Companies don't have ideas. The people that work for them do.
People retire, die and are replaced by other people with other ideas.
Nothing lasts forever.
Nobody's perfect.
No, TireKicker has not become the official journal of the obvious. I'm reminding myself how we can go from a 25-year string of absolutely brilliant products (virutally everything Honda built from the 1976 Accord onward) to the Honda Crosstour.
I'll usually recall my dad's car dealer friend Jim Ellis' words ("there's an ass for every seat") when considering styling and then default to a phrase like "a matter of taste".
But....no. The Crosstour is ugly. Not quite Pontiac Aztek ugly...but ugly. And with a blind spot the size of....well, a 1976 Accord.
I know BMW started the big four-door hatchback thing with the X6, but if BMW jumped off a building......
What's wrong with it? Well...let's put it this way...it's an Accord...with four-wheel drive, an open hatch instead of a trunk, the aforementioned blind spot, the aforementioned ugliness, and in the case of our tester a price sticker of $36,930....or more than 5 grand more than the bottom line for a loaded Accord EX-L V6 with navigation.
Would you?
Me, either. And, not seeing a bunch of these on the street, I'm guessing most people are passing.
If there is in fact a market for something beyond the Accord sedan in terms of versatility and capability, the best move would be to bring back the Accord station wagon. No, it wasn't much of a hit last time around, but wagons were at their low point in terms of appeal...there's a revival going on now. And the Accord's new larger platform could make for a truly useful machine.
This may be the first car I've driven where the name, if put on a badge, would be longer than the car itself.
It is the heaviest and most expensive Miata I've driven in 13 years of professional TireKicking, but I can't say I love it any less (for just how much that is, see last year's review here). And that's because Mazda is now doing the kind of magic that used to be solely the province of Honda.
Retractable hardtops, while offering security from knife-wielding thieves and a lower level of cockpit noise, usually add weight and cost and steal a large chunk of what little trunk space the ragtop version of a car has in the first place.
But Mazda has kept the weight gain to 80 pounds...lighter than putting a passenger onboard. And because of how it folds into place, it takes up less than one cubic inch of trunk space.
That, folks, is just plain brilliant.
Cost? Yes, it's more. In the case of the Grand Touring model, going with the PRHT (let's just call it the "retractable" from here on out) adds $1860 to the tab. And while $1860 is $1860, that's less than most cars charge for a nav system that will be obsolete by the time you need new tires.
So the starting point for the retractable Grand Touring is $28,400. Yeah, that's a chunk for a Miata, especially when the base Miata Sport softtop starts at $22,960. But here's what you get by going with the Grand Touring:
Run-flat tires
Xenon headlights
Automatic climate control
Advanced keyless entry
Leather-trimmed heated seats
Bose audio system
Sirius satellite radio
Bluetooth hands-free phone capability
Dynamic stability control
Traction control system
In short, a seriously loaded luxury Miata. And Mazda added the Suspension Package (a sport-tuned suspension, Bilstein shocks and limited-slip differential) for $500....which just enhances this real-life version of a slot car. Bottom line: $31,300 including delivery charges.
If you have never driven a Miata, you owe yourself at least a test-drive. They are addictive cars...delivering what the old MGs, Triumphs and Austin-Healys only promised...embarrassing the earnest efforts of the now-dead Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. If you've dismissed them as merely cute, or a "chick car", you're wrong, pure and simple. 68 percent of all Miatas are bought by men, and it's because they are the next-best thing to a Porsche Boxster at a fraction of the price. They reward energetic, involved driving...20 minutes on a winding road will put a smile on your face that will last all day.
Bloomberg and Automotive News are reporting that Ford is getting ready to wind down the Mercury brand.
Sources say the plan will be presented to directors in July. The stats make a compelling case for euthanasia...the brand's peak sales year was 32 years ago, sales have dropped 74 percent in the last 10 years, ad spending by 88 percent in the last four, and with the 2011 demise of the Grand Marquis and Mountaineer, the brand would have only two models, the Milan and Mariner, clones of the Ford Fusion and Escape respectively.
The truth, of course, is that those were self-inflicted wounds. While Mercurys have had an on and off history of being based on supposedly lesser Fords, there was a time when FoMoCo worked to make them different, establish the argument for spending more for a Merc, and in the process, came up with some compelling and iconic vehicles (helped a bit by Hollywood and the original Mad Men):
The movie "Rebel Without A Cause" starred James Dean, Natalie Wood and a customized '49 Mercury. It made such an impression that 55 years after the film, the cars are commonly called "James Dean Mercurys".
Flash forward 13 years and it was another Merc, also black...driven not by a teenage rebel but by a middle-aged cop. McGarrett's four-door hardtop defined cool.
At about the same time, some star power with four legs and a tail....a real-life cougar serving as the mascot for the new Mercury Cougar...a stretched, re-bodied Ford Mustang, but different enough to be percieved as a major step up.
But just as Mercury was finding its mojo, the party ended. First, Ford marketing lost the thread. Instead of a tire-smoking Steve McGarrett, they tried to sell the 1970 Mercury Monterey Coupe with a W.C. Fields impressionist (35 years after Fields' peak popularity)
And it got worse. The 70s hit and so did the fuel crisis. Practicality rarely makes for an exciting sell, even when one of the vehicles is a "sexy European":
As horsepower evaporated, so did the blue oval's willingness to do more than the minimum required to turn Fords into Mercurys. By mid-decade, the Cougar was an LTD II with a different grille and the ad agency knew that it would take the sex appeal of a not-yet famous Farrah Fawcett to move them out of showrooms.
And that's been the path since. Jill Wagner makes young men's hearts beat faster...
But not enough to actually buy the product. The Mercury customer continues to be a Grand Marquis buyer with an average age of 70 (which means half of them are older). And given what Grand Marquis have been for the last 35 years, that's no surprise at all:
As someone with significant Mercurys in his personal history...a 1956 Montclair and 1970 Monterey Custom Coupe (my parents), a 1969 Cougar XR-7 Convertible (my uncle's) and a 1974 Capri 2800 V6 (mine), I'm sad. But this, probably more than Plymouth, Oldsmobile and Pontiac, is inevitable. There's almost nothing left to resuscitate.
Of course, Pontiac doesn't really build the G8 GXP...it comes to them from GM's Australian division, Holden. But it looks, feels and goes like what Pontiacs from the glory days (1961-1970) spoiled us into expecting.
It's too late now...GM having announced that Pontiac's a dead division. The only 2010 Pontiac will be the Vibe...not because they'll just make that, but because it was an early 2010 model and has been on sale for months.
And GM's new boss (for now, anyway) Fritz Henderson, has repeatedly swatted down proposals from inside and outside GM that the G8 live on as a Chevrolet.
Let's just cut to the chase: This is the best car General Motors sells. It may be the best car GM has ever sold. It certainly is in the top 3.
Quality materials and assembly, an all-business 6.2 liter V8 with a six-speed automatic...it's a four-door GTO. It's the car domestic car buyers would buy instead of a BMW 5-series if there were such a thing as domestic car buyers who wouldn't dream of buying an import.
It's $37,610...and if you stopped right there and didn't order a single option, you'd still probably have the best car in town.
In fact, the tester I had for a week had only one option...a $900 moonroof that had I been playing with my own money would never have made it onto the car. It would have kept the sticker price under 40 grand ($1700 for the gas guzzler tax and $685 in destination charges add to that otherwise reasonable base price).
And yes, it guzzles gas...at least by modern standards. 13 city/20 highway is what the EPA says and they're probably right and it took a six-speed transmission to make it that good.
But folks, what we're talking about here is probably the last true American big muscle sedan. And after decades of disappointments, it needs to be noted that on the way out the door, Pontiac got it absolutely right.
GM built a reputation over the years (especially the bad years) of introducing cars that weren't quite ready and then refining them during the production run so that the final few years of a model were pretty close to perfect.
And, wouldn't you know it...the last Solstice is way better than the first. Part of it certainly has to do with the fact that the Solstice I just drove for a week was the GXP...the one with the 260 horsepower turbocharged engine. Yep, it's quick.
Plus, there's been some attention to niggling little details...the reverse-hinged trunk actually shuts on the first try now...ending the frustration of jumping out of the car, closing it again, getting back in and finding the "trunk ajar" light still illuminating on start-up.
Base price is $28,460...quite a bit more than a Miata, but again, more powerful, too. The tester was loaded up with a Premium Package (leather, steering wheel audio cotrols and Bluetooth), air conditioning (yep, it's an option), 18-inch chrome wheels, the Monsoon audio system and a rear spoiler.
Bottom line: $32,125. Not a bargain, but not bad.
And...this is a huge surprise...I beat the EPA mileage estimates by a large margin. They say 19 city/28 highway and in my mix of city street and freeway driving I saw 32.5 for the week. I've beaten the government numbers before, but not by so much. I wonder what it would've done if a six-speed manual were available instead of the five-speed.
It's not my first choice for a 2-seat roadster (the Miata wins that one based on handling, build quality and sheer fun), but if you've never driven the Mazda and love the look of the Solstice (and a lot of people do), now's the time.
The above could probably make a pretty good puzzle. You know..."find at least x number of differences between these two pictures".
Well, I'll jump straight to the answers. The top picture is the Toyota Corolla Matrix and the bottom shot is the Pontiac Vibe GT. And, apart from some exterior styling cues, they are the same vehicle.
Wait...what? Toyota and Pontiac? The same car? Yep. This is the current fruit of a partnership between GM and Toyota going back to the 1980s, which produced the short-lived Geo. The cars are built here in the U.S. (the Toyotas in Detroit and the Pontiac in Fremont, California, near San Francisco), using 61% American parts and 39% Japanese.
Essentially, it's a five-door hatchback version of a Corolla (which is why that name is part of the Toyota version). If you need a competitor to help pigeonhole the Corolla Matrix/Vibe, the Chrysler PT Cruiser is probably the one to think of: We're talking small sedans made more versatile with the hatchback. And the Matrix/Vibe, especially the new for 2009 models, are more fun to drive.
The Pontiac gets the edge because of little things like OnStar, 3 months free of XM Satellite Radio and bigger things like a better warranty. But it's not likely to break and the Toyota is likely to have better resale value, for no reason other than brand prejudices. Dealers can sell used Toyotas better than used Pontiacs, even when they're the same car.
Pick either and you'll get an EPA estimated 21 city/29 highway miles per gallon with an automatic transmission (inexplicably, the number drops to 21/28 with a stick), the same standard features and the same options, more or less. Base prices are within a few hundred dollars of each other (the XRS and GT are the top of the line and start around $21,000...you can get the base models of Matrix/Vibe for the low $16,000s).
If you've driven the previous generation Matrix/Vibe, test drive the new '09...both are hugely improved.
My driver's ed car in high school was a big Pontiac sedan...a 1972 Catalina...with a 455-cubic inch V8 engine. Just perfect for three not-yet-licensed 15 and a half year olds and a teacher with what may have been narcolepsy. Mr. Walkup's snore (usually about 20 minutes into the 90-minute class) was the signal to my best friend and myself (the third student was an exceptionally timid girl) to bury our right feet to the floorboards on the wide-open stretches of U.S. 395 between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, California.
That was probably the last big Pontiac you could do that in and have any fun. Emissions regulations, insurance surcharges and the Arab oil embargo of 1973 all conspired to end the horsepower party soon afterward. Later attempts to recapture a performance image usually involved red cockpit lighting and ill-advised amounts of plastic body cladding, but, as so many have pointed out over the years...there's no substitute for cubic inches.
Well, even Pontiac doesn't measure 'em in cubic inches anymore, but the 6-liter V8 (roughly 366 CID) under the hood of the Pontiac G8 will do just fine. It's 361 horsepower in a car that manages to keep its curb weight just five pounds shy of two tons. Plant your right foot in the G8 and it moves right now...with a solidity, assurance and handling capabilities GM couldn't have imagined in '72.
And while the Driver's Ed Car of Doom would have looked right at home in Grandma's driveway (white, with a blue vinyl interior), the G8 announces its high-performance intentions the second you see it. It's a taut, muscular look that some writers have compared favorably with BMW.
Like the not-quite-there GTO of a couple of years back, this Pontiac is actually an Australian Holden rebadged for U.S. consumption. The good news in that deal is that Australians never gave up building hot sedans, and that the G8 interior is way different from...and way better than...anything else GM sells stateside.
The really good news is price...the G8 GT starts at $29,995 and our tester, loaded with a premium package that includes leather, power and heated seats, topped out at $31,395...a bargain bottom line. It's ironic that the re-birth of the big American performance sedan comes from Australia, but after a 35-year drought, we're not asking questions. Go drive one.
12:53 AM
deli
