Luxury Car Companies Should Build Minivans
Posted on Jul 23, 2023 in Editorials | 2 comments
So I’m driving along the other day, and I get up behind this Toyota Sienna that looks like it has a body kit. And not just a body kit, but powder coated wheels, too. This thing looked like your standard airport rental Sienna had been turned over to the people in charge of making Hyundais appealing in their last model year before a redesign. It turns out that...
Read MoreThe Loneliness of the Long-Distance Lover
Posted on Nov 22, 2022 in Editorials | 1 comment
Steve writes: Mr. Bark: My lady lives 650 miles away. Most of the time I fly to see her, but over the past 18 months I have put 40,000 miles on my Ford F-150 due to the odd weekends where it’s too expensive to fly, I can’t board my dog, or I want to do a detour and visit my parents in Arkansas. What do you think is the best vehicle for frequent, long road...
Read MoreAutonomous Vehicles, Malicious Drivers
Posted on Oct 5, 2022 in Editorials | 1 comment
You’ve probably heard the news: An autonomous Google-Lexus brushed a city bus at about 2 miles-per-hour. There’s been plenty of discussion on the incident, some of it oddly hysterical, but most of it has centered on the idea of the future capabilities of autonomous traffic to operate in traffic as it exists today. In other words, from everything I’ve read, the...
Read MoreWhat Does the Wrangler Pickup Mean for FCA?
Posted on Sep 9, 2022 in Editorials | 1 comment
Two months ago at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Jeep CEO Mike Manley confirmed that the next generation Wrangler will spawn a pickup. No other official announcements related to the exciting new product have been released. But as TTAC reported in October (The Untapped Potential of Wrangler), the move was entirely predictable. And it was...
Read MoreReflections on Driving in Japan
Posted on Jul 21, 2022 in Editorials | 2 comments
A few weeks ago, one of Best and Brightest asked for my thoughts on driving in Japan. It’s not the first time the topic has come up. There were several comments in response to the series that documented the importation of my Town & Country, but I’ve been content to avoid the subject up ’til now. I’d like to say I’ve abstained explaining driving in Japan...
Read MoreThis Duesenberg is Even More Hideous in Person
Posted on Jun 5, 2022 in Editorials | 2 comments
The high-dollar-custom Ridler Award at the Detroit Autorama gets a lot of worthy attention, but real salt of the earth Detroit car culture can be found in Cobo Hall’s basement, The promoters bill the area as Autorama Extreme, and I always make it a point to check out the cars and people downstairs. There’s usually something worthwhile down there like “the first...
Read MoreSave Bacon or Save Face?
Posted on Apr 4, 2022 in Editorials | 1 comment
Isaac writes: Recently my family was sitting around the table discussing how my youngest sister will obtain her driving permit in a month to begin the wonderful process of becoming a licensed driver. The interesting part of this conversation, and the part I hope you can offer some advice, is when we talked about safety. Are modern cars too safe for beginner...
Read MoreThe Chiron-Sanders Effect
Posted on Mar 23, 2022 in Editorials | 3 comments
How about that new Bugatti Chiron? It looks pretty good to me. Better than the last one, anyway. I always got the impression that its predecessor, the Veyron, wasn’t styled so much as it was excreted. There was just something unpleasant about it; I think the term used in modern architecture is “Brutalist,” and it describes objects that are designed to force...
Read MoreChrysler 200 Demand Dries Up As FCA Tries To Clear 200 Inventory Glut
Posted on Jan 24, 2022 in Editorials | 1 comment
The plan was straightforward. With demand for conventional midsize cars gradually decreasing and buyers in Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. showrooms increasingly turning to flexible Jeep SUVs, Chrysler 200 production would be temporarily shut down. Inventory was piling up. Inventory needed to be cleared out. Rather than build more sedans, which would simply be piled up on...
Read MoreHow Automotive Payola Works: A Case Study Starring Wayne Gerdes and Volkswagen
Posted on Dec 3, 2021 in Editorials | 1 comment
When a self-described automotive journalist attempts a fuel economy record, you expect his attempt to be objective — or, at least, as objective as such an attempt can be. However, when an automaker is willing to pay that automotive journalist thousands of dollars for the effort, with payment possibly dependent on achieving the desired record, objectivity falls...
Read MoreWhat Is This Hongqi H7 Doing in Michigan?
Posted on Nov 25, 2021 in Editorials | 2 comments
TTAC reader Morpheus (who has an awesome name by any standard) sent in this shot of a Chinese limo driving around Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Hongqi H7 isn’t built by some neo-capitalist Chinese outfit, either, as the brand has been in existence since 1958. It’s also properly presidential. Hongqi (which translates to Red Flag) has built limousines for The Party’s...
Read MoreThe Tale of the Round Door Rolls-Royce
Posted on Sep 18, 2021 in Editorials | 1 comment
I’ve tangentially touched on the topic of this post, the famous art deco “Round Door Rolls-Royce”, before when discussing Audi advertising and some Detroit history. On my recent trip to Los Angeles to drive a McLaren 675LT (you think Jack Baruth is the only TTAC staffer who can swing the loan of a supercar?), I took the opportunity to visit the newly renovated...
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