Muses: Pebble Beach Bentley, rising used car prices, electric Focus
(Bentley Motors)
If I had real money, I’d buy one of the outgoing Bentley Arnages. But I’d have to hurry because the new one, the "Grand Bentley" is set to debut next month at the Pebble Beach Concours. Usually Pebble Beach is home to the cream of collector cars. Somehow we think the new Bentley will feel right at home from the get-go.
A decade ago, Camry and Accord ditched their station wagons. Ever since, they’ve been inching back in that direction with SUVs and crossovers. Toyota now has its Venza and Honda is coming out with a Crosstour this fall.
Used car prices are inching upwards. Why? Because there aren’t quite as many out there. Trade-ins obviously are way down and so are the number of cars coming out of rental companies fleets.
China’s latest strategy to crack the European market is by making a bid to buy GM’s Opel brand. Beijing Automobile Industry Corp., which projects to sell a million vehicles this year, reportedly has offered $923 million for a 51 percent stake in Opel.
Mini recently reached the 1.5 million mark after eight years of selling the new Mini. By comparison the classic Mini sold more than 5 million units between 1959 and 2000.
Before he became JFK’s Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara was a "car guy," one of Ford’s post-World War II Whiz Kids. He ascended to the company’s presidency but left after a month for Washington. Two of his legacies: Adding a rear seat (and profitability) to the Thunderbird line for 1958; and introducing the Falcon. The Falcon gave Ford the lead over the Chevy Corvair, Plymouth Valiant, and American Motors Rambler in the compact car wars. And, for Mustang-lovers, it provided the platform for the iconic 1964 ½ Mustangs.
ESPN’s X Games have a nice final day schedule for Sunday, Aug. 2 with Rally Car racing in and around the Home Depot Center Soccer Stadium in Los Angeles, scheduled to be shown on ABC from 3-6 p.m. Drivers will be competing in top-level Subaru STi and WRXs, Mitsubishi Evos, and Ford Fiestas.
There isn’t an all-American car any more, but Toyota’s Camry comes closest according to Cars.com’s annual All-American index that factors in sales, where a car’s parts are made, whether the car is assembled in the United States and disqualifies modes that are discontinued or those with less than 75 percent domestic-built parts. The rankings: 1. Camry; 2. Ford F-150; 3. Chevrolet Malibu; 4. Honda Odyssey; 5. Chevrolet Silverado 1500; 6. Toyota Sienna; 7. Toyota Tundra; 8. GMC Sierra 1500; 9. Ford Taurus; 10. Toyota Venza.
Chevy’s Volt still is coming, but so is Ford’s all-electric Focus, which will be a plug-in and is projected to have a 100-mile operating range. The Focus is scheduled to come to market in late 2010 as a very-early 2012 model year vehicle.
Just wondering: What will happen when folks try to get that extra mile out of an electric car and run out of gas – er, electricity – on the Tobin Bridge or a mile from nowhere? Will AAA come out with a fast-charge cord?
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about boston overdrive
Boston.com reports the latest trends, auto shows and wrings out the newest cars in our city's hellish maze - and across the great roads of New England.In the garage: 2008 MBTA Zone 1A monthly pass, 1995 21-speed Iron Horse. Bill Griffith is an automotive correspondent for The Boston Globe and has reviewed cars for 10 years. He was also the Globe's assistant sports editor for 25 years and the paper's sports media columnist.
In the garage (over the years): 1956 T-Bird, 1959 Nash Metropolitan, 1980 El Camino, 1997 supercharged Camry TRD.
