GCBC'S POPULAR STUFF

GoodCarBadCar's been live since March of this year. During that time, one post instantly - and constantly - maintained a reign as the most popular piece by The Good Car Guy. The title?

"Same Old Same Old But Better Than Ever"

The subject? Honda's venerable Civic. It's a test drive article; something called Driven here at GCBC. But, I noticed something interesting recently. So entwined is North America, and the United States of America more specifically, with pickup trucks, that when a truck is in trouble, people take notice.

That's exactly what people did here on GCBC when the Ford F-series came under recall. So many people took notice, in fact, that in less than two weeks of existence, the F-series post knocked the Civic off its perch.

Curious what else made the podium, ye are. The Top 5 Cars Police Should Be Driving narrowly edged out Dodge's Journey Must Make Inroads, which has been a surprisingly steady member of the top five since its September publishing.

CARS OF CANDIDATES

The Associated Press has collected some info on the past and present vehicles of presidential candidates. It's easy to find the car lovers amongst them - those who don't know an inline-4 from a V8 - and those who must have at least modicum of taste.

Hillary first drove a '62 Olds Cutlass. Sneak a peek or more thru Bill or Hillary's autobiographies, and you soon discover that they either love cars or remember them well. Mrs. Clinton is now, of course, driven in many'a Secret Service vehicle, although she makes note of a "Ford hybrid."

As does John Edwards, in addition to an '04 Chrysler Pacifica (indiciating the value of John's vehicle is equivalent to the price of one haircut) and a 13-year old GMC pickup. John's first car was a Plymouth Duster. Bill Richardson drove a used Mustang in a former day, but enjoys his Jeep Wrangler now. Barack Obama makes use of a Chrysler 300C, but once "extensively" used his grandfather's Ford Granada.

Giuliani? "I don't drive. I navigate." Sure, Rudolph. He drove a used Dodge whilst newly licensed. A little more specificity, please.

John McCain knows where it's at. The Arizona Senator drove a 1958 Corvette but has a Cadillac CTS now. Good job, John. Mitt Romney drove a 2-year old American Motors Rambler Classic in 1965 when he went to college. Mitt, who was involved in a head-on crash in France while driving a Citroen DS in 1968, has possession of an '05 Ford Mustang Convertible and a '62 Rambler American.

Fred Thompson speaks about an old red pickup. Fred hasn't elaborated yet. Mike Huckabee used to be the driver of a Mercury Montego but makes use of two Chevrolet's now: an '07 Tahoe and a '95 Silverado.

What have we learned? Unless some of these cars are using base V6's instead of the implied V8's, the candidate's vehicles likely contribute to an average of 16/21mpg, city/highway.

Keep talking, guys. Gimme all that ethanol and biofuel and dependency on foreign oil stuff.

CHALLENGER IS HOT

eBay is proving the true market value of the upcoming Dodge Challenger. The SRT8 version, with which a gas-guzzler surcharge is automatic, will feature an MSRP around $40K. Although the full production design of the Challenger hasn't even debuted yet, dealers are collecting orders. Dodge accepts orders from dealers only when they have a customer name and address.

After the car went on sale, Dodge revealed that they could build up to 10,000 Challengers in '08, rather than the 5,000-6,000 originally believed. eBay prices are still rather high. This New York dealer has his price at $50,000 but that's below the reserve. Another dealer in Maryland is showing $5,000 with zero bids; that $5K is the amount over $41,985 the bidder is willing to pay.


An Austin, Texas dealer lists $19,999 as a Buy-it-Now price above and beyond the MSRP. A Dodge-Isuzu-Suzuki dealership in Illinois (I haven't heard of that combination of brands, either) has 10 bids with the max at $13,000 over the MSRP, commanding a $1,000 deposit at the end of the auction - 54 hours from now - plus an extra $10,000 when the order is complete.

Muscle-car buyers - more so than the buyers of most other types of vehicles - appear to be more urgent than any other group. This phenomenon occurred with the Shelby Mustang and could well occur again with the Chevrolet Camaro. Who knows? 2010 Challenger's could see a power upgrade to maintain sales momentum, and all these overpayers will have spent a lot more $ per horsepower.

Links:
eBay
eBay "Dodge Challenger" search results
Dodge's Challenger site
Previous Challenger mentions at GCBC

NEVER FOLLOW CLIP

Having just mentioned Audi's "Never Follow" campaign, GoodCarBadCar figured you might as well have a closer understanding of Audi's philosopy.

C/D'S 10BEST

Car&Driver names their 10Best. A few dozen auto websites and blogs tell you about it straight away. GoodCarBadCar gives you more than that. Sure, the 10Best are named below, but so is an interesting fact about each. I do declare, GoodCarBadCar's own awards will be revealed beginning on the 20th of this month thru till New Year's Eve.

Car&Driver differs from many print publications in their award formats. So many place great distinction upon one new car. The problem therein? What if that one new car wouldn't have cut the mustard amongst the previous year's competition? That would be embarrassing. Also, is there really only one notworthy car displayed each year? No, there's plenty. We live in a great age for automotive ingenuity.

So, if you were a member of C/D's 10Best last year - come on back, y'all. If you're new or significantly revised and below the maximum price limit (2X the average price of new cars sold in America), come on down. Eight - yes, eight, of last year's winners made it back onto C/D's list.

BMW 3-SERIES: 17 straight years for the 3-series in 10Best, aided no doubt by a turbocharged 6-cylinder that outmuscles a 90's-era M3 and can manage a tussle with last year's M3.

CADILLAC CTS: The CTS just happens to be MotorTrend's Car of the Year and the only direct 3-series competitor on the list. Although priced like a 3, the CTS is sized like a BMW 5 and can honestly stand toe to toe with both.

CHEVROLET CORVETTE: If 430 horsepower isn't enough, but 505 is way too much, one simple option box 'check' gives you 436.

CHEVROLET MALIBU: Stuck in the past, the 4-cylinder engine is still mated with a 4-speed auto. However, the 6-cylinder/6-speed auto combo is world-class.

HONDA ACCORD: Seemingly ordinary, the Accord now offers 200 horsepower more than the original 1976 Accord.

HONDA FIT: The next Fit has already debuted, but the current Fit can hustle through C/D's lane-change test faster than a Ferrari F430 Spider. Deal with the rough ride, folks. It's worth it.


MAZDA MX-5: The optional hardtop can be lowered in 12 seconds, adds just 79 pounds to the featherweight Miata, and doesn't take sole possession of your trunk.

MAZDASPEED 3: The turbocharged, hatchback 3 forces its front wheels to deal with an extra 130 lb-ft of torque as compared with a 'regular' 3, itself a pretty decent little hatch.

PORSCHE BOXSTER/CAYMAN: Since coming into existence in the 90's, the Boxster has seen horsepower upgrades ten times.

VOLKSWAGEN GTI: Apart from 197bhp, awesome seats, wicked 5-spoke wheels and a communicative nature, the GTI also has the advantage of awesome commercials.

BEST CONCEPTS/BEST HYBRIDS

CNNMoney, with help from AOL Autos and Edmunds.com has homed in the most cost-effective hybrids available to buyers today. Meanwhile, BusinessWeek named the best concept cars of 2007.

Edmunds.com chose vehicles with which to compare each hybrid vehicle. That meant the Toyota Prius ran up against a 4-cylinder Camry, but all other competitors were contrasted with their equivalent gasoline-fired model. After calculating the added cost of purchasing the hybrid, CNNMoney figured the fuel savings and the relationship between the two. In other words, how long will it take to recoup the loss? The lower the number, the higher you finish.

So, the Prius came first; followed by Chevy's Malibu, the Toyota Camry, Ford Escape, Saturn Vue, Mercury Mariner, Honda Civic, Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura, Lexus GS450h, Lexus RX400h, Toyota Highlander, and Lexus LS600h L. Estimates for the Prius come in at 4.2 years, stretch to 5.8 years for the Vue Green Line, all the way to 3,771 years in the Lexus LS. You read that right. 3-7-7-1.

MotorTrend's findings in an Altima/Aura/Camry comparo do not mirror that of the CNNMoney study.

BusinessWeek chose the Audi Metroproject Quattro, Chevrolet Beat, Chevrolet Volt, Ford Verve, and Toyota FT-HS among others as the best concept vehicles of 2007.

GENESIS CLIP

The Good Car Guy just showed a YouTube clip of an interesting - but partial - debut of an upcoming Opel. Exact GoodCarBadCar words: "Sure, it's a bit geeky; plenty unbelievable; and it's not as if this is the C7 Corvette. But it's well done and 10x cooler than the Hyundai version of the same concept."

Well, ↓ is one and the same.

NEW AUDI LE MANS VIDEO IS HONEST

Audi's latest 35-second clip profiling their Le Mans efforts says quite truthfully that, "You win Indy" and that, "You win Monaco",  but "You survice Le Mans". The gruelling 24 hour race has been owned by Audi in this century and you can't deny that the Volkswagen subsidiary knows what it takes: straight-up perserverance.

Check out the clip below to see Audi's terrifying humour at the end of the video.

OPEL CLIP

GM Europe design is light years ahead of what GM Europe design was just a few years ago. The Vauxhall/Opel Corsa, Astra, Vectra, and Zafira are all - at this time - look much flashier and more expensive than just one generation ago.

The Insignia group of vehicles won't be fully revealed for a number of months. Automakers all enjoy building hype. Hundreds of Pontiac G6's were given away on Oprah Winfrey's show a few years back. The smart fortwo has been touring America ahead of its on-sale date. The faster-than-Z06 Corvette was 'caught' (wink wink), extensively, on video before General Motors wanted to even talk about it. In any case, this very partial Opel Insignia reveal is one of the better hype-builders. Sure, it's a bit geeky; plenty unbelievable; and it's not as if this is the C7 Corvette. But it's well done and 10x cooler than the Hyundai version of the same concept.

CAR NEWS BITE

Fluent in German? www.Mercedes-Benz.de showcases the new look of M-B websites that'll be seen across the world. Considering the fact that 50,000,000 people utilized a Benz website last year, reconfiguring the site is a fairly important process. The result seems swell, but the language barrier is keeping me from knowing for sure.

Poor Toyota Motor Corp: the current recall touches the hundreds of thousands. Lexus GS, Lexus IS, and Toyota Crown and Mark X models in Japan may all suffer from potentially faulty fuel pipes. The recall affects 264,000 vehicles in Japan, USA, Canada, and England, and Germany.

evo BOSS TRADES ZONDA FOR CATERHAM WITH EDITOR

Henry Catchpole decides to convince his boss at evo magazine, Harry Metcalfe, that every great garage needs a Caterham. Well, lookie there: Henry has a Caterham long-termer that Harry Metcalfe can try. The side-effect for Catchpole? He gets to drive Metcalfe's Pagani Zonda for the first time. The video from evo is below. Catchpole's facial expressions would make the video worth watching if the driving footage wasn't even as good as it is.

TOYOTA IQ VIDEO EXPLAINS FOUR SEATS IN SMALL CAR

Visual learners unite. Toyota has released a video (seen below) to help explain how the iQ is able to squeeze four seats inside a car that's less than three metres in length. The Good Car Guy already made most of Toyota's points clear, but for those of you who listen better than you read or need diagrams to make up for your lack of imagination, the video should help.

PORSCHE SHOWS THE NEW PANAMERA IN MOTION

Porsche says that they're proud to present new photos of their first four-door sedan, the Panamera. I believe they're not telling us the truth. In all likelihood, the Panamera rank as the most capable sedan on the planet. It'll also rank as one of the ugliest. Although it'll sound better than just about any other four-door. But it'll still be ugly.

Porsche must be absolutely embarrassed to release photos of their first four-door sedan, a car they attempted to give a 911 flavour. The 911 is a rear-engined two-door sports car. The Panamera is a four-door front-engined sedan, no matter what Porsche tries to label it as. The design themes aren't going to carry forward well. Anyway, The Good Car Guy has already spent one post blasting Porsche for the look of the new Panamera. The purpose of this post is to show you the Panamera in motion. Watch it below.

MINNESOTA CAR DEALERSHIPS CLOSE OVERNIGHT FRIDAY

Denny Hecker's car dealerships formed part of a 30-year old business that appears to be going down the tubes. Some of the Minnesota-area stores went under Friday night... overnight. In other words, business as usual appeared to be the theme of the day Friday - Saturday the doors were closed. Forest Lake Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Mitsubishi has been shutdown along with the following dealersips: Blaine Bargain Lot, Monticelle Dodge/Ford, Mercury Suzuki/Kia, Rosedale Hyundai, Shakopee Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge and Stillwater Ford/Lincoln/Mercury. Invergrove Heights Hyundai and Invergrove Heights Volkswagen were sold in addition to Peninsula Dodge in California.

Thorough website changes appear to be in waiting. DennyHecker.com shows the group as sellers of Toyota, Scion, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC along with an exotic rentals business now. Watch the CNN/KARE video below for more, or check this link from the Minnesota Star Tribune.

GoodCarBadCar.net brings this story to your attention for one reason: approximately one-third of Denny Hecker's workforce is now laid off. This will become a common theme across America in the very near future, and you might as well be ready.

A PORSCHE CAYENNE TAXI IN THE MIDDLE OF A BAD MOSCOW ECONOMY?

CNN's Matthew Chance takes a spin in one of Moscow's "garish reminders", as he calls them in the video below. A bright orange Porsche Cayenne kitted out for taxi duty in the city from which communism went forth; the city where real estate values are tumbling and garish was, but may no longer be, quite cool.

The fur-wearing Anna Petrova, founder of the Cayenne-running VIP Taxi company, explains how business continues as usual.

THE DETROIT THREE HAS A PROBLEM? SO DOES ARGENTINA

Argentina builds 600,000 cars each year. 270,000 of those cars are exported to Brazil, much of the remainder goes to Argentina's second-largest export market, Mexico. Mexico and Brazil form the largest economies south of the Rio Grande in the western hemisphere. Economies, both large and small, are apparently suffering right now. Perhaps you've heard.

Watch CNN's video below to see how Argentina's auto sector is coping with the problem. Where's Eva Peron when you need her?

BOAT RACER GOES END-OVER-END IN ARIZONA

At 100 mph, beginning a barrel roll would be absolutely terrifying. Adjectives and superlatives aren't available for describing a 240 mph barrel roll..... on water. CNN.com has footage from KNXV. Watch it below.

LISTEN TO THE MINI E WHIR AND HUM OVER HILL AND DALE IN MOTION

As a pedestrian, few experiences are as strange as watching out of the corner of your eye as a car rolls toward you (or speeds toward you) without making sounds. You may hear a whir or a bit of tire roar, but the sounds aren't processed correctly.

Curious to understand my full meaning? Mini's new electric version of the Cooper makes some noise; but not much. Read more about the Mini E here, watch the clip below.

2009 MAZDA 3 IN MOTION

Pictures of the new Mazda 3 don't treat its exterior well. That shouldn't be taken to mean that a car competing with the Nissan Sentra and Toyota Corolla, two not-so-gorgeous compacts, can't continue to be successful. In an early review Car&Driver wrote that "aside from the drone of road noise, the 3 rolls down the road with a refinement and solidity that escapes most of the cars in the compact class." Read their full review here, and watch the eight minute video of the new 3 below for a better idea of how Mazda's compact will look on the road.

KIA MANIAC

Straight out of 1983, Kia is running a pretty hilarious commercial with a 'salesman' selling cars like he's never sold before. The clip is ↓

Start the rumour mill here: Toyota should base their next commercial on a showroom variant of Footloose, starring..... that's right, Kevin Bacon. I can't think of anything funnier than the You Got Served guys appearing in a Buick advert, though.