2002 Toyota Celica GT - You Look Good. I Mean, Real Good

 

Hard to believe it's been eight model years since Toyota sold a new Celica in this country. If you're of a certain vintage, you remember Toyota Celica's being everywhere. The thinking man's, or woman's, Camaro/Firebird/Mustang as it were. While they lacked the grunt of American 2+2's, they made up for their lack of beans with a level of refinement and build quality that put "us" to shame.

 

 

Toyota's never built anything that was anything less than superb but like the world's best four head VCR, if the world isn't clamoring for it anymore, no matter how great it is, or was, no one's buying it. While the Toyota Celica was the best at what it was, the market for 2+2's and coupes in general, has all but dried up. Will it come back? Bought a VCR lately?

 

 

It's doubtful that market will reemerge.  Why? Well, cars today, the most plebeian of sedans and even some sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, are fantastic performers. A track suit of a car, like this 2002 Celica, offers little more than styling to lure today's buyers. Why wear jogging clothes when a pair of jeans will suffice? To make it compelling to buyers, above and beyond the swoopy sheet metal, today's sports coupes must perform at a level significantly above and beyond what a Camry (for example) can provide. Otherwise, what's the point? These cars are a pain to live with as daily transportation. Hard to get into. Poor visibility. Limited to zero practicality. Even then, if said 2+2 could perform at that high level, do you you really need a car that can pull .92 g's on a skid pad when the family wagon can pull .85?

 

 

Back in the olden days, when Celica's were everywhere, 2+2's delivered a level of performance you  couldn't get from ordinary family cars. You got to walk the walk along with talkin' that talk. And look good. I mean, real good.

 

 

There are several 2+2's available today and they offer a level of performance above and beyond ordinary cars. The new Ford Mustang GT, in particular, is absolutely spectacular. Ford sells about 70,000 Mustangs a year. Chevrolet pushes out about 80,000 of their tougher to drive Camaros (ironic). Chrysler moves 40,000 of their delicious Challengers. These are good but far from the great numbers of 2+2's that were sold 20 years ago.
 

Our teenage boys, those harbingers of all that's cool, think cars like this Celica fantastic looking. They swooned over our recent purchase of a 1996 Camaro, our "extra" family car. In its day, our Camaro could perform at levels far above what a Lumina could perform at. The Camaro is cramped, though, has a fairly stiff ride, is noisy, crude and is all but impossible to get in and out of without blowing out a disc. More often than not, of late, given a choice between going out in either our Tahoe or the Camaro, the boys will take the Tahoe leaving the Camaro in the garage.

Comfort 1. Cool, 0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cadillac - Not Just For Old People Anymore

Motor Trend's Car of the Year and a Car and Driver 10Best

I saw the new 2014 Cadillac CTS yesterday and thought it handsome if not "Euro generic". Apparently it's quite the thrill ride having received Motor Trend's Golden Calipers as their Car of the Year and a position on Car and Driver's prestigious 10Best list. I told my wife about it and all she could say was, "Cadillacs are for old people".

 

1989 Cadillac "Fleetwood", not to be confused with a "Fleetwood Brougham" (1977-1986). The Fleetwood was a front wheel drive automobile built off General Motor's C-body (or chassis). The "Fleetwood Brougham" was a rear drive automobile built off GM's D-body. The Fleetwood Brougham was renamed, "Brougham" for 1987-1992.

You can't blame my wife for her Cadillac perception. We both grew up with dowdy, frumpy "old" Cadillacs like the new for 1989 Fleetwood. If you think this is "old", check out a "Brougham".  While Cadillac has become the equal if not superior to any luxury brand in the world, there's no changing my wife's perception that Cadillac's are for old people.

There was a time that, "The Standard of the World", was more than just advertising shtick.

Cadillac's weren't always for "old people". Before World War II, Cadillac really was, "The Standard of the World". Renowned for engineering  prowess, innovation, craftsmanship, luxury accouterments and style,  Cadillac was sought not only by the well heeled but also by young, hip, taste makers. What happened?

In 1925, General Motors bought the Fleetwood Metal Company of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania to build custom car bodies for Cadillac.

At the risk of oversimplification, General Motors moved Cadillac down market to increase sales and reduced research and development dollars to increase margins. Cadillac became stagnant and lost the movie star swagger than defined the brand.  Ultimately, many of their target buyers, ever fickle, moved to more compelling aspirational automobiles from Europe and Asia.
 

Checking the "Fleetwood" box on your new Cadillac order form in 1989 got you fender skirts (or spats). Odd and handsome looking at the same time (the entire car's proportions are weird), the skirts did nothing to improve performance. They did, however, make rear tire removal difficult.

While those makes from Europe took many Cadillac buyers, those that remained loyal to the brand where left with fender skirts (or spats) on their top of the line purchase. Best of all, it's a Cadillac, after all.

 

Monumentally superior to the "Fleetwood Brougham" , the "Fleetwood" was no match for anything from BMW, Mercedes, Lexus or Infiniti.  



With cars like the new for CTS (and ATS), Cadillac has made a fantastic turnaround and is  remarkably, cool again. Cool in ways that transends what many think Cadillac is and isn't. Here's to hoping it stays that way.

 

For the record, my wife still thinks Cadillacs are for old people.

 

1971 Buick Electra 225 - What If?

 

"Alternate History" is the fascinating discussion of "What If?" Example, what if Napoleon's First French Empire was victorious in the French Invasion of Russia? What if the Axis powers had won World War II? What if the south had won the Civil War?

 

What if...the energy crisis' during the 1970's never happened? If there was no energy crisis would American automobiles have been downsized? Or would they continue to get even bigger? Hard to imagine them getting bigger than our 1971 Buick Electra. American roads are only so wide so its debatable that cars would've gotten wider. They did get longer when 5 mph bumpers got bolted on starting in 1973.
 

The sheer bulk of these cars is hard to fathom. There's so much size here, for no other reason than just to be big, that even drivers standing north of six feet tall had issues driving them. As a wee nipper in those now sepia toned days, the thought of driving my dad's 1970 Buick Electra was terrifying.

I woke up in the middle of many a night in a cold sweat from nightmares about being behind the wheel with my younger brother manning the gas and brake pedals because I couldn't reach them. Our brotherly communication skills needing much improvement. "Not the gas, idiot! I said braaaaaaake!"

Within a decade, these two and half ton monsters would be passed over by "taste makers" for more refined, and more expensive, machinery from Mercedes and BMW. 

That shift to European luxury makes accelerated by the two gas crisis' of the 1970s. Would the shift have occurred without the kick in the tank of those two embargoes? Yes. Unquestionably. The timetable may have been delayed five or ten years but that shift was to happen and for reasons above and beyond how many miles per gallon the Buick Electra Deuce and a Quarter could muster. Cost of a gallon of gas notwithstanding. American makes, like Buick, following Mercedes and BMW (and others) path to making better automobiles.

 

Some scholars argue that no matter what happened or didn't happen, what is "now" is the way that it was meant to be; good, bad or indifferent. Albeit with a different timetable. Europe and the United States being reunited ultimately. American automobiles, once again, becoming as good, if not better than anything else in the world.
 

1977 Pontiac Grand Prix - What is Love?

 

 

 

General Motors didn't invent the personal luxury car. They did, though, come to dominate the market segment with stylish cars like the Pontiac Grand Prix.

Experts divide the experience of love into three partly overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment.

 

The 1969-1977 Grand Prix was built off what was known as the GM "g-body", a modified GM "a-body" intermediate platform. Grand Prix shared the g-body with the Pontiac Grand Am, Can Am and LeMans, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Malibu and El Camino, Buick Regal and Century and Oldsmobile Cutlass,

 

Lust is the initial passionate desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen.

 

 

Grand Prix were known for baroque styling, luxury and to some degree and particular to the era, (high) performance. This Pontiac built 301 V-8, available as the base engine in 1977 GP's,  with only 135 net horsepower, not withstanding.  

 

Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual. 

 

 

Pontiac, somewhat whimsically, used Dusenberg vehicle model nomenclature to distinguish various levels of trim and available equipment. Grand Prix "L" (our subject car) was the base model. There was "LJ "for luxury and "SJ" for sport.  

Recent studies in neuroscience has found that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals. These include pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These chemicals act in a manner similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side effects such as increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. 

 

Insurance surcharges and federal mandates for safety and fuel economy, the latter necessitated by the 1973 energy crisis, eroded much of the performance of the Grand Prix. As a result, 1969-1972 Grand Prix, in general, are much stronger performers than 1977 models. A base, "L", in 1969, had a 265 horsepower (SAE net, approximately 200 hp net), 400 cubic inch engine.  Subsequently, values of earlier GP's of this vintage have much higher values today compared to later models like our '77. .

Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships.

 

 

The Grand Prix' interior was not immune to GM's notorious cost cutting. The interior of our L suffering from fake wood appliques and plastic injection molded bits that plagued interiors across the entire company. 

 

Attachment is the bonding that promotes relationships lasting for many years and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things like shared interests.

 

 

Pontiac sold 270,000 Grand Prix in 1977. Over the years, shifts in consumer taste have made personal luxury cars obsolete. 

 

It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxycontin and vasopressin to a greater degree than short-term relationships have. 

2014 Jeep Cherokee - Ciao Bella

  

It would appear that Chrysler, now a subsidiary of Italian car builder Fiat, has a hit with their new Cherokee having sold more than 10,000 of them since they debuted it little more than a month ago.

 

  

This new Cherokee, which replaces the Liberty, is built off a Fiat car platform and is as different from the Liberty as the Liberty was different from that boxy but good Cherokee it replaced back in 2001.  Once again what's old is new again. At least, in this case, as far as names are concerned.
 

 

Prices for the Cherokee start at $23,990 for a front-wheel drive "Sport" with a Fiat built, turbocharged, 184 horsepower, four cylinder engine and a nine-speed automatic. (Nine speeds? That's a lotta gears. My first car had two.) Ponying up for four-wheel drive will run $2,000 more but you keep the four-cylinder engine. A 271 horsepower, V-6 front wheel driver will ring in at $26,985. I suggest you go for the six. The little pain in the pump you'll feel is worth the extra boot scoot.

 

 

Our range-topping Cherokee Trailhawk comes standard with four-wheel drive and numerous upgrades to earn Jeep's "Trail Rated" fender badge. An off-road suspension with taller ride height gives Cherokee more aggressive approach and departure angles. Underbody skid plates, distinguishing exterior design elements and a seven-inch, reconfigurable instrument gauge cluster round out the package.

Cherokee "Trailhawk" comes in at $29,495 but that doesn't include this leather trimmed interior with baseball (like) stitching on the seats. It's really sharp. Figure another $1,500 or so for the hides. Along with the V-6, I'd get this interior too. All in for around $31,000 for all the bells and whistles, the new Cherokee appears to be quite the (relative) bargain.
 

 

The new Cherokee is a design, much like the new Chevrolet Impala, that's looks better in person than it does in photographs. It's difficult to appreciate all the of the Cherokee's nooks, bulges and crannies in two dimensions. Draw your own conclusions but I recommend you do so in three.  By the way, my wife loves it. Buongiorno Principessa.

The new Cherokee brings to light how far Jeep design has come in just over ten years. Duct tape and all.

 

Ciao Bella.

 

Porsche Carrera GT - RIP Paul Walker and Roger Rodas

 

When I heard that Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas had died in a wreck of a Porsche Carrera GT, it rang a bell.

 

 

Sure enough. A couple of years ago, a Porsche Carrera GT appeared in the back of the parking lot here at WGAR. I saw it from my office and from a distance of nearly 300 yards I knew that day we had a special guest. I grabbed my camera.

 

 

All Porsche's are special. The Carrera GT even more so.

 

 

 The Porsche Carrera GT was a mid engine automobile built by Porsche between 2004–2007. Sports Car International named it the number one on its list of Top Sports Cars of the 2000s and number eight on a list of Top Sports Cars of All Time.
 

The $400,000 GT is powered by a 5.7 liter, dual over head cam, 40 valve V-10 engine making 612 horsepower. It can accelerate from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and exceed 200 mph. 

 

Only 604 were ever sold in the United States.

 

 

RIP, gentlemen.  

 

1997 Pontiac Sunfire - I'd Rather Laugh With the Sinners

Nothing stokes buyers remorse more than finding what you think, at first, could be a better deal than the one you just negotiated. I found this 1997 Pontiac Sunfire for sale for a mere $1500 less than a month after we procured a 1996 Chevrolet Camaro for $3900. Oh, the pain. The pain.
 

 

What's more, the Sunfire has just 64,000 miles on it compared to the Camaro's 76,000 and it doesn't necessitate the compromises of the Camaro. Those being limited interior room, ease of egress, drivability in winter weather. Just to name several. We've had the Camaro just shy of a month and more than half the time it's been grounded due to bad weather. It's also sat stone cold at times because our boys took our Tahoe needing they extra room to pick up up friends. Wait, wasn't part of this process to have them not use the Tahoe?

 

 

$2400 is a size able amount and my mind flutters thinking about what we could have done with that cash. Have you seen our Clinton era dishwasher and fridge? Then I get a grip on myself. After all, we are talking about a Pontiac Sunfire. No matter what, a Chevrolet Camaro will also be a Chevrolet Camaro. Even the awful Iron Duke Camaros of the early '80s were still Camaros. A Sunfire? What is a Sunfire anyway? 

 



General Motors introduced the Sunfire in 1995 to replace the Pontiac Sunbird. Sheet metal and interior was all new and the car received significant upgrades to the chassis and body shell to make it  adhere to more stringent 1996 model year, government mandated, safety standards. Sunfire and its mechanical twin, the Chevrolet Cavalier, was available as a coupe, convertible and four door sedan. In full boil, Sunfire GT trim, Sunfire could blast the doors off our Camaro. More pain? C'mon. Again, we're talking about Pontiac Sunfire. 

 

 

Who bought a Sunfire over a Camaro back then? Even now? Those on a budget who wanted a little style and flash with their pragmatic purchase. In a lot of ways those kind, thoughtful, pious people got what they paid for. After all, Sunfire does everything right a Camaro does wrong.

 

 



I'd rather laugh sinners than cry with the saints.

The "Iron Duke" was a 151 cubic inch, in line 4 cylinder engine based on the 301 cubic inch Pontiac V-8. The Iron Duke powered base models of the Camaro and Pontiac Firebird from 1982 through 1984.