Recent Articles
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?
More Reason To Love Jennifer Love Hewitt
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via Zimbio ::: Jennifer Love Hewitt + Bentley Continental GTC
YOU can now add impeccable taste in motor cars to the list.
Above pictured is Jennifer Love Hewitt, lovely star of small and large screen, entering the driver’s side of a pearlescent white Bentley Continental GTC.
Seasoned veterans readers will note that celeb sitings are not generally done here -but- for the sunny Ms. Hewitt and her fine Bentley an exception’s due.
An endorsement deal in the making?
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.
And Now Your Automotive Moment of Zen LI
Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero Concept
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.
Das Mark Levinson Sound System. Sehr Gut, Lexus.
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube via LexusEnthusiast ::: Lexus LS460 Advertisement
AT least someone is doing ads classy these days. That having been said, ze Germans are getting better – what with Mercedes cheating death and BMW’s vintage-tastic Mad Men spots.
Matter of fact, in the advertising world, in general, you’ve got to say it’s getting better. A little better all the time.
Weighty Issue: Cars Grow Fatter. Cost More. Lexus Flagship Is Case In Point
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via Lexus Enthusiast ::: Lexus LS Generations
CARS are getting portly. No two ways about it, over the past two decades automakers have larded our rides with taller profiles, beefier frames, and stocked them to the grilles with heavy sensors and electronica that further isolate occupants from the road and add weight to the scales.
Lexus is no exception and indeed to highlight the industry-wide trend as an example, we can see that the current, fourth generation LS flagship takes the proverbial cake. All of it.
Consider that in 1990, the first generation LS400 weighed a moderate 3,837 lbs, measured 196″ l./71.7″ w./55.1″ h., sported a 250 hp V8 that ran 0-60 in 7.9 seconds and returned an average of 17 mpg.
The cost? Fully appointed – roughly $44,700 or $74,617 in 2010-era Greenbacks according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics’ handy dandy inflation calculator.
Now, adjust your cognitive settings to consider that the LS line has grown to include long wheelbase models, all-wheel drive variants, and for the top of the range, a hybrid battery, to say nothing of the added gravitas that the nameplate now enjoys against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, etc.
Therefore, the 2010 LS600h L sizes up to 203.9″ l./ 73.8″ w./ 58.3″ h., is propelled by a hybrid 438 hp V8 that sprints to 60 in 5.5 seconds and returns 22 mpg. Thanks to the magic of lithium ion batteries, the top of the line LS flattens the curb at a truly Bentley-esque 5,203 pounds.
M.S.R.P.? Starts at $108,800.
With hindsight, it seems clear that physical heft isn’t the only aspect that’s been larded over the years.
The Hyper-Focused Science of Internal Audio Engineering @ Mercedes-Benz
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Mercedes-Benz engineering
FROM a marketing standpoint, this video reflects very nicely on the obsessive nature of German engineering – upon which, as we all know, Mercedes-Benz has become such a household name. In-car acoustics is a big deal – particularly as interior cabin environs are getting ever more quiet due to the greater success of insulation and slipperiererer aerodynamics.
One point, however.
Rather than fussing over the exact decibels of how loud the signal indicator’s soft click-clicks should sound, why not grant the driver the option to customize to his/her own preferences?
After all, no matter what settings the committee of Benz boffins establish, in the end, the customer will always be right.
Ferrari 348 Review
Ferrari 348 TS Serie Speciale
BEHIND your head an eight cylinder chorus is channeling Pavarotti as it crests towards a redline of High-C’s.
-Vincero!
Off the throttle, exhausts crackling, you cut into a sweeping left-hander. Rear steps lively behind front. Tyres grip asphalt. Helm telegraphs everything while registering a meaty resistance. Corner’s dispatched with typical, mid-engined Ferrari poise.
- Si, Si, più veloce!
Back on the power.
An induction whistle! Like a turbo spooling – the 348’s chorus of eight breathes in deep to touch higher notes. Higher speeds! The tach races faster toward the 7800 rpm max. Snap ball-capped lever into third and torque takes you to triple digits and your furthest sight-line.
Nose lift’s perceptible and the non-assisted, all-natural steering lightens. Roof off, both the howl of wind and formula-tuned 312 hp V8 compete relentlessly for your attention. Your senses tingle. So this is what having fun while driving fast feels like? Gives sex on wheels a new meaning…
– Basta!
With 20/20 hindsight’s impartial lens, the world of automotive performance has long overtaken the 348. Indeed, when the world was new to the model, the Italian whip fell somehow short of expectations.
By the numbers: Zero to 60 – 5.3 – 5.6 seconds. Top speed – 171 – 175 mph. One owner posted claims online that his car reached 179 mph. Certainly possible. With limiter removed, a Subaru WRX STI can not only match that, it’ll arrive there faster.
There is another, more brutal element to the 348’s story that continues to plague 348 owners like Tosca’s curse on Rome. It’s an aspect that to this day weighs upon the 348’s legacy and, possibly, value$.
The story is that not long after Enzo’s death in 1988 and Luca di Montezemolo’s ascent, the new chairman had a mind to clean house and breathe fire back into the flagging sports car maker.
For Sr. di Montezemolo, part of mission critical meant trash-talking the 348. In a now infamous interview with Automobile, Ferrari’s boss dispassionately wielded a cleaver to a lovely limb in Ferrari lineage.
“[...] with the exception of its good looks I was utterly disappointed. This was clearly the worst product Ferrari had developed for some time.”
This despite the fact that the 348 succeeded the relatively simple 328 and was sold alongside the controversially styled Mondial.
Some years later, in an interview with Motor Trend, Sr. di Montezemolo expounded on his rationale for distancing Ferrari from the 348. Per MT:
He’d finished the World Cup flushed with its success and decided to reward himself with a yellow Ferrari 348. But just after taking delivery, he was beaten away from the lights by a Fiat Strada hatchback-the hot Abarth version admittedly, but an indignity nonetheless.
“So, at my first meeting as Ferrari chairman, with the MD of our road car division,” he asked, ‘How is the 348? Fantastic?’ “I said, ‘Listen, don’t say this to me because I’m a customer.’ I knew well the problems with the car, and I made a list of them.’”
That list included not only a lack of gusto (the first 348s’ 3.4 Liter V8 advertised 300 hp) but also pointed to a wooden gearbox, instability at high speeds, unyielding ride, and the 348’s bad habit of backstabbing the driver at the limit.
Stereotypical behavior of a temperamental Italian sports car, certamente.
Sr. di Montezemolo charged Ferrari boffins with extracting some Diva from the machine. Hence, this nero su nero 348 TS Serie Speciale.
One of one hundred 348s slotted for the North American market in 1993, among the Ferraristi this evolution of the 348 design marks something of a patch fix in the run up to the 1995 launch of the popular F355.
The Series Speciale compensated for stability issues with a revised suspension and adjusted aerodynamics. Stylistically, the slats over the rectangular tail lamps were removed, a chrome Cavallino added, a new grille in front, but the signature straked side intakes (“cheesegraters”) remained. To improve function and reliability, Ferrari added a new gearbox, Bosch engine management system, a Made-in-Japan starter, and, for good measure, a new AC system.
Ask Lane Baker if he’ll ever sell his 348 (with 40K on the clock) and he’ll answer you with a laugh, “This is my coffin. I’ll never sell it.”
Mr. Baker is an engaging car enthusiast.
An engineer by trade, he can list, point-by-point, the adjustments that he and other Ferrari owners have made to their 348s. He chalks it up to the experience of hands-on ownership and the bond between man and machine. More to the point, owning the 348 has been his dream come true.
“It’s my baby,” he confides. He shows pictures of the car being delivered off a truck all the way from somewhere west of the Mississippi and jokingly points, “it’s the truck’s giving birth to my car.”
Mr. Baker is an active member of the online forum FerrariChat. He describes the community of 348 owners as a “brotherhood” and notes that there’s a healthy rivalry which exists between 348 and 355 owners. In one instance, he recalls exchanging choice words with another member over acid remarks made about the 348’s design.
He and the 348 community are similarly vexed by Luca di Montezemolo’s remarks. It’s as though the full merits of Ferrari ownership are, in some important way, being denied them. Imagine Porsche execs publicly discrediting the 996 generation as a misstep in 911 evolution.
Inconcepible!
Which brings us round back to time behind the wheel. Fortunately for the 348, actions speak octaves louder than words.
After miles of piloting through corner after dip and straightway after onramp, you conclude that the 348 exudes a kind of charisma that only Maranello seems to procure.
The 348 is a monocoque bodied marriage of traditional driver-centric values and the first taste of technological modernization. For instance, press on the 348’s firm brake pedal and you have not only the value of true stopping power, but the added assurance of ABS. That said, overplay your hand and there’s no electronic safety-net to keep you from casting a line into the great unknown.
To wit: the 348’s from a golden age when you as driver are responsible for your actions.
Likewise, the 348 summons your active engagement, not passive participation. You cannot help but savor the machine’s Italian bravado which is matched by a technical finesse that’s absent in something so blunt as an American muscle car or so aseptic as a Japanese sports car.
Add to that organic character all the functional idiosyncrasies of two-decade-old Italian sports car design (entry and exit are a challenge) and what you have is an original car with genuine charisma. It’s as complete a package as one could ask for.
Which leaves you to happily forget 0-60 times and allow your senses to embrace the finest pipes this side of La Scala. The 348 and Mr. Baker’s TS Serie Speciale, in particular, represent in their fallible form, quintessential Ferrari virtues.
In the automotive context, there’s no higher compliment.
-Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! All’alba Vincero!
Many thanks to Lane Baker.
