classic car

Tata, the company famous for creating the cheapest car on Earth, has been trying to break into the world scene for some time with both more microcars for their home market, India, and larger cars bound for the rest of the world. One of these larger new car concepts is the Tata Pr1ma, an attractive compact sedan with dimensions almost exactly like the Volkswagen Jetta. The company contracted the famed design house of Pininfarina to design the car, and the results were great. The concept was first shown at the 2009 Geneva Auto Salon, and it showed most of the world that Tata was a more formidable up-and-coming force to be dealt with, at least stylistically. If the Pr1ma was to come to the US as a production model, it would be a major force in the compact market. Though it doesn't quite fit in with the sporty econoboxes that make up most of the current US compact market, that is definitely not a bad thing. This smallish sedan gives the impression of a much higher-class vehicle, showing that Pininfarina design makes a big difference.

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.

  When we Americans think of Mercedes-Benz, a picture of an E-Class or an SLR Mclaren comes to mind almost invariably. Here in the gas-guzzling U.S. of A, Mercedes-Benz is a maker mid-size and large premium sedans, coupes, roadsters, and SUVs, but the picture is very different in Europe. Mercedes-Benz makes a total of four models that we don't have here in the US, and all of them are very different from the Benzes we know and love.

  Across the pond in the land where Diesel compacts rule the roads, Mercedes-Benz offers two sub-C Class compact cars, a compact coupe (an evolution of the demised C230 coupes that were offered in the US for a few years), and a minivan. There there is also the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and other commercial vans. Does the name sound familiar? If you consider the fact the MB was partnered with Chrysler, the truth comes all too clear if you didn't know already. Yep, our "American" Dodge and Freightliner Sprinters are really a re-badged Germans that avoided pesky taxes by being shipped in parts to the US and assembled here with the manufacturer of choice's badge slapped on the front. Ah, badge engineering.

  But enough about that, lets move on to the models that are sold as passenger cars, as the Sprinter is only a civilian car in a customized camper form. There are two compacts in the MB lineup that aren't here in the US, the A-class and B-class. The A-Class, a small premium hatch that comes in 3 and 5-door forms starting at a bad space-to-dollar rate of $21,453, is the epitome of a crowded-city luxury car. It has sold in huge numbers, almost 2 million since its launch in 1999, and if it was brought to the US it may become a toy for the obsessively rich to have when they're trying to look environmentally conscious. The problem, though, is that they packed the car so full of technical features for a car its small size that they met their price point way before they could focus on a full-luxury interior. The result is an interior that resembles the configuration of the Volkswagen Jetta with the leatherette package, with hard, but not low-quality plastics in some places and leather in others. The exterior, like some other Euro MB products, has not switched over to the new, more mean-looking grille yet, so it looks relatively out-or date from the front, even though a recent facelift made it more modern from the side. With power ranging from 140 to 193 HP, the A-Class is not something for speedy runs or people like Jay Leno and the Sultan of Brunei (though I wouldn't be surprised if he had one), but its more of a car for relatively well-off city-dwellers that can't stand cloth seats.

  The B-Class, introduced in 2005 and updated in 2008, is based on the A-Class architecture. It was originally intended to go on sale as the Base Benz in the US, but plans were scrapped for that and it is now sold virtually everywhere but the US, including Canada. The B-Class starts at $27,648, and like the A-Class it virtually dwarfs the price of everything else in its category. It's like a minivan shaped compact with regular doors, which MB calls a Multi-Activity vehicle, mimicking BMW's weird names such as Sport Activity Coupe for the X6. Interestingly, the higher-priced and larger B-Class has less power than its smaller brother, with rates ranging from 94 (!) to 190 Horsepower, which is at best 3 less than the A-Class' ratings. There's not much more to say about the B-Class because its essentially a more expensive A-Class with more space, more modern looks, and less power. The interior is slightly higher-rent with more leather and less plastic, and it has room for some cargo even with kids inside, which says a lot in Europe.

  Next up is a car you may know from a few years back, with the C230 coupe, a try by Mercedes-Benz at launching one of their cheaper models in the US. It started at around $25,000 in 2003, and they sold well for what they were, a cheap Mercedes-Benz. After that one venture, MB pulled the coupe out of the US and its now only sold overseas, where it is known as the CLC-Class. It now starts at $28,211 in current exchange rates, making it the cheapest and smallest MB coupe in Europe, as opposed to the $48,050 E-Class Coupe here in the States. There have only been minor changes since the C230 was taken out of the US with a minor refreshing including the new-style grille and wheel options, and the rear shape remains in its quirky half-hatchback form. The refreshing was to hide that its still based on the last-gen C-Class sedan, so the mechanical aspects of it aren't exactly thrilling and up-to-date. In fact, there is a new CLC-Class scheduled to be coming soon to replace the current coupe. The interior has leather as an option, but the overall quality is good. The horsepower ratings go from 120-268, a margin of 70 horsepower over the compacts.

  The last car that Europe gets we may not want at all. You see, this is basically a giant, boxy, Japanese-style minivan. Called the Viano, this van scraps the (insert letter here)-Class naming system, and for good reason. This is a completely different Mercedes-Benz than we know. I mean, how do the words "Mercedes-Benz" and "minivan" go in the same sentence? Yet again, it worked in Wisconsin for Buick, why shouldn't it work in Europe for Mercedes-Benz? Any Minivan that starts at $36,514 has to be luxurious and up to date, right? Well, according to Whatcar.com, it's very flexible for different types of families, with two wheelbase and three body length options, but "It's an expensive option, whose van roots show through in some areas. The engines are noisy and it's not easy to use the car’s full versatility, as the seats are heavy if you want to remove them." The horsepower ratings, though you'd hardly look at that in a minivan, range from 116 to 258, and of course the material quality is superb, but it's not anywhere near the most versatile and smart option in a minivan.

  When the new Bugatti Galibier sedan concept was revealed a few days ago, many people got the origin of its name wrong. They said that it was named after a mountain pass on the Tour De France. Essentially they were right, but what the car really takes its name from is the Bugatti Type 57C Galibier Saloon, basically the four-door version of the renowned Type 57 coupes. This car, though, was named after the pass.

  The similarities of these two cars is obvious. Both were ultra-luxury sedans based on production coupes. Both were less well-received than their coupe counterparts because of styling cues that were completely recognizable up front but were confounding in the rear. They both represented what the maker wanted to be the fastest, most luxurious sedans on the market during their time period. The original Galibier moved away from the sweeping fastback style of the coupes with a bulbous trunk. This style was badly received by the media and masses; many said it was tacky and ugly. The new Galibier isn't with the times, as it seems to be trying to correct the mistakes of the Thirties with the Porsche Panamera-esque rear fastback, which ends up having the same reaction as the conventional-style trunk of the 57C Galibier from the media and masses.  The new Galibier has the signature Type 57 line through the center of the car, which splits the rear window in two, though the old car doesn't, in its effort to keep visual difference from the coupes yet again. The Galibier concept also takes steps away from the Veyron; the lack of giant side scoops is obvious, as well as the rear setup.

  The general idea and reaction to these two Bugattis may be similar, but if you look at the statistics you can see that they are very different cars underneath. The new Galibier is bound to get around 1,000 horsepower from its modified W16, whereas the Type 57C Galibier had 160 from a straight eight. The new Galibier has four big turbos, while the old had one supercharger. The body is also very different. Not having to deal with modern technology like traction control and ABS meant that the Type 57C Galibier Saloon made use of common materials of the time for its body, but the new Galibier concept's body must be made of carbon fiber to keep the weight to under 4,500 pounds.

  All in all, the namesake and general idea for these two cars is the same, as well as the fact that their styling was ridiculed at the time, but they are very different in execution.

  I'm excited because I get the satisfaction of reporting this before Autoblog or Jalopnik, which I both sent tips to. I was getting stuff ata local gas station when a guy who obviously has a sense of humor pulls up in a 2001 Buick Century Custom. The catch? It had hybrid badges all over it! Each front fender had a GM Hybrid badge on it, which reminded me of a Rolls-Royce with hybrid badges I saw on Autoblog a few weeks ago. The car even went a step farther, with little 2-mode badges on it on a logo on the back of the car. I immediately snapped some photos and sent in some tips to a few major automotive blogs. But I still get the satisfaction of being the first to report on this, this thing.