All Entries Tagged With: "50 Cent"
New York Auto Show In The Year 2008
By Gunnar Heinrich
OUR New York Auto Show segment is back online following its televised premiere on CPTV, the PBS affiliate for Connecticut.
For those who never saw it, this story (TRT: 10:22) takes the auto show through ADL’s unique perspective.
Rather than giving the viewer a dry recount of yet another auto show, we decided to give it the theme of one of New York’s fashion events. After all, the auto show is as much about style as it is about the brass tax of selling cars to an often indifferent public.
The segment covers events such as the Saab Bio Hybrid concept party,the Lamborghini Press launch of the LP560-4, and interviews with GM execs and Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez.
Enjoy.
Blaupunk’d
By Gunnar Heinrich
NEVER have I heard a stock in-car audio system that can pump up the jam quite as loud as the Pontiac G8 GT’s player.
German engineered Blaupunkt (of 80s BMW and MTV Pimp My Ride fame) has designed a system that, as the firm’s own website brags, puts “the advantage in your car.”
The player brings sheer, ear drum splitting volume with an 11-speaker system that amplifies and subwoofs to the tune of 230 teeth rattttling watts.
It’s loud.
Just how loud is difficult to convey in mere words. Cranking the volume as high it would go, I quickly vacated the car interior; slamming shut the door as if I had set off a bomb. In two seconds, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy started blarring distortion free.
The classic notes played so clear from the outside of the car I decided to seek further refuge. Chuckling deviously to myself, I retreated inside the family Benz (W124) 300E 4-Matic which was parked alongside the raucous G8.
From inside my Teutonic vault, I could still hear every note as the Benz’s floorboards vibrated with the thunderous base. Simply put the Pontiac’s audio system if placed in the wrong hands is sure to disturb the peace.
Q&A‘s on the G8 GT’s Blaupunkt:
Q: Is the G8 GT’s Blaupunkt as sophisticated in balance and nuance as the 300 watt Mark Levinson system optional in the Lexus IS?
A: No. But it does seem to be geared toward louder play – read: cruising slowly while pumping 50 Cent.
Q: Does the Blaupunkt system come standard on all Pontiac G8s?
A: Yes. And it’s a great selling point for the model.
Q: Is it iPod and/or iPhone or iPod Touch compatible?
A: The Pontiac site claims that the system features “MP3 playback” but I’ve yet to find the appropriate USB or even standard AUX port to connect my iPhone to it.
Q: Does the setup include volume and track selection controls on the steering wheel?
A: Yes. Taking a page from the book of Audi design, the G8 GT features accurate and tactilely pleasing thumb wheel gears on the wheel. The best helm mounted function controls made this side of a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
[Linked: Blaupunkt | Pontiac G8 GT Features & Specs Page]
Video >>> New York Auto Show 2008
Another Heinrich-Rogers production. Our thanks again go out to GM.
& The Crew ~
Chris Reo
Sound Guy Dave Baker
Tiffany Hopkins
Kevin Kusina
NYIAS Actually "Remarkable" For Pontiac Relaunch
Pontiac, Beta
Prone to carp and crow as the folks over at The New York Times are at present, the newspaper waxed unenthusiastic at the few original débuts that showcased at the Javits this year.
The Times pinned the blame for the failure to promulgate fresh product on the basis that, “crowded car-show [schedules] left many automakers played out, with little new or remarkable to unwrap in New York.”
Keyword – “remarkable.” Ah, so.
2nd Fiddle
It’s true that despite the show’s location in the media capital of these United States, the New York International Auto Show plays second fiddle to events at lesser destinations like Detroit and Geneva and as such is less a home to first round concept premieres.
That having been said, The Times’ editors managed to give precious few column inches to the fact that NYIAS was particularly significant for at least one carmaker (other than Suzuki) >>>.
Pontiac.
The division has for years wallowed in an identity crisis. Indeed, at last Wednesday’s press conference, Bob Lutz allowed that, “It was just five short years ago that Pontiac had no rear wheel drive cars, just one V8, and enough body cladding to fill Aztec.” That kind of funny talk seemed bloggish somehow…
Anyway, that all changed – dramatically – with the success of the functionally flawed but classically beautiful Solstice roadster. As part of GM’s invite to NYIAS, yours truly asked for and was granted three interviews with various Pontiac execs to discuss the Solstice (stay tuned for the videos).
The folks at Pontiac have since pushed that power envelope further with the introduction of the 6.2 liter, 402 horsepower (!) G8 GXP sedan – “Fiddy” should be getting his very own any day now.
Memory can’t recall a sedan from Pontiac so visually taught.
Couple those sharp looks with a hip and with-it marketing campaign featuring a NYC rock band called the Young Lords >>>, the aforementioned rap star, and a new TV ad that plays off the old arcade game “Spy Hunter” >>> (my personal favorite as a kid) and Pontiac is suddenly ready to be on the map of Gen X’s automotive lexicon.
Considerably less hip is Pontiac’s G8 based truck that looks like a lousy after thought. Indeed, 50 Cent himself seemed to have trouble pushing the ’09 El Camino.
Still for all the creative spark that’s finally hit the troubled GM division, let’s hope the youthful exuberance is here to stay.
