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For Sale: The most Grand Wagoneer ever made {Autoblog}
Oct 5th 2009 11:17PM Of course with 160 horses under the hood, it'll be lucky to get out of it's own way. My gosh, the "normal" Wagoneer needed a tailwind and a prayer to get on the freeway.
But it's sure clean. Maybe Leon down at Wagonmaster in Texas will buy it!
BTW, this isn't the only one of these. There was a gold one that lived in Orange County until, at least, 2001 or 2002. Used to see it around and in Auto Trader from time to time (it's not like anyone really kept it long).
BREAKING: Penske walks away from Saturn deal, brand to "wind down" {Autoblog}
Sep 30th 2009 11:25PM Yet another reason to loathe Roger Smith. Saturn was an expensive, distracting and, ultimately, pointless project that diverted resources, customers, share of mind and attention from the other GM divisions without delivering anything that truly aided the overall mission of the company.
If the time, energy and resources that GM devoted to creating a brand from scratch, perfecting a plastic body technology that consumers mostly ignored or criticized and building yet another factory down in Spring Hill had been focused on delivering better product and, more importantly, a superior dealer experience within the framework of the existing GM brand set, we might never have arrived at the events of the last year.
Of course, if Pontiac, GMC (as a passenger vehicle brand) and Oldsmobile had been killed 20 years ago, when they started to slump and become parasites, this might all have been even more academic.
Autoblog Sunday Drive: Glendora Mountain Road {Autoblog}
Jun 29th 2009 11:30AM Spent many a day (and night) running GMR and GRR back in the 80s and 90s. Nothing more scary than hitting black ice on a cliff side corner, at speed, at night, with no guard rail, in an '82 Chevette with only the skills of a 17 year old driver. Not that it ever happened to me. ;-)
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy {Autoblog}
Jun 29th 2009 11:14AM Not too far off the comments of good old "Maximum Bob" a few months ago. (http://wardsauto.com/ar/lutz_break_testing_080829/)
Seriously, different standards have long kept a lot of interesting vehicles, widely available elsewhere in the world, out of the USA. It's interesting that in the 1950s, when the US auto market was many times smaller than it is today, there were far more auto makers selling cars in the US market than today. Why? Crazy, often nonsensical, regulations arrived at to satisfy some or another interest group.
Truthfully, in 1965 I could see the logic. There were a lot of safety innovations that were being mandated in the US that made for genuinely safer and/or cleaner vehicles. By the 1980s though, the safety gap was all but closed and by the time emissions regulations were standardized in Europe starting with Euro 1 in 1992, essentially there was no meaningful difference in the standards.
So, why do they persist? As others here have pointed out, there's a lot of bureaucratic "ownership" and self-justification issues in the way of unifying standards.
And, don't think for a minute that this is just us (the USA) being unreasonable for not accepting EU standards. Think back to the 1980s for a moment. Remember when GM, Ford and Chrysler said that the only reason Japanese consumers weren't buying US built cars was because of the non-tariff barriers the Japanese had enacted (like unique safety and size requirements)? Yes...utter BS then and utter BS now on the part of the US. Who are we protecting and from who/what?
Study suggests driving cars in video games could lead to more purchases in real-life {Autoblog}
Feb 10th 2009 12:00PM I was walking past a Suzuki S4X this morning and thought...gee, Suzuki US is really missing a chance to capitalize on having an Escudo in the US, even if it doesn't have a ridiculous wing and 1000 HP...
FTC debunks Hydro-Assist Fuel Cell, takes legal action {Autoblog}
Feb 10th 2009 11:47AM I actually watched a perfectly sane person with a long history of successfully building high performance engines fall victim to the claims of a scam like this one. As my father always pointed out, if these things really did what they said they did, the major manufacturers would be either buying or stealing their technologies. That they're not speaks volumes.
GM puzzled over what to do with Pontiac {Autoblog}
Jan 26th 2009 3:37PM It just needs to end. Wish it didn't, but it's not 1984 anymore and they missed their chance by trying to split the very thin lane between Chevrolet and Oldsmobile.
Kill Pontiac, GMC, Hummer and, maybe, Saab and there might be enough market share and marketing money to support Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Holden, Opel, Saturn and Vauxhall.
RWD Pontiac G8 will be dead in five years {Autoblog}
Oct 23rd 2008 4:53PM Pontiac will die. So will GMC. So too will Hummer, Chrysler & Dodge.
Cadillac - Top End, Premium (vs BMW, Mercedes, Audi)
Buick - High Middle, American Comfort (vs Lexus)
Saturn - Aspirational Compacts (vs Mini, Honda, Subaru)
Chevrolet - Traditional Full Range (vs Toyota, Ford, Nissan)
Jeep - SUVs Only
Scientists create mutant bugs that produce crude oil, unleash swarm of merciless killers {Engadget}
Jun 16th 2008 2:20PM I hear the argument being made here as:
"High energy prices are good because people will stop using energy. If poor people can't afford transportation or food, well, that's just a byproduct of our wasteful, harmful society. Maybe they'll just die and decrease the surplus population. Oh, all that and there's an evil conspiracy keeping the little man down."
Did I get that right? No? Really? Because that's what I thought I heard. Sounds a lot like some 18th century thinkers I've read. Of course, I could be part of the evil, transnational, imperialistic cabals trying to fill my pockets on the backs of the common man.
Just my 2¢...
Ford to invest $209m in South Africa for new Ranger pickup {Autoblog}
Feb 1st 2008 9:44AM So, here we are with Ford continuing to loose money hand over fist and pledging to rationalize vehicle platforms globally to be more competitive, less wasteful, etc.
Then they decide, hey, let's build a new small truck in a new (to this product, at least) factory and only use it in some parts of the world while the US progenitor of this product whithers and dies for lack of new news and improvements.
Does this smack of the same silliness that has kept the US dogged with the withering and unimpressive "new-old" Focus while Europe gets a competitive and much improved version?
GM is beginning to show some sense in this arena with good Opel designs being brought to the US, virtually unchanged, as Saturns.
It'll be interesting to see if Ford can still argue Americans aren't interested in a small diesel pickup if the Mahindra pickups prove successful.
