July 29: Back from the dead

Ever wish you could go back in time? Wish there was such a thing as a zombie? Well friendo, today your wishes might be answered. First off, no, you can't go back in time and secondly, there are no such things as zombies (relax kids, there's still a Santa Claus). But, what if something from the past came to you? What if it was a car? What if it was an Alvis?

Ok, enough with the 20 questions. Alvis was a boutique British car maker in the grand tradition of Rolls and Bentley, but like so many of the other forgotten car brands, Alvis is poised to make like a zombie and rise again from the dead. And also like going back in time, the cars being raised are duplicates of what this famous old car company made way back when they viable.

You say you can't remember what rolled off of their hand assembled line? Names like the Parkward Drophead or the Lancefield Concealed Hood or the Bertelli Coupe don't ring a bell. So, I guess you are just like the rest of us. Let me refresh what's in that cobweb encased noggin of yours........

From 1919 until 1968 Alvis hand built some classic British touring cars, but as modern tech caught up with their antiquated ways, sales declined and the old days weren't like the new days and sadly, this old Brit closed its doors forever. We thought. Now Alvis has been resurrected, but not with some new glam mobile or more likely an suv. No the new Alvis line is the old Alvis line, detail for detail with a few new safety features thrown in.

Those old classics appeal to you, but you don't have a mechanic on staff to keep one running? But you do have a large bank account for something new, so look no further........

 

Whether the '30's or the '60's appeal to you, the new, but old, Alvis line has something for you. No suv? No problem (thank goodness). Beautiful old cars in the grand 1930's tradition or something much more contemporary, assuming your definition of contemporary means a car fifty plus years old.

About this time the question arises of exactly how much one of these dreams rides might set a well healed person back? Keep in mind that the new Alvis is meticulously hand built over 4000 to 5000 hours and in some cases using old original parts (not sure if that is actually a positive feature). A guess? Well, you are in luck, as the prices are about 250,000 British pounds. Speaking of which, that pound has taken a pounding (no pun intended) this week, so lock your order in asap.

Want to relive those good old days and party like it's 1965 or well before?

 Ok, I hear you and so does Alvis. They are ready to make your antiquated dreams come true. And if you are a touch concerned that there might another Alvis in your hood, each model is limited to only twenty five. I can see your knees weakening, your heart pounding and your cheque book (or e-tranfer) coming slowly to hand.

Better be quick, the dead don't come back to life that often!

Until next time.......

July 26: It's a coupe. Really?

So listen up, folks.......every single dictionary on the planet states that a coupe is a two door vehicle. Every single one! I could rant on this for a few more lines, but throwing my hands up in the air, I'll shout, "I give up!". If the car manufacturers persist in calling anything with a roof that even remotely slopes a coupe, well then, so be it.

Cars I can understand, but these suv coupes have me flummoxed. Dam BMW for starting this hideous trend back ten years or so. Designs progress and Mercedes improved suv coupes were somewhat better. A hell of a lot better by comparison, but not what I'd call great looking. Time heals all design wounds and these two latest coupe suv's finally get it right, except of course for that stupid name.

First off, the Porsche Cayenne.......

Not a bad line on this latest misnamed suv. Now compare it to its baby sister, the Macan.......

So the Cayenne becomes a coupe, while the Macan with the same roof line is simply an suv. Go figure. At least they both look good, so why worry about semantics? Though it makes one wonder what a Macan coupe might look like.

Our next new addition is from Audi doing their first suv coupe, the A3........

 

Someone please give these guys a gold star, along with Porsche, as this is a a great looking addition to their line of suv's. I've liked Audi's for the past few years, but their designs have been conservative, maybe almost too conservative. That has changed recently with the Q8 and now the look alike "baby" suv, the Q3.......

......followed by that new Q3 coupe.

What would our world be without choices?

Now that I'm almost over the misuse of the word coupe, it looks like I can get over the awful looking suv coupes, if the other manufacturers can suggest that their stylists stay a little later and do a good design, instead of leaving early with mediocrity.

Until next time......

July 23: The 2020 Corvette - FINALLY!!

FINALLY!!

After too many years of speculation and huge amounts of anticipation, Chevrolet has finally unveiled the biggest change the Corvette has ever undertaken, by transforming it into a mid-engined supercar. For the longest time, many believed that there was a better chance of Trump telling the truth, than there was of a mid-motored Vette. At least with the Trump, there is still something to long for, however unrealistic that hope may be.

Controversial? Of course. When the Corvette dropped the hidden headlights awhile back folks complained. Same with the round rear taillights being changed to what you see above. Should never have happened, screamed those rabid Corvette fans. Hyperventilating in the extreme. So this wholesale change is causing, well, let"s just say that the riots in Hong Kong are mild by comparison. A daily newsletter I subscribe to normally gets about thirty comments on a subject where folks have strong opinions, but yesterday when readers were asked about the new Vette, about 180! Me? I like the new design, think it looks like a Corvette. 

But changes get made, life goes on and this icon gets better and better. There came a point where there was only so much that could be done with the old layout and most of the other supercars no longer had their motor upfront. Progress versus emotion.

Long way from the beginning back in 1953.........

 

 

Not the good ol' days, when one compares this six cylinder boat anchor to what came after it. Every red blooded car person should have had a Vette at some point and I was no exception. Unfortunately my ride was from the mid-1970's and if you remember, that time was hell on performance. My "big" motored Stingray couldn't crack a 10 second 0-60 time, but hey, it was still a Vette........

 

Flash forward to 2020's Stingray. Looking like a rocket on wheels and with an interior that would give those early Corvette drivers a Tylenol headache. Extra strength even.

And now you are asking the most important and obvious question, how much? Again speculation had some wild numbers up on the board, but Chevrolet tells us the correct one is about $60k USD. Now, that folks is one amazing number to enter the realm of the everyday supercar. Try to match it with anything else, anywhere. Canadian money? Still a blow out bargain.

How many of our car dreams come to pass? For the progressive Corvette buyer, this one hasn't come soon enough, but worth every minute (hour, day, week, year, decade) of the wait.

Until next time.......

July 19: Another Raptor

Ford has just announced a new rough and rockin' version of their famous bad boy Raptor pick-up. You know, that beast of the Baja, but tamed for city streets........

Unfortunately most of these tuff trucks will end up cutting a short cut over a low city curb, rather than blazing thru some obscure wilderness, blazing a new trail for lesser vehicles to follow. How many people would even want a truck like that? More than you'd ever guess apparently. Count them next time you are out and about, hence the reason Ford has announced Ranger based Raptor Jr...........

 

The new Ranger has had a Raptor overseas for a short while, but now they are going to drop it into our market. Rough and tuff as its big bro, but with a key difference, no big power behind that in your face front end. Never mind, still a neat ride.

My question is why haven't the other companies followed the Raptor along this trail? Big power pick-ups are not exactly a 2019 thing, even if they couldn't do much off road. They've been around in some form or another for almost forty (40!) years.

A walk down memory lane.......

Back in the day, this Dodge was the quickest vehicle in North America, even putting the emission choked Corvette to shame. Others followed suit........

 

 

Ford was hasn't been timid in dropping big power into one of their light in the rear end trucks in the past. And a burnout picture is worth so many words, maybe even a thousand. You can see that Ford,
 GM and Dodge all threw their rear tires, or what was left of them into the ring, even going so far as to plunk a huge Viper V10 into a Ram pick-up.........

Pretty impressive stuff, but none are the off road terrors, that a Raptor or Raptor junior are. No question that there are some other off road wildcats, case in point this 2019 Chey Colorado........

..........but they, like the Raptor Jr need a dose of horsepower to make them like the wild child Raptor senior. Fast and furious stuff for the off road rough housers. Hey, they've done everything other stupid thing with this movie franchise, so why not have them rolling thru the north woods fighting whatever injustice they seem to attract?

So back to our Ranger Raptor (name has a nice ring to it) . Who will follow suit and drop in a bit (or a lot) more power to give the Raptor sisters some real competition? Millions of pick-ups are sold each year in the US, competition is fierce, so come on guys, let's give those Raptors the competitor they deserve.

 Until next time.......

July 16: A new Praga

Ever attentive, as I cruise the highways and biways of my hometown Toronto, noting any vehicles that look interesting or that I haven't seen before. Like a local home sporting a driveway filled with a Bentley suv, a Rolls suv and, obviously for the help, a Range Rover. Never a dull moment when cars are on the brain.

So yesterday as I'm rolling along the 401, I see this big (aren't they all?) race car hauler, probably going home after the weekend's race at Mosport. Splashed across the trailer was this very official looking name and  a graphic of their car, plus the usual other stuff, like their drivers.

Being an inquisitive soul, I figured I should look up this racing team and see what I had just seen.

Praga....... a Czech company that produced cars, trucks and planes from 1907 until 1947. Who knew?

Using model names like Alfa (yes, that is correct), Baby, Piccolo, Super Piccolo, Golden and Lady, Praga was a mainstay of the Czech motor industry until after the end of the devastating WW II. About ten years ago, the name was resurrected and like so many other old car company names (Bugatti, Maybach, Borgward, etc), Praga was re-established, this time as Praga-Export. Its mission to produce a super car that would once again bare the proud Praga name. They began making racing go-karts, along with a proposed wild ride, track capable and eventually (hopefully) street legal.......

So back to that race car hauler. The graphic on its flanks was the car that Praga is now racing with dreams of also making it road legal.......

Imagine this car pulling up at your local cruise night, minus of course, those distracting graphics? Of course, if one hopes to sell such a creation, using Monaco as the back drop immediately lets everyone know to bring cart loads of the local currency.......

What I also find interesting is that to help publicize their efforts, they are producing the Praga Journal, which seems to use a rather '60's cover style.........

 

Little boys can fantasize about the karts and cars, while bigger boys can fantasize about, well, you know, those other things that having a ride that this would bring.

Who would ever have known about Praga without this very informative blog? Well, obviously I am delusional, but without seeing that hauler yesterday, I'd never have found out about this hoped for evolution of the Praga name, a mere seventy years after the original bit the dust.

So watch for it in your hood and remember that you heard it here first.

Until next time........

July 12: Local hero

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is what happens, when you combine one very wealthy British royal with a love of cars and a huge estate. Simple formula. This big deal, fun event was started about 25 years ago and has evolved into a must be there venue for all the hot car manufacturers. A time to show off the past greatest and very latest, along with race cars of all types  -  dragsters, F1, Le Mans, NASCAR, etc.

The unique and changed annually car sculpture (highlighting the year's featured marque), that welcomes one and all to the Earl of March's estate........

So, no surprise that Ford chose this occasion to announce and introduce a new version of their $450,000 US hero car, the Ford GT, built here in good old Toronto. The car is the Ford GT Mark II, same as the "normal" GT, but with a more race bred suspension set up, about 700 hp and a slightly more eye watering price of $1.2 million US.......

 A part of the festival is the timed run up the earl's very long driveway, open to all cars, but the limited edition GT Mark II was entered in the Supercar Shootout. So how did it do? A picture is worth a few words.........

Some local interest........my workout "buddy", Scott Maxwell, did all the preliminary track testing of the GT, long before it hit the streets, so it came as no surprise, that he was tagged to have the honour of running this new supercar up the driveway. When he mentioned that he would be doing this, he told me that he was, ".......going to take it easy, as he didn't want to embarrass himself." Nice going, Scott, we should all take it so easy.

See the run for yourself........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLw5YcR-1xo

Scott is no stranger to the UK, as he and his Multimatic team are running a new Mustang in the British GT series and they go up against some impressive machinery....... 

So, how do they fare? Once again a picture will tell it all...........

A couple of wins to date, some other good finishes and they are leading the points. Pretty good stuff, but if you've followed Maxwell's career, from his Le Mans win a few years back, to his North American championships, it is no surprise he and his team are doing so well.

These results make those every two week flights to Britain worth the jet lag. Of course, the aero plan points help. No wonder he works out so hard in the gym.

Our local hero and team celebrate their win at Le Mans.........

 
Now back to that wild GT Mk II. Interested? Of course, you are, but act fast as there will only be a very limited number and Drake has probably already put his order in.

Until next time.......

July 9: Power to the people!

Those were the days.

Days when America rode to the local drag strip in cars, that had more power than any sane person could use.
 
And those were the days when you couldn't get that power to the ground, since you were riding on such puny and narrow rubber.

And those the days when all that power could be had for cheap.

Those were also the days when all that power was overstated. Overstated? Yeah, it was the power the motor actually generated on the dyno, but not the power that you could put to the pavement due to all of those energy robbing add ons.

And finally, those were the days, when sexism in the ads was rampant and welcomed.

If only we could bring back those good ol' days. CUT!

If you are a car person or if you've read this blog before, you'll know that we are in the midst of a new era of wildly big horsepower and performance. The differences these days are several and noteworthy. The stated power ratings are what actually can be put to the pavement. Also, those huge tires allow all that gorgeous power to hook up. And, the pricing these days is not cheap.

Anyway, enough preamble.

Last week Dodge unveiled yet another variation to add to their Hellcat clan. Remember the first car to carry that name? The Challenger.......

Next up, that Challenger could be ordered with a very aggressive looking wide body package for an inexpensive $8000 Cdn, which is almost double the price of one of those ground pounders back in the day.  Nice tough-guy look, in case your neighbours didn't get the hint that your new ride was something special, just by hearing its raucous exhaust.

But you need four doors, since you have a family and they like to rock along with you. The solution has been the Charger Hellcat.........

Practical in a warped kind of way, but at least it has seating for five and a trunk big enough for your golf clubs (and a baby stroller). But, again that issue of your deaf neighbours, who have been oblivious to that Hellcat roar. How to make them realize that your new Dodge isn't the same as that rental they had in Florida last winter?

Count on those folks from Dodge to realize that if the wide body worked on the Challenger, then why not try the same thing on the Charger? So, here we have it, new for 2020.........

Another example of how to look when one is sporting over 700 pavement ripping horsepower and delicious mind bending exhaust notes.

Sure, it's twenty (20!) times the price of the original, but check out that rubber and know that you'll be able to get every single one of those horses to the ground.

Now, one last item to address. What about that sexist ad from way long time ago? Have things changed? Check out this latest ad, which ran with the caption.......Ride Like Rolling Thunder.........

You decide.

Until next time........