All Entries in the "PREVIOUS POSTS" Category
This Weekend: Park Ferrari, Take Piaggio
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Piaggio Aero ::: Piaggio P180 Avanti II
THE weekend’s upon us. So let’s say you live in New York and want to go chill with Barry on the Vineyard. Roadtrip? Great! And you just took delivery of a spanking new Ferrari 458 Italia – what better excuse than to stretch its nimble legs cross New England? Except for one bloody problem – traffic. Brutal, democratic traffic.
What to do? Well, if you’ve thumbed through this month’s DuPont Registry you might notice an advert for the Piaggio P-180 Avanti II.
It’s an unusual Italian prop plane with two sets of wings, aft-facing Pratt & Whitney propellers, and features a very slick fuselage that looks just like a jet from your wildest James Bond fantasy but – Piaggio claims – the plane costs a (sizeable) fraction of the price to own and operate.
Attaining a jet-like max speed of Mach .7, max ceiling of 41,000 ft, and a max range of 1,800 nautical miles, for the well financed traveler the P-180 seems to represent upward mobility at a relative bargain.
How relative?
An entry level Gulfstream with similar performance (though longer range @ 2,500 miles) costs $11 million to acquire to say nothing of the higher maintenance costs that are associated with planes powered by jet propulsion.
The P-180, by contrast, will set you back $5 million or so and consume fuel at just under 100 gallons an hour which is better they say, though it makes the 458 Italia look very frugal.
Still, what price to be above the weekend fray and with friends in no time?
It’s A Duesy! 1929 Duesenberg Model J Up For Auction
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img RM Auctions ::: 1929 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe
ARGUABLY, the peak of automotive art happened circa 1925-1935.
Free from modern constraint and truer to a higher aesthetic, some of the world’s most elegantly sculptured machinery was wrought during this historic period of boom and bust.
Duesenberg was the American pinnacle.
More cache than a Cadillac or Packard, more style than a Rolls or a Benz, Duesenberg’s Model Js were simply epic in both appeal and exclusivity. This particular 1929 Model J “Convertible Coupe” by coachbuilder Murphy appears to be a spectacular case in point.
Antique automotive mover ‘n shaker RM Auctions is offering this straight-eight Duesy for bid at Hershey (PA) on October 7-8 (2010). No details on the car yet, but a carefully restored or lovingly kept Duesenberg will fetch a quarter million.
What price, exquisite art?
The 2010 Mercury Milan Arrived Just In Time
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Ford ::: 2010 Mercury Milan
ANYONE in recent times who’s visited “their local Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer” has gone to look at a Ford or consider a Lincoln, maybe even look at that used Honda on the lot, but rarely, if ever, consider a Mercury.
In 2005, the Mercury Milan sedan bowed as a slightly upgraded version of the Ford Fusion and a no-tie-Friday cousin of the Lincoln Zephyr. The differences were minor and mostly cosmetic as was the difference between Ford and Mercury models across the line. Ford planned to produce a modest 25K Milans a year -not exactly a balls-out goal set nor a go-get’em-tiger message to the dealers.
Fact is, Mercury’s been an afterthought for far too long and Ford’s announcement that it will be 
ending the brand in October, 2010 is a retirement long overdue.
In a world of Hyundais, Kias, second-hand Lexuses and Acuras, tighter budgets, and sharper pencils, there’s no room for badge-incrementalist graduation anymore. No more Ford Taurus to Mercury Sable to Lincoln Town Car.
People want the Lincoln at the Taurus price.
Thanks to a global economy the Japanese and Koreans are offering them just that through models built with non-union labor, attractive financing and lease deals, platinum packaged pre-owned programs, and assertive marketing that promises that customers will never want for service or value.
Which is all the Mercury customer ever really wanted. Sad part is… the 2010 Mercury Milan kind of finally delivers.
The modified facelift that was introduced in 2008 and implemented this model year is, on the outside, a study in clean-sheet minimalism. It’s as though a little bit of Italian charm was actually injected into that front fascia – so devoid of typical, aggressive lower airdam and apron treatments as to suggest an almost a blissful serenity.
The inside is less Bauhaus and more of Mercury just adding quality to an originally drab space. That new center console with touch-screen monitor gives the customer a bang-for-the-buck that’s rare in cars that start at $21K. Maybe that’s the reason I’ve spied so many on the roads in recent months.
Did you know Mercury’s been winning product reliability surveys for years? Did you care? Nah, we didn’t, did we. Maybe you noticed Mercury’s easy-on-the-eyes spokeslady – but a pretty face on TV wasn’t going to sway you from your import, was it?
This post may come off as a you-never-miss-’em-’til-they’re-gone ramble, but, when Mercury goes and there’ll be no more new Milans – handsome sedans that uphold the entry-level end of a great American bargain – we may be a little sad.
The Challenges in Covering Peugeot’s 508
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img PSA Group ::: 2011 Peugeot 508
I’D like to talk both more and more authoritatively about the impending 2011 Peugeot 508.
Hotly anticipated by many across the Pond, Peugeot’s slick new midsize sedan features handsome design that’s mainstream enough to even find a new breed of loyal American customers – but – the Peugeot site seems to have tombé en panne.
Chillingly familiar to 80s Peugeot survivors fans Stateside, the dodgy site ergonomics and a “Bad Request” return on a link clicked reveal that Peugeot.com – the French car maker’s international English language web presence – has some ways to go to match up to rival car makers’ global sites.
Kind of like Peugeot, en générale, je crois.
Old Infiniti Q45 Ad Asked A Damn Good Question
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Infiniti Q45 Advert – Where Were The Cars We Were Promised?
AH, the Q45. The last of the luxury sedans offered by Infiniti before Nissan’s luxury nameplate went all bling and $#1t.
Pity that Infiniti never got the Q45’s formula of svelte, Japanese luxury for the American market quite right. Seems somehow odd, considering that so many agree that Infiniti design has since managed to nail the FX SUV and G coupe. The Q never did best the Lexus LS in sales, quality, or curb appeal, let alone match the cache of its Teutonic rivals.
But that didn’t stop Infiniti’s marketing team for taking a few jabs at their domestic competition at the turn of the Millenium. Where were the cars we were promised? is a straightforward US campaign and a direct shot at General Motors for all those far-flung space-age concepts that Harley Earl & Co. teased us with in the 50s and 60s that the General never delivered.
Needless to say, Infiniti marketing had a point. It’s just too bad that Infiniti Q45 wasn’t the car to deliver the way of the future.
The New Top Gear Ad Is Good. Very Good.
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img from BBC ::: Top Gear Advert
GOOD marketing is worth its weight in, well, name your commodity of choice. This ad brilliantly sums each of the Top Gear trio’s characters perfectly whilst being visually eye catching, bold, and you know, everything else you’d want an advert to be.
Richard Hammond’s made for speed. Clarkson’s got a tyre for a cranium. And James May, dear James May, he’s got vintage Jag XJ eyes.
So colorful and characterful, it’s like the Wizard of Oz for petrol heads.
Oddly Enough, The Ford Mustang Looks Kinda Bad Ass Without Its Face
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img ADLX ::: Ford Mustang in body shop
YOU know, in a kind of odd and strangely dark way.
Don’t know the backstory of how this late model Ford Mustang GT got de-faced. Not sure I want to know either. But when I saw this wounded ‘Stang at a local body shop, I felt compelled to capture its image.
The Mustang sans visage has a raw menace about it. Similar to the aliens from District 9. Almost think they should keep it without the fascia. Almost.
