I don’t care about Toyota.  I haven’t for years. I’ve observed their place in the market and even expressed some degree of interest in a very small handful of their offerings over the last decade, but I’ve never really thought much of them one way or another. That may become a somewhat difficult assertion to defend after the next thousand words or so, but take my word for it.

See, many car enthusiasts care a great deal about Toyota. They’re the ones who take every opportunity to tell you how awful their cars are, how dreadfully overrated they are, and how lifeless and soulless and dishwasher-like they are. They tell you how cheap and how poorly-engineered they are. You want a Prius? This guy tells you to get a used Jetta TDI. Your mom wants a nice, reliable Camry? Tell her to get a Volvo! You like the old MR2s? Wise up and get a 944. You want a MkIV Supra turbo? Supercharge an old F-Body for 1/3 of the price.

It’s the same thing, you know, just without all that Japanese suck.

Continue reading Lord Byron — The Good Ship Toyota

*Logo Courtesy of NAIAS

“So you’re a journalist?” The question snaps me out of my hung-over trance. The landscape around Detroit Metro Airport isn’t terribly fascinating, but even the bleakest horizon is a welcome anchor for my primary senses while the parking shuttle trundles along as only domestic passenger vans are want to do.

I didn’t catch his name; my inquisitive chauffeur offered me a lift across DTW to the North terminal after passing me half a dozen times as I waited for the terminal-to-terminal shuttle—a brotherly gesture punctuating an otherwise inhospitable morning.

I don’t answer immediately. I prefer not to introduce myself as such, but I put the brakes on that particular train of thought before it blows a whistle that will further stoke the three-alarm Jack-and-Captain number that is still beating my nerve endings like bongo drums. Too deep. Too early.

“Nah, I’m a blogger,” I finally deliver in my most refined turn-that-freaking-sun-off-so-we-can-all-go-back-to-bed grunt. “I write for a Web site.”

“A blogger?” he responds as he pulls the shuttle into its  stall and hops out to retrieve my bag. “What’s the difference?”

I hand him a fiver I’d plucked from my back pocket on my way to meet him behind the van.

“Journalists don’t tip. Thanks for the lift; I appreciate it.”

Continue reading Lord Byron — NAIAS 2010. What’s it to ya?

For many ponycar fans, the most compelling variant of Chevrolet’s reanimated Camaro isn’t the big-money, nose-heavy SS model. The lighter, more efficient “high-feature” V-6 base car has captured a lot of hearts and minds since being released earlier this year, and although Ford’s revised 2010 Mustang meets or beats the Chevy in many areas, it was severely hampered by its thrashy, understrength four-liter V-6. With this morning’s announcement of a Duratec-powered V-6 2011 Mustang and a track-oriented Performance Package to match, Ford has made it plain that they intend to match the Camaro pony for pony — a stance that we can only hope they back up further with a new high-performance “Coyote” V-8 announcement in weeks to come.

The new 2011 Mustang has 305 horsepower from a thoroughly revised 3.7L Duratec V-6, allowing it to challenge competitors as diverse as the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Infiniti G37, and the aforementioned “Jodie Foster Special” Camaro. More details, including specs on the long-awaited V-6 Performance Package, after the jump.
Continue reading 2009 LA Auto Show – 2011 Mustang V-6 Performance Package: The Camaro isn’t the only competitor who should worry.

After several months of silence, it appears Penske has opted to retract his offer to purchase Saturn from General Motors.

Following a script so eerily similar to my earlier prediction that it prompted me to buy lottery tickets, Penske had planned to use the Saturn dealer network as a domestic channel for future distribution of Renault-Samsung’s line of rebadged Renault and Nissan products. In the interim though, GM was going to continue supplying some existing vehicles to the Tupperware Car Company through 2012, give or take.

So it’s so long to the plastic-fantastic arm of General Motors. Unlike Pontiac, we hardly knew ye.

Price has been a common theme of late in Ford product reviews. While impressions are generally positive (or even better, in many cases), The Press as a Whole just can’t seem to wrap their collective heads around how much these cars cost. Whether it’s the upscale new Taurus or the (apparently) stratospherically-expensive EcoBoost-equipped Flex, nearly every evaluation ends on the same note:

“This is a great car, but are buyers willing to spend this much for a Ford?”

In the world off loss-leader Escorts and Cavaliers (and even Focuses and Cobalts), that question may not be entirely out of line. But when you start dealing with family haulers of the tall and wide variety, the premise is not so solid. So how ’bout it? Are Americans willing to shell out $36k+ for a barebones twin-turbo Flex?

The short answer is yes.

Continue reading Lord Byron – Price Flexibility: What are we willing to pay for a domestic?

Mazda NA Ops pres and CEO Jim O’Sullivan confirmed the Mazda2 for the U.S. and Canada during a dealer meeting.

Mazda2/Demio

MAZDA CONFIRMS THAT MAZDA2 SUBCOMPACT CAR

WILL BE SOLD IN U.S. AND CANADA 
 

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Mazda North American Operations’ president and CEO, Jim O’Sullivan, confirmed today during a meeting of the company’s top dealers that the MAZDA2 subcompact, or B-Car classification, car will be sold in the U.S. beginning in late 2010.  It was previously announced that the car also will be sold in Canada, beginning at about the same time. 

“You’ve asked us for it for a while now, and we’ve been studying the market to make sure we can make a business case for it across North America,” O’Sullivan told the assembled dealers.  “As consumers’ tastes and attitudes toward small vehicles have changed, we now believe strongly there is a place in our lineup for a car below our current least-expensive car, the MAZDA3.  MAZDA2 will be true to everything that makes our cars stand apart from the competition: it will be stylish, fun-to-drive and a heck of a value.  In short, it will be Zoom-Zoom.” 

No further details were released at the meeting, other than notice that the final North American-specification MAZDA2 will be unveiled to media and the public at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.  Further information on specifications, content, pricing and on-sale timing will be provided closer to launch. 

MAZDA2 has been a sales and media success in markets around the world, winning more than 50 awards and being named Car of the Year in more than 20 separate countries.  Additionally, MAZDA2 was named the 2008 World Car of the Year, besting all other new cars around the world. 

Celebrating its 40^th Anniversary in the United States in 2010, Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers.  Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario; and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. 

In a recent column, I detailed my experience driving the Switzer P800 Nissan GT-R. This outrageously powerful vehicle was as fast as any reasonable person could possibly want… but there was something missing. What was it? Perhaps it was the frisson of complete and utter terror. If that little chill is what you seek, Switzer is now ready to provide it in their “P800″ conversion for the Porsche GT2.

Continue reading If 800 Horsepower Was Fun Before, Imagine It In A Car That Wants To Kill You!

Back on April 1st, an article appeared on NewsTimes.com claiming that Saturn had found a suitor.  While many initially dismissed it as an April Fool’s joke, Saturn of Danbury owner (and early Saturn insider) Todd Ingersoll was telling anybody who would listen that a deal was in the works that would assure Saturn’s long-term future. While Ingersoll didn’t come forward with the specifics of the deal or the name of the interested party (or parties), it seemed like an honest attempt at reassuring consumers that Saturn wasn’t a dead brand walking.

Weeks have come and gone, however, and nothing seems to have come of it. Meanwhile, the Pontiac and Hummer branches have been lopped off the future GM family tree, and Saab and Saturn have degenerated to sell or scrap status. While GM’s overall attitude toward a potential sale of the Saab brand seems fairly positive, the future of Saturn doesn’t look so rosy. Earlier estimates predicted the Saturn network would stay around until 2011 or 2012 — plenty of time to court new ownership — but GM is now saying that it’s on the chopping block for the end of this year.

So what is the key to Saturn’s future? It all comes down to Chrysler.

Continue reading Lord Byron — French Bread, Italian Spices and Tupperware

Forget the break-in period and suggested care instructions from the owners manual. When you have a hot car in your hands like the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, the first thing you should do is take it immediately to the drag strip. That’s exactly what the guys down at Hennessey Performance did yesterday as they got a baseline for their new Camaro build.

We’re heading over to the Hennessey facility on Friday to get some driving impressions before the Camaro begins it’s transformation into a 550+ horsepower monster.

http://www.hennesseyperformance.com/

Hello boys and girls! You’ve heard of the North American Car of the Year, right? Well, a fellow named Keith Griffin has just started up juried award called the Internet Car and Truck of the Year. Not only that, but he asked yours truly to be one of the twelve judges. Woo! Why? Keith will tell you it’s because of the quality of my writing. However the truth is much more likely to be the quantity of my writing, as I’ve written about cars for TTAC, Jalopnik, Autofiends, Autoblog, Motive, 0-60, ClunkBucket and of course Speed:Sport:Life. I believe it was Joseph Stalin that said, “Quantity has a quality all its own.” As you may have deduced from the name, seeing that this here is “teh internets,” the voice of the people counts. Meaning that not only will us 12 expert judges get to voice our totally enlightened opinions, but you — the lowly website reader — get to chime in with a vote as well. Fun? Wicked fun. Follow all the action as it develops on the website. Otherwise, I’ll keep you posted.