February 9: Rezvani dreamin'

Beast
Beast Alpha
Beast X
Beast Alpha X
Beast Alpha X "Black Bird"

Amazing the number of models one ultra tiny car company can pull off of one body and chassis. Yes, sir, all of these cars are based on one model, the Beast. Time for a few pictures.......

Enrolled in the brutalist school of automotive design, this new mid-engined supercar stands out and certainly holds its own looks wise against some of those other boutique sportscar manufacturers.

A few other details. Rezvani Automotive Designs is based in that hotbed of automotive design, Irvine, California. Has been around since way back in 2015. Employs six people (according to the web). If you were wondering whether this is a volume manufacturer, there is your answer. Their mission is to create and sell a fast and unique supercar for cheap money. Fast, since even the "base" Beast has a 400 HP Cosworth engine and the power goes up from there thru the various Beast models.

Unique?

A picture is worth.......well, you know that old adage. No mundane scissor type door for this company. Don't like them? As you can imagine with only six workers each car is handmade to the buyer specs.

Did I mention they also do a cabrio? Glad you asked........

Not all drop tops are an improvement on a car's looks (Porsche 911, I'm talking to you), but this one is a stunner.

Fast. Unique. But affordable? This is the third part of Rezvani's raison d'etre. The Beast series starts at a mere $179,000 US and tops out at $225,500, of course options and client requests are extra. For anyone considering a hand built supercar, this is fantastically cheap coin. Where would our world be without dreamers and Rezvani appears to be on that list.

But they are not dummies, as everyone knows that these days, every single car manufacturer has to have some sort of suv in their portfolio. Rezvani is no exception. For those urban warriors among you, for those of you who consider going to the mall to be an off road adventure, here is Rezvani's answer, the appropriately named Tank.......

Remember my brutalist design school comment? Well, add ugly to it. What soccer mom wouldn't want to drop her budding athletes off in this thing. Watch the other moms and kids run away in fear. No messing with this dame, as she makes her way to the nearest Louis Vuitton outlet. Price? Of course, this is also very affordable (as least for those of you with fat wallets), starting at a comfortable $155,000 US.

Look for big things from this company. Things like doubling the workforce to meet demand. Things like hiring a good designer to revamp the Tank. Things like tripling their prices, so they can stay in business.

As I said, where would we be without dreamers. Rezvani Automotive Designs. Remember the name.

Until next time......

February 2: Self driving cars - a rant

Is this you? A picture of confidence and contentment behind the wheel of the ride of which you are so proud? Yes sir, it's shiny and well maintained, but nothing beats the feel of sitting in that driver's seat and taking control as you cruise the highways and byways of your world.

Or does this pic better describe how you would like to be in your vehicle of choice?

If you are a reader of car mags or even this blog, you are probably the cat in picture #1. You, like me, are seeing a future rapidly rushing towards us, where pic #2 is the upcoming new reality. Dreading the moment, where your machine drives you, not the other way around. Check out that Lexus ad showing a future where the driver is nostalgic for the recent past.

Engineers laud the self driving car as a great achievement and one that will save thousands of lives around the world, saved because there is not a nut behind the wheel. But folks, we are now travelling in a grey zone, between some cars that are almost to the self driving stage and almost all that still require a cool cat in the driver's seat. This is where it gets scary, since there is still, in some cases, a nut behind the wheel. A nut who feels that their Tesla (in most cases) can get them safely wherever without any driver input. Not the case. Definitely not the case.

Want proof? Look no further than this "driverless" Tesla, that just last week didn't notice a big red fire truck sitting on the left side of a California highway and promptly committed vehicular suicide by running into it.

Here's my question........where was the nut behind the wheel? Were they sleeping or texting or making a sandwich, thinking that their wonderful new car would avoid that immovable object before it demolished itself. Maybe the car knew what it was doing and was just pissed off? After all, aren't we almost to the point where machines can think for themselves?

Not the first time a self driving car mistook a huge object in its path for air. More proof.......

In this case, the driver didn't live to scold their new ride (another Tesla) for running into a tractor trailer that was crossing the road in front of this late driver and their late car.

Are these accidents the fault of the car? The driver? Or Tesla for telling everyone that their cars are (almost) self driving. Before you answer, please have a chat with one of the idiots in the accidents above (well, maybe only the first one). At least Mercedes and some others make the driver touch the wheel frequently to prove to the car, that the driver (or whatever you call the person sitting in the left front seat these days) is still alive and marginally in control

Want to save thousands of lives, at least in the US of A? Bring in gun control and forget about this self driving stuff. Get real, Barry, neither of these things are going to happen. So my friends, pay attention and don't assume that all the wonderful new technology on your fancy new ride is meant, at least for the time being, to replace you. Maybe in a couple of months the way technology moves these days, but we ain't there yet. Now we have driver assistance and that word "assistance" is the key.

As we speed towards the inevitable, this is what should be happening in your wonderful new ride.......

Otherwise, you too, maybe the lead story on the evening news.

Until next time.......

January 30: Little luxuries

Dreaming about a Honda or possibly a Toyota or maybe even casting your eyes on a Hyundai? Wishing you could look more like Trump and less like a chump? Not to say that those other cars are for losers, as one might say that looking like the pres would make one more loser-like, but that is a whole other conversation. This blog is talking about how you spend your coin and what you might be able to buy. Think in your wildest dreams you might be able to conjure up an Audi or a Mercedes or be still my heart, a BMW?

Thank your lucky stars that you are dreaming in the early 21st century. All those companies and others are striving downwards in an effort to get you into their fold, so that when your ship comes in, you will hopefully move up the ranks of their fine automobile line.

Lovin' those suv's, but there are oh so many CR-V's roaming your hood? Patience my friends, as your Audi dreams are on the verge of being realized, as their little A1 hatch has morphed into a full on junior suv, the Q1........

As Audi extends their product line downward, your Hyundai, Toyota or Honda money may well get you into a prestige brand. When you pull into the parking lot at the gym, all those folks will see are those four rings in the Audi symbol and not the bill of sale. Life is good.

Audi not your bag? Too subtle for a luxury brand? Ok, then let's go whole hog and put a Benz in the driveway.......

We've seen this one before, as the nondescript little A Class hatch got all wheel drive, got raised up a bit and got wheel arch flares. Presto folks, as here's the suv for those with Honda coin, but with Mercedes aspirations. Once again, ain't no one looking at your bill of sale.

Audi and Mercedes are fine rides, but you picture yourself as a BMW driver, and why not, as those ubiquitous 3 Series sedans have been blanketing your 'hood for years. You know those people are no better than you. Easy there, little spender, your hopes are about to be realized, as the 2 Series is on the verge of receiving

a mini suv, that is just hankering to wrest you away from that Hyundai salesperson.......

 















And to top it off, this X2 just might be the best looking of all those Bimmer X series rides. Compact size and compact budget fitting price.

Two problems with these new additions to an already crowded market place. First off, one of these may not make its way to North America (Audi, I'm looking at you) and secondly, have you priced out luxury brand maintenance these days? That latter point may surprise a few of the luxury ride dreamers. Might take their breath away when they see that first oil change bill. But one step at a time, cause if there's a will, there's a way and those luxury car dreams are oh so sweet.

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

January 26: PSA Group - come on over!

 PSA Group? Done any reading in your paper's business section or a car site on the net in the past few months? If you had, you'd recognize this company name and not just assume it was something to do with testing for prostate cancer (man, I'm way too familiar with that). The news was that this French group, which includes Citroen and Peugeot (remember them?) had just bought Opel from General Motors. If you don't recall those two French car names and if you are of a certain age, they may mean squat to you, here are a couple of their old classics, the 408 and Batman's favorite ride, the Citroen SM.

Both brands withdrew from the North American market many years ago, when their not so special cars' sales slowly ground to a near halt. Now they have brought Opel into the fold and once again have focused those avarice corporate eyes on our market. How serious are they? Very, since they are in the process of hiring people to work in the North American office, which will be in Atlanta.

They have anything interesting? I think so, as a quick look at the Citroen line shows a couple of worthy candidates for our suv lovin' market, the C3 Aircross and below it the C4 Cactus..........

Both are compact suvs and you all know that that us North Americans go after suvs like a starving dog goes after a bone or President Trump, a good lie.

From the Opel line there are also a handful of interesting vehicles, but they may leave them out of the fray for awhile, since GM has rechristened them as Buicks for our market. Expect that to change in a few years.

Sedans?

How about this handsome Peugoet 508? Sure, Barry, just the thing to gather dust in the PSA showrooms, as buyers rush past it to drool over some sort of suv type vehicle. But maybe make a few minor changes and it could be possible to actually sell something resembling a make believe suv........

You know the drill, if not, Google Volvo Cross Country or even better Subaru Outback to see what I mean. But let's get back to what actually turns our North American crank, something like this Peugeot adorned with all those interesting design features that are making the scene these days.........

Being a practical kind of guy and knowing how electric cars, etc are plugging into everyone's save the planet vibe, I see a real need for the Citroen E-Mehari, whatever the heck it is........

Come on you people, don't you feel the need for a bit of whimsy in every showroom? Give the salespeople something to joke about, "What, you actually want one of those?". No wonder the PSA Group is rushing to our North American market.

See a place for any of these "foreign to us" vehicles on our shores? Well, somebody does and folks, it's all about choice. I've never figured out how a market like Europe, which has many more brands fighting it out for market share, manages to do it. Stay tuned, as it's going to get interesting, as these new Europeans, new South Koreans and new Chinese companies muscle their way into our hearts, minds and driveways.

Somebody is going to suffer, but it won't be us consumers.

Until next time.......

January 23: Mid-engined Corvette - when??

Here is without a doubt the biggest disappointment for us car people. This is the big no-show from the Detroit auto show last week, the expected and the much rumoured mid-engined Corvette. These spy shots have been circulating around the net for several months and they show a fairly production ready car, not some hacked together mule, that may or may not be a real upcoming car. So what happened? Did Chevrolet not want to eclipse the new full size pick-up intro? Maybe they felt the Chicago or New York shows would be a better venue? Unlikely due to their smaller size and this is a big deal intro. Maybe since the 2019 ZR1 was first shown at Dubai, a show in Europe, like Geneva or Frankfurt might be a good choice. Why? Well, this is a car that GM hopes will show well against the other established supercars, so why not unveil it in their backyard?

Worse case? This has been another tease and god knows there have been enough of them over the years, from this rather conservative tail heavy one from the late '60's.........

.........to this myriad of stunning maybes from the next three decades.........

Any one of these could have worked for the brand. Possibly alienate the Vette's traditional fan base? If that was the thought, then still sell the front motored one along side one of these, until Chevrolet was forgiven and the traditionalists saw the light. Maybe GM didn't see those foreigners as the Corvette's real competition back then. Well folks, if not then, no question that they are the real competition in 2018 and beyond.

One more to consider........

Seen enough? Yeah, well we all have over the years. Every time a new generation of Corvette was being readied for release to the salivating sportscar loving public, there would be a rumour that a mid-engined version was under consideration.

Fast forward to today and the rumour mill is smokin', it's been worked so hard, aided and abetted by those spy photos. "Take it off, take it all off.", we screamed, referring of course to that camo covering. No luck. Detroit has come and gone, no new Vette, but with an apparent insider saying the covers will come off at Detroit 2019. Really? By that time, with all the subsequent spy shots, it may be an anticlimax. Worse case, this is another never-to-be car. Perish the thought!

For car folks, hope springs eternal. Will this car finally see the light of day and look like these pics sneaked onto Corvette Forum?

 

If it does show up and if this is indeed the finished product, I think the line up for this beauty will be longer than a list of Trump's mis-statements over the past year.

Enthusiasts, write those letters. Cross fingers, toes or whatever you have. Religious types can pray that this isn't just another tease. And, by all means start saving.

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

January 19: Avalon - a pleasant surprise?

The anticipation was palatable. Forget about the monster sales and profits of the new pick-ups that Chev and Ram would be introducing. Forget about all those cute teaser ads that Ram dropped on the motoring press. No sir, the big talk at Detroit was about Toyota's redesigned Avalon.

Of course, I'm funnin' with you. The Avalon, that old folks' mobile sofa, has been with us for years and with each passing redesign, it has become less relevant to an suv loving North American public. Not that the Avalon's sales would indicate anything like that fact, as in 2016 (a poor sales year for it), it sold just under fifty thousand copies. Now that is surprising, since seeing one is not an everyday occurrence.

The Avalon is a funny beast. Priced right up against and overlapping the luxury models from Audi, BMW and others, but with zero cache'. Never figured out why those buyers of this big Toyota didn't simply take the next step and get a Lexus. What have they been seeing that I haven't?

Back in 1994, Toyota dropped the Avalon on an unsuspecting public........

......starting an Avalon tradition, but retaining the Toyota tradition of boring cars. Big and nondescript, but a strong seller right out of the box. Following up this model with a variety of equally unassuming Avalons......

  

Nothing to email home about, but still reliably knocking off sales in the seventy and eighty thousand range each and every year. Sales that for a big sedan in a diminishing big sedan market were quite impressive. Hey, nothing like Camry's over four hundred thousand yearly numbers, but for a car that was simply a larger derivative of the Camry platform, a sure winner profit wise.

Which brings us to this year's Detroit show and the intro of a redesigned Avalon. I thought, "Are you kidding? Who needs it?", that is until I started to do a bit of research. Hand it to Toyota, they must know what fifty thousand people want. And finally, they have made the Avalon interesting looking (full disclosure - the front of the last one was also interesting in a strange and unpleasant way).

Following the new and quite drastically changed Camry, this new Avalon is quite a looker. It might even handle, but let's not get too carried away, as grampa ain't cruising the city streets looking to humble some Civic R driving young dude.

Before I get too verbose praising the look of this new BIG Toyota, let's not forget this company's love affair with the look of the Terminator, as they have embraced this ugly front end in all their new cars.......

Whew! Distastefully distinctive. But as the rest of this car is so good looking, let's give Toyota a pass on that weird shnooze.

Say what you want about Toyota, they seldom put a foot wrong and with this new Avalon, they are showing that they too can hire designers who take pride in what they put on paper or a CAD program and subsequently into metal.

So get your order in and show your Camry owning neighbour that you have outdone them once again.

Until next time......

January 16: One movie, one car, the Bullitt Mustang

You remember that classic movie from way back in 1968. The movie that was good, maybe not great, but a ten minute scene in the middle of this film made it the classic it has since become. The movie, of course, was Bullitt, but what defined it was the classic car chase between a new Charger and a new Mustang. This scene set the benchmark for car chases to this day and to this day, although there has been some very good on screen action since then, nothing has been quite as thrilling as this good guy verses bad guy chase thru the streets of San Francisco. Even watching it on the small screen can give your stomach flips, as these cars bound up and down those notorious hills. That big motored Charger chased by Lt Frank Bullitt's modified 390 Mustang GT is still talked about fifty years on.

One more thing about this chase, it made a hero out of one of the cars. As nice as that Charger R/T was, it was Bullitt's gently modified Mustang that set folks' hearts to racing. Something about that beautiful dark Highland Green car, with the Mustang emblem removed from the front grille and those iconic Torque Thrust rims made this average car a big screen winner, so much so that one of the most anticipated intros at this week's Detroit auto show was a new 2019 Bullitt Mustang.......

Funny how that one car from one movie made such an impact. Good thing the car buying public didn't feel quite the same way about the Family Truckster in Chevy Chase's vacation movie. I shudder at the thought.

Was it the way Steve McQueen's character drove his classic ride?

Or was it the fact that it came out the winner? Or was it simply because it was a Mustang and this was a great car chase? Whatever the reason, this car made its mark so deeply that Ford has released several Bullitt Mustangs over the past twenty years. All in Highland Green and all with those mods which made the original so cherished..........

 All were and are limited edition models (whatever that means) and all have had their exhaust sounds modified to mimic that manual shifted 390 from back in '68. Whatever the reason, the debut of yet another Bullitt Mustang special edition sets enthusiasts' hearts a flutter. Maybe they should had unveiled it in a cardiac ward?

For any number of reasons, this Mustang has been loved for fifty years. Imagine if the original was ever found or if it even still existed? Well folks, surprise, surprise, there are actually two original Bullitt Mustangs. One was for stunts and one was for "driving". Both still exist and here is the stunt car as it was found in a Mexican junkyard not long ago and validated..........

Once restored (and judging by its condition, this will be a project), watch the auction action on this icon.

A thought.........maybe the Charger didn't become the anointed one, since something was slightly off about it. Maybe it was because it lost FIVE hubcaps during the chase?

For those of you just coming out of long term hibernation, you can check out this chase online, but make sure you catch the whole thing, including the build up to the real action. Looks like McQueen is doing the driving and he started to, then relinquished the wheel to more experienced stuntmen.

Love nostalgia. Love the movie? Love the Mustang? Got a cheque book? If you checked off all those boxes, head down to your nearest Ford dealer and get your order in. Time's a wasting.

Until next time.......