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.......