January 28: Electrifying Spain

Live like a local.

My wife and I love Europe, the scenery, the history, the food, especially the food. On our recent tour around Spain, we made sure we stayed in the old, central parts of the cities, so we could experience them like the locals. Picture being 6'5" in an apartment meant for anyone under 6'. Yes, my head has just about healed. Lesson learned, next time we'll check into something a bit more modern with headroom for your blogger.

So, back to car stuff.......

Most of Europe seems to be ahead of us in going green and Spain is no exception, although this car seen in Valencia, might be taking this idea a tad too far.

Getting serious (oh how I dislike that word), electric cars (EV) are a lot more common here than what we have in Canada. Sure, there are tons of Teslas, just like in Toronto and everywhere else we travel, but it's all the other EV's and plug in stations that are rather rare here at home. Want to rent a BMW i8? Want everyone to know about it..........

Pretty hard not to notice, when courtesy of Hertz, the EV message is writ large all over the car. No subtlety here, although when it comes to an oddball like this Bimmer, being subtle is not in the picture.

Scenes like this were common everywhere.........

 

.......when in Toronto the only charging stations we see are a few spaces around shopping centres and grocery stores. And speaking of Mercedes, like in the bottom pic, their new EV line anchored by the EQC, is already alive and selling in Europe.......

This is a promo pic from Benz, but I saw the new EQC in the showrooms and it looks great in real life. So much better than the gas powered suv coupes already in their line up. Expect this EV here in a few months. Watch out Tesla.

Of course being Europe, there are always lots of other oddball ways, that motorists use to save gas money and save our planet. Vehicles from the tiny Renault Twizy EV to the ridiculous yellow whatever below it.......

And for awhile, a Smart sportscar was available, before saner heads prevailed.......

Electrifying Spain. Don't chuckle when you see some of these solutions, since North America is heading in this direction, just a little slower than crowded Europe. Give us time and maybe even Greta T will have nice things to say about us.

Until next time........

January 21: Vlad's rolling ego trip

Good ol' Vlad Putin. What a guy! Head of a country that is in the ditch, but his citizens love him for being Mister Tough Guy. Sure, they are out of work and out of bread, but boy, Vlad looks good, bare chested, standing up to the world. Hey, Barry, enough already with the political rant. What's your point?

A picture is worth......, well you know........

This is Vlad's kick at the old ego cat. All the big player countries have their own home grown luxomobile, so that their leaders can ride around in their national pride. Russia is a biggish player, but most of their auto industry consists of trucks and smaller cars developed by western partners. This just wouldn't do, so Vlad put his minions to work to develop a homegrown prestige mobile for him to show off to all his friends. The Aurus above is the result. Much like previous "party" cars, such as the Zil, the Aurus design borrows heavily, very heavily, from other high roller mobiles.

Check it out......

Rolls-Royce

Not convinced?

Bentley

 My, my, what creativity there is in the former Soviet Union. Come on, surely there might have been the possibility of throwing in an original line or two? Obviously, I don't subscribe to the "if you can't say something nice........" school of thought. But really?

And of course, this is the Senat model, the family sedan of oligarchs and thug like rulers. For those special occasions, when only a limo will do.......

Keeping up with his special friend The Donald? And his is only a Cadillac, while Vlad's is a psuedo Roll-Royce.

Think Putin is happy about this copying? Haven't heard of any designers being sent to the gulag lately, so most likely he's tickled red (communist). But Vlad is going one better than even Rolls.......

Now the boys in Britain have something to aspire to, a very high end luxury van. A new market niche created by those rascals in the east.

All well and good to sprout your very special car for those fortunate few, but would you be able to sell it anywhere else in this wide world? And more importantly, would Drake buy one?

Until next time......

January 17: You paid how much???

Ok, if you are a car person and have been anywhere close to a TV, a newspaper (remember them?) or the  net, you've heard that the "hero" car from the famous 1968 Steve McQueen movie, Bullitt has just been sold at auction. Hero car? One of the ones that McQueen actually drove in the movie. The car.......

Then

Now

 The amount?

$3,740,000

Turns out the family had bought it way back in 1974 from someone who had worked on the movie. Been in the family for forty five years, but until the last few, it had been a secret that it actually existed. Once it became known, the spotlight glare on the family must have been a bit (note understatement) intense, so the decision was made to sell their prize. At last weekend's auction, the commentators noted how sad the two family members seemed. Sad? What, that it didn't hit $4 million?

But back to the car and the movie. Fifty plus years later this is still considered the very best car chase scene ever. You doubt it? Check out one of the many versions on YouTube. This scene made a hero out of the 1968 Mustang McQueen's character Frank Bullitt drove and to a lesser extent the '68 Charger driven by the bad guys. Trivia.......the Charger had hubcaps (on an R/T?) and lost five (?) of them during the chase. One of those little pieces of info that we find fascinating. Want another? The gas pumps blow up just before the villains' Charger hits them. Watch closely.

So you ask, how much of a hero did the movie make of that dark green Mustang? The answer is shown below........

In 2020 Mustang still has a Bullitt model in the line, with all the neat little design touches of the original. Name me one other anything, that has had that sort of influence or staying power.

Was it the chase or was it the super cool, hipster McQueen that caused this Mustang to have such an impact?

Either way, this not particularly nice guy in real life and his movie ride have had an astounding impact on us for all those fifty plus years, ever since the bad guys buckling up signaled the start of the wonderfully gripping chase to follow.

You have a dark green '68 Mustang in ratty condition just like the auctioned one? Want to trade on the success of the movie car? Good move, put a $10,000 price on it and thank your lucky stars if you get that much.

Until next time........

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......