Tag: Cars

By Lloyd Frazier

Rediscover Ford. This is Ford’s new mantra. You will be hearing this a lot in the coming weeks and months. As Ford discovers that it needs to be…well… rediscovered. It appears Ford has found a web designer that knows how to really shake things up. Check out this link >>> The All-New 2009 Flex. The website is a lot of fun and informative of where Ford’s design team is headed in their future designs. We are seeing return to American innovation in the design of automotive exteriors and interiors. By taking cues from past designs, not only of cars, but of an appliance, if you can believe that, Ford has come up with a unique looking vehicle. More like a station wagon than a van or CUV, the Flex conjures up memories of things we remember seeing from our past, but can’t quite put our fingers on. The automotive aftermarket ought to have a lot of fun coming up with custom add-ons for this gem. I can already see a woody wagon kit complete with a surfboard rack! Ford will be offering a Vista roof upgrade to give passengers a sense of wide open space. I have seen a few mixed reviews of this vehicle. Some complaining of its boxiness and coefficient drag and blah, blah, blah. But what about Scion’s Xb or the rumored VW model that is similar to the Xb. It can’t always be about aerodynamics. This is a simple, straightforward, nicely laid out vehicle whose purpose is to transport people in comfort and enjoyment with a little retro thrown in. As everyone knows, you can’t please everybody with one model. That is the reason for a whole range of choices that automakers provide. Gee, what a concept. I think Ford has a winner with this vehicle. We will wait and see.

GM has been shaking things up in the quality department, Ford is headed for a quick comeback, and Press, former President of Toyota of North America, is shaking things up at Chrysler LLC. It is going to be interesting to see what is in store for us here in the US with the Big Three over the course of the next few years. What an exciting time to be living if you are a car nut like myself.

As my friends in Australia say…g’day.

by Lloyd Frazier

In Europe, small, economical personal transportation has been the norm for many decades. The post WWII era brought several cars to the forefront there. Economy cars were in high demand. The Volkswagen Beetle always comes to mind when discussing that time in world history. It had the longest run and was the most produced automobile for a single design in automotive history. It was still being produced in Mexico and a handful of other countries until 2003. The ‘New Beetle’, built on the Golf platform, brought about its renaissance in Europe and the US. The Beetle was the benchmark for American compact cars such as the Corvair, Vega and Pinto.

Excerpts taken from Wikipedia:

The Fiat 500 was patterned after the Beetle. The Fiat company launched it, in 1957, as the Nuova 500 and was marketed as a cheap, practical town car to alleviate congestion in Italian cities. It was originally powered by a 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine. The 500 redefined the term ‘small car’. Despite its size, the 500 proved to be enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe. Production of the 500 ended in 1975.

Click here for the 1957 Fiat launch commercial at You Tube: 1957 Fiat 500 Introduction

Fiat launched the new, retro styled Fiat 500 on July 4th of this year. The original 500 was launched exactly 50 years ago from that date. It has been an immediate hit in Europe. Voted the most sexiest car of the year over the Mini. The 2008 Fiat 500 is expected to sell out through the end of next year due to its limited production. The car is offered with engines delivering between 59 and 100 horsepower. A range-topping 150 horsepower model has also been rumored. That rating would likely be the most popular model in the US. The next burning question is whether the US market will see this little Italian wonder car. You might see the Fiat 500 in Alfa Romeo showrooms in 2010. Americans are starting to sit up and take notice of the compact car market due to rising prices at the pump. There are a already plethora of Asian derivatives. The Mini is taking the country by storm. Daimler is set to release the Smart Four-Two soon, with many folks plunking down a $99 down payment for the privilege of being the first to park one in their garage’s. Now is the perfect time for Fiat to hit the pavement running with this awesome looking little sub-compact. It is a perfect storm for this market. I can’t wait to see one in a showroom near me!

Lloyd, signing out…

By Lloyd Frazier

If you have been reading my posts for some time, you will remember I wrote one up about the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in a time capsule in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 50 year anniversary is this Friday, at June 15th at 7pm. The TV station, KOTV in Tulsa, is providing a live streaming feed. Click here>> 1957 Plymouth unearthing.

According to reports, the concrete vault that the car was placed in failed and water leaked in. It appears water had filled the vault completely at one time. The car is wrapped in plastic and canvas. There was even a 10 gallon can of gas and some oil in case internal combustion engines were obsolete in 2007. Obviously, folks were optimistic back then by thinking we would have been beyond the gas habit by now.

Lloyd, signing out…

By Lloyd Frazier

The Malibu has been a mainstay for Chevrolet for over 43 years. The first model was introduced in 1964 as the Chevelle. The Malibu designation was the top trim level of the Chevelle line. The Chevelle name was dropped entirely after 1977. The Chevelle was one of the most successful cars in the GM line. Only topped by the Impala in total sales. There were three generations of the Malibu before that nameplate was dropped:

1964-1972

1973-1977

1978-1983

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In 1984, the Chevrolet Celebrity and Corsica models replaced the Malibu in that model’s segment. The Mailibu was resurrected as a brand new model in 1997. It was built on the new front-wheel drive N platform that was shared by the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Achieva and Alero, and the Pontiac Grand Am. The Malibu lived on this new platform through the 2003 model year.

1997-2003

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In 2004 GM rolled out the new Epsilon platform. The prominent chrome bar that ran through the middle of the the front grille was supposed to resemble the Chevy trucks. It was not a very popular design. That was changed for 2006. An SS model was added that year.

2004-2007

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The 6th generation, 2008 Chevrolet Mailbu, sets on a very much improved 2nd generation epsilon platform that it shares with the Saturn Aura and the Pontiac G6. GM will offer a Ecotec 164 hp, 2.4 L I4 and a 252 hp, 3.6 LV6 with variable valve timing. The trim levels stay the same: LS, LT and LTZ. This year will be different for transmission offerings. There will be a 6-speed automatic available on all trim levels that have the V6 engine. Only the 4-cylinder LTZ will offer the 6-speed. The other trim level 4-cylinders will have a 4-speed automatic. No manual transmission is available at this time. The V6 model will offer paddle shifters and dual chrome exhaust ports. EPA highway ratings should be around 26 mpg for the V6 and 31 mpg for the inline 4-cylinder. This gets the new Mailbu into the “over 30 mpg on the highway” club. A lot of great safety equipment is standard including head-curtain side airbags, front seat mounted thorax protection airbags, electronic stability control and panic brake assistance. What really sets this new Malibu apart from its past siblings is the upscale interior. The General is doing away with the low grade plastic parts and replacing it with a new ‘skin over form’ type technology. This promises a much better fit and finish, high quality tactile touch/feel to it. A two-tone scheme in several different color combinations are availble to really set-off the high class look of this great new vehicle.Take a look, below, at the pictures we captured at the Denver Auto Show. Notice the nicely done interior. I wish we were able to actually do a touchy feely with this car, but it was hands-off. I am not sure why since it appears to be ready for prime time. At least it should be since it will be released this October. The large bulging front end with the oversized headlight assembly gives the car a very distinctive look. The new Chevy theme with the single bar through the middle will be showing up on other models in the future. Cobalt and Aveo already sport the design. The rear end shows off the large, prominent taillight assembly. The round lamp design is all Chevy. If you look at the last picture close enough, you can see the Chevy bowtie right smack in the middle of the left lense piece. It is hard to see with the lower resolution pictures I have for this blog. In the high resolution pics you can see it. This car will definitely give Toyota and Honda pause. With the 2007 Ford Fusion and Chevy Malibu sharing space with them in this segment, it will definitely cause folks to seriously take a look at the domestics. Price, quality, reliability, mpg ratings, fit and finish are neck and neck with the Asian market now. Is this segment too crowded? Will it become more competitive? With gas prices continuing is upward spiral, this segment, along with the compacts, are probably going to see increased sales. Let us only hope. Go GM and Ford!!

Interior

Front

Rear

By Lloyd Frazier

My first time out to the Denver Auto Show was a good experience. There was not a lot of concept vehicles. Only the domestics had concepts on display. There was quite a bit of buzz around the Camaro concept. It was a racy red color with smoked glass all around (which I suspect was hiding the interior since it probably hasn’t been finalized) and some awesome wheels and tires. The attractive General Motors info-babe, in the tight black pants and short waisted jacket, who was giving us the scoop on this great looking car, stated that it will be released in the 2nd quarter of 2008 as a 2009 model. That is just around the corner folks! Let me tell ya that men where weeping, women were fainting, and young boys were drooling over this car. American design

Frontal view:
Notice the ’69 influence in the egg crate grille. But that is where the old school design cues stop. The headlight fixtures are definitely new school. There is a crystal white LED glow surrounding the headlamp area. LED technology is also apparent with the amber section enveloping the same area. The menacing grimace on the front facia and grille remind you that you better not mess with this Camaro unless you expect to get yer tail whipped. The bugling hood hints that there is a large, rumbling, muscular presence hidden underneath to back up that grimace. I have seen plenty of pictures showing this car in a silver metallic that did not do it justice. The red really sets off the the details in this awesome car.
Rear view:
The concept shows with 18″ wheels in front and 20″ in rear. I don’t know how much of that design will actually make it into the final production release. From the rear view you can see that the bulging hind quarters perfectly envelop the large rear wheels. The picture below reveals the two exhaust ports handsomely outlined with chrome accents and inserted into a flat black rear piece to highlight it. The tail lamps are definitely Chevy. The dual light configuration brings back memories of the ’69, but with a semi-circle design that looks sorta like the Corvette, but not really. This gives it a distinctive appearance all of its own.

There are some other details that set this car off. Notice the vents in front of the rear wheels. I am not sure if these are actually functional rear brake vents or just for show.

The factory wheels are very nice indeed.