2014 Knoxville Auto Show

                One unique tradition in the Automotive Industry is the auto show.  Most industries have trade shows that are open to the public and try to sell product in a large area.  However, auto shows happen all year long and take place in cities across the world.  This weekend I visited the Knoxville Auto Show and even though it was not a blockbuster international show like Detroit and Geneva, it was a great experience.  If you are in the market for a new car or will be in the market for a new or used car in the next couple of years you owe it to yourself to visit a local auto show soon.   There is almost no other space where a buyer can compare models from most manufacturers back to back. Keep in mind if you do attend a show that some of the cars on the floor are ridiculously optioned.  For example at the Ram booth sat a $50,000 1500 that was two wheel drive with a single cab right next to a $50,000 2500 with a Cummins Diesel crew cab.  If you are buying a single cab truck for that much I don’t know what your priorities in life are, but you need to change them.    

                I will mention the entire Volkswagen Group missed the Knoxville show as well as Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo.  After those disappointments my other let downs were pretty surprising to me.  The first let down was everything built by the Fiat/Chrysler Group.  I can forgive a Jeep Patriot for having bad buttons and switches because it isn’t a very expensive vehicle and it is near the end of its life.  The Dodge Charger and Challenger should have better equipment on the inside.  Their class competitors have all jumped a level beyond with soft touch materials.  I was also heartbroken by the Fiat 500 Abarth.  I really wanted to love that car.  It has an amazing exhaust note and a fun package.  Unfortunately, sitting in a fully loaded $28000 sticker priced clown car I just couldn’t justify that kind of purchase.  The 500L was a nice surprise though.  For a small car it feels huge on the inside with a great backseat.  The final car on my bad list was the Hyundai Genesis R-spec sedan.  I was thrilled to see it in the flesh because it is a relatively rare car.  I wish a 400 plus horsepower engine was enough but for that asking price I cannot deal with cheap plastics that I felt were going to break off.  Not when the similarly priced Mercedes are near perfect from the driver’s seat.  On a side note both the Hyundai and Mercedes had beautifully integrated ash trays.  I guess it is ok to smoke in your car if you’re rich.  The Mercedes E Class cigarette holder is better made than probably anything I have ever owned in my own car. 

                So enough hating, let me talk about what I liked from the show.  If I was buying a vehicle this month there are only a handful of dealerships I would be walking on to.  That list consists of Ford, General Motors, Mazda, and Lexus.  Don’t get me wrong there are nice cars here and there for every company.  I honestly loved a car like the Mercedes E Class that gets 45mpg that makes Prius buyers look almost silly.  I know Lexus isn’t building the prettiest cars right now.  They are making some interesting cars finally.  Lexus came to the Knoxville show to sell cars there is no doubt.   The brought the big guns of the LFA which isn’t even on sale anymore.  What I took away from every Lexus was remarkable quality.  Getting in a Lexus and shutting the door is like sitting in first class on an air plane.  My ears felt the pressure change with a woomph sound.  When that door is shut you are not just sitting in a car you a physically removed from the world around you.  The information center from Lexus was the best looking of any brand and very easy to learn and use in my opinion.  I was in a $36,000 ES and was confused that it wasn’t a $50,000 car based on other price tags from around the show.  Well done Lexus, I used to think you were boring and now I am a fan. Or maybe I am getting old?

                I may have a soft spot for Ford since they did have the brand new 2015 Mustang on hand and the new F-150.  I can tell Ford feels confident in these vehicles because they weren’t roped off away from the public.  Both were on the floor within spitting distance of their respective competitors.  I may or may not have done some inappropriate touching to the beautiful Mustang rear end.  I was also highly impressed with the Fiesta ST.  How great is this package?  Fun to drive, great price tag, better than respectable gas mileage and it’s a usable everyday driver.  I have a fear one will be in my garage before it is all said and done.   

                Hard to argue against buying any Mazda right now.  Well priced with great gas mileage and their cars can be used to carry people and things from one place to another.   Pretty simple concept but some car makers do not understand it. I am looking at you Smart.  General Motors has trimmed the fat for the past decade and the results are delicious.  With Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn now defunct General Motors is a real hit from top to bottom.   Everyone is talking about how Cadillac is not just trying to catch the Germans but actually surpassing them and I will have to agree I was green with envy standing next to their lineup.  SUV and crossover offering from GM were also top spots for me.  Lots of room and loaded with options and smart packaging and features will make a lot of families happy. 

                If you do not have time to visit an auto show on your own then please take my advice check these local dealerships and let me know what you think.  If you are visiting an auto show soon or have visited one then please let me know what you liked and what cars you’re looking to buy.  Either way have fun and I will see you at the show hopefully. 

It is so naughty

Lexus came to sell cars

A History in Four Cylinder Mustangs

                A new Ford Mustang is upon us.  Should you be excited?  Yes, very excited.  The key to Ford’s ongoing success is its heart and soul.  Much like Porsche needs to build a 911, Ford will always build three vehicles.  There will always be an F series pickup.  Ford will of course build a four door family car. And Ford will build a Mustang.  Ford has been building these three vehicles in some fashion for the last fifty years and no matter what trends and niches appear in the market place you better believe they will be building these three vehicles in the next fifty years.

                Usually when a car gets an update it met with either high praise or indifference.  Very few cars also cause controversy.  The Ford Mustang causes controversy no matter what Ford decided to do to it.  The biggest controversy this time around sits between the front tires.  A new engine is coming to the Mustang in the form of an Ecoboost 2.3 liter turbocharged four cylinder.   The rumored specifications sound very promising for this new Mustang.  Ford claims the new power plant will produce more horsepower and torque than the current V6 engine and gets better MPGs which will make CAFE standards happy.  Of course it doesn’t matter that this engine will produce much more power than even Cobras were pulling a little over a decade ago.  “If it doesn’t have a V8 it is not a Mustang.” That is what all the Mustang snobs are saying on the World Wide Whiners.  Why don’t we take a look at history before shooting down this new engine?

                For one, there have been several four cylinder engines in the Mustang.  The first four banger appeared in the 1974 Mustang II.  Not a memorable year for Mustang fans, because it stands alone as the only year a V8 was not an option for the Pony Car.  Similar to the original, the Mustang II was based on another Ford car.  Most the underpinnings for the Mustang II came from the Pinto instead of the Ford Falcon the original shared so much from.  Even though the Mustang II received high praise back in 1974 including taking home Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award, most fans tend to cringe at the 88 horsepower weakling.  Whether Ford fans want to accept it or not the straight four remained an option for Mustang Buyers for a long time.  With fuel prices rising and emissions being a problems for go fast fans, Ford did try to refine the four cylinder option.  In 1979 a turbo charger was added to the mix.  Yes hater the new Mustang isn’t reinventing anything. Ford had the idea back in ’79.  Power was respectable at 140 horsepower but the primary reason for this engine was fuel economy.  Still, in 1980 the most powerful engine you could put under and Mustang hood was the turbo four.  It remained that way until 1982 when the 302 made a comeback.  I cannot talk about four cylinder Mustangs without talking about the SVO.   SVO stands for Special Vehicle Operations.  The SVO was around for only three years and in limited numbers starting in 1984.  The first year of the SVO saw a power rating that equaled the V8 option.  Power did increase to 200 horsepower for the 1986 SVO.  That would bring an end to the turbo four in the Mustang; however, the naturally aspirated four cylinder would remain until 1993. 

                In fifty years of history the Mustang had a four cylinder option for almost 20 years. The Mustang means different things to different people.  Yes, to many it is a V8 powered straight line drag racer and those people can still get the car they want.  Many car buyers want a sexy coupe that is fun to drive but mostly nice to look at.  It would be nice if their sexy dream car didn’t drink their rent money in gas.  I am excited about this new four cylinder engine. I think it will be a big seller for a lot of buyers and not just those abroad that Ford claims will be most interested in a smaller displacement engine.  I think car buyers right here in the US of A will buy it up at the right price and if the miles per gallon promise actually holds some water. 

               

               

The Most Beautiful Car You Have Never Heard Of

                First thing you know about any car is how it looks.  Before manufacturer releases specifications. Before the press gets a chance to drive the car and well before the public can buy the car we get to see it.  If a car doesn’t look the part there is a good chance it will sit on dealer lots no matter how great it drives or how practical it might be.  Recently I got a chance to see a car that was not a major leap forward in sales or technical specifications but is an absolute beauty to behold.  The Weidner Condor is shocking to look at.  I saw this great example at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN only one of two known to still exist.  My first thought of the car and the thought of friends when I showed them pictures was it must be an early Porsche design.  With its round headlights and slanted back end, it is easy to confuse the Condor with a 911.  However, the 911 was introduced in 1963.  The Condor was released in 1957 at the Geneva Auto Show.  It had to have been an impressive introduction. 

                Even though the Condor was not penned by the famed Ferdinand Porsche, automotive aficionados might know the name of Hans Trippel who went on to design the Amphicar.  The Amphicar has to be in the top 100 cars of all time for all car lovers.  For those who aren’t familiar with the Amphicar, as its name entails it was a car that also drove on the water.  The Weidner Condor isn’t quite as radical as the Amphicar but still used futuristic building materials such as fiberglass and an all steel chassis.  Like other small German cars of its time the engine of the Condor was located in the rear.  The engine was a small 3 cylinder unit from Heinkel that would push the car to a top speed of around 80 mph. 

                Alright, so the Condor isn’t exactly a speed demon on the track.  The spirit of this car is the design.  The car has a real presence to it.  From a distance it looks a lot larger than it is.  This car is small.  However, the details make it huge.  The first things you see are the headlights.  Those Porsche-like units grab you and draw your eyes over the silky body lines.  You flow over the cabin to the sloping rear and then over the tiny little fins that house the tail lights.  So many cars we call beautiful share body lines like this but what makes the Condor unique is all the other features your eyes catch the second time you look at it.  Below the rear lights is a body color bumper that extends past the body.  Stand at the right angle and you miss the bumper all together.  I couldn’t help but look at the perfect curve the bumper takes along the bottom of the frame.  Does the front have the same design feature?  I run the front and yes there it is a beautiful bumper outlining the front end just like on the back.  I couldn’t believe I missed it the first time.  It is such an elegant feature.  I thought I was done with the exterior so I moved on to look at the inside of this red pearl.  The Condor wasn’t done surprising me.  I got stopped by the doors of the Condor.  It would have been so easy to just have put normal doors on the little coupe and never thought about it again.  The Condor is not a normal car however.  The doors are suicide style.  Suicide doors on a coupe!  Scissor doors wouldn’t have surprised me more.  After I got over the doors I did look inside and the Weidner did not disappoint.  Compared to modern cars the Condor looks very simplistic.  I personally miss this attribute of older cars. Cars of today have all the electronics and creature comforts but when all I want to do is drive I just want something unassuming in front of me.  The Condor looks like my perfect interior.  Just a steering wheel, two seats, two dials, and of course a manual gear box.  Is that too much to ask for?  I really hope not. 

                What resonates with me over the Weidner Condor is the uncluttered approach this car has to design.  Modern car designs are all about being busy and full of features.  Sales prove that is what buyers want.  The Weidner was not a sales giant.  Only 200 examples ever found homes mostly due to a high asking price.   Even with the low production numbers time has not been good to the Condor.   A car with this passion should be remembered.  No car on the road today has this kind of style and design.  I feel that modern designers could take inspiration from the Condor.  I know I was inspired just standing next to this very special car. 

Back at the Lane Motor Museum

I might have a new favorite spot in the whole world.   It is called the Lane Motor Museum.  Yes, I know I have written about it before but after a recent visit I had to share some pictures and experiences because it is just that good.  For those that don’t know, this museum offers the largest collection of European cars in North America.  It is a great place to go and see cars and motorcycles you will probably never see anywhere else.  My first trip, my heart was won by a little brown E-Type Jaguar but this time my jaw dropped for an ultra-rare Weidner Condor.  If you don’t know what I am talking about don’t fret I will be doing a whole blog on that car to go more in depth. 

Another big surprise for this trip was that I missed a whole exhibit on my first visit.  The larger vehicles and military vehicles of the museum collection are kept in a covered garage.  I am not necessarily a fan of military vehicles but this part of the museum was completely empty and I was left alone to explore these war machines from around the world.  Surprises did not stop there, however, because also in the garage was an E30 M3.  Now first seeing the iconic sports coupe my mind was asking why this car is in the garage and not in the main floor with the other cars.  It became obvious when I stepped up to the Bimmer and seeing a jacket and other personal effects, that this was no show car but an everyday driver.  My assumption is this car belongs to someone that works at the museum and apparently the employees are big E30 fans because a 318i was sitting just a few parking spots down the way.  Great to see cars like this out driving around and it proves the folks running this museum are true driving enthusiast.  On the back of the M3 was a tow hitch which I hope is used to trailer tires back and forth to the track.  Please enjoy the pictures and keep up with me here as I will be going more in depth about some of the cars seen here.

A Car From Space

The best looking car you have never heard of.  There is more to come about this Condor.

This MINI has a front and rear engine because two are better that one.

The MINI Clubman's Predecessor.

This is a Nissan from 1991 and it has more character than anything they build today. What a shame they can't make something like this.  

Rumors are circulating about a return of Datsun.  Based on this Fairlady, let's hope the rumors are true.

This makes me miss SAAB. (Tear)

A hybrid but not like you think.

It runs on gasoline and human power.

1965 Matra D'Jet 5.  I love how it looks like it's driving in reverse.

A pair of great European cars from the 1980's. A Lanica Delta HF Integrale and an Audi 4000

This one owner Audi would be my everyday driver if I could make it mine.

Mazda isn't the only to offer rotary power. This Citroen GS has two rotors.

Another SAAB Racer.

The Condor's Interior

The Legend

Subaru 360

The exterior looks great on this E30.

Everyone thinks they are the Stig.