March 2009 - Auto Loud

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Auto Loud - March 2009

OBAMA test drives latest effort from Chrysler!

March 31st 2009 03:42

Seriously though!

The sound you can hear, is Rick Wagoner hightailing it out of Detroit City with a golden handshake worth $ 20 million in his saddlebags! Not bad for a guy who ran General Motors into the ground!

Anyway, Sheriff Obama ran him out of town and he isn’t happy! Wagoner had to go because the restructure that the US Government financed was not happening quick enough and as a result there is now only enough funding for sixty days, after that all bets are off!

Obama did not stop there, Chrysler have been given funding for thirty days and have been basically told to tie up a deal with FIAT in that time span. If they can’t then they will have to repay the US Government all of the second funding, good luck with getting that money Mr President!

Hindsight is a marvellous thing but if GM Chrysler and Ford had actually tried to build cars maybe ten years ago that were better than Japanese makers produced, do you think they would be in as much trouble as they are now? Somehow I don’t think so!

The guys who have run these organisations (bar a couple) could not have been that blind! Lets face it, it is not like the Japanese car industry just snuck up behind them three minutes ago and tapped them on the shoulder and said “we are here!” They have been a tsunami like force with little relief since the mid seventies, instead of trying to fend them off, the American Automakers ran away, which as we all know now, was wrong!

It is a sad day for the American motor industry, when the most historically significant person associated with it, is no longer Henry Ford, who started automotive mass production of the motor car but President Obama, an elected official with no industry experience. But you know what? they deserve it!

One last thing, Obama should probably save Cadillac; he will need them for the new car warranty work that is bound to pop up on the Presidential Limo!

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Tickets please!

March 29th 2009 12:59

As regular readers will know, AUTOLOUD is an unashamed nostalgia freak. As a child one of my favourite pastimes was to sit at the upstairs front window of a double Decker bus, I was a kid okay!

Anyway! If you have ever been to London you will know the ubiquitous London double decker bus the “Routemaster” (which is an unfortunate turn of phrase for us OZtralians!) is no longer in daily service.

Those big red buses had been in service for fifty years when, former Lord Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, decided that London actually needed some sharp new bendy buses. On removing them from London streets they also took at lot of the character that was inherent with the English capital.

This has now been rectified, thanks to new Lord Mayor Boris Johnson. Dubbed “BoJo” by the English press, as part of his election platform he instigated a design competition to bring back a new take on the London bus, suitable for a new century.

The entrants drew their inspiration from the old-timer and translated it to our brave new world. Features like hybrid diesel/electric drive; bonded windows, flat floors and even recycled wooden floors all point to transportation with a green conscious!

The competition was jointly won by Aston Martin with the help of famed designer Sir Norman Foster and Capaco. With a projected arrival date of 2012, both designs are right up to date in execution and the best part is they look like they belong in a 1950’s postcard!

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Oldies but Goldies!

March 26th 2009 13:24

Although it was the American consumer driven society that invented the theory of planned obsolescence, it was the Europeans who chose to largely ignore it!

Every year saw the release of a completely restyled model line of motorised land whales to much fanfare and spending of advertising dollars for all of the big three in the USA.

While over in Europe, the big news for the year might be a new design of hinge on the boot lid or perhaps a different colour for the gear knob! Car companies on both sides of the English Channel produced cars that were bordering on geriatric at the end of their respective production runs. So just who holds the title for the longest running production?
Now, I am not talking about a nameplate here, so Corolla does not count.

The English are brilliant at keeping old cars alive, the original Range Rover ran for 25 years basically unchanged, the Landrover which admittedly has undergone some major changes celebrates its sixtieth birthday this year and my own personal favourite, the Mini which was in production for a total of forty one years, still has a world wide cult following.

In the land of Berets and Brie, the 2CV was around for fifty one years and from competitor Renault, the R4 was a mere baby at the age of thirty three when they stopped production. Across the border in Germany, Volkswagen has had a couple of shots at the title with the Beetle and although a few were built prior to the war, it actually entered full production in 1946. Eighteen million plus cars later it was finally retired in 2003, final tally either 65 years or 57 years depending to who you listen to!

The champion? Still too early to call, as both of the final combatants are still in production, squaring up for the bout is the Kombi or VW Transporter, which entered production in 1950 and like many old Germans is living quite happily in South America. Production continues to this day some 59 years later. Surprisingly, the other possible contender was in production in England between 1953 and 1956 and then the production was shifted to the sub continent where the car continues with minor differences, its name? The Hindustan Ambassador.

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Music on the move!

March 26th 2009 05:44

Sir Alec Issoginis, the genius who designed the original Mini, decided that his creation should not have an aperture for a radio, as he considered them a distraction!

Of course this was a guy who also designed the door bins in the same car big enough to fit a bottle of gin into, priorities, priorities

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My BMW matches my jewellery!

March 21st 2009 13:01

Whenever you see the local BMW dealer in the social pages, he never looks sad. With good reason because the latest fashion accessory for ladies of a certain age, who are worth their weight in Gucci handbags, is the BMW 3 series coupe / convertible.