All Entries Tagged With: "ADL NEWS"
Glance In The Rearview: Automobiles De Luxe in 2010
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img ADLX ::: Automobiles De Luxe in 2010
IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times. With moments to look back on Automobiles De Luxe’s fifth year, it’s nigh impossible to mention everything that occurred – yet – here are a few stories that stood apart.
Automobiles De Luxe on CPTV Tonight From 6-7PM
By Gunnar Heinrich
AIRING back to back from six to seven tonight, Sunday, May 10th, Automobiles De Luxe is on WEDH, WEDN, and WEDW – the three glamorous stations for CPTV, the Nutmeg State’s PBS member station.
Just in time for Mum’s Day…
- About CPTV -
CPTV and WNPR serve the entire state of Connecticut–reaching an estimated 750,000 television viewers and more than 180,000 radio listeners each week. The company operates with a $20 million annual budget, funded in large part through community support from individuals, corporations and foundations.
CPTV and WNPR’s community-supported, statewide public broadcasting networks are dedicated to serving diverse communities with a mix of educational, news, public affairs, children’s, and entertainment programming and services.
U.S. News & World Report Finds Some Worth In Automobiles De Luxe
Louis Blériot must have felt similarly.
By Gunnar Heinrich
HATS off to Kimberly Castro.
Ms. Castro is deputy business editor of U.S. News & World Report and writes the magazine’s Luxe Life page.
It’s always wonderful having an appreciative light cast on your efforts. But for us web folk it’s especially thrilling when members of the traditional press give us credit.
In this case, it was the new arm of the Fourth Estate’s old guard who acknowledged Automobiles De Luxe as one of five luxury sites, “worth looking into.” The subtle thumbs up is gratifying.
“This website—mainly for aficionados of fine motorcars from the Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo to Audi, BMW, and Benz—offers comprehensive reviews complete with big, bold photos, and retrospectives on road tests and road trips for ‘every crank, piston, and gearhead.’”
Thank you for this bit of recognition, Ms. Castro. May we rise to the occasion.
[Linked: U.S. News & World Report]
ADL Videos Online
By Gunnar Heinrich
AUTOMOBILES DE LUXE videos are back online following a brief hiatus for our pilot series launch on CPTV, the PBS affiliate for Connecticut.
For more than a year, Team ADL has braved the elements, mapped the northeastern corridor, and clung to our artistic and editorial integrity to bring viewers in TV land and the Internet a new and quite unique perspective on de luxe automobiles.
In the posts that follow, you’ll see direct YouTube links to our original online broadcasts. First time viewers are encouraged to leave feedback either in comments or for those more circumspect emailing – gunnar [at] automobilesdeluxe [dot] tv.
Enjoy.
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Video
By Gunnar Heinrich
WITH all the tragicomic melodrama of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Automobiles De Luxe’s review of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud is back online.
This story (TRT: 9:51) covers no ordinary “standard steel” Cloud, but rather a Series I, long-wheelbase, aluminum trimmed saloon was built -custom tailored if you will – by coachbuilder James Young expressly for its original Palm Beach patron.
Hewn from an era of cast iron engine blocs and solid craftsmanship, the Silver Cloud and this particular Nimbus is a testament to over-engineered, over-the-top luxury. A grand car.
Enjoy.
ADL & CPTV
By Gunnar Heinrich
A number of people have been emailing me with various degrees of concern that ADL’s videos are offline.
One person’s email even started with, “ALARM!”
There’s no cause, friends.
I should have (but didn’t, sorry) explain before we took them off YouTube that many of the segments will premiere in a pilot series on CPTV, the PBS affiliate for Connecticut.
For the record, CPTV is the same station that brought you Barney, the purple dinosaur.
Unfortunately for our online audience, ADL’s current televised commitment means that many of the segments you’ve seen and ones that you haven’t (this summer’s romps with the BMW drop tops and the Caddys) will not be viewable online until some time after this season’s broadcast dates.
Our first show, which will contain the BMW enthusiast and NYIAS segments, is scheduled to air October 26th at 6PM. If you’re in the Connecticut market, tune in!
And be not alarmed.
Thanks again for your support and interest.
Elm City By Night: Pontiac G8 GT Illuminated
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Special to ADL by Kevin Kusina
THE G8 GT was made for the weekends.
As practical and comfortable as the car proved to be for everyday use, the muscular sedan (check those wheel well arches) really earned its stripes, chops, and/or fuel by being every bit the slick boulevardier last Saturday night in New Haven.
The red in the test car’s finish seemed to glow incandescent against the Elm City’s sodium vapor and neon – i.e. – it pops.
I lost count of the number of BMW drivers that swiveled to check out the G8; which externally owes much to the München School of Design (start at the kidney grille and head back to the Hoffmeister Kink).
Intriguingly, throughout this shameless copying, the Pontiac manages to retain a character uniquely its own.
Kudos to ADL’s camera guy exemplar Kevin Kusina and his Chevy Trailblazer (an ADL crew car of sorts) which comes complete with brake pedal that gives the same kind of feedback that comes from applying firm foot pressure to a softening pumpkin.
Thanks, Kev.
Weekend Snapshot > The Amazon Meets The Urban Jungle
Vintage Volvo Amazon advertised in Empire Red for the Big Apple.
2010 BMW M1 supercar designed in Spain?
By Steane Klose
THERE I was packing my swag, grateful for the little shade provided by the Coolibah tree on the edge of the Billabong when my thoughts turned to BMW’s latest concept car. Probably not destined to be the subject of ADL scrutiny there is however an interesting story for which it provided the inspiration.
BMW’s original M1 supercar turns 30 this year and to celebrate the folks from Bavarian Motor Werks revealed their aptly named Hommage concept (pictured above) – clearly a modern day M1 in the making. It caused a stir to say the least, with obvious retro M1 cues and plenty of comic book styling – many applauded but not everyone appreciated the bold styling and crab-like face.
The official unveiling of most concept cars is often followed by speculation concerning the likelihood of a production version. In the case of the Hommage speculation was rife and the stage was unwittingly set for a very talented CGI artist to boost his profile.
The image you see above found its way onto the auto blogosphere around a week ago and was immediately snaffled by most of the major sites, with headlines touting the ‘return of the M1’ or ‘M1 production model spotted’, usually followed by a ?. Most sites admitted that they were not 100 percent certain the image was real but it was real enough for them not to declare it a fake either. Instead they chose the safe middle ground, where not making a decision meant they couldn’t get it wrong – they were smart to do so.
Based on the current M3 Coupe it is indeed a fake and the work of one very talented Spanish CGI artist going by the name of ‘Hoss’. While I have no idea how the nuts and bolts of graphic manipulation like this work, I have undertaken a little research to see just where Hoss started on his road to a production M1 that had some big name sites scratching their heads.
Take one E92 M3 BMW Coupe.
Add some Alfa Romeo Brera headlights and some curvaceous new panel work.
Those Mazda Kabura Concept wheels look sweet!
Find a suitably mysterious looking background – hard to beat an old hanger even one with a Ford GT in the way.
Blend all ingredients gently in a bowl.
And now for the pièce de résistance, Hoss’s fake M1 for all intents and purposes garnered more blogosphere approval than BMW’s Hommage – much more.
Artist Rendering of Next Mercedes-Benz CLS Prompts Great Speculation
By Gunnar Heinrich
THERE’S nothing quite so satisfying as speculating on 100% pure conjecture.
It’s the kind of “what happens if you build a Mercedes on the chassis of a Chevy” idle talk that drives most gear heads’ imaginations.
So let’s dabble a little here with this latest non-news to hit and be dispersed by the Blogosphere fan – German car magazine AutoBild has published an artistic rendering of what they envision the next CLS four door coupé to look like.
Before you file this in your “who gives a $#!&” file, we should note that AutoBild is close to the source and probably has very credible manufacturer supplied info on which to base this hypothetical rendering.
But more than anything it’s fun speculating on pure conjecture as aforementioned.
Let’s start with the focal point – the grille.
AutoBild’s clearly thinking that Mercedes is going to take the SL-refit classically inspired grille ( it sits prouder with one horizontal bar meeting a larger star ) and run with it.
That’s definitely a good thing – the latest reshaped radiator would give the CLS a more aggressive, forward-leaning presence. The current job looks like snub nose of a pug.
The scalloped headlamps remain, if only slightly. Again, this is for the better. The square housing of the LEDs look purposeful rather than whimsical; replacing gelatinous flab with certain edge.
The etched lower air intakes that fade into meeting the broad fender lines also free the round Taurus-like curves of the past and gives new definition – in every sense of the word.
In short, there’s plenty to like about this conceptual rendering.
What can go are the mouse ear rearviews and the awkward profile line which extends afteward from the indicator lamp; serving as a bridge to nowhere.
And of course, it goes without saying that if the next CLS boasts the same lackluster build quality, fit ‘n finish that afflicts the current W219 generation, they can keep it.
Conjecture speculated upon. My work here is done.
[Linked: AutoBild | BenzInsider.com | GermanCarScene.com]
