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Nostalgia at Meadow Brook Concours

I guess Pebble Beach may be more dramatic, at least geographically, but no one does a concours d’elegance better than Meadow Brook in suburban Detroit. Just concluded at Meadow Brook Hall, the 1920s residence of John and Matilda Dodge, this event attracts many of the world’s great classic cars, as well as race cars, theme cars, concepts, and design cars.

The two best-of-show winners were a 1939 Delahaye 165 Cabriolet by Figoni & Falaschi, which is simply a knockout, and the more stately 1934 Dietrich-bodied Packard V-12 Sport Sedan—both shown here. Looking at these cars, one wonders where all this marvelous individuality and passion has gone. Up in smoke, as Cheech & Chong once observed.

The essence of nostalgia, I suppose, is looking back to an irrecoverable past and a simpler, more “classic” world. Well, Meadow Brook gives you that in spades, whether your nostalgia runs to ’64 GTOs, ’59 Cadillac tail fins, or cars like these, on the MB website.

Looking at these pix, I had my own nostalgic moment, remembering a conference I was part of years ago at Meadow Brook. The furnishings and details of the mansion are still intact, courtesy of Oakland University, and nothing I’ve seen evokes the opulence and style of the ‘20s more than this 110-room palace built for the widow of one of the Dodge brothers who founded an empire.

It’s the perfect setting to recreate, among other things, the contributions of Detroit to the history of the automobile. Some of this can be seen in the video below, courtesy of Freep.com.

Do our present cars - any of them - still have the kind of individuality and strength of purpose these cars do? Leave us a comment.

—jgoods

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What’s So Great About Muscle Cars?

I know I’m out of step with car lovers everywhere, but I’ve never understood the visceral, some would say Neanderthal, appeal of the muscle car (MC). Back in the days of the GTO, when young and old were talking Hurst shifters and hood scoops, I kept thinking, “What is this about? It’s still Detroit iron with a big motor that only goes well in a straight line.” I liked, and still like: sports cars, hotrods, and one-offs; Cadillacs, hearses, and limos. Vehicles, that is, with a distinct purpose.

Now comes a new generation of MCs that makes even less sense. The new Challenger, Camaro, and Mustang (CC&M) are getting all kinds of media attention, and people want to buy these dumb beasts because they either hold some quirky nostalgia for the ‘60s or mistakenly think of them as “performance cars.”

Taking a big engine and putting it in a heavy sedan chassis (with lousy brakes and handling) doesn’t make a performance car. Yet this same process goes on with the new, reskinned CC&M, at a time when Big Power is supposedly on the way out. The new Camaro (18 mpg, city) beat Honda’s Insight 2 to 1 in sales for May. How will the Obama administration read that development?

These cars won’t even meet government fuel-economy standards in a few years. An interesting article (the accompanying video is above) offers ways to get these behemoths into compliance, including lighter materials and smaller, more economical engines.

But I think the traditions of the CC&M are far too strong, and if transformed, they wouldn’t be anything like the same cars. So by 2016, the deadline date for emissions targets, they will die and—like their prehistoric forbears—turn themselves into pools of oil.

I know, you all love your GTOs and Mustangs. Well, how are they going to fit into the new world of global warming, oil independence, downsizing, and eco-transport? In fact, how are all of us car lovers going to fit into that world? Hit us with some ideas.

—jgoods

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Consumers want their Hummers…? Pontiac and Hummer take top spots on list of GM brands auto consumers want to survive.

CarGurus survey finds almost half (44%) of respondents want Pontiac to survive GM’s downsizing, and a quarter want Hummer. Few consumers care about Saab or Saturn.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 15, 2009 — CarGurus®, a leading online automotive community, today announced the results of its latest survey of 1,693 online automotive consumers worldwide. When asked which of the four GM brands they want to survive planned elimination, forty-four percent of respondents selected Pontiac, and 27% chose Hummer. Saab was chosen by 20% of respondents, and Saturn by only 9%.

“Pontiac has a trailblazing heritage – the 1964 Pontiac GTO is widely credited with starting the muscle-car craze – and its current G6 is the 20th best-selling car in the U.S., so I’m not surprised to see consumers vote to save this historic brand,” said Langley Steinert, CEO of CarGurus. “What did surprise me, however, was the relative popularity of the Hummer brand over that of Saab and Saturn. The Saturn Vue, for instance, is a top-50 best-selling car in the United States, while Hummer’s best-selling model – the H3 – ranks 153rd. I would have expected Saturn to be the other brand consumers wanted to see survive GM’s reorganization.”

Survey Results

Across the CarGurus Network, 1,693 respondents answered the question:

Which of the brands GM plans to get rid of would you most like to see survive? (Total Votes = 1,693)
Pontiac	44%
Hummer	27%
Saab	20%
Saturn	9%

About CarGurus LLC

Located in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, CarGurus LLC is a leading online automotive community founded by Langley Steinert , formerly Chairman/co-founder of TripAdvisor LLC, the 3rd largest online travel site in the world. CarGurus’ founders, board, and investors bring a wealth of experience from such leading web companies as TripAdvisor, eBay, Expedia, and Yahoo. For more information about CarGurus, visit us at www.cargurus.com.

CONTACT: Steve Halloran, Editor, CarGurus LLC
617-354-0068, x12
press@cargurus.com

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Sexy Convertibles

Today it’s raining, but as always, we remain hopeful in the state of Maine. And we are beginning to get a taste of convertible weather, finally. Time to fire up the Lambo, go down the dirt road, and get the mail.

I suppose that if one had $222,000 in spare change, there could be no better way to spend it than to own this machine. The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder is the ultimate sports car, with V10 power, flawless styling, handling, engineering, you name it. It’s far too good to drive on the roads of Maine, potholed from the winter. It’s for the corniches in Italy. For an interesting spread on the car, go to page 200 of issue 45 of Winding Road.

Okay, back to reality. For a bit more than $50,000, you can have a BMW Z4 with a retractable hardtop, six-speed transmission, and all the BMW goodies. The 35i version gives you 300 bhp; for $6,000 less, the 30i has 255 bhp. The company has refined the Z4 for ’09, with better looks and new engines. CarGurus says the ’08 has a silky smooth tranny and sticks on the skid pad. If you need only two seats, you’ll love it.

Now, to the more practical and still sexy. The new Infiniti G37 Convertible (with a very well designed Karmann hardtop) costs about the same as the Z4, but gives you a full back seat, gorgeous interior, and all the trimmings. Its 3.7-liter V6 produces 325 bhp through a seven-speed automatic or a six-speed manual. Scroll down to read the press release for its L.A. Auto Show debut. This is a car for the well-off woman of a certain age who really knows how to drive.

For the most unsexy convertible, we must nominate the Chrysler Sebring, butt of many jokes and barbs from car aficionados everywhere. Even though sales recently dropped about 70 percent, the Sebring convertible does have its fans. Unfortunately, for many of them it came to typify the problems that brought Chrysler down. Perhaps a new, leaner Fiat-Sebring will eventually be reborn on the order of the Fiat 500 with sunroof. And the sun will shine again.

Give us your Sexy Convertible nominations, and try to drive one this weekend.

—jgoods

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How small is too small for cars in America?

Drivers of large pickups and SUVs beware: The “bump bump” from under your tires that you thought was just an unfortunate cat could’ve been something far worse, though not much bigger - a micro car.

Though not yet as popular as in Europe, micro cars are all over the roads in the U.S., and their numbers will only continue to grow.

Some are genuinely worth a look, while others are just hard to look at.

Perhaps the most unfortunate small car is the 2009 Ford Focus Coupe.

focus-coupe

Somehow Ford engineers heralded back to the days of the 1990 Escort, and seem to have attached that back end onto the front of a modern Focus. Not good.

While we’re on the topic of looks, the hottest of the small car bunch is easily the MINI Cooper.

MINI Cooper

The Cooper doesn’t fall into the trap of having the odd proportions of other small cars. From any angle, it looks like a hunkered-down brute and is as cute as it is cool.

Speaking of odd proportions, though, look at the Honda Fit.

Honda Fit

From certain angles it seems way too tall for its tiny wheels and tires. Add in the bulbous front and a barn-wall rear and you’ve got a car that looks like designers forgot to shrink certain parts while over-shrinking others. Even so, I think the Fit is the small car to buy due to its peppy performance, high quality, strong resale value, and decent amount of interior space.

It’s impossible to write about micro cars without mentioning the smart fortwo, which has seen recent sales success in the States.

smart fortwo

At nearly 40 inches shorter than a MINI Cooper, I believe the fortwo has crossed the line into being TOO small for American roads. I’m all for saving gas and would even consider drastic measures to do so, but there are better ways than just making cars the size of a Tonka.

For those in the U.S.: Would you consider driving a small car? What European cars would you like to see here?

For those in Europe: What do you think about the small-car craze America is beginning to see? Are there any American cars you’d like to see over there?

-tgriffith

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As legal drivers, we need to trust teens to make the right choices behind ...

How will teens respond to Ford's MyKey?

Starting next model year, Ford will begin offering a new feature designed to limit the freedoms teens have while driving mom and dad’s car.

MyKey, as Ford is calling it, will allow parents to limit the top speed of the car, sound a continuous alarm if the seat belt is not buckled and even limit the volume of the stereo system.

The feature will be standard on some 2010 Ford models, beginning with the Focus.

I can see Ford’s strategy here of giving concerned parents a way to control the driving habits of their teens. And I agree with the fact that teens are notoriously bad drivers and probably shouldn’t be allowed behind the wheel until they are 17 or 18.

Considering all that, you might think that I’d sing the praises for MyKey, but in fact I despise the idea for one simple reason: trust.

The fact is, America’s legal driving age is 16. Whether I like that or not it’s the law. As legal drivers, we need to trust teens to make the right choices behind the wheel just as much as we trust every other legal driver.

I wonder if Ford has considered this little fact: teens are fickle.

Especially the group of teens known as Generation Y. If these teens feel a lack of trust from a corporation now, they’re less likely to give that corporation their business a couple years down the road.

When it’s time for the teens of today to make their first vehicle purchase, do you think there’s any chance that they’ll buy a Ford? The same company that didn’t even trust them with the radio controls?

This is potentially a huge alienation of the next group of auto buyers, and a real opportunity for brands like Scion to step up and embrace teens with a very simple message: We trust you.

What do you think of MyKey?

-tgriffith

1.9% financing for 60 months is available on Dodge trucks.

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