classic car: December 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

What The GM Should've Done: My Plan For A Better General

Everyone knows that General Motors got it all wrong when they killed off many of their brands. Many think that Saturn was right to die, but almost all other marques could've been saved if GM would've made better decisions. I have my own version of this plan, in which only one brand is killed off. I think that General Motors could have kept almost all of their brands, and these brands could've been profitable. Here's my plan for every brand in the General Motors Portfolio:

Chevrolet: Get rid of all medium commercial trucks and let GMC take over that area of business. Focus the SS badge on real performance cars, not over-chromed econoboxes and sedans. Stop bringing in re-badged Daewoo cars from Asia, continue on the sharper design path that's been taken, and focus on creating a less confusing array of models. Make the Tahoe and Suburban less luxurious, sharper-looking, and more Chevy-like in general.

Buick: Keep going on more youthful design path, kill the Lucerne, and do not launch any Crossover besides the Enclave.

Pontiac: Kill the G3, G5 and Vibe as they are just re-badged Chevys, continue producing the G6, G8, and Solstice as sporty, more youthful Chevy alternatives. Re-introduce the GTO, but make it more visually distinctive than the last generation.

Cadillac: Continue producing sharp-looking luxury cars, make the larger sedans better-looking, introduce an ultra-sedan in the BMW 7-Series price range. Focus on marketing that doesn't make women look stupid. Kill the Escalade to make way for Hummer. Bring the XLR back and differentiate the technology a little from the Corvette, creating something more luxurious, if a little less muscular.

GMC: Turn the brand into the nameplate for the GM medium-duty commercial trucks, maybe eventually branching into large semis and buses once again. Produce no more Chevrolet copies, instead being the GM commercial vehicle brand. Also, take over for Hummer in producing military vehicles.

Hummer: Hummer takes over for the Cadillac Escalade as General Motors' luxury SUV maker. After giving control of military development to GMC, make small (H4), medium (H3), and large (H2) SUV options for the relatively wealthy and city-dwelling. Launch off-road racing team.

Saab: First of all, Kill every single crossover or SUV that ever crossed a drunken GM designer's mind. Then, continue making sturdy sedans, wagons, coupes and convertibles that pull you along like a motorized feather pillow (maybe not the best comparison, but it's all I've got). Make all cars more unique, as Saabs should be.

Saturn: Sorry Saturn, you're screwed either way.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Shameless Self-Advertisement: The Car Blog Store Now Open!

The time is here: you can now get The Car Blog merchandise at Cafe Press! You can get everything from shirts to mugs to underwear. Though it's a little creepy if you adorn your nether regions with our blog, the shirts are cool. Click on the link on the left of this page to go to the shop!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

First Annual The Car Blog Awards: Best New Automaker Honors Go To Tesla

It's no secret that The Car Blog is constantly gaining more and more ground on the Internet, and we've decided to introduce annual awards this year. We've been going back and forth with ideas for Best DIY Project, Worst Performer of the Year, and this award, the Best New Automaker of the Year. We were going back and forth mainly between Devon, Artega, Zenovo, Fisker, and our winner, Tesla. We had many reasons to pick Tesla as our winner. First of all, Devon, Artega, and Zenovo haven't made any production cars yet and Devon is based off of Dodge Viper components. This left Fisker and Tesla. We chose Tesla because they have had major sales success and made many gains in technology. Though the Fisker may look better in your opinion, the Tesla has made more strides and good sales, meaning they have a constant flow of money. For these and many more reasons, Tesla is our award winner this year.

This award isn't just about the cars, it's about the company also, so we will start our honors there. Tesla Motors was founded by the inventor of PayPal, a Silicon Valley programmer named Elon Musk. He quickly and efficiently developed the Roadster using knowledge he learned at Pinnacle Research and secured a $50 Million partnership with Daimler. Another honorable mention is Tesla's Chief Technical Officer, JB Straubel. With two degrees from Stanford, this Wisconsin native is a mechanical genius specializing in electric propulsion. He is one of the major brains behind the company's vehicles and the co-founder.

Now to the part that people care about: The cars. With one successfully-launched model and another on the way, Tesla has had no minor success for a new company in engineering and producing vehicles. The technology packed into these cars is frankly amazing. Tesla uses innovative packaging and new materials to make a lightweight, fast electric production vehicle that provides a driving experience unlike any other automobile on the market today. And the company isn't stopping at the Roadster. On the way in early 2011 is the Model S, and all-electric sedan with a 300-mile range (take that, Volt!) and 5.6-second acceleration to 60. And with the sales success of the Roadster, Tesla can pack even more advanced technology into this new model. Things are looking up for Tesla, and hopefully they will live up to this honor.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Asanti Also Has $2 Million Wheels, Which Nobody Seems To Know

As I picked up the duPont Registry I bought while grocery shopping today, I thought the same Asanti ad for its latest ultra-exclusive wheel set, the Asanti Black Series, would appear. As I paged through, I saw the same ad, but something was different. There were three other sets of wheels at the bottom, which turned out to be their uber-ultra-mega-expensive Diamond Collection. The base wheel, made of cubic Zirconium, was priced at $250,000, a quarter of the price of the wheel we all know of, the famous $1,000,000 Diamond/Sapphire wheel set that was displayed at SEMA and comes with a free Bentley. But there was also another wheel on the page, which hasn't gotten any of the attention of its $1 Million brother. The Asanti AFS 103 Series, made of nearly six times as many Diamonds as its brother with 1,200 Rubies sprinkled in, is priced at a monstrous $2,000,000! This is the flagship wheel set of the top series of the most expensive brand of an ultra-lux wheel company. In other words, Lexani makes Asanti which makes the Diamond Series which makes the AFS 103. These wheels eclipse their half-price brother to become the most expensive wheels on Earth. According to many reports, the Diamond Series is dead, but this ad in the January issue of the duPont registry tells otherwise. I wonder if it comes with two free Bentleys...

Monday, December 14, 2009

What Would You Do With a '32 Ford?

There's a new poll out today that will be going on until January. We are asking you guys to think of what you would do with a 1932 ford if you had the money to do exactly what you wanted. Are you a stocker freak and so would restore it to exact factory specs? Do you like 40's Bonneville-style stuff, making a period-correct salt roadster? Do you have the need for speed and you transform it into a drag car with no hope for road use? Do you rat rod it on a budget? Do you go the most common route nowadays and build a comfortable modern street rod? Do you drive a tattered car daily? Or do you have some crazy idea of your own? It's your choice. Vote in the poll now and tell us more about your dream '32 below in comments.

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