* I loved that manufacturers are making the third rows in their vehicles more comfortable for the passengers back there. More legroom, moonroofs and easy access abounded in many of the cars I tested with third rows. On a safety note, more automakers are putting in Latch connectors and seat belt receptors that are easier to use.
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In General Motors Death Watch 182, I reported on GM’s decision to squeeze a little more blood from the stone known as U.S. sales, by raising their product prices by 3.5 percent across the board. I pointed-out that Toyota could eat some more of GM’s market share simply by NOT raising their prices or, God help Motown, lowering them. I predicted that ToMoCo would raise their prices, to maintain profitability and avoid any possibility of an anti-transplant backlash. And so they have. The AP [via The International Herald Tribune] reports that Toyota will up prices by a little over one percent– except for the hot-selling Prius (up 2.2 percent or $500). The timing is curious; the news arrived on the same day that GM lowered and extended its employee pricing. In any case, it’s clear that Toyota is treading carefully, refraining from delivering the killer blow that’s well within their power. They’re leaving that for The Big 2.8 themselves.
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Coming of age in the 70’s (lucky me), Cadillac represented everything I didn’t like about American cars. Like its lesser-priced sibs, it was an anti-sports car. With the possible exception of Lincoln’s Continental Mark My Words This Car is as Good as a Cadillac, a Caddy was THE anti-sports car. The idea of hustling one of those land yachts around a corner was laughable. And for me, it was all about the handling. (Driving a Dino had changed my life.) I remained contemptuous of America’s love affair for Caddy’s “sofas on wheels” right until the moment I met a girl in Aspen who drove a meticulously maintained 1962 Cadillac convertible like the one shown. Suddenly, all the curves I needed were inside the car. You know that song Slowhand by the Pointer Sisters? It was on the Caddy’s radio duiring one especially memorable drive. I got it. And Caddy, I reckon, has lost it.
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From Auto Letters by Jim Mateja in the Chicago Tribune: Q I purchased a new 2009 Chrysler 300 SRT8 a few weeks ago from dealer stock. The rear license plate was on, but the front wasn’t. The plate bracket was in the trunk, but I was told that nobody was available to install the front plate. I was told not to worry because I wouldn’t get pulled over and it looks better without the plate. If I wanted, I could bring the car back to get the plate installed. When I got home, I looked at the bracket to see whether I could install it and found that Chrysler changed the grille on the 2009 300 SRT8. The directions show the bracket is made to attach to the old grille. The parts department said the bracket is the correct one for my vehicle. I took the car back to dealer, and they agreed it couldn’t be installed, but there was nothing they could do. They said I should display the license plate on my dashboard. How can Chrysler produce a car that doesn’t and can’t conform to the state law, which requires a front plate? A How could a dealer tell you not to worry and that you wouldn’t get stopped for driving without a front plate that’s required by law in Illinois? And how could a dealer tell you to display the plate on your dash when all it takes to attach the bracket is cutting it to fit the mesh grille that replaced the egg-crate grille for 2009? ‘It just takes a little initiative by the dealer,’ Al Wagener, a salesman at Knauz Chrysler in Lake Bluff, told us when we called to ask how Chrysler could have goofed.”
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On April 1st, 2008 significant modifications to road safety regulations in the Canadian provinces of Québec and Nova Scotia went into effect. CTV.ca reports that handheld cellular phones are now verboten while at the wheel, though hands free devices are still tolerated. Nova Scotia will begin ticketing the offense immediately, while Québec has allowed for a three-month grace periods in which offenders will only receive stern warnings and moralizing sermons. The first offense in Nova Scotia will cost $165, while costing $80-$110 and three demerit points in Québec. Still not satisfied, road safety advocate Jean-Marie de Koeninck argues that “[h]ands-free is just as dangerous. (But) by forbidding the hand-held it does send a signal that there is a problem with the cellphone, there’s a problem with concentration”. Meanwhile, the same traffic safety bill in Québec also doubled all speeding fines , with new suspension of license provisions for those caught traveling at 40 km/h over the limit in under-60 zones, 50 km/h in 60-90 over zones, and 60 km/h over in 100+ zones. All in the name of safety, presumably.
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Funny ol’ Friday
2nd January 2009 13:53
Today is a funny one isn’t it? Some people are back at work, some are not. Some have holiday hangovers, some do not. If you are at work, there’s maybe a sense of it being a bit quiet ahead of the main return to normality on Monday. It’s a short week at least and today is perhaps a gentle way to ease yourself back into the world of work. I’ll wish you a Happy New Year anyway.
The December US light vehicle numbers are out on Monday and another rough month is being widely predicted - the overall market number is likely to be 30-40% down on last year.
And as we look ahead to what this year has in store, it’s not exactly the brightest of prospects. One silver lining in the general economic gloom: at least oil is cheap and likely to remain so. It looks like we won’t have that pump price shock thing to contend with on top of the market downturn this year.
And another ‘positive’: the year-on-year trend in market numbers will be looking less bad as the comparison starts to be against a lower bench and the trend flattens out (I realise a bottoming out of demand isn’t much of a positive, but I’m trying). The auto industry has probably been one of the worst performing sectors - alongside financial services, housing and consumer goods retailing - in terms of being hit hard and early by this economic downturn. The worst may not yet be over, but we know what to expect at least. More of the same until the economy gets a whole lot better. That’s still the key.
Any other positives worth noting? Plusses are a wee bit thin on the ground. At least my urgent requirement to heat food on the move has finally been sorted and who can fail to have the cockles of their heart warmed by the tale of a hoarder who left behind a vintage Bugatti? Amazing.
Enjoy your weekend. Monday may be a slightly rude awakening.
US: December market headed under 10m units SAAR
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Via
Gulf Daily News
2030 vision for a brave new Bahrain
A BRAVE new Bahrain is being mapped out under revolutionary economic and social reforms unveiled yesterday.
Massively improved standards of living, radically reformed government, widespread privatisation, better education and health services and an enhanced quality of life are pledged in the blueprint Economic Vision 2030.
The roughly 4,500-word mission statement to transform the nation, drawn up by the Economic Development Board, was launched at a ceremony yesterday attended by His Majesty King Hamad, Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and EDB chairman Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa and other top officials and dignitaries.
Economic Vision 2030 outlines the future path for the development of Bahrain’s economy and society, says the EDB, which created it in consultation with the government and private sectors, political leaders and international bodies.
“At the heart of the Economic Vision lie the aspirations for our economy, government and society in accordance with the guiding principles of sustainability, competitiveness and, fairness,” it says.
The aim is to transform Bahrain into a meritocracy, in which hard work reaps rewards, in an economy led by the private sector.
“We aspire to shift from an economy built on oil wealth to a productive, globally competitive economy, shaped by the government and driven by a pioneering private sector - an economy that raises a broad middle class of Bahrainis who enjoy good living standards through increased productivity and high-wage jobs,” says the document.
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When Saab debuted the 9000 in 1986, it raised some eyebrows. It’s not often that a car garners attention because of its normalcy; but such is the case when a noted oddball carmaker like Saab introduces a car so seemingly bone-stock conventional as the 9000.
Saab had always been known for cars with profiles that could best be described as quirky. From the early 92 and 95, to the swoopy Sonnetts, to the swollen and hunchbacked 99 and 900, Saabs looked different than normal cars and were seemingly proud of that fact. By contrast, the 9000 was clean and attractive but otherwise unremarkable by the standards of 1986. The aero headlights and the smoothly contoured sides were handsome and aerodynamic, but reminiscent of the ground-breaking Audi 5000 and Ford Taurus. Without the Saab grille and insignia, it would be difficult to identify the 9000 as a Saab–while the 900, on the other hand, showed its Saab heritage clearly and proudly. Only the five-door hatchback bodystyle betrayed Saab’s quirky tendencies.
In another break from non-conformity, the 9000’s platform was the result of a joint development effort with three other European carmakers. The 9000’s chassis and, in some cases, body panels, were shared with the Alfa Romeo 164, Lancia Thema, and Fiat Croma. Sharing a platform with the likes of Alfa and Lancia doesn’t exactly raise the spectre of awful and irrelevant clones like the Cadillac Cimmaron or Mercury Bobcat, but its conventionality was a bit worrying for this slavish Saab-ite. Had Saab sold out and built a bland every-car?
In a word, no. For those who looked beneath the anonymous exterior, the 9000 had Saab flavor baked deep into its very essence. Strangeness aside, Saab had built its reputation on cars that married dependability, amazing utility, and the traction of front-wheel drive. To that utilitarian base, the 99 and 900 Turbo added the sheen of a performance reputation. In the mid-1980s, Saabs were known for being supremely useful and rugged cars that, with turbocharging, were also all-world European sports sedans. The 9000 proudly upheld that Saab tradition and served as a worthy stablemate to the classically quirky 900.
The 9000 Turbo debuted in the United States as a five-door hatchback only; the four-door sedan appeared a few years later when Saab inevitably bowed to the American market’s unexplainable hatred for hatchbacks. That hatchback bodystyle meant the 9000, especially with the back seats folded, could swallow an eye-popping volume of gear–enough to rival a station wagon or small SUV.
The 9000 also acquitted itself quite well as a performance car. The 1986 Saab 9000 Turbo could run the 0-60 sprint in the mid 6-second range and top out around 140 mph, which was startlingly performance for it time. The 9000 Turbo could run with and past the Porsche 944, the Toyota Supra Turbo, the Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z, the buzz-bomb Shelby Omni GLH-S, the Mazda RX-7, the Ferrari 328 GTS, or the Porsche 928. Unlike those cars, the 9000 Turbo also offered a complete package of passenger capacity, luxury-car comfort, sure-footed all-weather traction, and sophisticated flair. Significantly, the 9000 Turbo could outrun my 240-horsepower 2003 Honda Accord, which has the benefit of two extra cylinders and 17 years of computerized technology.
Taking into account its cavernous cargo space and high performance, this was a large sedan that could haul in both senses of the term–like a Dodge Colt Vista with a JATO booster attached. The second-generation 9000 Turbo, especially in Aero trim, continued the tradition, but that is a post for another day. Is it truly quirky enough to be a Saab? I can’t pretend to answer that question, but as a low-profile, high-speed, highly useful luxury cruiser, the 9000 Turbo is a long-time favorite of mine, conventionality be damned.
The video below is a compelling tribute to Saab’s mid-1980s bravura, back when sales were strong, and when the company was still independent and proud of it–a highly impressive demonstration of precision driving in 9000s set to stirring classical music. If you’re interested in a funny 9000 commercial of the time, click here–but beware, I’m not embedding it here because it features foreign language and nude male buttocks.
The top picture is courtesy of Flickr user arnold_broese. The second and third images are scans of the owner’s manuals of the 1986 and 1987 9000s, courtesy of Saab Sport Club.
–Chris H.
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We have been using an improved gasket in the Subaru for a while now. In noticing that there seems to be a few more 03 and 04 showing signs of failure which would mean the latest gasket for the 2nd generation 2.5l may really not be as good as the updated gasket for the 1st generation 2.5l was.
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(Photo courtesy of Geiger Cars)
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