When is a mini van not a mini van?

 Remember the "old" days when a van looked like a van? Short nose and that giveaway back sliding door.

Was there a husband anywhere and maybe a few wives, who really liked owning a minivan? I had one client who loved hers, but most folks lived for the day when they could say good-bye to to this most practical of vehicles and get an suv.

Well, folks, Kia felt your pain and their answer is mere weeks or months away.........

 I can hear you now. Nice pic, Barry, but that's an suv, not a van. Maybe even a baby Telluride. Look at the suv front end. Look at those lines. That, you say, is definitely an suv. And you are all so wrong. The tell tail van trademark is the sliding back door. See? No friendo, those are not suicide doors.

This folks is the all new Kia Sedona, renamed Carnival for 2022 (like I said, all new). Graduating from a van look-a-like to a crazily popular suv look-a-like. What soccer mom or dad wouldn't be thrilled to be cruising the hood in this ride?

 Looking for all the world like one of the new full size GM's or the Ford/Lincoln twins. And looking great. My next ride will be an suv (bad knees!), but seeing this new Carnival I began to think,"What if?". Room for our golf clubs and carts, and the two cats. Nothing could be finer.

Except and there is that big except, it is a van and I know it. Head up my you know where? Maybe. 

An interior looking like it was lifted from the local big shot's limo.......

Downside? Can't think of one, so maybe I'll think outside the box for a (welcome) change.

No matter. Kia has nailed it with this new creation, whatever you want to call it. Price it against the perennial fave, the Odyssey and make Honda wish they had thought outside of that same old box. Mark this date down in your calendar. This is the date I'm telling anyone who'll listen, that Kia has a game changer. They've breathed new life into a stale market segment.

Bets to see if I'm right? Send your money to me, where it will be safe.

Until next time.......

Be Still My Heart!

 When I met my darling wife way back in September, 1978, her father had two Audi 100LS's (one for him, one for the wife) like this one shown here........

Her dad was a very successful businessman, but with terrible taste in cars. Like the time he bought a Hyundai Sonata, when Hyundai's were junk, but the thing was he bought it in winter, so of course, he didn't ask if it had A/C. It didn't! There are other stories, but not at this time. Back to those two Audi's. Not cheap back in the day, but terribly unreliable and worth nothing as a trade in.

How things change.

These days Audi has great designs and they are as reliable as any German luxo brand and as costly to repair, when they aren't reliable. Pays your money and you takes your chances.

I love the Porsche Taycan EV........

Great looking in pictures and breathtakingly beautiful in real life. Costly? You bet. Hey, it's a Porsche.

Like the design, but need something a bit more budget friendly? Like who doesn't, except maybe Jeff Bezos, but he could buy the company. Anyway back to affordability and Audi. Please keep in mind that "affordability" is a relative term here and also relative when it comes to any EV. So recently Audi has unveiled their e-tron EV, the GT.

Early sketches showed showed the designers' dream car, but like most of these type of sketches, the final product had no chance of really looking like this.......

Probably a good thing. Now that the final product has been unveiled and is on its way to production, we can see that Audi actually improved on those wild sketches......

........and in doing so, gave us plebs a "poor" person's Taycan. Sure, it's kissing around a $100k, or maybe these days, elbow touching that dollar number. But, it's less than that gorgeous Taycan, so start saving.

Stunning and I can absolutely guarantee that if my father-in-law was still around, he would never buy two of these or even one. They look too good and they will be reliable. Two no no's for him.

Be still my heart........

......what a beauty. Now I have two dilemma's when my current lease is up........a Taycan or this new GT? If money factors into this decision, then maybe I can afford the wheels and tires, but even that might be tight. Why didn't I buy Tesla stock or Apple when no one had ever heard of them. Or maybe Zoom? Hey, if I was that smart, do you think that I'd be blogging each week?

Please let me suffer in silence.

Until next time.......

Hard to Believe

 Retro!

These days we seem to hear a lot about retro styling. You all know about the Mustang, the Camaro and the Dodge Challenger which have copied old designs with varying degrees of success.......

Not exact, but a close family resemblance to what roamed the wild streets so many years. Intentional? You know the answer to that, absolutely intentional. 

The other day I saw a couple of recent designs that might also be called retro. Not really, but I knew that I had seen the general lines of these cars many, many years ago. Let's call it 50 and move on. Beautiful cars but where did their new designs have their origin?

These two are right up there with my most favorite cars of the past few years. Each one has a similar look and each one is gorgeous.......

Original design? Now this is where it gets interesting. Check out this oldie.......

 Hard to believe this 1971 American Motors (you know, the original Jeep guys) bears more than a passing resemblance to the Audi and the Mercedes wagons of today. Think I've been into some unusual stuff and smoking up a storm? Ha! Look more closely and you'll have to agree that the old American Motors Sportabout has more than a passing similarity to the two German beauts.

Let's keep this idea to ourselves, as I don't want the Germans to come looking for me, accusing yours truly of spreading fake news. It wouldn't be pretty.

But remember, you read it here first.

Barry

The Way We Were

 

 Just like a new Lexus ad? Well, maybe the colour is more era appropriate to 1959 when this ad dropped. And maybe the Lexus ad wouldn't show that almost baroque background. But my, how times have changed, since way back when.

A different way to sell cars? Maybe, maybe not. Sure these days the safety and performance features are featured more prominently, not just the feeling of owning a car, like these Cadillacs. Today's ads for a BMW or a Benz still tell you that there is a certain feel to their cars, but it isn't presented in the same fashion. Fashion might be the key word here.

 

Cadillac had a wonderful way to instill in its prospects, that a step up to a Caddy was definitely a step up and a big one at that. 

I have hardcover books showing ads from the '50's, '60's and '70's for a variety of cars. They are fun to thumb thru. Interesting nostalgia. I can't imagine similar books showing ads from the past twenty years. Well, actually I can, but what I can't imagine is my buying them.

 

 Today's blog focuses on Cadillac. Remember when they sold cars, not just aspirational suvs?

Yes folks, those were the days. Now don't get me wrong, they were not the good ol' days, but the old car ads had a definite charm, that is missing today. Ask a 25 year old if they miss that charm and they will toss you a quizzical look, before they turn and walk away shaking their head.

 

But just maybe I spoke too soon. What does a 2021 Cadillac ad look like? A rap star cruising the hood? A drug dealer doing a drive by? A nanny dropping the employer's kids off at private school?

Let's take a look......

 

Does this ad remind you of one from the past? Elegant lady, simply missing the baroque or bejewelled background. Oh well, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Until next time.......

Pity the poor Miata

 I JUST WANT TO BE ME!

That might be the refrain of the humble Miata. The sporty little roadster, that has been stirring enthusiasts' souls since it was first introduced over thirty years ago. Bringing back memories of all the great, inexpensive and semi-reliable British sportscars like the MG and the Triumph. But to some, this little corner carver is simply a blank canvas.

Speaking of which, for those of you who missed out on getting your dream Corvette back in the day or who simply can't conjure up the coin to buy an oldie today, this Miata conversion should speak to you......

Just another Miata under the skin, but trying to be something the little darling isn't.

Attention Mustang lovers.......

Yes folks, under this two seater Mustang copy sits the Miata roadster, crying out to be accepted for what it is, not what a few souls would like it to be. Of course, the Miata cover up doesn't stop with a couple of American "back in the day" icons, oh no, others strive for much loftier heights......

Take your pick, a make believe Ferrari or maybe this Maserati or failing those two, a Shelby Cobra. Pick your model from a selection of cars, whose prices these days are up in the stratosphere, if you could actually afford to ask.

And that poor little Miata just wants to be appreciated for the way it looks, the way it was born, without one of these ersatz bodies being plunked on top of it. Pity the poor Miata.

Now if you think it stops with these few, think again, Friendo.......

Take your pick. Drive one of these copies and be the person that you wish you could be, above driving a Miata, but without the bucks to go crazy on the real whatever.

And finally, in case you thought people disguised Miatas with only the hottest bodies........

Shed a tear for the taste of this poor individual who lusted after the almost ugly BMW Z3 and had a spare Miata on hand.

Pity the poor Miata. Just a nice little sportscar, longing to be appreciated for itself, not what a few underachievers would like it to be. Life as a car can be cruel.

 I JUST WANT TO BE ME!

Until next time.......

Electrifying looks!

 Have you noticed? Check out the picture below and see if you get what I've been noticing........

See what I'm noticing? These are the latest EV designs of a truck, that will hopefully hit the market before this new company runs out of cash, that they are probably going thru like flushing a toilet. Ok, give up? What I notice is that all the new EV trucks are really great looking. Smoothly futuristic with no resemblance to what is currently roaming our highways.

Sounding like a name from the Forbidden Kingdom, GM has just unveiled their BrightDrop (no spacing) at the Consumer Electronics Show.......

Peel back that unusual name and you'll see the newest addition to the burgeoning list of EV commercial vehicles. But what stands out is that great looking design. I can tell you that when these hit the road, I'll be ordering anything that FedEx delivers just to see this beauty roll up in front of my home. Extreme? Maybe not.

Why did it take so long to break the design envelope on these type of vehicles? Don't know, but I'm happy to see them. Another very cool looking FedEx van........

You know Rivian? This Michigan company seems to be very well funded and they've shown an suv and of course, another great looking EV pick-up......

Pick-ups these days are all pretty good looking. How does one stand out? Tell me that Rivian hasn't scored with their vision. 

But let's not stop there, as Amazon (you've heard of them?) also wanted an EV delivery van........

Between this van and the two FedEx's, I think the next year is going to be very expensive for me.

I recently blogged about the new Hummer.......

Yet another example of a new EV with electrifying looks, the 2022 Hummer.

Again, why did it take so long for the designers to come up with something new and different? 

Same old beer, but look at futuristic Nikola EV currently hauling this load of Bud........

And these few are just the trucks, as most new EV cars are just as good looking.

Notice what is missing from this brief preview? Does the name Tesla come to mind? Sure does, but their EV, while futuristic looking in the extreme..........

...... is also hideous in the same extreme. An outlier in every group? Let's hope Tesla makes a few major changes before this beast ends in their showrooms. 

Apart from the Tesla, our visual EV truck future looks bright. Will we all look forward to driving again, just so we can see these rolling sculptures cruising silently along our highways? Take the kidlings on a spotting mission.

Don't be silly, Barry, but it's a great way to get them out of the house.

Until next time......

Time on our hands

Yes, we've been busy over the past few months. The Car Modelling Cat (CMC) and I have been hard at it, keeping busy while the virus keeps us away from other things that we like to do, like eating out. Of course, the CMC regrettably gets left behind on those occasions, but hey, she sleeps and probably doesn't even know we've left. When it comes to making our precision scale models, she is right in the thick of things.

 

So, here is the little darling looking over our vehicle production of the past few months and below a little clearer pic of what we've been up to, minus a furry head and ears........

A variety of vehicles types, but one of the most unusual models we've done recently is a rare one. A car that really shouldn't have existed in that it is just plain strange. Those of you with a sharp eye can see a bit of it in the far background on the right. What is it? Any guesses? Any correct guesses?

Give up? Well, folks this is the 1980 Corvette America, which is simply a Corvette with a couple of more doors added. Good idea? I file it under the category of, just because you can, should you?

Whatever you think of this custom jib, it mirrored the 1980's when all sorts of strange vehicle mods hit the streets.

Now you know what the CMC and I have been up to during these strange times, what have you been doing?

Until next time......