Automotive Trends

       2006 Ford GT

       Happy Father’s Day from the Editors of Automotive Trends!!!

      Don’t be looking to do any serious rock crawling with this SUV. Land Rover’s new parent company Tata sees that there is money to be made by offering a soft-roading lower-riding and generally more fuel-efficient crossover. The LRX Concept, shown here at the 2008 NAIAS, may carry a few styling cues from its big brother Range Rover but the similarities stop there. The base offering will be front-wheel drive with all-wheel drive available. Engine offerings haven’t been announced yet, but we know that Land Rover is working on a diesel hybrid system, though no telling as to whether or not this setup will make the trip across the big pond to the US given our hesitancy to accept diesels.

      While Chevrolet decided to go electric in a practical manner with the compact Volt sedan, Dodge went for broke and based their EV (shown here at the 2009 NAIAS) on a Lotus Europa S. Sadly, we won’t see this vehicle come to fruition as the Fiat partnership has dissolved the Chrysler ENVI electric initiative altogether. With a claimed 150 to 200 mile range the Circuit EV was within spitting distance of another Lotus based EV sports car, the Tesla roadster, when its batteries finally decided to take a rest.  The Circuit’s lithium-ion battery pack combined with the 200-kW motor could output 268-hp and an instant 480 lb-ft of torque. None too shabby for a green bean!

      Today is the 2010 Brown City Days Car Cruise and as such your AT faithful are out burning petroleum by the barrel driving around in a 1967 Rambler Ambassador convertible. We’ll be bringing you pictures from the show later today, but pictured above is the pair of boulevard brawlers we managed to pull together for the 2006 BC Car Cruise. Yeah they are a bit mismatched, but they sure caught everyone’s attention. The Saturn Sky won the beauty contest that day while the Mazdaspeed6 fascinated onlookers with its hidden talents (namely a turbocharged 2.3L).

      The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé is slowly and elegantly revealed to a crowd of journalists at the 2007 NAIAS. The Drophead Coupé styled after and remained remarkably true to the 2004 100EX Concept. Its list of features is a mile long, but some of the notables include a stainless steel hood, grille, and A-pillar, rearward opening coach doors and a teak deck to cover the convertible top when it’s stowed. Underhood is a 6.75L V12 featuring direct injection. With 453-hp and 531 lb-ft of torque on tap the Drophead Coupé is capable of hitting 60 mph in under 6 seconds.

      Alright, I admit my lamenting over the loss of Mercury has led me to dig into the photo archives to dig up what we have on Ford’s middle brand. And what you see above is probably our favorite from the past 20 years. The 2003 Mercury Marauder. Available only in Henry’s favorite color (black) that year, the Marauder turned heads riding on 18″ chromed wheels. This Grand-Marquis-gone-midlife-crisis featured smoked head and taillamps, chromed dual exhaust tips and a unique 5-passenger seating arrangement complete with additional gauges and center console mounted shifter. Under the hood was a 32-valve 4.6L V8 producing 302-hp and 318 lb-ft of torque. The 4-speed auto that was coupled to this motor was a bit lazy and likewise the acceleration times, but this car’s token was its presence and an exhaust note that was piped right out of the ’60s.

      Just over a year ago yours truly co-piloted the 2009 Volkswagen CC you see pictured above on a road trip to obtain an Imola Red M Coupe for Executive Editor Dye. On that cross-country journey we learned to love the CC as a road trip companion and dismissed our qualms about it being a Mercedes-Benz CLS knockoff. While the CC’s profile isn’t near as elegant as the Merc’s, the CC is far more attainable for a lot of folks. Under the hood of our model was Audi/VW’s fabulous 2.0T. With only a 200-hp rating this 2.0L direct-injected and turbocharged four-cylinder provided ample power for mountain passes and returned an astonishing 32-mpg considering this is a 3,344-lb four door coupe.

Happy Memorial Day from your friends at Automotive Trends!!!

      This might just be the date your parents wished that you didn’t bring home, and we found it at the 2007 NAIAS. The appropriately named HCD10 Hellion is Hyundai’s concept of crossover meets adventurous lifestlye. The body design inspired by hard shell backpacks is organic in nature with sheetmetal apparently stretched taught over the three ultra-lightweight structural ribs. The camouflage fabric roof is removable and the seats have built in removable/refillable fluid reservoirs, eliminating the need for cupholders. Under the hood is a 3.0L common-rail diesel V6 with 236-hp and 332 lb-ft of torque coupled to a 6-speed auto and 4wd.

      Kia promised that the KCV III, their concept for the 2004 NAIAS, would be as fun to drive as it was to look at. I guess that depends on the driving you intend to, as forward motivation was provided by a 2.0L 4-cylinder putting out 145-hp and 140 lb-ft of torque. Kia then routed that power to the front wheels and set the rear on a torsion beam axle. Not exactly the stuff sports car fantasies are made from. Still, the KCV III made for an interesting design study for Kia. Along with the very curvaceous body it featured an all glass roof comprised of three sections that would stow at a touch of a button, allowing you to enjoy the open air ambiance regardless of the weather.