December 17: All I want for Christmas

In my world no one gets a car for Christmas, but in the world of my clients, that kind of gift is not so unusual. Oh well, so much for being born into reality. Want to dream a little? Hey, it's the week before Christmas, so take a few moments, relax and treat yourself to a daydream of what would be in your driveway on the 25th, if wishes came true?

It's a dream, so anything goes and a good time to show you what the Car Modeling Cat (CMC) and I might put under our Christmas tree, if baby Barry had been born to high rolling parents........

This year we're going to go with a old car. One that was unusual in its day and is simply bizarre now. Looking at the CMC checking things out, you can see what I'm about to show you, the unusual and Batmobile styled 1959 Chev El Camino, a car made into a pick-up.......

......and a pick-up that featured the same wild wings, that the crazy looking Chev sedans and convertibles wore so proudly. When you check out the bar of soap styling of so (too) many of our cars these days, this one sure stands out from the crowd. Even back in its day no one mistook it for anything else. A different time, my friends.

Check out that line in the ad below........ "Chevrolet brings you the brightest new idea of the year!". Happily oblivious to the fact that their #1 competitor had a similar car (truck?) in their line up for the previous two years. Ah, truth in advertising!

 

As usual the CMC and I worked our modeling magic on this oldie to make it look as close to the real thing as possible.......

 

Back to Christmas wishes or dreams. What is on your wish list? A new Tesla, a hot Mercedes, the new Corvette or a classic oldie? Go wild, as dreams are cheap, only reality costs. As to the CMC and I, we know we can get the El Camino of our dreams and this is how it will look on Christmas day.......

Yes sir.......unfortunately only an ornament hanging from our tree, but sadly not under it or in the driveway. 

Vacation alert.........yes, it's that time of year again. My wife and I will be headed to Spain on the 27th and back here on the 15th. As always camera at the ready for any Spanish oddities that I can share with you.

Merry Christmas!

Until next time.......

December 10: Buick - an obituary?

Put on your best black outfit. Pull out that box of Kleenex. Oh, this is a very sad occasion for all of us, or at least some of all of us. Let me explain.

Buick, that venerable old American nameplate and the darling of the citizens of China, has just announced, that it will no longer sell cars in the United States of America. That means Canada, too. When I write "cars", I mean that literally.

There was a time when sedans were royalty in our automotive world and Buick was as high as number three in sales. Cars like this ruled the road.........

..........as they cruised by the poor folks, who could only afford Chevs, Fords or Plymouths. Folks who longed to move up the automotive food chain, so that they could ride the highways in Buick glory. Announcing as they drove by, that they too had achieved their slice of the American dream.

Even not that long ago, the Buick line looked like this........

.........one sort of suv and several sedans of various sizes. All that's history, my friends, as the suv tide has washed what was the traditional American sedan out to sea or wherever they get washed out to. So, it's not surprising that Buick's line up these days looks decidedly different........

Not a car to be seen. Well, that's not quite accurate, but it will be next year, since Buick has just announced, that their traditional sedans in North America will be sent to the trash pile of automotive history after the 2020 models. Like I wrote at the beginning of this blog, a sad occasion for some of all of us.

An obituary for Buick sedans or maybe eventually the entire brand? Buick sales in North America are around 200,000, much less than half of where they were in the late '90's. Even with their new line of suvs, they have experienced a steady decline over the past few years. Hard to sustain a brand on those numbers, except for one important fact.

Take a look at a few of these current models........

 

 

All Buicks and no this is not in some alternative universe, only accessible to video gamers or those on heavy medication. If you've been paying the least bit of attention to the world car market or have read my previous blogs, you'll know that Buicks are selling in big numbers in good old China. How about just over a million a year?

And although the Chinese also like their suvs, they are big sedan buyers. The van? Well surprisingly, the luxury van is a status symbol in that part of the world. Go figure.

So, back to my original read it and weep comments. Can Buick stay relevant in our market? While we bid a tearful graveside farewell to the traditional Buick sedan, can their suv sales keep this brand in GM's North American portfolio?

Good question. Anyone know the answer?

Until next time........

December 3: When enough is never enough

Feeling pretty good, aren't you? This has been a great year and you've added to your millions thru hard work and astute investments. Time to treat yourself. A Rolls Cullinan is certainly out of the question and a Bentley Bentayga seems excessive, even though you've got the coin to float that boat, if your heart so desired. No, you've always been a Mercedes type of person, so moving up to their top of the line suv, the GLS seemed like the right thing to do. It has success written all over it. And since this is your reward, you've put your name on the very best Benz suv that money can buy, the GLS 63.

Oh oh, what is this you've just heard? Your world has suddenly deflated. Mercedes has slapped your pride and joy suv in the face. You, with all your success, have rewarded yourself with what you thought was the best Benz suv on their lot, a $175k CDN chunk of rolling joy. Now this shows up.........

No one told you what was coming and now you have second best, your mere Mercedes-Benz has been trumped (gawd I hate that word) by Benz themselves with their one upmanship suv, the Maybach GLS 600........

Sure, it's basically a jewel encrusted GLS, but it is a Maybach. How jewel encrusted you ask? Well, you can see for yourself the trim bits.........the two tone, the new grille, the extra chrome, the "they'll be hell to clean" rims. But what else makes this a Maybach?

How about some luxurious luggage, so that everyone in the Super8 knows what you pulled up in? Nice touch, but how about something a little more in your face? Something that will amaze even the most jaded valet parking attendant around the casino in Monte Carlo.........

 Ah, now you're talking. Of course, these being the back seat, means your passengers will get all the benefit of those beautifully soft sacrificed cows. Solution? Get a chauffeur, after all you've had a good year.

When enough is never enough and when you have lots of this at your disposal.......

......then roll the Maybach way. And regrets to anyone of you who thought that their creme de la creme "garden variety" GLS was going to be the envy of the neighbourhood. Maybe the rappers will only come out at night or the oil sheiks will stick with their Cullinans, so you can still be the cat's meow at your local golf course.

The sure sign that you could have done better........

Until next time.......

November 26: Next stop Mars!

What is Elon Musk thinking?

This genius of all things electric has finally gone off the rails. Finally taken one too many hits of electrical current to start his day. Finally looked at all those Teslas on the road and gotten way ahead of himself and everyone else on the planet. Of course, if you've been living in a cave, you won't know what I'm talking about. Everyone else will know I'm referring to the gawd awful looking, just unveiled Tesla pick-up, the Cybertruck. Lord have mercy!

Beauty is in the eye, etc, but this thing is a pick-up truck? The most loyal and the most traditional of buyers line up for these things at Ford, Chev, GMC, Ram and Toyota dealers. Also one or two at Nissan. Is this what they are looking to put in their driveways?

Has Elon finally snapped or does he know something that the rest of us are unaware of? Is this ahead of the curve thing correct or is it about to run into a semi coming around that curve?

For years the pick-up business has been the most successful segment of the car market. Huge numbers are sold each year and increasingly these trucks have become more civilized, but at the same time becoming much more in your face macho. Here are the big players in this field, so see for yourself what feature is common to them all..........

GMC Sierra

Chevrolet Silverado

Toyota Tundra

Ford F-150

Ram

 If you said, they all have black tires, you can leave the class right now, since you just don't get it. Gold stars to all of you who raised your hand with the correct answer..........big in your face front ends. Compare these to Tesla's futuristic Mars rover. Do you think that Elon is tapping into a vast unknown pick-up truck buyer mindset?

Take a moment to check out what Tesla had proposed earlier.........

Different than anything currently available, but in reality a more futuristic vision of the tough as nails pick-up that the current buyers love. If Tesla had shown this last week (whether those windows shattered or not), I think the line up of real buyers would be long.

How will the new Cybertruck do? Be patient, since the first ones won't come to market until late 2021, with subsequent models coming out a year later. If you are familiar with Tesla's track record of intros, you can easily add a year to those dates and a few thousand bucks to the price. But hey this is Tesla, so who knows what will happen between now and then.

I'll make a prediction and I think it's a very safe bet, the only place the new Cybertruck will find a home will be here..........

...........and Elon will have to use one of his own space ships to get it there.

Until next time......

November 19: What's in a name?

What's in a name?

In today's case, we have a name that has been famous for fifty six years. Amazing longevity for a very fickle industry and equally fickle public. Way back in 1964, this was how that name was introduced........

"Presenting the unexpected.......new Ford Mustang! $2368". Amazing how over half a century later this ad (with some mods) could be used for Ford's latest great idea, the 2021 Mustang Mach-E........

Doesn't look like any Mustang you know of, well "presenting the unexpected.....". Sure, the price is off by a digit or two and a few thousands, as this new EV contender will have a base price of $43k and change in the USA. Cheap by EV standards, but of course there are options. Expect to pay around $70k Canadian for a typically equipped model. More good news? In the US, Ford is offering free charging for the first two years. Drive for nothing and forget about all those coal fired power plants polluting the atmosphere, while producing your precious fuel.

Are folks happy about expanding the Mustang brand? Of course, you know some aren't, but doesn't Lamborghini have an suv? Sure they do. Mustangs are supposed to be sporty, but unlike the Lambo, early indications are that this new Mustang is not, it's simply trading on that famous name. Sort of like all those celebrities who are famous for being famous. Get used to it, folks, as this is the new world of Ford.

Being an EV, at least this Mach-E will be Mustang quick. The faster to get to the next charging station before you run out?

Call it what they want, makes no difference to me. What bugs me is the trend these days to have the infotainment screen stuck on the dash like a police cruiser's clipboard. Hey Mercedes, Audi and now Ford, this thing looks like it was affixed with Gorilla glue. This is a brand new car, couldn't have you designed the instrument panel around it? Geesh! 

Moving on.........

 

Not an unattractive suv and being from a company which produces millions of vehicles each and every year, its initial quality should be fine, unlike what the early adopter Tesla owners have experienced.

The governments are asking that the new EV's make some sort of sound to warn unwary, cell phone addicted pedestrians, that a normally silent EV is approaching. The new Mach-E will offer a variety of sounds from which the owner can select. Gee, I hope they make them really interesting. How about one sounding like a freight train or a top fuel dragster or maybe even a squealing pig? If they can offer a gazillion shades for your car's ambient lighting, then this sound thing should be a piece of cake.

How our world has changed. The Mustang line up, formally headed up by the fire belching Shelby GT500, is now being led by a whisper quiet EV and one that doesn't do "sport" particularly well..........

What's in a name? In this case, the future.

Until next time.......

November 12: Who's the Boss?

"Who's the Boss?" In the past when you read this line, you'd be reminded of a cheesy TV sitcom, but going back many years before that, this line could only mean one thing........

Yeah man, in the good ol' days of the late '60's, mention the Boss and only one car came to mind, the quasi race car, Mustang Boss 302. Bad TV was still several years in the future. Even today the Boss 302 is revered, which is kind of funny, since any modern day Mustang or Camaro will out perform this oldie in every way possible.

Those old muscle cars have their charm, though, so the fabulous and famous CMC (Car Modeling Cat) and I decided we should add one to our collection of scale model plastic cars. To say she is a hard worker is definitely an understatement and I'll never understand how a mere cat can read the instructions........

Anyway, the result of our work shows this icon in all its 1969 glory........

 

 

Looking over this extremely well crafted model (humility is not our strong suit), one just has to compare it to the real car to see how accurately the CMC and I have made this car come to life........

Is it real or Memorex? Hard to tell, when the CMC and I get busy. 

So how did this almost a race car do? On the track it won the 1970 Trans-Am championship.........

.....and from the showroom floor it sold a grand total of 1628 units. Not many, but then it was never meant to be a volume seller, more of a halo car. Now fifty years later with Boss 302's selling for huge money, it looks like it accomplished its goal many times over. It got our attention and that's why the CMC and I turned out our latest project.

"Who's the Boss?". Now you know.

Until next time.......

November 5: Alphabet soup

Try to bend your mind around this.........

GM sells Buicks, many of which are Opels. GM sells Opel to the PSA Group (Peugeot, Citroen, DS autos), but has an agreement to keep the Buick/Opel connection alive. PSA merges with FCA (Fiat Chrysler), which means that Chrysler will now be supplying cars to their cross town rival GM. Whew! Got it? Welcome to the mixed bag of alliances in today's car business and to the alphabet soup, that is the recent merger of PSA and FCA. First person to me with an appropriate acronym wins my admiration. A worthy prize?

What does this merger mean to us folks on this side of the Atlantic? Good question and if this had happened a year ago, I'd probably have said it didn't mean a thing. But times change and if you have been reading my blogs, you'll know that Peugeot has been sniffing around our car market recently with the intention of coming stateside by 2025.  Now with the FCA connection, might we see this game plan brought forward?

Both companies have an extensive product range in Europe, but I think Fiat Chrysler has shown us all their cards in terms of what they plan to select from their line up for North America. And that answer is not much, just a few mechanic's dreams Alfa's. What about PSA? Glad you asked, as this gives me an opportunity to select a handful of what I think would be winners over here.

First up.........

This is the gorgeous Peugeot 508, a car that has been floating around Atlanta near the newly opened Peugeot North America head office. Sure I love sedans, but being a realistic car guy, I know that for any company to base a solid business plan on sedans these days is like expecting Donald Trump to tell the truth. It ain't going to happen! So let's move along........

An suv, now we're talking. I can hear those hearts beating faster from here. With great styling, this compact Peugeot 2008 is a smaller suv, which also has an e version in the line. A good addition to any new showroom catering to an suv loving populace, which would love to be green, if the price and range permitted.

Moving along to DS............wait a minute, what exactly is DS? A few short years ago, the PSA Group thought Europe needed yet another car brand, why I don't understand. But they moved ahead with it and named it after the original Citroen DS from way back in 1955.......

A bit of French history to excite those nationalistic types. They moved some cars from the Citroen line up and then added new. Among their current offerings are a couple of, wait for it , suv opportunities for us........

 

If the white DS3 looks familiar, it should since it has been derived from an older Citroen hot hatch, but with two doors added and the usual other suv accoutrements, like a lift and the macho wheel well surrounds. Instant best seller for few extra coins of development. The blazing copper DS7 Crossback (whatever that is) has the upmarket appeal for a more mature audience. Picture one on your street. Fits right in, eh?

And lastly Citroen..........

I've loved the look of the Cactus since I first saw one a few years back. The latest version has dropped that funky soft rubber side panel and replaced it with a larger rocker panel made of the same stuff. Great looking compact suv that should sell well here.

Now being French, PSA also has some outliers that are peculiar. One in particular might find a few welcoming driveways over here and to top it off, it's electric. Get one for each Green Party MP.

The latest edition of the Mehari, that strange and oh so French trucklette, now christened the E-Mehari. Kind of Jeep like and all suv. No one over 30 need apply.

Being European, PSA has literally tons of compact and smaller sedans/hatches, which have about as much chance of selling here, as finding an Albertan to take a bullet for Trudeau. But I digress.

As we sit back and have our morning coffee, we can day dream about what our future vehicle selections will be after PSA lands here. A plethora of choices. I suggest you keep this blog handy and check back in a few years to see how my scorecard looks.

Until next time......