!

9) One reason Saab should build this car, to quote Homer Simpson: "Don't say revenge, don't say revenge... uh, revenge?

10) I can't believe you don't build this engine already!

UP DATE: I got a hold on an interior shot, but I still have no idea what it is Saab did to rid the console of knobs and buttons and the like... but here it is, maybe you can see something I can't, even so, it is still AWESOME!

Pontiac's Summer

2006-02-26T14:52:00.000-08:00

Even the lackluster Pontiac (you remember, the "performance division" of General Motors) is getting better and better with each passing year. Last summer when the Solstice came to production it was too little too late, The Ford Mustang had all ready taken the spot light and the Mazda MX-5 was doing bigger and better things in the small sport scar segment. Still the Solstice was selling like hotcakes, which was just what Pontiac needed in the middle of winter. So far, all of the current Pontiac vehicles and either bagged engineered (i.e. the G5, Torrent Montana SV6), stodgy "me-too" cars, (the G6) or left over from the line up of old that Lutz doesn’t know what to do with yet (the Grand Prix, Vibe).

The Solstice gets a little boost to add to what little hype it saw last winter with a firt in a long time supper charger that give this little car what it should have had before... POWER! The new trim line "GXP" gets unofficial estimates of about 260 hp and lb-ft of torque, wonderful when you are reminded that a standard Solstice gets 177 hp and 166 lb-ft of torque. the basic package is not messed with either, with only duel chrome pipes sticking out of the back, a small lip read spoiler, and black trim around the fog lights are added. This solstice is said to run 0-60 in about 5.5 seconds, which would put this small roadster back in competition with the benchmark of this segment, the MX-5. The only down side, is the 5,000 boost in price that also cuts any "for the price" statements you may hear from Pontiac dealers when comparing it to the MX-5.

If you want to sport around with more then just your girl in the passenger seat (think of it as a double date) then you may want to opt for the new G-6 coupe. Based on the G-6 sedan (which is it self a Malibu) this is the first Pontiac (after the firebird) to get a 6 speed manual. This car is also fun to drive, if you don’t mind the use of hard plastic (there are acres of it around and in the back), then you will not mind paying close to $30,000 for the top of the line GTP which gives you leather, the 6-seed, and the "big V6" as my sales rep told me. (In case you’re wondering, no, I did not buy it). The coupe is only for looks, as the GTP sedan and convertible all have the same drive train. The G-6/Malibu is a strong platform indeed, and General Motors did a good job designing all of the cars on this platform. The best part, is the boxy, refrigerator design was dropped for the G-6 and the G6 coupe is even sleeker. the wrap around tail lights and the fast back rear window and deck lid give this Pontiac the "fast even when parked" look Pontiac has been missing since the late 1960's (sorry Firebird, Grand AM, Grand Prix guys, those cars didn’t make the grade even when they where new).

If you want to go camping, and racing, then buy a Chevy pick up and a new GTO before they sell out. Or you can pick up a Vibe, or Torrent. I looked at the Vibe as an everyday car to replace my Mazda Protege5 (I know, but it's built by Ford, so it's ok). When the Vibe debuted with the Toyoda Matrix in 2003, it was a nice contender. Three years later, and an update is long over due, and not even it's Matrix twin is doing well. The last of modern equipment, like the new radio/CD player with 2.5mm aux jack (standard in the Cobalt) are causing buyers to look closer to the other not so nice features. The VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing with intelligence) is an awesome engine, but that kind of technology is not so exotic anymore and the poor performance numbers may cause Bob Lutz to cancel this car in favor of the badge engineered Torrent. The only problem I see with the Torrent is that it is the same as the Chevy Equinox in every way only the cross bar with bowtie is replaced by the duel kidney with arrow head.

So what’s New for Pontiac? a new G8 based on the New Zeta platform that was supposed to be dead but is alive and underdevelopment as the new Camaro and maybe a second try (or third if you include the original) at the GTO and possibly rear drive full sized Chevy Impala and/or Monte Carlo. The Grand Prix will either die or be rebuilt on the new Zeta platform, which will mean the new(er) Lacrosse by Buick will too. And the Vibe may be killed or at the least given the ecotech engine in light of the competition. If Zeta is indeed dead, and General Motors just fluked us with the Camaro, then a G8 may be produced on the Caddy DTS/Buick Lucerne platform.

Traffic camras...

2006-02-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

I know what your all thinking, and I agree... "I dont think a camra should do the work of the cops". Then again, we all said that cops should be stoping real crime, and not giving out tickets, right. So what about this thing in Scottsdale on the loop 101 highway? Some projections say the city will be earning about one million *pinky to lips* dollars with this thing! thats a lot of money. That beggs the question, is this a money making ploy, or is speeding so bad there would never be enough cops to stop it?

The answer: BOTH. I dont care what your city tells you, traffic camras are always a money making ploy, they are cheep (free after the cost of install is made up in tickets) because the city does not need to pay camras wages, or provide a uniform, or a partol car or moter cycle. the camras are more efficent as well, because they dont need to take bathroom stops or lunch braeaks. The other side to this little problem, is in some areas, like the loops 101 and 202 in AZ, there is a major speeding problem, and a city cant just put in a speed bump on a high way to send cars flying. Also the number of cops nessary to curve the speeding problem in Scottsdale would by so high that no real crime, would get noticed. In the end, people will forget about the camras, and wonder why they are all of a sudden driving the speed limmit.

Winter Wonder Land for less the $30K

2006-02-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

With almost the entire Northeast getting hit with the blizzard of 2006 it's going to be one heck of a job clearing the streets! With plow trucks and salt trucks lining the roads, let’s grab a cup of hot coco and a warm blanket and sit in front of the computer and price out some four or all wheel drive SUV's. "But what about the national average of $2.50 for a gallon of gas, I traded in my Explorer for a Puris because of I didn’t want to pay at the pump" you say? Well the Big three have you covered.

As European and Japanese manufactures tried to play catch-up to the big three in terms of truck based SUV's, America was still one step ahead... Ford and Chevy and even Dodge and Jeep knew that there was a market for the small imported crossover SUV. Now the imports are trying to figure out how in the world did the big three get the small SUV to sell when they could not. It's simple really; while the imports where trying to market cheep the big three are marketing design.

Before we get too far into the reviews and the final prices, I would like to take a time out and describe the difference between the four types of power transfer. First, rear wheel drive; the engine in mounted in a front-to-rear configuration and the transmission is mounted just aft of the firewall. a drive shaft connects the transmission to a differential which splits the power to the rear wheels and allowing one wheel to slip so the car can turn corners. Second is front wheel drive where the engine is (in most modern cars) mounted transversely, or passenger-to-driver side configuration. In place of the standard style transmission is a trans-axle which combines the transmission and the differential. Third is four wheel drive, which is set up similar to rear wheel drive, only just aft of the transmission is a transfer case which through a set of gears splits the power direction. half to the rear diff, half to the front now connected to a diff. Fourth is all wheel drive. Most all wheel drive setups are similar to front wheel drive but now a drive shaft connects the front trans-axle to a rear trans-axle. all four wheels turn, but are now controlled by an on board computer. There are no diffs at all and this set up is not recommended for anything but road and light trail use.

Now for the fun stuff, for this post, I have selected some of the strongest domestic sellers in the compact SUV segment. First up is the Chevy Equinox. This wonderful little SUV comes in two models the LS and the LT. the LS is the basic no frills compact SUV, but for the extra thousand dollars you are better off getting the LT1, and if you want to ride in high Chevy fashion, the LT2 gives you standard power seats, auto dimming mirrors, 17in wheels, and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The best bet for a bad weather SUV that is still fun to drive in the summer and can haul all your stuff without breaking your budget at the pump is the LT1 with a few options.

All of the Equinox's come with GM's 3400 V6 in a front drive configuration with traction control or all wheel drive (see above). The most important thing to note is the fuel economy. The Equinox will bring you 19 city and 24 highway per gallon with the front wheel drive and 18/23 with the all wheel drive. Not bad considering the trailblazer will get you about 18 in mixed use.

The Equinox is not just a quirky import wannabe either, this little monster is fun to drive, and turning diameter of 40 feet is quick and responsive (for SUV's). With the rear seats locked upright, you can shove almost 36 cu-ft of your favorite sports gear and four of your tailgate buddies in comfort. With the rear seats folded down you almost double your space with a grand total of 67 cu-ft. Still not enough you say? You want to tow your boat too??? Well Chevy has you covered there too, with a max trailer weight of 3,500 pounds you can take along everything you need to go camping and lake fishing and still have room leftover.

GM worked hard in the interior to make it look and feel better than past experiences, but still has a lot of shortcomings. The dash is simple and to the point, but the radio is confusing and controls are mounted too low. The many different ways to configure the seats helps, and the rear seats even move fore or aft 8"! Leather can only be ordered on the LT2, and the plastics are still cheep looking no matter how improved they are from the older Chevy’s. My biggest complaint is the door panels, as almost rubber like plastic covers them; get a scratch in that and your brand new baby will be sacred for life.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel when you see the bottom line, and I like it. Specked out with LT2 trim, leather, XM radio, On Star and a convenience package, the MSRP came t0 $28,280 but according to Edmunds the same spec has a TMV of $26,914. I'm sure I can get about another $500 out of the dealer when the day is over.

Don’t like the idea of General Motors going bankrupt, and defaulting on warrants? That’s ok too, because there are plenty of small SUV's made by Jeep, Dodge, and Ford all with four or all wheel drive.

Lets look at what Chevy's oldest rival, Ford, has to offer us. This contender comes in the form of the Ford Escape, as in escape from the ordinary. The Ford is a little cheaper at a MSRP of $28,040 and Edmunds TMV of $26,650 and for February; Ford is giving $2000 cash to buyers and $500 cash to those who finance with Ford Mo. Co. Not bad really, and you get a lot in that little package...

The best part is even with the AWD configuration (see above), this little Ford gets about 20 city, and 24 highway miles to the gallon. A lot better than the Chevy, and you can haul just as much if you check the "no boundaries" package which will give you 3500 lb tow capacity, a receiver hitch (an option in the Chevy) with wire harness, and all season tires. Check off the leather pack in the XLT or better models and you’re rolling down the road in Ford Fashion!

While the Chevy is totally modern and fresh, the ford (being an older design) has a less active interior. about the only thing I liked about the Ford Escape was the position of the radio and HVAC controls and the fact that if I get a tan interior, I get a tan dashboard. The seats are nice, nicer than the Chevy's, but I feel like I am in a larger truck, and not in a more nimble compact SUV. Power comes from either an inline 4 making 153hp at 5,300 rpm and 152lb-ft of torque at 4250 rpm, or a V6 making 200hp at 6000 rpm, and 193lb-ft at 4,850 rpm.

Cargo may be a little bit of a problem with the Escape. You can only get 29.3 cu-ft of your favorite gear behind the rear seats; only 62.8 if you leave your friends behind and fold the read seats. the fully independent suspension may temp you to get out and go off roading but be careful, the weak all wheel drive may cause some headaches if you get too hardcore oh the open range.

What About Jeep you ask, after all Jeep is the all American little truck that could right? well yes, and no. it all depends on what kind of small SUV you want from Jeep, if you go the Wrangler then you want off road capabilities, if you go with the Liberty, then you want to haul your soccer kids around. the best way to defuse this dispute among jeep buyers is to simply make the statement that a Cj-7 is for kids, and a Liberty is for adults (or rather the ones with the money).

The Liberty, in true American capitalist style has a truck load of options, no pun intended of course. It's almost impossible to choose what options are the best, but if you go for the limited, you might want to check off one of the three, that’s right three "quick order" packages. these are all good in their own way, but I went with the option 22G which loaded up this Jeep nicely but also broke the bank with the highest MSRP so far of $29,185, and an Edmunds TMV of $28,070. there is a 2,500 cash back offer that’s makes this Jeep a little easier to buy.

This Jeep is also the OLDEST design of the three so far. When the Cherokee stopped running in 2001, the Jeep brand had to fill the void left by one of the best selling Jeeps ever. Enter the Liberty in all its wannbe Wrangler glory! This funny looking Jeep reminds the older among us why some towns banned trucks and SUV's (other than the repair man's) from being on the street back in the good ol days. That was back when trucks where ugly and SUV's where ugly-er trucks with roofs over the cargo bed. when I look at the Liberty, I cringe a little at how Jeep messed up their only but best selling point--it was a box on wheels. (This is now trying to be fixed with the Commander, but not very well)

The Jeep is the only SUV here that can say for sure it is a true 4x4. Jeep's have always offered duel locking diffs sine that technology was available, and since 1941 jeeps have been going in and out of some of the worst areas. The Jeep brand is engrained into every American in some way or another... Maybe you had an uncle in WWII, or maybe you or your friend drove a Wrangler in high school, but how ever the way, this little truck has a lot to live up to. Standard Jeeps have four gears to select from. There are the traditional 2 high, 4 high and 4 low, plus a jeep exclusive neutral. The neutral is so you can tow your jeep behind a camper or such with out having to disconnect the driveshaft, COOL! Because of the awesomeness that is four wheel drive, this Jeep can do things the Ford and Chevy can only dream about right out of the box, including rock trails.

The style is lacking a lot though because of the age of this SUV. Than again the Style was never something to brag about, most people hated it wanting something more like the very outdated Cherokee. the round headlights are moved as far out and up as possible, and the Wrangler like fender flairs give this jeep an unnecessary fat look to it. The interior has bad plastics, and weird positions for the HVAC controls.

Cargo room was also lacking in this 4x4 if you and your friends wanted to go camping for the weekend, to get all of your gear in, you would have to leave at least two of your buddies home there is only 31cu-ft behind the rear sears but 69 with them folded. That better than the Ford, but not as good as the Chevy and no where near the older Cherokee’s 34/66.

So what about Dodge? well there is no offering as yet from Dodge, but the 2007 Nitro is going to be fun to test drive!

Mind if I barrow a few billion dollars?

2006-02-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

There is too much happening in the GM camp to even write I summary on. Here are the web page links, read the articals if you dare.

Yahoo! stocks: GM

CNNmoney: GM's fate, a Hail Mary

CNNmoney: The tragedy of General Motors

Business Report: US unions hits back at GM, Ford

Detroit Free Press: UAW head, "Delphi chap. 11 unneeded

The Detroit News: Delphi loses $1.1 billion in Dec.

I will update this as more reports come out.

The all Japinese made Swedish.... American???

2006-02-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

Because General Motors now has complete control over Saab and about a one third control in Subaru it was no surprise a few years ago when the Saab 9-2^Xintroduced. And because Saab is a General Motors division that “is very important to the General Motors brand” All American has no problem saying that the 9-2^X is in fact an American automobile.

Why General Motors thought that the 9-2^X would sell is beyond anyone here at All American. Despite the apparent lack of good decision making on General Motors part, it looks like the 9-2^X is here to stay. Whenever a 9-2^X passes by, I can’t help but think I would like to get behind the wheel of one. Some, my self included, have dubbed the 9-2^X the Saabaru and they are right. What can be better than all of the best standard futures in a Subaru with all of the best amenities of a Saab?

What General Motors did was took the Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon plans and gave them to Saab’s design and engineering teams and told them to make it a Saab with out going over budget. What Saab’s design team did was work mostly on the out side of the vehicle. A nip here and a tuck there allowed them to modify the rear body panels just enough to where when you see one on the road, you know it’s a Saab. The team put in the distinctive Saab front clip including the cornering lamps, lower profile hood scoop in the Aero model and if that was not enough, you can even get xenon headlights.

As for the interior, the rest of the design team’s budget was put into making the Impreza Sport Wagon more upscale. Two tone cloth or leather seats and a different center console are the first two things to be changed. The team put remodeled the cup holders so our supper double whammy ultra mega large sodas will stay in place and not spill on full pile weave carpeting. Just about the only thing that was not at least looked at was the ignition key position, which was kept on the steering column and not put on the center console where Saab owners think it should be.

The engineering team put their budget to work with a lot of sound dampening material and trying to smooth out the rattling flat four-cylinder engine. What General Motors got from Saab was a rebadged Subaru Impreza that looked a little different, weighed a lot more, and a car that Saab buyers hated. The number one complaint: move the ignition key. The number two complaint: it’s not Swedish.

I don’t blame General Motors or Saab for producing the 9-2^X at all. If they had been noble and produced an Idealistic entry level Saab, All American would be writing a review on the 9-2 concept and not the actual car. Time was the only thing Saab was thinking of when they asked the General for some help with a cheep luxury car. Time is what they got; the Audi A3 was introduced only last year as an ’06 model, and BMW is still telling Americans to wait for the 2 series. If that’s a bad thing, Saab should be wrong more often.

The only problem is with this car is the price per pound. The plastics are not as upscale as the A3 or the BMW’s and I know I would like to see a wood trim option, but only real wood would do, also some more interior colors besides black and gray two-tone. What Saab is known for is in this editor’s eyes was never luxury, but that’s been slowly changing over the last 15 to 20 years. Now Saab competes in a high scale market and must keep up appearances. If they can convince enough Americans that the 9-2X is not just a rebadged Subaru then they made it, but the real test (the BMW 2 series) is yet to come.

GMT 900, a 70% bet

2006-01-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

As Americans we love cars, and as Americans bigger is better right? So it was no supprize that durring the mid to late 1990's SUV's took over the market. Ford and General Motors enjoyed huge sales and the looming UAW contracts seemed not to be a problem. Like all good things, this was to come to an end very soon, and in 2001 America suffered a lot. Even now, almost five years later, gas prices are still high and buyers are once again going toward more affordable family cars and away from the gas gussling trucks. This is bad news for GM and Ford who now have 70% or more of their total sales from their turck based paltforms. Ford has totally redisigned the F-150 the best selling truck of all time, but has yet to redsign the rest of its truck fleet. GM on the other hand is not as stupid as it looks, and started to redesign from the ground up its next generation of trucks. called the GMT (General Motors Truck) 900 (as in ninth generation) this is by far one of the best built trucks out on the market.

GM was facing a small problem... keep selling cars at below cost prices just to move the old iron and keep sales figures high in order to look good, or stay in busness. They solved the problem by putting more but not quite all of their eggs in one basket and move up the production of the next generation of full sized trucks from the end of '07 as '08 modles to the begining of '06 as '07 models. This is not the frist time for next years model to be produced this year... back in 1983 Chevy began reproducing the Corvette as a 1984 model. the result was a sales number that is totally unreal because one model year accouns for two years woth of sales. the reason the GMT 900 is not being produced as an '06 model is becuse of the legal mumbo-jumbo that sets the cutoff dates for new model year runs.

What trucks are effected are the Chevy's Tahoe, Suburban, and sooner or later the Silveradro line of pickup trucks; GMC's Yukon in all of its varents, and sooner or later the Sierra pickup truck; the Cadilac Escalade, and Escalade ESV. Thats over 9 different trucks not including the pickup's that may or may not come down the line, right now you can buy the Chevy Tahoe and the rest are soon to come. If you cannot stand just how awesome this new truck platform is you can still buy the old GMT 800 trucks, but you've got to be brain dead to do that.

This new platform is a new design from the ground up. the V8 engines all have Displacement On Demand, which cuts off four cylinders when they are not needed (mostly at highway speeds) and brings them online for a huge kick in power. the EPA says these trucks should get about 22 mpg but mixed use driving should make that a little higher, althought it will not be enought to make a HUGE difference.

What will make a HUGE difference is the new Interior! As you can see in the pictures, it is TOTALLY different; this will the the make it or break it deal for buyers, most importantly the return or repeat buyer. The gaps are tighter, the material is nicer, the seats are firmer, the wood, although obiously fake, is not a bad recreation. the radio is one of the new AC/Delco units that can be found in almost every new GM model, and best of all in the navi system. This navagition system has a nice sized screen with back-up camrias mounted in te rear bumper. Still it's nice to see a full sized Chevy/GMC truck with good flux wood and just the right amount of crome and not acres of plastic across the dashboard.

Althogh seating for 7 is there, like always, it is a little too cramped in the last row of seats. Also this truck makes you take out the rear bench if you want to use the space back there for cargo. Thats really not such a bad thing so long as you dont need to all of a sudden use that row of seats you left in your garage. And GM makes it an easy task and the seats althogh heavy, are not over cumbersum.

If hauling stuff like campers or big boats is more your thing, and dont want a pick up becuase you want to bring a few friends, the GMT-900 stacks up well. Edmunds.com quotes the cargo capacity at 109 cu. ft. , the pay-load capacity at 1473, and the most important number of all the towing capacity at 7700 pounds. Ford does a little better here, with 111, 1629, and 8600 respectivly. Still not bad concidering GM was looking only to imporve the look and feel of the their full sized turck, and not the long proven capacity.

If your only going to be going to sccocer games and pasta parties, will like the larger interior with 41.1in of frot headroom and 40 in the rear this truck can haul the NBA with confort with the rest of the numbers in order, I think just about anybody can ride just fine.

Front Headroom		41.1 in.
Rear Headroom		39.2 in.
Front Shoulder Room		65.3 in.
Rear Shoulder Room		65.2 in.
Front Hip Room		64.4 in.
Rear Hip Room		60.6 in.
Front Leg Room		41.3 in.
Rear Leg Room		39 in.
Maximum Luggage Capacity		16.9 cu.ft.

All in all the best that GM can hope for is not a leading sales figure, but a strong sales figure... The day of the SUV is over, and it's never coming back GM and Ford need to admit this and move on with their lives. It's not a bad thing, just a new (or rather old) way of looking at auto sales. Now if only they can do this with the Impala...

SOLD!

2006-01-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well I have no more reason to sit in front of my T.V. any more... The Pontiac Bonneville Special was sold for $2,800,000! I wish I had that kind of money..... I wish I had that car for that matter!

$118,800.00

2006-01-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

Thats right, $118,800.00 for a 1967 Plymouth Bel Verdere GTX 2 door hardtop "HEMI RECREATION" now I do know what a Plymouth Bel Verdere GTX is, and I know what a HEMI is; but can someone PLEASE tell me why some jack would pay $118,800.00 for one of these things??? I never thought in my life I would see a price tag like that so I ran up Hemmings Motor News to see if the guys over at Barret-Jackson were making an honest buck or if the guy was "outtahismind!!!" What I found was that there were convertables in nice shap (one with a 440 magnum) going for about >10K to about 22K. In otherwords this jack was OUTTAHISMIND!!!I doo look forward to seeing the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special, yet another copycar of the orginal 1953 Corvette. Simmiler to the 1954 Oldmobile F88 that sold for 3,250,000.00 a few years back at Barrett-Jackson, the Bonneville Special was never bulit for the same two reasions the olds F88 was not built. Poor sales figures for the Corvette (only 300 in 1953, when the Pontiac car was touring shows) and a lack of support from General Motors brass. Had this car have been produced, many think just like the old F88's possabilty of saving Oldsmobile, maybe Pontiac would not be in the place it is, trying to match the imports with metoo cars and a poor recreation of the GTO.

Note: The Oldsmobile F88 should be on desplay in Colorado at the Gateway Colorado Auto Museum. Just a one-hour southwesterly drive from Grand Junction on Colorado Scenic and Historic By-way 141. Go check it out!

Market Time!

2006-01-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

well guys it's not 5:30 in New York and the Market is closed! Lets see how we did...

NASDAQ: 2,320.32 (+1.63)

Dow Jones: 11,011.58 (-0.32)

S&P 500: 1,289.69 (-0.46)

Ford Motor Co.: 8.77 (+0.15)

General Motors: 22.06 (-0.35)

Daimlerchrysler AG: 54.83 (+0.28)

Long Live Detroit!

2006-01-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

Two new AWESOME show cars, from Chevy and Dodge. First, the car we know so little about; the new 2006 Camaro.

This right here, this sexy, fast, thank GOD GM is not totally dead car, is the new Camaro. Although it might not make it to production in 2008, a 2009 model year is very possible. what better way to commerate 40 years of true Camaro muscle (the '69 Camaro is known to be the best in its performance history) than designing a retro rod with ques right off of a real 1969 Camaro SS? I am sorry I don't have any pics from the rear, cause that's all your going to see when you go red light racing.

Enough of the design crap, now for what really matter... The BIG ASS ENGINE! I am so glad not everybody in GM is as dumb as people think. To keep up with the competition, and to not piss off the likes of Lee Iacocca, Harley Earl, and John Delorian, GM brass shoved a 6.0L V-8 pulled from the corvette line, and and built the Camaro show car on the New Zeta rear-drive platform that is being developed in Australia for high volume low-cost cars (such as a possible rear drive Impala/Monte Carlo, and the next gen GTO/Holden Monaro) This Camaro also handles a lot better then even the old 2002 model with a better developed, more modern fully independent suspension and smokes the tires with a 6-speed manual transmission.

The bad news is this car is only a "show car" and is out only to judge public reaction. The Zeta platform was put on hold until further notice because of cost and the fact that GM is still losing money makes the likelihood of this car actually being built a long shot at best. So get out there and show GM and Chevy that we care and we what this car to be built. Don't forget that although V-8's are powerful, V-6's are cheaper and a buzzy one (like those found in BMW's) are fast, and I-4's are cheaper still and lighter than the V-8's and V-6's. Lets have a Camaro that goes fast, and a Camaro that high school kids can afford again! I don't want to see rice-burners all over the roads anymore!!!

Now for the car that has the best possibility of being built. Enter the challenger! We were all disappointed when Dodge flubbed the Charger by adding two more doors and calling it is "coupe-sedan" What ever they were thinking, I don't know, and if I ever run into the guy who did that I'm going to have a few words for him. After all, who are they to tell me that "coupes are dead, this is a car for the newest era of buyers" Well Ford is selling more Mustangs than ever (see review below), than maybe Dodge needed to rethink their take on the market. When the design team was asked to create a new coupe on the LX platform (the underpinnings of the 300C, Charger, and Magnum) they bought an original 1970 and literally copied almost everything. So what did they scrap? The 14-inch wheels, narrow width and wheel base (the '70 has 110" the '06 has a 116, the 300c has 120") and the over all length. other than that it was mostly how do we get the old car to look modern, and more bad-ass?! Oh, I almost forgot! YES ITS GOT A HEMI!

This time the Hemi comes out with 425 horses running from 0-60 in about 4.5 seconds, and almost sprinting this huge car down the qouter mile in about 13 seconds. The hemi is connected, like the Camaro's LS2, to a 6-speed manual transimission. Some other small little details that make this Challanger so nice is the lack of 14's; the design team opted for 20's up front, and 21's out the back. I would expect to see 17's to 20's offered in simmiler packages to what is offered on BMW's with the sport package or dressed in full M trim.

Once again, for the sake of all that is good and holly people, PLEASE go to your local auto show, email or call Dodge tell them you LOVE this car, and they are doing the right thing. If this car gets to your show room 99% unchanged from the concept like the Pontiac solstice did I am sure that like the Pontiac, the dealers will not be able to keep them on the lot.

It seems very odd to me that both Chevy and Dodge are keeping these cars under such a tight seel. I can only come up with two reasons, totally opasite from eachother: both of these cars will be produced very soon, and will take the market by suprise and by storm tracking HUGE sales figures, or enither of these cars will be produced and Dodge and Chvey are just kidding around and trying to gain public reconition. If the fromer is true, chevy and dodge rock; I for one would love to see these cars in show rooms very soon. right now the only choise I have in the Ford Mustang, I am personally a chevy guy, and if these too cars make it to show rooms Ford will no longer be the king of the hill. History repeites it self so well.

Back to the Future: Ford Mustang

2006-01-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

When Michel J. Fox went "Back to the Future" traveling to 2005, no one could have guessed at the time, that cars would still be gas dependant; and why shouldnt skateboards hover? Well now that 2005 is over with (thank God), and because its been out for a year now, it's time to test out the new Ford Mustang. The 2006 model is largly unchanged, and I have had the lucky privlage of driving three different varitations. I was able to drive the V-6 convertable with a manual, the V-8 coupe with an automatic, and the V-8 convertable with the manual.

The current Mustang uses a lot of past influence in its design, and it's not all in looks. As far as style goes, Ford got bit by the retro bug; Ford has done well creating a nice looking car that is modern and celerbrates its history. The front grill is simmiler to the orginal, 65-66, and the tail lights look like they are from the big 1970's 'stangs, and the little window behind the B-piler is stright from the orginal shelby Mustang corba GT500. There is more to this pony car than the retro styling, though and it's all under the hood.

What is nice about the Mustang, is it is still an afordable kids' car. If you are looking for a car for your 16 year old highschooler, but want to get him or her a new car because of safty and relibilty concerns, the Mustang would be a very good choice. For those buyers, For has the base Mustang with a V-6 in either Premium or Delux trim. I would recomend a coupe with the auto for your kid's first car. the insurance will be a little higher than a Civic's, but the Mustang is better looking and will give you kid the confidance he or she needs. The automaic transmission is good for new drivers because as we all know, the lack of experience only gets worse when your kid is trying to learn how to shift. (I drive a 5-speed now, but it's not my first car by a long shot) The real prize comes in the V-6; this little engine is all you really need for a teenage driver, and on the weekends when your kid is busey studying for college you can sneak out with the fun new pony and still be able to leave some lines behind you. If you kid is bringing home all A's you may want to opt for the convertable and give your self an even nicer "weekend car".

The V-8 is the one to get though, but you need to be sure you know what you want. If this is the first time you are buying a proformance machine, you will want to get the automatic. the only problem with this configuration is because of the age of the 4-speed auto Ford puts in its Crown Vic's the car just doesnt want to pull out like it should. Don't get me wrong, the auto is bullit prof, and is a fine choice; but if you want to really smoke the tires and feel like a kid again, then you would want to opt for the money saving 5-speed manual.

The 5-speed is what makes the Mustang GT a Mustang GT. I this car out for a spin a few hours ago and my hands are still shaking! I am supprised at how nicely that old 289 gets out! Ford says the GT makes 300 horses, and 320 foot pounds of torque, but with our that 5-speed and the ability to drive the car with high revs, they go nowere.

If you wanted to get a Mustang as a cheep car that looks good, get a basic V-6 with almost no options, if you want to really drive the car, than the GT 5-speed convertable premium is the one to get. you really dont need any other options after the premium, I like the red leather and the interior upgrade packages, but the 500-watt radio is fine, and the 17-inch painted aluminum wheels that come with the GT are the best looking as well as the best riding. the interior upgrade package gives you the aluminum finish on the dash, shifter, and stearing wheel.

Thank God that Ford built this car, now if GM and Crysiler can do the same with the Camaro and Challanger, we might have something here.

2005-12-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

Lack of new Posts:

I know it's been a while since I updated this page... but I am home for the Holiday's and I should be out test driving again soon.

2005-12-12T17:26:00.000-08:00

Market closes:

Dow: down -10.81 at 10767.77

NASDAQ: up 4.22 at 2260.95

S&P 500: up 1.06 at 1260.43

General Motors: up .13 at 23.05

Ford Motor Co: up .01 at 8.19

Daimler Chrysler AG: down -.13 at 51.07

2005-12-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Market Finishes:

Dow Jones Ind.: up 23.46 points, to close at 10,778.58

NASDAQ: up 10.27 ponts, to close at 2,256.73

S&P 500: up 3.53 points, to close 1,259.37

General Motors: up .92 points to close at 22.92

Ford Motor Co. up: up .01 points to close at 8.18

DAIMLER CHRYSLER AG: up .66 points to close at 51.20

ALL NEW AUTOS

2005-12-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Next up is the full sized Ford Five Hundred and the Mercury Montego. These two cars, beign almost identical, will be reviewed as one.

the 500/Montego is based largely on the Volvo S80 platform, and almost everything was left the same. The cost difference from the American to the Sweedish comes in standard fetures, and mostly in terms of safty, and engine proformance. Seeing how these two vehicals are Sweedish at heart, I'll start off with the safty side, and then go on to the rest.

The new 500/Montego come standard with four wheel anti-lock disk breaks, and GenII depowered front airbags. A safty consicious family can also opt for side curtian, and torsoe airbgs as well. If you live in a snowy, or mountianious region, then Ford and Mercury have you covered there as well with an AWD version of either car. (You may remember the comerical with all of the other cars sliding around a slick road while the Ford 500 manuvered around with out losing trackion.) there is also some very innovative engeering coming out of Volvo in the structure of the S80, 500, Montego that give this car full five star governtment crash test ratings.

As far as engine proformance goes, I personally feel it would have been benifical for Ford to have implanted the Volvo 5 cylinder 2.5L Turbocharged, and intercooled engine, in place of the Ford Duratec 3L V6. the Volvo makes about the same horsepower (208, compaired to 203 in the durstec) but the Volvo makes quite a bit more torque (236 compaired to 207 in the Duratec). The extra torque would allow the Ford/Mercury to better compete with other cars in it's class like the Chrysler 300c, with it's massive 3.5L V6, which makes 250 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque. The one thing Ford has going for it in this area is that the 500/Montego is much lighter than the Chrysler by about 136 pounds.

As far as style goes, the Ford and Mercury (being the newest kids on the block) has everyone beat. the Honda Accord is almost due for a major face lift, and the Toyta is out right old. The G6 (which barely edges in this class) does not have anywhere near as comanding look, and the Chrysler 300c, although very impressive and comanding with it's gangster look, is dark and depressing from the inside looking out. The Ford/Mercury have a very innovative aproch to getting the driver comfortable, with what they call "commad seating". The dash is actually higher than the seat, but due to a more upright and higher mounting position of the seat it self, the driver feels like he is driving his old Ford Explorer, and not a Ford 500 sedan. The leater seats are refited from the outgoing Tarus/Sable, but feel upscale and firm. This is a very welcome feture, as I own two BMW's and got used to the firm German seats.

Some nice confort fetures in the Ford 500 and the Mercury Montego, are the driver control center, the 8-way power adjustable memory seats, and passanger seats that fold "flat". The driver control center is simple and easy to use, unlike some of the systems found in forgien cars, such as the BMW 5-serise with i-Drive controls on the stearing wheel. The power seat is just as easy to opperate, and has enough different positions to make vertully anybody confortable. The fold flat seats, fold even with the floor of the sapcious trunk (over 20 cu-ft) for extra long, like ladders, grandfather clocks, ski's or whatever you can think of.

ALL NEW AUTOS

2005-12-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

First Up in this series, is the Mercury Milan. This sedan is based off of the Mazda6 platform the Ford developed for their Japanese brand a few years ago. The Milan comes in FWD or AWD with I4, or V6 engines in two trim levels (standard or premier).

The I4 is a 2.3L Ford Duratrec which produces 160 horses and 156 lb-ft of torque, where as the V6 is a 3L Duratec with 221 horses and 205 lb-ft of torque. The Milan can be configured with your choice of a 5 speed manual transmission or a 6 speed automatic transmission. Keeping this Mercury on the road will be easy with the fully independent suspension and rack and pinion steering. Because the Milan weighs over 3300 pounds none of this helps the car get up and go with out a little effort and skillful driving.

At a base MSRP of 18,995 the Milan cost more then its twin the Ford Fusion; for the extra cost, you get unique interior and exterior design cues and more upscale materials. Other than that, the Ford and the Mercury are the same. The more upscale queer’s are in the details and you have to look closely to really know where Mercury went the extra mile.

The Premier comes standard with leather seats, with contrasting stitching (a nice touch that is hard to find on cars that cost five times as much). And real wood or aluminum trim will give the under 40 crowd the luxury-sport look and feel that is in high demand. No matter what engine or trim option you choose, all Milan’s come with rear doors that are larger, stretching toward the C-pillars to easy entry, and exit, as well as more sound deadening materials.

It's nice to see the Ford Motor Co. making good use of its purchase of Volvo (which caused some trouble early on) to make their cars and trucks safer. Energy from side impacts is directed away from passengers due to a stronger b-pillar above the cars belt line. This technology is also used in the roof for roll over crashes (the crush rate surpasses standards that will take effect in 2009, something Ford is proud of). As with competing car companies, an airbag package can be ordered with side curtain bags.

Some other options include the regular sunroof in-dash CD changer, and a premier 8 speaker sound systems. The higher priced Premier can be upgraded with heated front leather seats, 17-inch aluminum wheels and a nice little package with auto climate control, headlamps+foglamps, and auto-dimming review mirror. All of this is over the standard Mp3 player, CD player, keyless entry, cruise control, full power accessories, and more.

2005-11-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

France is doomed.

It's amazing how people are reacting to the French riots now that they have been going on for THIRTEEN DAYS!!!!!!! One writer for the AP has suggested that the riots are not that bad, and are now on the decline. After 13 days, you would hope that the riots are begining to disperse. the AP writer quotes that only 226 towns reported rioting as aposed to 300. But he disregards the fact that 226 towns reporting rioting is still unimaginable. He also reports that only 1,173 cars where burned betweeen monday night and tuesday morning as opposed to 1,408 the night before. Again he gives little thought to the fact that these numbers are horrific!

Now the French government plans to charge the rioters (who are mostaly children) with a curfew law. like this will help; these people are RIOTING, not staying out late at the disco.

"President Jacques Chirac declared a 12-day state of emergency Tuesday, paving the way for curfews to be imposed on riot-hit cities and towns in an extraordinary measure to halt France's worst civil unrest in nearly four decades. Meanwhile, police said the nightly rioting that began Oct. 27 ago was showing signs of abating. "

I guess this is better than nothing. the curfew law in this state of emergency allows poilce to arrest rioters and give them a sentence of two months in jail and up to a $4,400 fine, with minors getting only one month in jail.

What I cannot beleive is that it took Jacques Chirac 13 days to figure this out and declare a state of emergency. It would seem as though he did not want to reconize these riots until they where literally knocking down his front door. this is evdent simply because there was little action taken by the French government until the riots engulfed Paris.

It is clear to me that France is doomed and the government will end up asking the UN to help take care of the rioters. And as we all know the UN is powerless without the United States driving the main part of the forces. And people laughed at me when I said we should invade France.

2005-11-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

FRANCE NEEDS TIME!

Just how stupid is the French government??? It would seem as though they just want to let the riots go until the "kids" get tired and just go home. Kind of like letting a forest fire burn it self out. The only problem with this is that riots NEVER just go away. I can no longer stand to read the headlines! I would laugh at how the French government is screwing things up if it would only French kids rioting, but this problem stems from MUSLIM youths. For sake of argument, let’s call them terrorists. I always thought France would be the first European country to fall. And the fact they don’t want to do anything about it is appalling!

LINK: BBC, French riots 'need time to solve'

2005-11-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

BON-JOURE!!!! YA CHEESE EATING SURENDER MONKIES!

I suppose I am a little late with posting the Frence civil unrest news, but it looks like Paris is doomed to be engulfed by the mob that has been burning cars, stoning objects tourching buildings and generaly showing how bad the frence way of life really is.

Paris is srounded

Interntional Herald reports

2005-11-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

STOP THE ASSULT!

This has got to stop people; The media has just gone way to far, and is becoming less like professionals and more like the poperitzi. The Drudge Report has learned that Supreme Court nomiee Alito's 90 year old mother is being harassed by so-called reporters.

Devloping article...

2005-10-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Miers Withdrawls!

Good news for Conservatives everywhere, as Harriet Miers withdrawls her supreme court nomiation. Now is the time for all of us to ask Mr. Bush to really think hard and pick a nomiee who is right for the job. One of the good things about our current president, is that he always says what he means and does what he says; unlike other presidents in the past have (Clinton). It was very clear to me, that Bush is trying to play politics here, and it blew up in his face, and his friend, Miers couldnt hack the senate hearings. It's a good thing she withdrew now, or America would have had a weak, unopinated, crowd goer making very important decisions. I am so relived.

BUSH SUPRISED

NUMBER TWO?

COULTER WRITES

LETS PICK SOMEONE RIGHT FOR THE JOB

2005-10-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

YANKEES LOSE?!?!?!

I'm sorry, but as a long time Yankee's fan I have to say I am disapointed tonight with the 5-3 loss aginst the Angles. The umpire was CLEARLY BLIND and could not make a call to save his life!

these guys are right to argue, becuse Robinson Cano was clearly safe and the call cost the yanks an inning that was supposed to end well with more points on the board!

All in all though, it was a good game, and the Yanks where not playing as well as they could have, the colision in the out field did not help at all and I hope it never happens again. Good job Angles and good luck against the Sox!

2005-10-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

AND THE WINNER IS:

Stanley, a Volkswagen Touareg, crossed the finish line dapra finish line in 6h,53m. Second place, was Sandstorm a humvee, who was only able to travarce 7.5 miles last year. this is big news for the military as well as VW and private robotics engineers. The military, who has not yet decided how to use the technology, sponsered the race to promote atnomious vechiles. VW will use this robot car in adds, and the team who built it joked it will use most of the money to "buy cat food".

full articale MORE on darpa race

2005-10-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

DELPHI FILES CHAPTER 11: Some of the worst news yet to come out of Detroit; Delphi, the largest auto supplier in America, is set to file for bankruptcy in Federal Bankruptcy Court located in New York. It comes as no real surprise as the three largest American car companies (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) continue to struggle to stay in the black. Delphi has been losing money since GM spun it off in 1999, and in the first half of this year alone the company lost about $750 million. Delphi is expected to take out loans of up to $4.5 billion with about $2 billion from JPMorgan Chase Bank and Citigroup Global Markets.

Read more about Delphi's bankruptcy here

Stock symbols: General Motors - GM, Delphi - DPH

2005-10-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

I know this is not really all American, but OPETH ON TOUR IN OCTOBER!

2005-10-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this? Cox&forkum Editorial Cartoons.

2005-10-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Cadillac DTS:

Above is the New 2006 Cadillac DTS (formerly the DeVille) this Caddy retains the front wheel drive configuration that Cadillac developed with Oldsmobile in 1967. It has a MASAVE DOHC 32 valve per cylinder V-8 engine. This allows the DTS to produce 275 horse power at 6000 rpm and 292 pound ft of torque at 6,300 rmp standard, or if you opt for the performance model, you can command 295 horses at 4,400 rpm geared for 288 pound ft of torque at 4,500 rpm. This

Cadillac is unlike other new Cadillacs in that it retains not only the FWD, but most of Cadillac's traditional features. These include a plush floaty ride and enough room to seat four adults with still more room to spare and a trunk like those of the mid-sixties Cadillac’s (18.8 cubic feet of cargo space). Not to mention the eggcrate grille, and stacked head lights and tail lights (gotta love the wanna-be fins) The New Cadillac departs from the previous DeVille by incorporating an undated four wheel independent suspension that is self leveling and is stiffened by front and rear stabilizer bars. General Motor's "Magnetic Ride Control" and "StabiliTrak" systems team together to provide a much tighter turning radius and less body lean. The DTS is also quieter thanks to a new way to mount the engine, by using a separate cradle and Variable Valve Timing to reduce engine vibrations and to keep them from entering the cabin.

A first this year in the industry for safety is Cadillac's new air bag deployment system that uses sensors to determine how a "dual-depth" front-passenger airbag actually deploys. This dual-depth airbag will vary its inflated volume based on the occupant's weight and seating position as well as data gathered from the crash it self.

2005-10-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

First Post:

I would like to say thank you for visiting my blog. This is where you can find out whats going on with what really matters, being an American.