Aug 16: Taxi!

What do you see here? Take a really good look. No I mean, a really good look. If you still haven't got it, I'll tell you, its a power window switch with a roll up window crank below it. Go figure! More about this later.

Picture any taxi in your home town, assuming you live somewhere in North America. I live in Toronto and when I picture a taxi, the image of a huge Crown Vic is rapidly fading, being replaced by a Camry. A Camry for Pete's sake! Who would have thought that they would have had the stamina for the tough life of a big city taxi. Picture a taxi in many other parts of the world and this is the picture that comes to mind........

Row upon row of Mercedes Benz. Take your choice, Citan, C Class, E Class or even an S Class.......

.......and make your selection between a sedan or a wagon. Sure, there are other makes being used, but the chances are about eighty percent that when you call a taxi, some sort of a Benz will show up to ferry you to your destination. Beige? Well, some countries have regulations that say a taxi has to be a certain colour. Beige stands out (who would have thought?) and also makes them easier to sell after their working life is through.

But why a costly Mercedes? The thought process is that since they are so reliable, the extra cost would be worth it and they would last for a very long time. Wonder why they think like that overseas and not on our side of the Atlantic? No matter how one cuts it, a Benz taxi will cost more than a Camry, assuming you could buy a Camry in Europe, which you can't.

Speaking of which, if you've read my blog, you know that I recently visited Portugal. They've had a couple of colour changes of heart, going from a strking black and turquoise to beige and now back to the black and turquoise combo, as shown on this old Mercedes taxi from some time in the past.......

......and as you can see from this present day view of the outside of the train station in Porto.......

Of course, the cabs are Mercedes, but in terms of age, look at the second one in line. This older (or just plain old) C Class, I believe comes from the late '90's. We were in one that was at least twenty years old and it was a manual, as are all the old ones. Kms? Nearing eight hundred thousand. Now back to that pic at the top.......

......our driver was over the top enthusiastic about how good Mercedes were. He almost ran down a pedestrian and when they gave him the evil eye, he yelled out the window, that he was driving a Mercedes, the greatest car ever made and its brakes were wonderful, so the pedestrian was never in any danger. But not being a fool, when the power window broke, rather than make a costly repair, he simply had a window crank installed. Mercedes may be the greatest car ever made, but they ain't cheap to fix.

I wasn't surprised that so many of the taxi's were Mercedes, but I was shocked that so many were so friggin' old! Careening up and down the cobble stoned streets to meet their client's needs. Even a Mercedes will start to show its age after being subjected to this hard life year after year.

Mercedes in all shapes and sizes, including as I mentioned above, the Citan Tourer..........

......like this one seen in the Algarve with another Benz behind it, of course. Citan? Its a small van, which for the time being hasn't reached our shores, but as Mercedes expands its truck line over here, don't be surprised to see it sometime in the future.

So next time you leave our hallowed shores and have to hail a cab, take heart, as there is a very strong possibility that you will be ferried to your destination in that creme de la creme of taxi's, the Mercedes Benz, which according to that taxi driver in Lisbon is, "the greatest car ever made!"..

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

Aug 12: Say, you look familiar

Once upon a time the car manufacturers would sell the same car under different names, like the Ford Crown Vic and the Mercury Grand Marquis. Rare today, but it still happens, for example take the pick-ups from Chevrolet and GMC. Exactly the same truck, but with some minor design differences to aid(?) the consumer in their decision. These days things are different and one doesn't see this "badge engineering" as often. These days what we see is completely different companies sharing the same vehicle, but with some brand ID changes, again to aid the consumer in their choice.

Take these two.........

 The red Mercedes GLA came out last year, an entry level suv (or suv type car), which is being followed this month by Infiniti's QX30. Both share the same platform, but with some individual changes for brand awareness. Also, being a Benz, the GLA is slightly more costly. Never used to see this happen in the past, where different companies shared what is basically the same vehicle under a different brand name. Fascinating.

Another example from Toyota and Subaru is their sharing of this little sports model.......

Very nearly identical cars, with minor changes that are extremely minor. Your car guy can't tell the difference, until he sees the Subaru stars or the Toyota whatever symbol.

Or how about the brand new Fiat 124.......

......which is essentially a Mazda MX-5........

.......but with some clever, and in my opinion better design changes, to help people see the original 124, which left us years ago. Obviously, the reason behind these alliances is cost. Fiat could bring out their brand new Japanese sports car for a fraction of what it would have cost to make an Italian one. Will folks buy into this? Probably, since the basis for their new ride is the very competent and generally loved Mazda Miata (oops, MX-5). Smart move, just find a car you like and make a call to the other company......"Hey, Asumi, guess what I was thinking?".

Does this new Chevy City Express small van remind you of anything else you might have seen recently?

 Possibly this Nissan NV200?

Unless you are completely blind, you'll realize that they are exactly the same vehicle. Chevy needed a small van, after being caught flat footed by Ford's new European arrivals, so a quick call to Nissan, a minor grille change and voila', the new Chevy City Express. Whew! Dodged another bullet and saved the day, until Chevy can develop their own small van or bring one from Europe.

Doesn't Opel sell a neat little city van in Europe? Sure they do and their Combo is the perfect small van, that would compete nicely with the Nissan and the Fords.......

. But wait a minute, doesn't this one look remarkably like this Fiat Doblo below?

Which it should, since they are the same vehicle. So, then bringing it to North America might be tough, since the Fiat Doblo is already being sold over here as a Ram van...........

.......which makes sense since Fiat owns Chrysler. But then again, since different manufacturers are selling the same vehicle in the same market, it probably wouldn't make any difference, as we've seen with these other vehicles.

Are you following all of this? I do my best, but heaven knows, I'm not a miracle worker.

What we've seen here is just the beginning of various alliances that the manufacturers will have to enter into as new vehicle development costs increase. To remain competitive, these joint ventures will be key. So you like the Nissan truck, but prefer the Chevy name on it, the choice is yours. Like the Benz, but not sure about its style, then drop into an Infiniti dealer. Haven't things become so much easier? As I said, this is just the beginning, folks.

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

Aug 9: Foose Design

He could have been a corporate star. He could have joined a big automaker and been the trend setter for years to come. He could have been feted at all the major autoshows. But no, Chip Foose, decided to go his own way and design unique cars for himself and for his clients, without being weighed down by a crushing structure. If you watch any "car TV", you might have come across his show Overhaulin, where some lucky stiff loses their sentimental old ride for a week, while it is transformed into a work of custom car art, which they could never have done themselves or afforded to have someone else do it for them.......

Often hokey, but the end products were worth waiting for and maybe to shed a tear?

One common thread that runs thru all Chip Foose creations is that the end result highlights the good points of the original design or improves on them. Nothing wild, like the old George Barris creations, which were often the definition of poor taste. Simple, but striking......

......with custom rims and custom paint. Not obvious in these renditions, but the end result was also chopped, ie: a couple of inches were taken out of the car's height, in order to better emphasize its lines.

Although most Foose designs were carried out on North American cars, they weren't restricted to them as you can see by this VW Bug that was done for one of his TV shows.........

How much of a mark has Chip Foose made on this segment of the market? Plenty. I sure wouldn't say that he is overexposed, but his name and quality of his work is known throughout the industry. And he comes across as a genuinely nice guy. While all the other reality TV shows featured infighting, Overhaulin never went in that direction. A welcome change.

While he could have been a corporate star, he wouldn't have a line of custom model kits with his name on them.........

I've made this one and the look of the end product is stunning. Classic without taking anything away from the new Sting Ray.

One of Chip's latest creations is subtle in the extreme.......

This rework of a 1965 Chev Impala was done for a Canadian client. How subtle? Glad you asked. To begin with a brand new Corvette was bought, the body thrown away and the chassis modified to fit under this larger car. How much larger? Well, this '65 Chevy was huge, so here is where the creativity and the artwork comes into play. This car was changed in almost every dimension, so that although it is 14" shorter, it tricks the eye to see where the cuts were made. Everywhere is the answer, but this car just looks right. So right in fact, that it won the very prestigious Ridler Award at the 2015 Detroit Autorama........

By the way, buying a new Vette for the chassis, will give you an indication of just how much the Canadian client was willing to spend for his very unique ride.

So what is Chip Foose up to these days? There is a story behind his latest project. Way back in 1935, a wealthy industrialist with connections to Cadillac, was planning to have a custom coupe made for himself and his wife. The designs were done, but for some reason this car never came to fruition. Flash forward to 2016 and Chip Foose. A client has commissioned Chip to build this beautiful design.......

Now this is a work in progress........

........but shortly this car will emerge from Foose's studios fully formed and gorgeous, looking every bit like a 1935 Cadillac, but with the reliability of a new car. And you were wondering how to spend your lottery winnings? When you have $100's of thousands at your disposal and Chip Foose's imagination, well, my friends, the sky's the limit.

So yes, Chip Foose, could have been all those things that I mentioned in the first paragraph, but lucky for us he went his own way. And lucky for those clients who have the coin to give him a call when they feel the need.

Until next time......

Aug 5: Bom dia from Portugal

Sure, get our attention with some runt of a car that no one over here knows what it is or maybe even cares. Well, for a real car guy or girl, granted there is not much here to yearn for, but it is an interesting little vehicle never the less. This car, seen on Porto's waterfront, is from the French manufacturer, Axiam. Their cars use either diesel or very small motors. How small? Glad you asked. In some countries the slowest Axiams top out at 28 mph (45 kph for us Canucks) and don't require driver's licences. This is as crazy as the electric bikes in Ontario, using the same roads as everyone else, but not needing a licence plate. Well folks, that's another topic for another day, but this blog is about a few different vehicles, that I saw on my recent visit to Portugal.

Europe is jam packed with interesting vehicles that we don't get here and in most cases never will. Or, we get a different version than what is sold on the Continent. Take for example this Mercedes A Class.......

Benz figured it would not really appeal to North Americans, after all it is a front wheel drive hatchback, usually the kiss of death or close to it. What to do? Only import the version with all-wheel drive, the GLE, call it a sport ute and watch them fly off the showroom floor. This is called knowing your market. Anyway, in Portugal, most of this body style that I saw were the A, not the GLA.

One of my favorites and apparently a strong seller is the brightly colored, newish Renault Captur.......

Yes, I know, it has the "almost" generic look of many of the smaller suv's, but the contrasting roof gives it a different vibe, as do the bright colours it is most often seen clothed in. Never failed to get my attention.

We don't get this model Audi, yet, but I believe it is headed our way sometime in 2017, which makes sense considering the popularity of the new and misnamed four door coupes........

This is the A5 Sportback. Having seen it for the past few years on my other European trips, I have always preferred it to the longer A7. Felt the fastback design better lent itself to the shorter length. This is certainly a judgement call, as the A7 is a great looking ride. BMW should have copied Audi's design, rather than doing their unfortunate and justly unpopular GT.

Way back when, Adam Opel started making cars in Germany. Eventually they fell under the umbrella of General Motors and continue to this day. We used to see Opels frequently on our shores with the long gone Saturn nameplate, now we see them sold as Buicks. This makes more sense, since Opel and Buick have had a connection in North America going back to the '60's and '70's. So, when Opel introduced a hip small car to go against BMW's Mini, what name did they chose? If you said Adam, give yourself a back pat (thank goodness his name wasn't Heinrich). This is the Opel Adam (cute, eh?).........

Trading on everyone's love of what they consider to be crossovers, this Adam model is the Rocks. Bigger tires and wheel flares add the necessary style features to help it make the transition from cute street machine to off road adventurer (sure, I'll believe it, if you do). By the way, the name Karl, you see on the left side of this pic, refers to Opel's new mini and is named after his oldest son.

And now another little cutie, from the French company Chatenet, the Microcar (calling it exactly what it is)........

What else could you buy to fit into that front yard? Glad you asked, since I have just the car and one which we do get over here, but not in this configuration.......

This is the latest generation Smart car, but as you can plainly see, it is the Forfour - four doors, get it? Will we ever see it over here? Those of you holding your breath, should start making funeral arrangements. 'Nuff said.

And now for something that we will be getting over here and a bit of a sneak peek........

This is the completely new VW Tiguan coming to us in 2017. No longer the small VW suv, the Tiguan grows up and will sprout two models, the shorty seen here or a longer version for seven riders. Take business away from the bigger Touareg? I would think so, but with North American's appetite for big sport utes, who knows?

So there you have it, a brief tour of a very few of the different cars that one can see across the Atlantic. With the huge car market over here, will any of the European manufacturers try to come back to our shores? Good question. Renault and Citroen are said to be considering it and VW's Skoda has started trademarking their models' names. Time will always tell, but is anyone lining up for a return of these brands, no matter how good they are?

Until next time.......

Aug 3: Porto's old car show

Nothing like a European vacation to see things one can only dream about here in Toronto. Also, a good way to make us realize that we live in a pretty darn good country. But, apart from the old Europe that we can never hope to duplicate, there are the cars. To most tourists, they are simply there, but to your car guy, they are a constant source of enjoyment. My trip over the past couple of weeks to Portugal had an added feature, when my wife spotted an old car show on the Porto waterfront. Jump off the "hop on, hop off" bus and see what was up. I'm not too bad with foreign cars, but a couple stumped even humble old me.

Let's start with the big gun of the show........

Always loved this model Ferrari, but I don't believe it has appreciated like some of the others from its era. Maybe too square, but to me, that is its appeal. And of course, the old Benz beside it.......

Nothing special in its day, but over time, it seems to have gained a certain amount of charm. This was a lower range model, but it stood out (until the Ferrari parked beside it).

Hot rods? Well not quite, but this couple would have qualified as such back in their day........

.......a Fiat Innocenti and the famous Renault 5 Turbo2. The "2" indicates the less insane street version of the one that was made for the rally circuit. Still a 0-60 time of under seven seconds back in the day was very impressive. When was the last time you saw one?

A couple of interlopers also showed up.........

Interlopers? What else would you call a late '40's Chrysler, which due to its rarity stood out well in this crowd. Big and elegant(?). And of course, what car show anywhere would be complete without a Mustang? In this case a '67 Shelby GT350 and since its owner spoke excellent Anglais, we had a great chat.

Humour?

Yep, a British version of Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine. Who would expect to see one of these at any car show anywhere? Who would want to? And speaking of humorous cars........

.......a car that helped BMW thru the 1950's, while trying to re-establish themselves as a bonafide car manufacturer, the Isetta. The front of this little tyke is its door and when opened, the steering wheel moves with the door. Scary!  The Smart car is huge by comparison.

Back to the serious stuff, a lovely Jaguar (the British police loved them)........

.......and a few Opel models, showing how they evolved thru the '50's, 60's and 70's, mirroring their American contemporaries, before the European makes developed their own design language..........

Now, you want oddities? How about this cute as a button little Innocenti cabrio.........

......followed up by another Fiat, a 1200 from the late '50's.........

Again, when was the last time you saw either one of these creations anywhere?

And to finish off, anyone who has ever seen a French movie, will recognize this old Citroen from the 1930's.........

Pick any old war movie, any romantic comedy or any other type of film taking place in France and guaranteed that you'll see a Traction Avant in at least one scene. Almost like coming across an old friend.

A pleasant surprise and an added bonus for your car guy. By the way, a sharp eye will spot my very understanding wife in one of these shots. Sorry, no bonus points. Stay tuned for Friday's blog, when I'll check out some of the new stuff.

Until next time........