No Style But A Little Substance
As I stated in my review of the Ford Mustang Mach 1, muscle cars are about two things and two things only. Style and power. Having one without the other is a recipe for poor sales and even poorer reviews from guys like us. General Motors however, was faced with the reality of not having an affordable sports car in its lineup after the retirement of the Camaro and Firebird models. It didn’t take Bob Lutz long to realize GM needed to offer some performance, especially in its so-called Driving Excitement division. The most time and cost-effective solution was to borrow the big coupe from Holden, a division of General Motors in the land Down Under. After all, the well-finished 2 + 2 was already powered by the Corvette’s small-block V8 and adapting the car to meet some of our stricter regulations would be rather easy. The green light was given to get the car badged as the GTO and on sale in America as soon as possible. Sounds good, right? Read more…
Like a son discovering his father’s liquor cabinet, Buick has gotten a taste of the lucrative SUV market and like all other automakers who tip the SUV bottle, it has become addicted. So in an attempt to satisfy it’s craving for more customers and the all-mighty dollar, Buick will add a second SUV, called Rainier, to its lineup for the 2004 model year. In its previous life, the ’04 Rainier was known as the ’02 Bravada. When the General decided to kill one of it’s own and sent Oldsmobile packing, the all new and class leading Bravada was put up for adoption. Read more…
Soft-Roading
Logically, one would not even consider putting an Audi in a cornfield. But photographers don’t exactly adhere to the same brain patterns when logical thinking is involved. Thus, we tread many a dirt road and cattle path in pursuit of photog satisfaction. Is the allroad (not a typo, Audi is case sensitive) capable of traversing lightly beaten paths while coddling passengers listening to classical music with the A/C purring away? Yeah, something like that, but you will have to read on to find out. Read more…
It was only a few years ago when Nissan teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, nearly committing corporate suicide with a lineup of stale, flavorless sedans and generally unimpressive trucks. It was a sad sight, indeed.
Nissan knew it needed a miracle to stay alive as a company, and that’s what it appears to be getting today. Over the last two years it managed to muster a pair of home runs — no, more like grand slams — with the redesigned Altima and sporty 350Z, both of which are leaving dealer lots faster than a cheetah on steroids.
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Oh, If Only My Office Chair Had A Hide This Nice
As you are reading this 2005 Super Dutys are arriving on dealer lots and hitting the roads. However, we got the impression that there were enough diehards out there in favor of the old trucks that we figured we would give ‘er a final go round. Not to mention there are plenty of 04’s still on the lot ready to be put to work. So keep reading, because this truck is a workaholic and there is always another tree that needs pulled, or a horse trailer needing hauled.
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In the rarified realm of luxury cars, there are two basic flavors.
One is the traditional road yacht that floats down the highway with grace, style, and gluttonous size. The other is the midsize sports sedan that aims to exhilarate the driver with sharp handling and gobs of power while coddling passengers with a modestly upscale cabin.
Lying somewhere in between is the Lexus GS sedan.
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Peace
Everybody loves the Beetle; it’s just such a happy vehicle. I think it has something to do with the smiles. I mean, just look at the thing. It smiles coming at you and it smiles going away. I don’t know how anybody could be upset with a face like that looking back at you. Implied emotions aside, guess who wound up at the mercy of the little car quota again. At least the Beetle is well received by the female half of the species. This could turn out all right after all. Read more…
With all the flashy new cars on Chrysler lots, it’s easy to forget about the company’s more traditional models.
Just drive by a dealership, and you’ll see what I mean. There are stylish 300Cs, sporty PT Cruiser convertibles, gorgeous Crossfires, and fancy Pacificas, all of which scream for attention with gaudy styling and prime placement on nearby billboards. Like the head cheerleader at a school dance, they’re hot and they know it.
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There have been plenty of strange cars in the past 100 years, but this must be one of the most ridiculous.
No, it can’t fly or drive underwater, and it doesn’t even look very weird. It’s fairly mundane at first glance — that is, until you see the badge on the hood.
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With the introduction of the Holden Commodore Concept Coupe at the turn of the millennium, it looked as if the designers at Holden had found a way to breathe some new life into GM’s slowly aging RWD midsize platform. By merely changing the roofline and stretching the front doors, the conservative sedan was transformed into an attractive coupe. Read more…
