Steve Parker, Motoring Journalist

BELL AURENS UPDATE

UPDATE!

Less than 24 hours after we posted the story below (on the Bell Aurens Longnose project) we received an e-mail from the "spokesperson" for the project, Holger Kelvelage. He very much believes in this project.

Having been involved in the creation of more than a few show cars, magazine project cars, concepts and prototypes myself, working with everyone from Gale Banks to Mickey Thompson to the legendary Metalcrafters to the folks who make and maintain all the original Disneyland and Disney World vehicles (and yes, those ARE real steam engines!) we've seen a bit about what goes into actually producing a working vehicle.

And as Carroll Shelby once told me, "Steve, you gotta work just as hard and spend just as much to make one car as you do to make a million of 'em," and I know he's right, at least about that.

We wish the Bell Aurens folks are the best and hope they have success with their Longnose project! They are up against a tough economic environment and perhaps we'll someday see the HYBRID GAS/ELECTRIC LONGNOSE! Hey, anything to sell a car these days, right?

Clicking anywhere on this line will take you directly to the Bell Aurens Longnose website.

WHAT TO DO WITH OLD LAND ROVER? OH MY GOODNESS! DON'T DO THAT,DEAR GOD, PLEASE! NOT THAT!

Everyone needs a laugh just about now, right? Gas is skyrocketing and our very way of life in the USA is in danger of collapsing ... But, if you can't laugh, at least you have your health. Or something like that; I never was very good at turning a witty phrase. And I'm still getting over the shock of finding out there really is a car company in India called, of all things, Tata. (Apparently, judging by the custom artwork, these folks are looking for a big-time Red Bull sponsorship ... Can you imagine seeing this monstrosity at the airport, all decked out in these crazy colors with the blinking lights on the rear deck? I'd wonder in what country we were landing ...).

So, if this press release had come across our transom on April 1st, I'd have no problem believing it for what it was: A joke. But to tell you the truth, I can't say whether or not this stuff is for real or a late April Fool's Day take. Now, every other auto website in the world has run with it, treating it like every other press release they get every day and electronically post it without reading it ... very much, apparently (didn't you ever wonder why those sites all have the same so-called news, with absolutely no perspective, opinion, background or explanation?). At this site, we tend to look at these kinds of things with a slightly more jaundiced eye, which no doubt comes from more than 30 years in the business ... and is, trust me, one of the very, very few things even slightly positive about getting older.

Here's a few details we gleaned from our research: Prices will start around Euro 125,000, which is just a tic under USD$200,000. One engine choice: A 27-litre supercharged V12 Merlin engine, produced by Rolls-Royce for airplanes, producing, they say, over 1,500 horsepower. Also, one can choose from a Land Rover-built V8 4.6 liter making 235 horsepower, a 5.0 liter producing 280 horses, or, as long as you're spending all those Euros, why not be a real man and double-up that V8 and make the V16 it's screaming for! Come on, buddy ... You can't afford to look cheap to your friends! And if you do go that route, your very own V16 can be made into an 8-litre making 420 horsepower, or a massive, throbbing, bucking 10-litre producing a very necessary 700 horses. And we still don't believe a thing about this Longnose. (Only thing missing in these photos is a lion laying on the engine hood).

We've done our usual due diligence, and apart from the scant, few details described above, have been able to find out zip, zero and just about nothing about the companies named in this release. If you know about them, please let us know! In the meantime, we'll print their nice photos (which appear to be not-very-well-modified Hot Wheels, at best) and print a lot of their really long press release, and hope everyone can get some much-needed automotive enjoyment. And note: There is no price mentioned, nor any date when production might begin ... Only that each one of their Longnose models will be designed and styled, inside and even outside, to allow the buyer to have real input into their new car (or truck?).

Ready? Here goes ... and remember ... we're running this completely 'as is' from the car-maker:

2008 Bell Aurens Longnose Concept - Full of Character

Slowly the heavy roller shutter opens and the sun eliminates inch by inch the shadows from a familiar face. Distinctive, a glance out of narrowly positioned headlights, framed by a pair of broad, vigorous wings and a fender that lives up to its name. Nothing distracts from the clear, self-confident facial expression that in an instance captures even novices in the fraternity of Land Rover enthusiasts. This face has written automotive history. As a synonym for endurance and functionality. Character defining for generations of automotive grandchild’s in its almost provocative reduction to the absolute essential. (Black and brown might be the new two-tone. Nyah, Probably not).

By the time the engine raises its sonorous, powerful voice for the first time even the most experienced Land Rover owner will listen closely and take a closer look.

One look onto this very special offroadster is enough to get the impression one had missed out on something for centuries in the history of classic British automobiles. So consequently stylish and consequential comes this evolution of a Series Land Rover 109 that one is likely to search for drafts or indications of such a special edition in the archives of the 60ties and 70ties of this traditional brand from Solihull.

Truly an offroader from the front fender to the rear lights – yet still a roadster. Who ever searched for evidence that cross-over can be an art in itself – here is the answer.

Click below to find out more about the Bell Aurens Longnose Concept, and for the funniest automotive-related paragraph we've read in some time ...

MV AGUSTA AND CITROËN ITALIA PRESENT THE NEW C2 1587 BRUTALE

In our "Everything Motorcycle" section, we wrote a few weeks ago about a new offering from MV Agusta, their Brutale 910 ... Now Citroen and Agusta have decided to embark on some pretty cool "cooperation". Everyone knows about the rugged and good-looking Ford F-series and Harley-Davidson "special editions" ... It was a smart match for America, a marriage made in marketing heaven. It appears that even with full-size pickup sales sliding because of the economy (including everything wrong with it right now, from the housing downturn to the price of gas), Ford and Harley are both intent on keeping their association together. By the way, if anyone can remember another marketing plan which matched a pickup (or any other vehicle, car or truck) with a motorcycle, please let us know! This "Harley/Ford" hook-up is just the sort of thing which smart car-makers and motorcycle-making outfits can do which can help perhaps, if only just a bit, prove to bring an increase in sales of either a car, truck and/or bike ... And that's good for everyone involved, from the people on the assembly lines making the four- and two-wheel vehicles to the folks in the showroom trying to make a living selling dreams at a time when it's become a pretty expensive proposition. Here's the latest from Europe (with all those fun little phrases and misspellings which, well, I enjoy .... and maybe you do, too):

MV AGUSTA AND CITROËN ITALIA PRESENT THE NEW C2 1587 BRUTALE

At the 6th edition of the My Special Car fair in Rimini (Italy), MV Agusta and Citroën Italia will present the  new C2 1587 Brutale, a show car destined to attract the attention of the qualified public at one of the most important Tuning Trade Fairs, where nothing is standard.

What made this synergy possible is the attention to detail that both brands reserve for their products, a guarantee of quality and reliability.

The car gets its name from the best selling naked bike produced by MV Agusta and inherits the sporty Pearl White/Black colour scheme.

The colour scheme of the concept car has been carefully studied directly by the MV Agusta Style Centre and replicates that of the Brutale 1078RR, possibly the highest performing naked on the market.

The interior underlines the sporty character of the show car; perforated alcantara seats, black leather detail trim with red stitching, Brutale logo on the seats and steering wheel in black alcantara with red stitching. The dashboard and foot plate are carbon fibre effect and complete the aggressive racing-style interior of the C2 1587 BRUTALE.

The C2 1587 BRUTALE is based on the top of the range C2, the VTS, featuring a 1.6 16 valve engine with 125 hp. The racing character is underlined by the Supersprint twin exhaust that gives this sporty car a racing sound that blends-in with its aggressive character.

Citroen
Paris, France

FORD PLANS FLEX TO SELL 100,000 FIRST YEAR; FORD OF CHINA INTRODUCES NEW RACE CAR FOR CCC SERIES

Let's take a bit of a "time-out" from the (some say) imminent failure of corporate America to be able to keep even the Detroit Three in business, and look at some good news for a change! Ford introduced their all-new Flex as the Fairlane concept in 2005 ... And to be honest, we were not big fans of it at first. Gone from the production Flex are the concept's suicide doors, and the interior's instrument panel has, of necessity, been "calmed-down" quite a bit. It will have the Sync system standard, that new-fangled system which coordinates your no-hands phones (remember, this July 1st it's the LAW in California, cell phone users!), MP3 players and almost anything else which goes "beep!" every once in awhile, for no particular reason. Ford says the Sync system has done its job in bringing to Ford showrooms first-time buyers, current import-owners and, in general, a much younger crowd than you might expect to find hanging-around in the local Ford store. (Photos --- Above, Ford's betting that their 2009 Flex CUV will come out the chute selling 100,000 units in its first year, Center, Ford's 2005 Fairlane concept which begot the Flex, Below, The real thing from Ford, the production Flex).

More good Ford news ... Most people know that China, with its one billion people, is the focus of almost every major player in the world car-producing market. And India is next on the list. But we're here to bear witness to the fact that motor racing is alive-and-well in China, and Ford's Focus race car is being campaigned in the "CCC series" for 2008; Ford won the series in 2007. And while we're telling you about China, we ought to mention that China should take it's filthy hands off Tibet, honor and respect the Dalai Lama and hold meetings with him, and generally --- China needs to just back-off! Okay, got that out of our system ...Now onto Ford planning to sell 100,000 Flex crossovers in its first sales year.

Ford Motor Co. is looking to sell 100,000 units annually of the new Ford Flex crossover. The 100,000 threshold " absolutely" is possible for the 2009 Flex, said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president of marketing and communications. "That's what we're looking at production wise," Farley told reporters at a Las Vegas media event.

Click below to read more of the story and see more photos!

TOYOTA'S 2011 SPORTS CAR WILL HAVE SUBARU ENGINE

Get ready --- An all-new Toyota sports car will hit the US and the rest of the world in 2011, and it will have a Subaru "boxer" engine.

Was it really a dozen years ago, 1986, that Toyota last offered a "real" front-engine, rear-drive sports car? Yes, it was, and I was one of about ten US journalists in Japan in 1985 who drove one of those first Supras on a race track owned by Yamaha in central Japan. The Supra, until that time, had been known as the "Celica Supra", but, given its own name to stand it well-apart from the sporty-yet-family-like "Celica" line, Supra became something of an instant classic. These days, an original Supra in good shape is one of the very few "collectible" Japanese cars from the modern era. (Photos --- Above, Toyota's FT-HS hybrid-powered concept shown at the most-recent Tokyo Motor Show might contain much of the same design cues which we'll find on the just-announced 2011 sports car, Below, Subaru's all-new Impreza WRX-STi was displayed at that same Tokyo show; Fuji Heavy Industries makes the Subaru brand).

To make the new sports car's development possible, Toyota is doubling its ownership stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (parent of Subaru). Fuji will also give up its development of the small, under-660cc "k-cars", which carry favorable tax incentives in Japan, relying on another Toyota partner, Daihatsu, to design and produce those popular small vehicles.

Daihatsu is one of the few Asian makes which did not succeed in the US. It wasn't, however, because of the quality of the cars; rather it was their pricing, which was quite a bit higher than any of the competition at the time. One of my favorite memories of being in Japan was being taken on a tour of a Daihatsu assembly plant in Osaka with a small group of motoring journalists. On the line in front of us we watched as three very different vehicles were being assembled, including two vehicles bound for Europe and one of the Japanese home market. As we watched in some open-mouthed amazement as each robot and each worker appeared to be putting each piece on at the right place at the right time. The fellow standing next to me, editor of a large Detroit-based auto industry publication which name you'd recognize instantly (and not one of the Crain magazines), muttered to no one in particular, but loud enough so we could all hear, "They can't be doing this. This (assembling such very different cars, vans and wagons on the same line) can not be done". I don't know if he thought the gathered Toyota executives were staging a very expensive charade for us all, not that I would not put that beyond them, but, yes, it was being done. But it was being done in Osaka, not Detroit. (Photo --- Daihatsu HSC concept at the October, 2007 Tokyo Motor Show; Daihatsu is taking-over under-660cc car design and production duties from Fuji Heavy, according to this Japanese new mega-deal).

By the way, "Charade" was the name of one of the cars Daihatsu tried to sell in the US during that somewhat abortive attempt in the late-'80s. When I asked one of the company's vice-presidents (a very Japanese fellow who wanted to be called, and I am not kidding, "Elvis") why they choose a name for a car which could easily be taken to mean a "farce" or a "mirage" (no, wait, that's a Mitsubishi), he said to me, in English, in a way which made me feel that he was proud of what he was about to say, "Our president is a very big Audrey Hepburn fan!" Oh, okay. I get it. The movie named "Charade", with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant! Good movie, good car, as it turned out, too. But a loser in the US. (Photo --- Lexus exhibited the latest version of their "LF-A" supercar at the Tokyo show, the much talked-about NSX-fighter; Will the Toyota/Subaru 2011 sports car look more like this than the Toyota concept seen above?).

Toyota's long-anticipated sports car will arrive in 2011. It will be jointly developed with Subaru and boast a boxer engine. The compact, rear-wheel-drive " affordable" car will be built at a new Japanese plant to be set up by Fuji Heavy Industries, parent of the Subaru brand. Each company will market the car separately and badge it as its own. The model is part of a sweeping expansion of the tie-up between the Japanese companies.

Click below to read more and for more photos!

Steve Parker's "Tokyo Motor Adventure; 2008 Wild & Wacky Vehicles"

Steve Parker's "Tokyo Motor Adventure, Wild & Wacky Vehicles 2008".

A fun collection of photos from the Tokyo Motor Show, available to share with friends, download and enjoy! 

2009 NISSAN MAXIMA AND CUBE AT NY SHOW

Nissan, which recently moved their American headquarters from Gardena, California, to Nashville, Tennessee, losing in that move as much as 60% or more of key employees in certain departments, came to NYC with a new Maxima and their own version of the Scion xB, called Cube. We first saw Cube exhibited in the USA at the Los Angeles Auto Show as many as four or five years ago. A crew of young, fresh-scrubbed, earnest and non-threatening Americans, each wearing a sporty Nissan shirt and carrying an electronic clipboard like FedEx delivery people use, were questioning other young Americans, who were examining the displayed Cube. Now it pops-up again, this time in NYC, in an all-electric EV-mode, though Nissan's PR material says it will be sold in the US beginning sometime in 2009, and with a gasoline engine, not as an EV. (Photos - 2009 Maxima).

Maxima's US sales were about 69,000 in 2006, dropping to 52,000 for 2007, a drop-off of nearly 25%. The car was old, showing and feeling its age. The "all-new" 2009 Maxima debuted at New York, which Nissan says was designed using some of the same methodologies used for their now-available-in-the-US GT-R, is not expected to join the sales ranks of Camry, Accord or even Chevy's new Malibu, but it definitely needs to succeed; if it doesn't do well, it will be chalked-up to Nissan moving their top American staffers from Los Angeles to Nashville, and whether that's true or false, that's the impression the public will have of the car. Sort of a "Japanese sedan designed and built by NASCAR fans", if you will.

Here's some of the voluminous media PR material for these two cars, with a comment or two of   our own when we think it necessary:

The 2009 Nissan Maxima, which made its world debut at the 2008 New York International Auto Show, marks a return to the longtime Nissan flagship sedan’s roots as a commanding 4-door sports car – a vehicle that is unique in both appearance and driving feel, with renewed relevance for today’s active and ambitious sedan buyers. In other words, the Maxima is back (we here at Car Nut weren't aware that it had gone anywhere, other than "down" in sales numbers). The all-new 2009 Maxima will be offered as two well-equipped models, Maxima 3.5 S and Maxima 3.5 SV, and is scheduled to arrive at Nissan dealers nationwide in early summer 2008.

“Maxima has always enjoyed a certain ‘duality’ – a unique fusion of sedan practicality with the soul of a sports car,” said Al Castignetti, vice president and general manager, Nissan Division, Nissan North America, Inc. And we here at Car Nut say: Al is 100% right ... Especially when the discussion turns to, "Why has the Maxima never seriously challenged the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, or even, going back a few years, the Ford Taurus in its hey-dey?"

Exactly because of what Al says above: This "duality" thing. A big part of why people buy cars is because of what the cars mean, what they stand for, in a sense; and Maxima's "meaning" has always been confused. It can be a four-door family sedan. It can be a sports car. But it can't be both, no matter how hard Nissan has tried through the years. Ultimately, Nissan had developed a badly-flawed marketing direction for Maxima, and, rather than change it, they stubbornly stuck with it, forever destroying Maxima's chances of being seriously considered by Americans looking as that "family sedan" (Car Nut out).

High targets were established, including the goal of creating “the best performing front engine, front-wheel drive car in the world,” along with class-leading acceleration, braking, handling, workmanship and cockpit design. (Photo - Maxima interior).

NISSAN DENKI CUBE (Which translates into English as "Nissan Cube Cube", but since when did we Americans worry about what a car-name really meant in its original language?).

New York City got a lesson in what happens when geography meets geometry – specifically, when the world, which is round, mets the Nissan Cube, which is essentially square. The occasion was the world debut of the Nissan Denki (Japanese for “electric”) Cube Concept at the 2008 New York International Auto Show (more photos after the jump).

ACURA TSX DEBUTS AT NYC; 2.1 I-4 LITER ENGINE MAKES 206 HP

What a long, long way Acura has come. One of the earlier automotive divisions with one of those "created" names which have become so ubiquitous (Lexus, Infiniti, etc.), Acura holds many distinctions in America, one of them being the first Asian car-maker to sell a car for over $20,000 in the USA. And they had the car to carry all this new baggage, too, called Legend. What a great name! You can bet it'll be back, after Acura gets over their recent infatuation with their "easier" letter and number nomenclature. (Photo - Acura TSX shown with the NYC skyline in the background).

The first-ever Acura press conference in the US shocked the car world with their news that a well-equipped Legend would price-out at somewhere north of $20K. But, product being king and all that, Acura's name got famous fast, delivering on their promise to build the kind of cars Honda would build if their customers were in a much-different demographic (the Acura name is used only in North America and Hong Kong, so rest assured that there are plenty of sporty drivers wearing gloves and Ray-bans, pointing their little 'Honda NSX" cars into a tough corner).

Acura has, through the years (they started selling cars in the US in 1986), definitely held their  own against competition offering much more powerful engines, and more cylinders, too. And turbochargers, too, and superchargers. Acura has stubbornly stuck to I-4 and V6 engines; not a V8 in sight (but maybe a V10 for a new NSX). Honda and Acura engineers insist that any car company can easily gain more horsepower from any engine by adding turbochargers or superchargers; getting more horsepower from a naturally-aspirated engine ... Now, THAT is a true challenge! Honda's S2000 sports car made 240 horsepower from its naturally-aspirated 2.0 liter I-4 engine, the only street car to ever make that amount of power from that size engine, and was introduced in 2000 --- that wonderful li'l powerplant redlined at 9,000 rpm, making it a dream for drivers, but sometimes uncomfortable for passengers. Incidentally, Honda's S2000 CR (club racer) was introduced at the 2007 NY Auto Show. We'll let Acura's highly-paid PR people take over from here:

Acura's redesigned 2009 TSX offers the first glimpse of the brand's new styling and technology direction for sedans.

The exterior design is more evolutionary than revolutionary. But a wider, bolder stance gives the second-generation TSX a sportier look. The new TSX sits on a longer wheelbase and is roomier than its predecessor, which debuted as a 2004 model.

The TSX, unveiled at the New York Auto Show, also has many safety and technology firsts for Acura. The vehicle goes on sale in April.

DODGE'S CHALLENGER SRT8, CHALLENGER R/T AND CHALLENGER SE DISPLAYED IN NYC

At the Los Angeles Auto Show just four months ago, the Dodge Challenger concept caught its share of eyeballs, but only Challenger concept, and the latest iteration of the always crowd-catching Viper, the company really had nothing exceptional to show. Now, at the 2008 NY Auto Show, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep certainly wasn't breaking any new ground, unless you count 6.1 liter Hemi engines as something remarkable and worth writing home about. We made fun of the company's exhibit at the LA Auto Show, riffing on their heavily-promoted "Hybrid Hemi" on our "CAR NUT TV" program. Now, we realize we shouldn't have gotten laughs of a dying company. We all saw the Plymouth and Oldsmobile divisions killed in the past few years; but there seems to be more than a reasonable chance that Chrysler itself will soon be bankrupt, taking Dodge and Jeep with it. There are about 80,000 full-time employees of Chrysler, 50,000 of them union members. At the end of this post, we're including a very short history of a current supplier problem affecting Chrysler which shows how the company has changed since being taken "private". (Photo - Above, Dodge Challenger's first official public introduction at the NY Auto Show; Below, another all-new Dodge Challenger, this one "taking it to the streets").

One thing Chrysler and the New York Auto Show have in common: The Chrysler 300; the new one, not the classics. Introduced at the NY Auto Show in 2003 as a concept car, the 300, produced for sale in 2004 as a 2005 model, was the last car even resembling a "hit" which Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep has built. Both of the other cars using the same "LX platform" as the 300, the Dodge Charger and Magnum, achieved their own relative levels of success, but now they're all old and used-up. The car business is all about "What have you done for me lately?", and when a car-buyer asks that question of Chrysler and its divisions today, there are no good answers.

Chrysler is in deep trouble, and with it, Dodge and Jeep are also both on their last legs. With India's Tata expected to announce their purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford next week, car-makers in both India and China are being talked about as possible buyer's of Jeep.

NYC - PONTIAC G8, SOLSTICE COUPE, OZ "UTE" FOR USA

Pontiac tried to come-on strong at the New York Auto Show, 2008 edition, with their 2009 G8 GXP sedan, another experiment in taking a Holden car from GM's Australian division, like they did with the recently-failed Pontiac GTO, setting it up for left-hand drive, adding a few more touches to make it US-legal, and adding horsepower, horsepower and more ... you guessed it ... Horsepower! In fact, the 6.2L LS3 small-block V-8 is rated at 402 horsepower and 402 lb.-ft. of torque. A new six-speed Tremec TR6060 manual transmission is an option; standard is a six-speed 6L80 Hydra-Matic. No pricing as yet on any of the three models pictured in this post. A Pontiac website says GM will import as many as 50,000 Holden VE Commodore Sedans to be sold as G8 GXP models in the US.

Drawing inspiration from classic sports cars, the 2009 Pontiac Solstice coupe was created, according to Pontiac's PR material, for drivers who appreciate both dramatic styling and balanced performance. Unveiled at the New York Auto Show as a GXP model, the Solstice coupe offers a greater range of all-season driving opportunities. The coupe also features a removable roof panel, fully opening the cockpit to all of the sensations of the road. The coupe is expected to arrive in Pontiac dealerships in early 2009. The roof panel frame is made of lightweight magnesium and weighs 31 pounds. The Solstice GXP is the turbo-charged, 260 horsepower model; the coupe variant will also be available with the base, 173 horsepower, Solstice. The Pontiac Solstice convertible went on sale in 2005. GM sold 19,710 Solstice convertibles in 2006, but sales dipped 15 percent in 2007.

And GM/USA is not through with GM/OZ/Holden yet. General Motors will reportedly sell a re-badged version of the Holden VE Commodore Ute --- and wagon variants --- in the US. Although Pontiac was running a "name that ute" contest at the NY Auto Show, another Holden-friendly website says the new Pontiac Ute will be named the G8 ST for "Sport Truck," and will only be available with a 6.1L V8 and will sticker for about $31,000.

2009 HONDA FIT DEBUTS AT NEW YORK AUTO SHOW

It wasn't many years ago that the Mini was considered a car too small to ever enjoy successful sales in the US, but the new-generation BMW-engineered and -built Mini has caught-on with Americans of all ages (and sizes). If the Mini was too small for some US car-buyers, the company's new Clubman "station wagon" (or an "estate," as they're known in the UK) might fit the bill. Speaking of fitting the bill, Honda's Fit, as Toyota's Yaris and Nissan's Versa, and the Mercedes-Swatch Smart cars, is every bit as interesting, fun-to-drive and attractive as the original Mini, first sold in the UK in 1959. Now, the Toyota iQ concept from the most-recent Frankfurt and Tokyo Motor Shows is slated to start production and be on-sale in Asia and Europe early in 2009; no US sales announcement as yet. Traditionally one of Japan's most-popular sellers, Honda's latest version of their Fit, the 2009 car, debuted at the NYIAS and goes on-sale in the US this autumn. Here's how Honda describes their newest Fit model, and in their own words, too, so pardon the to-be-expected "hype-ese":

The all-new 2009 Honda Fit, set to go on sale in the U.S. this fall, is making its U.S. debut at the New York International Auto Show, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today. The Fit promises to further its leadership in the subcompact segment with top-of-class feature content, including an available Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™; improved interior functionality, including one-motion dive-down rear seats; enhanced sporty demeanor through improved suspension, steering and body rigidity; and high levels of standard safety equipment, including Honda's Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure.

Dimensionally compact on the outside, the interior provides surprisingly large passenger and class- leading cargo space to maximize comfort and utility. At the foundation is an improved rear Magic Seat®, now featuring one-motion dive-down functionality, which allows the rear seat to fold flat with the front seats in the rearmost slide position and without removing the rear head restraints. The seats offer multiple seating and cargo-carrying configurations (tall object mode, long object mode and utility mode) in addition to the standard five-passenger mode. Additionally, a new hidden storage bin under the driver's side rear seat provides a place to store small items.

Adding further refinement, Fit Sport offers an available factory-installed Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™ with Voice Recognition, featuring a 6.5-inch screen. All Fit Sport models feature a USB audio interface compatible with current generation iPods and many USB storage devices.

SCION AT NY AUTO SHOW --- HAKO COUPE CONCEPT

NY AUTO SHOW: Scion has a problem, a common-enough one for a car company, which is: After a fairly successful entry into the automotive marketplace, what do you do next? What's your follow-up? When we first test-drove the then all-new Scions, the xA and xB, parent-outfit Toyota already had made a mistake in their own understand of the new cars. The Toyota execs, who did a good job of establishing Scion as a separate division, operating on its own, free and clear of some of Toyota's corporate stuffiness, were betting their money on the xA. But whenever we drove the xB, and indeed the first time we drove one on city street's (in "hip" Santa Monica, California, no less), the people checking out the car always liked the boxy xB much more than the forgettable xA. xB had that kind of "cool" factor which you can't buy, much less be able to predict.

Scion's tC sporty coupe and the xB are still in the Scion line-up, while the xA has been dropped. Now a newer box, the xD, is the newest Scion. Toyota has a turbocharger kit for the tC, developed and supplied by TRD (Toyota Racing Development), and only to be installed at select Toyota/Scion dealerships. tC has also been entered into two racing series where it might develop a "tough" reputation. At the 2008 NY Auto Show, Scion showed the Hako Coupe; Scion has traditionally used the NY Show as a place to introduce concepts, no doubt trying to capture some of the earthiness and grittiness of the country's biggest, hippest city. Here's what the Scion PR people want you to know about it:

Scion's Hako Coupe was developed by Tokyo Design Division, which studied global, youth-inspired trends. Japanese and American youth cultures often influence each other and are interpreted with a unique twist. (Photo - Looks a bit like a Deuce Coupe at this angle).

The Hako Coupe Concept was inspired by the iconic xB and the emergence of American vintage style among young Tokyo trendsetters.

"Scion's Hako Coupe Concept embodies a distinct global perspective on today's youth," said Jack Hollis, Scion vice president. "This type of forward thinking complements the Scion philosophy of intently listening to our customers and being willing to take risks to help us see where our brand should be. We took the xB's iconic boxy shape and explored something more vivacious, yet just as emotionally appealing. This concept is the sporty version of a box."

Tokyo Design developed the Hako Coupe with classic American coupes in mind. The car's geometric  profile conveys a powerful stance in a compact and bold package. Its trapezoidal LED headlights lie parallel with a large and aggressive, rectangular upper grille. The lower rectangular grille anchors the front fascia and continues to communicate the Hako's aggressive attitude. Round fog lights, symmetrically placed high on the front bumper, have integrated turn signals.

The Hako's silhouette is accentuated by slim, race-car-inspired side mirrors that also feature integrated turn signals. Powerful, flared fenders add dimension and contrast to the concept's boxy shape and smooth surface planes. The Hako concept hugs the road with custom 18-inch deep dish five-spoke wheels and tires with a "Scion" custom tread.

2009 ROLLER COUPE' IMPROVES ON SEDAN'S LOOKS

OK, now that we've seen the first official photos of the 2009 Roller Coupe', we take back almost everything bad we've said about the sedan version of the car ... from those box-shaped headlights to the overwhelmingly massiveness of the entire car, from front to rear, from tires to roof, in the engine bay and the car's interior ... the intimidating Phantom sedan is simply too much. But this Coupe' is something else again. The front end is a bit more friendly than it's four-door sister, and the whole thing appears, at least in these photos, more balanced and attractive, inside and out, than the sedan. The huge 6.75 liter BMW V12 (that's 412 cubic inches) sitting in the engine bay no doubt provides plenty of low-end torque (531 foot-pounds) and top-end horsepower (453hp) for this vehicle which weighs ... who knows how much? They ain't saying.

Times have changed, though. There's a lot more known about these cars than in years past. When my good friend Reg Abbiss (whose new book, "Rolls-Royce From The Inside; The Humour, The Myths, The Truth", Tempus Publishing Ltd, United Kingdom, 2007, is available everywhere and more-than-worth your few US Dollars or Euros or Yen) was in charge of public relations for Rolls and Bentley here in the US for many years, the company would never release horsepower figures or top speeds. When asked, the world's most-skilled and most-British of all automotive PR people would answer only, "Adequate," to the horsepower question, and, "Rather quickly", when the top speed query inevitably was raised. By the way, there's a wonderful photo of Yours Truly and Reg in his new book, both of us hard at work, with Reg no doubt begging me to interview the thoroughly and happily sleazy Howard Mosher, who ran Rolls/Bentley in the US from 1998 to 1994.

Car Nuts know for certain that times have definitely changed greatly when one mentions "BMW" and "Volkswagen" in the same breath as "Rolls-Royce" and "Bentley". The world used to be much simpler; as far as most Americans were concerned, the two-door, coupe version of Rolls was most always a Bentley.

LUTZ GIVETH WITH ONE HAND, AND WITH THE OTHER, HE TAKETH AWAY ... THE HUMMER H3T

Oh, that Bob Lutz ... He's just one tough to figure good ol' boy, ain't he? He's jus' gonna be the death of us, don'cha think? Here he was in Los Angeles, seems like just a few weeks ago, and he's there goin' on and on about all sorts of "green" things and one of them trucks he makes is getting 15 miles per gallon or some silly thing and he gets an A-WARD for doin' that! Hell, my lawn tractor and snowblower both do better than that! And he's jawin' away 'bout that new VOLT car that Chevrolet is gonna make ... Then no sooner does he get back to his prime-rib-and-Rob-Roy-with-a-sidecar lunches at the Rattlesnake then sure enough, they ain't makin' that there VOLT thing ... Then they are again! Well, forget 'bout all that green stuff, because looks like GM finally got what we ol' boys and gals really want ... A HUMMER PICKUP! Man, oh man! OOOHWEEE! Y'all just gotta get one of these here trucks ... Hey! Mebbe GM will start running these here H3Ts in that NASCAR truck racin' deal! (Photo above - Bob Lutz captured in his most-favored habitat).

  Yep, it's true: In the spirit of helping the planet, General Motors is not only continuing to make the  Hummer brand, they're expanding it! Hummer is entering the midsize pickup market with the H3T pickup, which General Motors will intro next week at the perpetually-frozen Chicago Auto Show.
   Some years ago, I was a "celebrity", albeit a fairly small one, hired by GM to man their exhibit for way-too-many-hours each day of the Chicago Auto Show, which is actually the most-attended auto show in the US, larger than Detroit's, New York City's and even the annual exhibition in America's car-central, Los Angeles. Why? Because people in Illinois and about eight other surrounding states have absolutely nothing better to do between September and May than drive to Chicago, weather permitting, of course, and take-in the car show. At that show, where I was wined-and-dined in true GM fashion every night (which is first class; this was back when GM had lots of discretionary money) and put up at The Drake Hotel, one of the city's oldest and always one of its best, I learned what real "cold" was; I was raised in NYC and on Long Island, and had walked to school in -9, so figured I knew from cold  ... I was wrong. Walking up Michigan Avenue, towards the lake and the hotel, at 10 or 11pm in the first week of February, now that was cold.
   I actually feared parts of my face would freeze and simply fall off. Going to the car show when day-after-day promised nothing but more dehumanizing, demoralizing cold, would definitely seem like a good idea if I lived in the area.
   This is what those brave Chicago show-goers will see when the H3T debuts in their fair city:
   Based on the architecture of the Hummer H3 (though I wouldn't use the term, "architecture", it might embarrass architects), the smaller of Hummer's two SUVs, H3T is bigger than a midsize pickup, like the Toyota Tacoma, but smaller than a full-size pickup like the Ford F-150 (or Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra, for that matter).
    H3T has a five-passenger crew cab and a five-foot-long bed. Hummer also makes a larger truck, the H2 SUT, with a six-foot bed. Still, getting that proverbial and used-to-be-standard 5' x 8" sheet of plywood into the H3T's bed is an impossibility; you know this before even trying to do so. Now that people who do not buy pickups for work have ruined the pickup market for those that do, pickups are just now actually beginning to revert to their original purposes: Work trucks for people who actually use them in their work.
   All that softness and friendliness and comfort and fold-down stuff for transporting the soccer team in the bed and overall usefulness --- not for real work, but for the family --- which has been designed-into these trucks are not going to be needed much longer; fuel prices and shortages of same will eventually guarantee that.
    But did that stop GM from trying to milk one more penny from buyers so dazed, confused and bewildered by marketing that they actually still think that any Hummer model is useful and makes sense? No. In fact, it probably encouraged GM more than anything else. If members of the public are scared that the Hummer brand might go away, well, they might even be more likely to buy one right now, to make a true "impulse buy", as if the H3T was a candy bar or tabloid rag in the check-out aisle.
   Hummer says the H3T retains the brand's "signature design and off-road capabilities", with standard four wheel drive, 32-inch tires and optional 33-inch tires and front and rear wheel-locking differentials for increased traction. Just the stuff for the neighborhood carpool.
   There is a standard 3.7-liter, five-cylinder engine with 242 horsepower and an optional 5.7-liter V-8  with 300 horsepower that can tow up to 5,900 pounds. Hmmm ... How many people who buy Hummers actually tow horse trailers?
   The H3T is scheduled to arrive in dealerships in fall, 2008. GM said production will begin in the third quarter at the company's Shreveport, La., assembly plant. No price was given, but the 2008 H3 starts at $30,595.
   GM is fervently hoping that the new pickup helps revive Hummer sales, which sank 22 percent last year as consumers perhaps finally realized how bamboozled they'd been by not only GM, but Ford and Dodge and now even Nissan and Toyota (both of whom, by the way, are having huge sales problems with their made-in America, V8-equipped full-size trucks).

AUDI'S WILD V12 TDI CONCEPT R8 SUPERCOUPE --- A DIESEL?!?!

At the Detroit Auto Show, Audi pulled out  all the stops ... well, some of them, at least. The company's R8 coupe, which had its US introduction at the November, 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show, is an over-$100,000 hardtop which pushes Audi into supercar territory.

The "plain vanilla" and naturally-aspirated gasoline-powered with Audi's quattro system of all-wheel drive R8 comes outfitted with a 4.2 liter aluminum-block V8 making 420 horsepower and 317 pound feet of torque (torque is the "oomph" you feel when you step on the go pedal). All that's enough to push the 3,450-pound car from 0 to 62 miles per hour (100km/h) in just 4.6 seconds; Corvette's most-recent 3,132-pound Z06, 318 pounds less than the concept Audi V12 TDI, with a massive 7.0 liter V8, moves from 0 to 60 in (97 km/h) in 3.7 seconds. (Photo above -- Audi's R8 at the November, 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show and it was an instant hit, photo by Steve Parker; Below --- Audi's TDI concept).

But apparently that wasn't "good enough" for the engineers from Ingolstadt ... So, in their on- going effort to make Americans think "nice" about diesel engines, because a glut of them are about to land on the USA's soil from Europe and Japan, Audi has shoe-horned a twin-turbo, twin-intercooler 6.0 liter version of their 5.5 liter, 650+ horsepower V12 TDI turbodiesel racing engine in an R8; that's the same basic engine which for the past two years won the "24 Hours of LeMans", the world's most-important endurance race. As used in the R8, the V12 turbodiesel makes 500 horsepower and 737 foot pounds of torque.

"TDI" is the name Audi (and Volkswagen) give to their "clean diesel" technology engines (Mercedes is using "Bluetec"; all these engines use technology developed in tandem by those three companies), which will enter the USA later this year with a 3.0 liter TDI V6 available in Audi's Q7, what we think is the best-looking SUV on the road, anywhere. Audi also makes a V8 4.2 liter TDI powerplant, and both are sold in Europe in several Audi models. (Photo -- Audi's "LeMans" concept at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show, basis for the R8, photo by Steve Parker).

The concept R8 V12 TDI is a great way to educate Americans about the power, longevity and performance potential of today's modern diesel engines. With over 60% of all vehicles, cars and trucks, sold in Europe equipped with diesel engines, and with Europe Euro 6 emissions standards, expected to go into effect in 2014, diesels are a world away from what most Americans remember from the clanky Mercedes-Benz diesels of years past.

Leave it to General Motors to have left a bad odor and taste for all things diesel into Americans' minds.  From 1978 through 1985, GM put poorly-built diesel engines into some Oldsmobile (and you know what happened to them!)  and Cadillac models. In fact, The Cadillac diesel V8 was America 's first production passenger-car diesel engine, and was an option on every 1979 Cadillac. GM took a huge bet and, rather than build new diesel engines from the ground up, the company decided to use engine blocks made for gasoline engines, and essentially create a new top-end for these powerplants, but leave the bottom-end alone. Oldsmobile offered three different diesels, two V8s and a V6, while Cadillac used only the largest of those two V8 engines.

Some of you can guess what happened. The explosions which occur at the top end of every engine, gas or diesel, are nonetheless much more powerful in diesels. The combination of diesel top-end and gasoline bottom-end forced pistons, rods and scores of other parts from these diesel engine's cylinders right through the bottom end of the engines, taking along pieces of crankshafts just for good measure.

GM wound up having to replace every one of those diesel engines; the replacement was a GM gasoline engine. That attempt by GM to make car engines which could produce better mileage than their gasoline cousins was a complete failure, and something many Americans, and definitely every Car Nut, remembers to this day. "Diesel" became a dirty word in America.

But European manufacturers continued with their decades-long process of constantly refining the diesel engine, to the point now where the clean, modern, powerful and quiet diesel engines from that part of the world will be on-sale in America from Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Audi and probably several others within the next five years.

Domestic car- and truck-makers already have their own diesels, which they use in some of their full-size pickup and SUV models. Many of them use outside vendors for making their diesels, including International Truck and Engine and Navistar. Saturn is due for a diesel perhaps later this year, and all other GM divisions are talking about and planning diesels for several of their models. (Photo --- Audi R10 endurance racer; V12 turbodiesel makes 650+ horsepower).

A type of modern powerplant which lends itself well to an updating with the tried-and-true diesel engine is a hybrid system; in this case combining electric batteries used to power a vehicle's wheels and all other ancillary systems on and in the car or truck, combined with a small diesel engine used to recharge the batteries and keep them at a constant state of being ready-to-use. The "dual mode hybrid transmission" developed by GM, BMW and Daimler, adds power from electric motors to the transmission itself, adding power when needed. While gasoline engines are found in the Chevy and GMC trucks equipped with these dual mode trannies now, GM says it will not be difficult to substitute a diesel engine for the gasoline one, and those trucks will come online soon. (Photo --- Cut-away of the Audi twin-turbo 5.5 liter 650+ horsepower racing engine which has won LeMans twice ... so far).

Many people don't realize that submarines (the non-nuclear types) and huge locomotives as well as some engines on huge ocean-going ships all utilize diesel/electric hybrids of some type, and have done so, quite successfully, too, for almost 100 years.

Audi plans to have newly-developed diesels in many of their vehicles on-sale in the US within the next few years. Under the hood of Audi's amazingly uninteresting concept car called "Cross Cabriolet" at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show was a Volkswagen-built 3.0 liter TDI diesel V6 producing 236 horsepower and 369 foot pounds of torque. That engine will be available beginning sometime late in 2008 in the US in Audi's Q7 SUV; the new Audi A4 will follow with the same powerplant sometime in the year after the Q7 SUV diesel is on-sale.

The R8 concept really has too many outstanding features on it, from a magnetic ride control system to  ceramic brakes to a superfast six speed transmission paddle shift system to really do it justice. Will Audi's R8 ever come from the factory with a diesel engine? We wouldn't bet on it, but the thought of a strong, dependable, quiet, longlived and clean diesel in their Q7 SUV ... Now that's something we could definitely get behind!

TATA STUNS WORLD WITH $2,500 FIVE-PASSENGER FOUR-DOOR

"They" said it couldn't be done. And for a long time, "they", unfortunately, were right. Now, as usually happens, the naysayers are proven wrong, and in a quite impressive way. The Indian company, Tata, long-rumored to be first-in-line with Ford in the current auction of their Jaguar and Land Rover holdings, has introduced the long-awaited Nano, a $2,500, truly 21st-century sedan which seats five and achieves near 50 miles per gallon.

The "$2,500" price-point certainly rates the attention of everyone in the car world; there are still questions about whether or not the car could be produced in large volumes and still meet that price. Even though $2,500 is actually the dealer's price for the car, and most Nanos are expected to be sold closer to the $3,000 mark, the challenge for Tata is still clear. Clearly, a company this large can afford to take some losses as all car-makers expect to do for some time after the initial prod