Autoblog

In 2001, General Motors needed a revival and Bob Lutz was anointed The One. It was widely accepted that if anyone could breathe life into a struggling car company, it was him.

Fast-forward seven years, and GM is in the midst of a possible government bailout while its stock price sinks faster than a HUMMER's gas gauge on the freeway. It would seem that Maximum Bob's legendary straight-talking reputation for taking no prisoners and slicing through corporate red tape hasn't produced the results his supporters expected.

So if Bob Lutz can't save Detroit, who can? Steve Jobs, that's who. At least that's what Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas Friedman says in his New York Times column. While some might be averse to the company, its products and/or its leader, Apple has made a ton of money while re-defining the computer, music and mobile phone industries. Isn't innovation what Detroit needs most?

What Friedman proposes is asking Steve Jobs to perform a "national service" for his country by taking reigns of one of Detroit's automakers for a year. The columnist has so much faith in the visionary talents of Jobs, he believes we'll all be lined up for a chance to buy a shiny new Chevrolet iCar. Or a JeepPro. Or a Mercury Lisa.

But we've heard in the past that Apple's CEO has been working for the other teams, so maybe Steve Wozniak could find some time in his schedule.

[Source: The New York Times via MacDailyNews]

Nobody blinked when Subaru and L.L. Bean hooked up. Or when Mercury and Nautica got busy. And remember those Levis Edition Jeeps? That actually worked.

But South Korea's Hyundai and Italian fashion house Prada? Ummm. Just a few years ago it would have been laughable, and possibly an enormously bad business decision for Prada. But Hyundai's gone all upscale with the Genesis and, in this economy, Prada's not nearly as picky about where it gets publicity.

In April, Hyundai will show one of three Prada Genesis sedans at the Seoul Motor Show. The other two cars will be auctioned for charity at the Prada Transformer, which is some kind of temporary building that will showcase art, cinema and fashion events. Whatever. All we know is that buyers of the Prada cars can probably expect some of the best leather seats they've ever sat in for probably the most money ever paid for a Hyundai. At least it's for charity.


[Source: Carscoop]

While sporting around the Southeast in Volkswagen's new CC recently, failure of the steering system was not something we worried about. Apparently, though, it should have been. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a recall of all 2009 Volkswaken Passats, Passat Wagons and CCs sold for steering problems. According to the recall description, a damaged capacitor could mean the driver's "steering input is not properly addressed." Which, of course, is hardly ever a good thing.

Luckily, the recall affects only 130 cars and has resulted in no accidents.

[Source: NHTSA via Edmunds Inside Line]


All photos Copyright ©2008 Chris Tutor / Weblogs, Inc.

The eBay auction for this 1963 Pontiac LeMans Tempest started out innocently enough. Obtained after owner died. Appears to have original interior but no motor, no transmission. Body has a little rust and some dents. There's stuff in the trunk, but no key to open it. Opening bid nine days ago was a mere $500. After one week, eBay seller 123ecklin will pocket $226,521 before auction fees. What happened between Day 1 and Day 9 is an amazing story.

The car's plexiglass windows, unusual suspension setup and a dash plate bearing the name of a racetrack tipped the owner to its racing history. But what he didn't know is that the car is one of only six 1963 Pontiac LeMans Tempest Super Duty coupes ever made. Hemmings recently did a story on the rare cars in which they listed all ever built. This one looks to have been driven by Stan Antlocer and was the fastest drag car in 1963 before disappearing.

Reading through the questions on the auction gives us reason to believe the seller truly didn't know the car's provenance. In his answers, he seems both surprised by the car's potential value as well as overwhelmed by the attention. He turned down an offer of $160,000 to end the auction early because he feared getting negative eBay feedback. That decision paid off. With only seven minutes remaining, the highest offer was $95,000. When the virtual gavel fell, eBayer ccsi2000 had bought a very rare, if a little rusty, LeMans for $226,521. Thanks for the tip, Trevor!


[Source: eBay Motors]

If you haven't gotten the automated phone call frantically saying that you desperately need to speak to someone about your car's warranty, consider yourself lucky. If you gave in and actually bought an expired warranty from these spineless telemarketers, good luck getting reimbursed for car repairs.

At least that's what several state attorneys general are saying. Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal says his office has received a "huge number" of complaints about the highly annoying and possibly illegal sales calls. Illegal because many of them blatantly violate the Federal Do Not Call Registry. Annoying because not only do they waste people's time, the extended warranties the companies are selling are almost always impossible to use, according to one attorney general. Connecticut, New Jersey and Iowa have teamed up to look into the sales pitches.

Unfortunately, the calls are almost impossible to trace since the numbers are spoofed. One number being used was traced to a disconnected phone in Nebraska that had belonged to an illegal immigrant who had been deported after a meat-packing plant raid.

If you've gotten calls from these people, you've probably already learned it's about impossible to get anything specific from them like a call back number, a manager's name or even the actual name of the business. We hope the investigation brings these alleged scam artists down. Hard.

[Source: The New York Times]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Black Deere smart from SEMA

Tom Mutchler at Consumer Reports says his first drive in a SMART reminded him of his John Deere x300 lawn tractor. Slow and noisy, but they both fit in his garage. Apparently, Black Deere LLC had the same impression of the little car and showed up at SEMA with one in John Deere's green and yellow livery. Other than being painted to match farm machinery, the SMART ForTwo Passion Cabriolet sports four air horns and an air-compressor powered truck horn. You might not see this thing coming at you, but by God you'll hear it. Unfortunately, we can't find out much about the car's customizer, Black Deere. SEMA's information lists an inactive URL and Google turns up only the story from SEMA.


Photos copyright ©2008 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

If you read the headline and thought, "Well, that's nothing new," you're partly right. Using microorganisms to turn plants into something you can run through your fuel injectors is otherwise known as fermentation.

But the microscopic bugs used in moonshine stills and distilleries are pretty picky eaters. They like corn, wheat, rice, etc., but throw a corn stalk or a few tree branches in the mix and they just turn up their little noses.

A group of researchers now say they have found a fungus living inside the Ulmo trees of the Patagonian rain forest that happily turns any part of a plant into fuel. It's called Gliocladium roseum (that's it in the photo), and researchers at Yale University are trying to find a way to put it to work churning out gallons of diesel. They're quick to point out, though, that's a long way off.

But there's another twist in the discovery. The researchers bring up an interesting question. If this thing can turn plants into what closely resembles petrochemicals, could they possibly be responsible for part of the Earth's crude oil?

[Source: Wired Science]

While it can be argued that the current Corvette is the best ever built, there are those who would say the C6 is, well, homogenized. Safe. Boring, even, at least in the looks department.

Christian Cyrulewski would be among those who are visually disinterested in the current Corvette. But instead of grousing about it over a beer or six with the local Corvette club, he's taken matters into his own hands and come up with the C3R. In his words, that stands for "third-generation retro Corvette based on the sixth-generation (C6) platform."

Christian's website is short on details but rife with renderings of a curvaceous custom Corvette based on the latest platform out of Bowling Green. Top Speed says Christian plans to cruise the Woodward Dream Cruise next year in a C3R prototype, and if there's enough interest, could offer a kit version of the car. Like your retro-styled muscle cars with actual muscle? Top Speed says Christian also plans a 427-powered version of the kit complete with side pipes. No word yet on pricing, availability, or, heck, validity of the C3R, but we'll keep ya posted.


[Source: Top Speed]

Thousands of soccer moms would probably argue that Honda's Odyssey is the greatest vehicle ever built. Well, the rest of us know that the Toyota Sienna is an equal, but both are still relatively boring.

Mugen has been making pedestrian Hondas more exciting for 35 years and its most recent project is the new JDM Honda Odyssey, which is a different vehicle entirely than the Odyssey sold in the U.S. Nevertheless, it could possibly be the most exciting-looking minivan ever created, "looking" being the key word there. For the JDM Odyssey, Mugen leaves its 203-hp four-cylinder alone and focuses mostly on the minivan's appearance. A new grille, new front and rear fascias, sporty-looking rear wing, side ground effects a line of custom wheels make up the Mugenized Odyssey. A sport exhaust and brake kit with slotted rotors are as close to performance upgrades as you're going to get. Nevertheless, it's still cooler than any minivan we have over here. Including the Odyssey and Sienna.


[Source: Nihon Car]

Hemmings reader Joel says when he first heard about the 1954 Corvette sitting in a pine grove for 45 years, he figured he'd find a fiberglass shell sitting atop the rusted remnants of a frame. He thought the early Vette might at least make a nice street rod.

But when he finally saw the car way up in the Colorado Smokies, he was stunned. Not only did the car still have its original hardtop, but the frame was rust free and the "original painted frame stamp from the factory is still on the frame and very much legible," Joel tells Hemmings Auto Blogs.

The story is that the car's second owner drove the Corvette to a friend's house in 1963 to have the seats re-covered. He replaced the driver's seat with a wooden Pepsi box and drove home where he parked it beneath the pine trees until Joel pulled it out.

Now Joel has a conundrum. After getting the car running again, he's totally ruled out street rod, but doesn't know what to do with the car. Frame off? Survivor-car preservation? Currently, Hemmings readers are unanimously recommending the preservation route, arguing there are already too many half-million-dollar frame off restos out there.

We've all dreamed about this happening to us, so how would you advise Joel?

[Source: Hemmings Auto Blogs]