No resale value I suspect.
Resurrected
With all the talk about the concepts we saw in Detroit this past week, let’s travel back in time to the 2006 North American International Automotive Show and head towards the Aston Martin stand and the Rapide concept.
Ford’s then Aston Martin division showed a four door sedan essentially a DB9 coupe that has been stretched by 11.8 inches, built off the same aluminum VH architecture as both the DB9 and the two-seater V8 Vantage. It used a 480-hp; 5.9-liter V-12 engine mated to a ZF manu-matic transmission and weighed just 309 pounds more than the two-plus-two-seater DB9 coupe.
When Ford decided to skip out on Aston Martin the Rapide concept was 86’d. When the David Richards era started at Aston Martin one of the first orders of business was to resurrect the Rapide.
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A Hot Electric Car
Global Electric Motorcars, a Chrysler company, that manufacturers NEV’s, or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, might just have a hot property on their hands.
A GEM Electric Vehicle burnt to the ground yesterday on the University of California Riverside campus. UCR media relations were unaware of the fire and the campus Police Department said it could have been a test burn. Test burn?
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Volt Short Circuit?
Speaking to reporters in advance of his keynote speech to the Consumer Electronics Show a few weeks back, GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner denied that there have been glitches in the Volt development program. He said he believes that the company will deliver the plug-in electric vehicle to the market by its target date of 2010 but that there is “plenty of work to do.” The battery system seems to present the biggest challenge for the project.
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Hail Crown Victoria
If you own a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria you now own a little piece of history.
Ford confirmed that the 2008 Crown Vic, first manufacture red in the mid 50’s, will be sold only through its fleet network, mostly to taxi companies and government agencies.
Cross Wheel Drive
One of the interesting tech stories at the North American International Auto Show this week, that has lacked coverage, focuses on Saab. They showed off, for the first time, Cross Wheel Drive.
XWD as it is known is said to offer capabilities that aren’t available on conventional all-wheel drive vehicles. In addition to providing a variable torque split between the left and right sides of the car, XWD can optimize traction when a vehicle takes off from a traffic light, even in dry conditions.
Steven Shannon, president and chief operating officer of Saab Automobile USA told us that “The beauty of this system is that it does more than transfer torque from the front to the back. It transfers torque from side to side. And with Cross Wheel Drive, zero-to-sixty is going to be faster.â€Â
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Will Dino Return?
The picture above is of a 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS. The 2 and 4 stood for 2.4 liter and the number 6 stood for 6 cylinder. The Dino 246 was the first Ferrari model produced in high numbers.
This brief history lesson leads us to some European chatter about a successor to the Dino. Although Ferrari is denying the fact, a Ferrari rep in Detroit swatted me off like a fly when I brought up the subject; it appears the automaker is dabbling in reviving the concept of a smaller more affordable sportscar.
A new “baby†Ferrari could be based on a shortened platform of the Maserati GranTurismo which it will share with the Maserati GT Cabriolet coming in a convertible form with a folding hardtop.
I might be swatting at them at the Paris Auto Show if this car is as far along as many speculate.
I found this image from an independent artist that shows what the final production car might look like.
Keep Your Fingers Crossed
Let’s hope the Mitsubishi RA concept comes to fruition in some form down the road. This concept must be bleary eyed from all the photog’s flashes over the past few days. This is one of the true concept stars of the show.
Mitsubishi claims there are no plans to put this car into production. Yet in talking to the talented Dave O’Connell, Chief Design Officer since August, I heard – “The Concept RA points the way forward with what Mitsubishi might do with a pure sports car.†The “might†leads me to believe there is probably something in the works. A new Eclipse?
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CTS Fever
In a year devoid of concept eye popping, I’ve got to have that car mania; the Cadillac CTS coupe concept has garnered much admiration. The interesting story is how this concept evolved.
Jim Taylor the General Manager of Cadillac told us about the coupe variant of the highly acclaimed CTS. It seems the design team wanted to do a coupe even though it wasn’t in their design plan. GM management riding on the wave of success signed off and told the team to proceed.
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The Chinese Riviera
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Buick marketing maven Maria Rohrer stopped by the radio side to gush about the Riviera concept, one of the most striking at the show.ÂÂ
An important concept on a few fronts. Buick said goodbye to the Riviera some 8 years ago. A one time mainstay of the fleet, it might be an opportune time to resurrect an iteration of he vehicle while Buick is riding on a somewhat high with the popularity of the Enclave.ÂÂ
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