July 31: My, how you've grown!

As the old saying goes, size matters, no matter what it refers to. True? I guess so and at 6'5'', why would I argue? Size doesn't necessarily mean things should be bigger, but sometimes it does. Wonder where this line of thought is going? Well folks, sometimes when I start writing my blog, I have the same feeling.

Love the new Honda Accord. Looks great doesn't it? A nice midsize sedan.

But let's take a look back at where it came from, the first Accord four door from way back when, in the late '70's........

Never understood those funky rearviews on the home market Accords, but millions of Japanese would argue with me, so let's drop that train of thought, shall we? Size matters? In this case the Accord has grown and grown and grown, to the point where it is just shy of being two feet longer than the original. And almost ten inches wider. Now that, my friends, is some dramatic middle aged spread. Even the new Civic is almost a foot longer than the original version of its big sister.

Checking on another famous name, the Toyota Camry, North America's best selling by far sedan, we find similar results. The first Camry four door, a nothing special looking car.......

.......has morphed into the latest generation.........

......and added almost a foot and a half along the way. While aging and getting bigger, much bigger, both of these popular models have gotten more athletic and become better cars all around. For comparison, look at your long time friends and see whether time has been as kind to them. Not likely.

If I checked out the Nissan Altima or Mazda6, I'd find similar numbers. Time for a comparison. Let's go back to an American car of the '70's, the very popular in its day, 1976 Chev Impala.......

Big in a corpulent kind of way. So over the years, how has this venerable name plate fared. If it was anything like the Japanese sedans, it would now be the size of a Greyhound bus, but while the foreign (can we call them that these days?) brands grew, the domestics shrank......

Sure, this new Impala might look big and it is about 10" longer than its Japanese rivals (although with its rapidly dwindling sales, it's hard to call it competition for anyone), but it's almost two feet shorter than its 1976 ancestor. Two feet!

As an aside want to look at the sales of the cars above during this same time? The Camry and Accord's have grown, while the Impala's (and all the other North American originals) have diminished, like their size. What does that tell us? Nothing really, but it's worth throwing it out as food for thought.

Size matters? Sure does, even it means right sizing for the times. Got some spare time on your hands? Check out the sport utes over the years, from the CR-V to the Explorer. You might be surprised at what you see. Like the title of this blog, "My, how you've grown!"

Until next time, which will be the week of August 20th, as I head to Europe for vacation. Lots of cars to see, so expect some conversation about them on my return. Thanks for reading.

July 27: Road Rover - this is how rumours get started

Land Rover. Range Rover. Road Rover? Yes, friendo, this is how rumours get started. A company patents a new name and all of a sudden the rumour mill runs rampant about what kind of new vehicle will bear this moniker. Hey, this is the car business and what fuels our passion is chasing those rumours and creating endless speculation. So back to the Road Rover.

Land Rover morphed into the uber (not that uber) expensive and uber capable Range Rover, so when the name Road Rover is being protected, what kind of Land Rover can we expect? Maybe one that has no off road ability? Nah, that would be like Jeep doing a boulevard cruiser (yeah, like the insane Trackhawk isn't one already?). Way back when, Land Rover used the Road Rover name on a couple of design studies........

Road Rover 1 prototype

Road Rover 2 prototype

 Aren't you glad neither of these two saw the light of the production line? Land Rover has done so much better over the intervening years. But this is now, so what have the journalists dug up that would fit this new line of Land Rovers?

Speculation is that the Road Rover be the start of an electric line of Land Rovers? If so, the car below was imagined by one of the Brit car magazines........

Not much imagination here, but just random doodling about what could be with a Land Rover grille grafted on. I personally don't see the company going in this direction, especially with sedan sales heading to the bottom of the car market sea.

What about this one........

Yep, this is more like it. A softer off roader, that could tackle a dirt driveway with ease and still maintain many of the Range Rover design cues. Who cares that it can't climb Mount Everest? There are no recharging stations up there anyway.

Makes sense that Land Rover would be looking at something electric, as their sister brand Jaguar now has the I-Pace and we all know that the industry is headed toward some sort of electrification. Guesstimates are that the earliest we'll see a Road Rover would be about 2022. Better get moving folks, as these current electric models won't sustain the brand over the long term.........

Until next time..........

July 24: The BIG tease

The BIG tease! For years the car manufacturers have tempted our car buying appetites with flights of fantasy, hinting at an upcoming new model, only to unveil a disappointment a few months or years down the road. Back in the day (remember "the day"?), these dream or concept cars were way far out........

........and quite frankly, if anything like this had shown up at the local dealer, mothers and children would run and hide. And with good reason. One swipe of those fins, as this Buck Rogers car drove by, would eviscerate more than a few innocent bystanders. Sanity prevailed. These days the concept car previews what the manufacturer will be introducing and it is very representative. Some more than others.

We get all excited when we see something like this at a major auto show, great looking and it certainly appears to be something that could easily be put into production........

......only to get this when the final product hits the streets.......

Not a bad looking Dodge, but one can dream about that concept. It wasn't far fetched and would have rocked the sedan world. Some companies, like Acura, get it right. They show a concept, which with maybe the exception of the wheels, is virtually the finished product. Example the new for 2019 RDX.......

Even the rims are production ready. But, then we have other companies that show one thing and then pull the rug out from under us with the real deal. I present as proof the sad case of the Pontiac Trans Sport, a dustbuster look alike.......

Another tear gets shed at the thought of what might have been, instead of what definitely was. How many designers at GM anguished over this beaut?

Also, check out how Subaru teases us with what we hope will be coming down the pike as the new Impreza........

......only to drop a nice, sedate sedan on us with the real thing. Let the grieving begin.

I love the look of my Maxima.........

......and was wowed by the original concept.........

..........thinking that there was no way, Nissan could possibly put this origami design into production. What a surprise, when the showroom doors opened on this model. Virtually identical. Way to go, Nissan! Get us excited and then don't disappoint.

Mazda is another, that to a lesser degree, actually gives us what the concept showed, toned down only slightly.......

Thank you, Mazda, as your Mazda6 was and is a beautiful design.

Over the years, the dream cars have evolved into concept cars. Instead of the dream car showing one or two design features, that would show up maybe years down the road, the concept car would presage the actual design of a particular model. As I said, some more than others. Tease us with the designers' best work and then give us a watered down production car. Or maybe if we are lucky, the actual concept, road ready.

I like the way the car companies do it these days, After all, is there anyone out there who would have been ready for this dream car to show up on their street?

Until next time.......

July 30: Another player?

Just as you thought there were enough car manufacturers in this world of ours, the latest news tells us of another new car coming from a country not known for their automotive scene. Only a few years ago the typical vehicle seen in this far eastern county wore the colours of the US military. You said Vietnam? Good guess.

VinFast will be the automotive branch of the huge VinGroup conglomerate. Wisely partnering with an established player, General Motors, who know how to mass produce vehicles (Tesla are you listening?). Their plan is to have gas and electric vehicles, along with electric motorcycles. The first introductions will be at this Fall's Paris Auto Show.

So what do the early teasers of these vehicles look like?

Doesn't give you a real good look, so here are a couple of other shots.......

Pricing? No idea. Powerplant? No idea. Size? No idea. Will it be sold over here? No idea. So you get the idea that this is early in the game. So what do we know? We know that VinFast has a rather large factory now under construction in their home country. The teal coloured tires on the suv are also a very nice touch. An artist's prerogative or something else?

Are they going to be serious players or players at all? Count them out at your peril, after all we laughed at South Korea, chuckled over China and look where they are now. If I was to guess, I'd say that the market in China is their initial goal. If that flies, then spreading out to Europe and eventually North America would be in their business plan. One doesn't hire away a key executive from GM without thoughts of going big, do they?

Is this what is going to show up in Paris.........

In case you were wondering, these designs come from the pen (or computer) of Italy's most famous design house, Pininfarina. A good start, no matter what else you do.

And VinFast's electric.......

So there you go, the entire line up from the world's newest player in the car business. Just when you thought there wouldn't be enough business to go around as things stand today.Gee, maybe there isn't?

Until next time......

July 17: Creating an suv

Ford's big recent announcement, that they would all but be getting out of the car business, might come as a shock to the casual reader, but not to all those Ford dealers, who have had Taurus sedans sitting on their lots for months and months (if they even stocked them). What previously had been a steady seller, the Fusion, was on the chopping block as well, crushed under the steamrolling suv charge in the marketplace. Time to free up the dealers' dollars, so they could stock what really sells and that is the aforementioned suv. Time to introduce a new nameplate to the car (I use this term loosely) buying public.

Ford has said they plan to bring out a strong Subaru Outback competitor. Surprise, surprise. But what to call it? Heck, this is easy. Call it the Fusion whatever....the Mallroad, the Lakester or the Allseason, but keep the name that most people recognize - Fusion. At least this is what Ford's dealer body is requesting and it makes a lot of sense. As does an Outback competitor. Heck, what an easy way to increase sales and use an existing station wagon. Sure, over here we don't want to hear that term, but the European Fusion, the Mondeo, has a beauty......

And we all know how easy it is to take an attractive, but slow selling wagon and make it the hottest thing on the showroom floor. Look at what Subaru did many years ago to start this trend........

 Take one station wagon, add some cladding for that go anywhere tough guy image, raise it a bit and maybe throw on a roof rack. Voila'! Like magic the Legacy wagon became the Outback. The darling of the Subaru showroom and thousands upon thousands of happy customers. Money well spent, even before the suv craze hit North America like the Trump presidency (but not in the latter's negative way).

Another early adopter was Volvo, using the exact same formula........

......so the V70 wagon became the Cross Country. Money well spent. Open those flood gates, Sam, as many of the other manufacturers saw the wisdom of these simple additions. Need some examples? Check out these current or soon to be released models from Buick, VW and Mercedes........

The bean counters must have felt they'd died and gone to heaven. A entirely new model for relative pennies. And in the ads, for god's sake, throw something on the roof, in case folks don't immediately get the message.

So, back to Ford and the need to drop a car, while adding an suv. Taking this route, while retaining the popular and familiar Fusion name, looks like a no brainer. Send your guys out to buy some cladding and, well, you know the rest........

Photo courtesy of Autocar

Finally a station wagon, oops, an suv for the Ford dealers' showrooms. And with a name we all know. Whoever knew creating an new suv would be so easy?

Until next time.......

July 13: She's at it again

There she is, the dear little, hard working Car Modeling Cat, aka the CMC. Plum tuckered out after working with me on our latest model. This was a re-pop of a kit from fifty years ago and that it was an effort, is putting it mildly. Poor instructions and poor quality. Hey, it was an ancient kit and what passed for good quality then, wouldn't today, like many other things. But she and I struggled thru it and were very pleased with the result (if she woke up to see it).

So what was this monster build? Sharp eyes can see it in the background.

Way back in 1967 Mercury needed a entry in the booming, so called pony car field. You know that niche market being steamrolled by the Mustang and what would soon include the Camaro, the Firebird, the Barracuda and many others. Mercury's Cougar was their answer, a more upscale pony car to serve those who felt the Mustang just didn't have enough stature or maybe that it appealed to much to the fairer sex.........

And this was also the dawn of the Funny Car era. Those street car looking dragsters, with 1500 hp motors, that also were taking the drag racing world by storm. The early ones were carbon copy, fiberglass replicas of the street car, but with a tube chassis, a parachute, wheelie bars and that thumping power plant. They were a handful to drive. There were two or three Cougar Funny Cars and the CMC and I struggled with this one........

This was also the time when these machines were towed to the track on a small trailer, usually pulled by a station wagon, nothing like the huge painted up semi trailers, that populate the pits these days with their multi million dollar cargoes. Our model was Kunz and Leslie's High Country Cougar out of Colorado.........

 

 .....and now the real deal........

So, did the cat and I nail it?

 Of course, we did. With her enthusiasm and my perseverance, we hung in there until the final result materialized before us on our work bench. Would we want to make another one? Not a chance. We only have so much patience to go around.

A not so funny Funny Car.

Until next time......

July 10: Beauty in the eye

 Ah, that old cliche.......beauty is in the eye.........  Recently the original Citroen DS was named one of the most beautiful designs to ever hit the open (or closed) road and also named the Product of the Century. Quite a prestigious award for this space age looking car.............

Space age at least when it was introduced way back in 1955. Want proof? Check out its typical, back in the day, competition...........

Hard to believe they came out at the same time. Hard to believe the Citroen came out at all. Over here in North America the look of this DS was as foreign to us as it was to the more open minded Europeans. Regardless, this minimalistic, aero design has stood the test of time. It also came in a further out there convertible version.........

Oh to be French. This car also had the ability to raise and lower itself depending on the road surface. Even further out there for its time.

Citroen ran with this design for (too?) many years, replacing it with similar but much less futuristic designs. Makes one wonder what the DS could have looked like if only it had maintained its styling edge.......

If only.......

Want to see the other side of the Citroen corporate coin? Want to know what those DS designers were doing when not designing the Product of the Century? Their wild child must have been a one off inspiration, as this is what also came off their drawing boards..........

This 2CV was a boon for French farmers. For them they designed a very basic, one headlighted car, that any practical farmer could load up with pigs or produce and head to market. This was the original design, but in 1948, it became much better finished, a real car so to speak, or as real as this car as appliance could be......

This farmer special went on nearly forever, which would be 1990! Impress the neighbours with how easy it was to clean, in case those hogs figured out that they were going to market and all that implied.......

Now after many years of relatively normal designs, Citroen appears to be taking a few risks again. I know that on this of the Atlantic, we could care less, as it's about as likely we'll see Citroen back over here, as it is that Tesla will meet its ambitious production goals. But a quick peak at a recent Citroen, in this case the prickly Cactus, shows us the this formally daring company still has some of the old vibe remaining, although probably at this time none of the old designers.

Beauty is in the eye, but I love this model and if I were a pig, I'd be proud to be taken to market in it. But fifty or sixty years from now will this be another Product of the Century for Citroen? Unlikely, but I'll never know.

Until next time......