Ten automakers to watch in 2010

1. Fiat

This Italian company is the white knight that stepped up to save Chrysler from bankruptcy. Now that it's in the driver's seat, many changes will start in 2010 as the new boss tries to return the once-troubled company to profitability.

Indications are that four versions of the diminutive Fiat 500 -- a hatchback, a convertible, a wagon and a hot hatch -- will be built at Chrysler's Mexican manufacturing plant and appear in North American showrooms by 2011. Plans are for the Lancia brand to be merged with Chrysler and the Lancia Thesis built in Canada. There is talk that the venerable Alfa Romeo luxury/sports car may return to these shores as well.

Expect to see the new Jeep Grand Cherokee in the fall of 2010. Alfa-Romeo will have its own version, but that might not be available in North America.

Look out for a new Wrangler in late 2010, perhaps even with a Fiat diesel.

2. Ford

The only one of the Big Three to avoid bankruptcy, Ford has gained valuable market credibility by not asking for a bailout to survive. Instead, it sold off Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover to raise cash and focus on its core business. At the same time, the company has managed to bring out popular new vehicles including the Edge, Fusion, Taurus and Flex.

Ford's fleet is also more fuel-efficient, thanks in part to the use of turbochargers in its engine offerings.

The company will introduce the Fiesta in Canada in 2010, a subcompact much anticipated in the economy-minded market.

3. Hyundai

The recession that battered other manufacturers was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Hyundai. While the competition slumped, the Korean manufacturer soared, thanks to fresh product that gave good value for the money. The firm started off the year with a $9,995 Accent and in the middle of the year came up with the Genesis sedan, a luxury car for under $50,000.

In 2009, they also introduced a new Elantra in sedan and wagon versions and topped it off with the Genesis Coupe. Coming next in 2010 is the redesigned mid-sized Sonata sedan and Tucson compact crossover. In the late summer or fall expect the new Equus, which replaces the Azera.

4. General Motors

The unthinkable happened when GM went bankrupt in 2009. After a very public bailout with a hefty injection of government loans, the General is still with us. The patient shows good signs of recovery, with new vehicles such the Camaro muscle car and the GMC Terrain crossover leading the way. Casualties include Pontiac, Saturn and Saab.

Cars to look out for in 2010 are the introduction of the Chevrolet Cruz, a compact sedan, and the Volt, GM's first mass-production electric car.

The Buick Lacrosse will be joined by the new Regal in 2010. Cadillac will add a coupe version of the CTS in showrooms by the summer.

Porsche Boxster three-cylinder?

Image from RPMGo.com

What is the world coming too? The Aston Martin Cygnet, GM keeping Buick over Pontiac and Saturn and now the Germans have gone mad as well. Autocar is reporting that Porsche officials are considering a low emissions model of the Boxster sports car.

For over a year now, rumors have been swirling about a low CO2 emissions version of the Boxster, but many thought it would be four-cylinder motor under the hood. Now, in a report from Autocar, Porsche hasn’t ruled out a three-cylinder powerplant.

“A Boxster with a four-cylinder engine, or maybe even a three-cylinder turbo, could produce between 180bhp and 200bhp and emit just 180g/km of CO2,” Wohler said to Autocar. “Given the Boxster’s history, that it started with a 200bhp, 2.5-liter engine. I think this is possibly something that customers could accept.”

While nothing is official yet, many believe that a three-cylinder Boxster is very possible, due to Volkswagen’s new ownership of the company. A Porsche sports car for the new green age might not be that far off.

Source -- Autocar

Camus's Death and a Rare French Sports Car

Albert Camus died 50 years ago today in a car accident in France.

Camus was 46 when he died in a crash while returning to Paris from Provence after the holidays on Jan. 4, 1960, in a car driven by his friend and publisher Michel Gallimard.

In the small town of Villeblevin, Gallimard lost control of the car, and Camus was killed. Gallimard was injured and died a few days later. Camus had with him a ticket for the train he had originally planned to ride and the manuscript of his last book.

Camus, known for his ideas of the absurd, is supposed to have said that the most absurd way to die would be in a car crash.

Today, there is a monument in Villeblevin to Camus. The bronze plaque on the monument reads: “From the Yonne area’s local council, in tribute to the writer Albert Camus who was watched over in the Villeblevin town hall in the night of 4 January – 5 January 1960.”

Only the wealthy, like Michel Gallimard, a publishing heir, were able to afford the Facel Vega, the unusual French competitor to the Mercedes SL or Aston Martin DB5. It was created by Jean C. Daninos, an industrialist who operated the metal stamping company Facel (the acronym for Forges et Ateliers de Construction d’Eure et de Loire, or Factory and Construction Shop of Eure and Loire).

Daninos began his business in the late 1930s. After the Second World War, Facel stamped out pieces for Simcas and other smaller French auto companies. But Daninos lamented the loss of great French sporting marques, like Bugatti or Delahaye, and conceived his own car. He drew the body lines himself, and adopted Chrysler Hemi engines to power the Vega. At first, Daninos used DeSoto engines, but by 1957 he had upgraded to the powerful 5.8 Hemi from Chrysler’s 300.

The Facel Vega was first shown to the public at the Paris auto show in 1954. Sometimes compared to a DB5, sometimes to a Thunderbird, the Facel Vega enjoyed sales among celebrities who wanted to be seen in something a little more exotic. Owners of Vegas and other Facel models included Joan Fontaine, Ringo Starr, Tony Curtis, Ava Gardner, Danny Kaye, the king of Morocco and various Saudi princes.

Facel produced only about 200 cars a year, and a few were brought to the United States by Max Hoffman in New York. Facel produced several models modified from the basic Vega. The company shrewdly lent one of them, an HK500, to the racer Stirling Moss. Mr. Moss found the HK500, with its automatic transmission and power steering, convenient for travel from race to race and made sure to praise the car in public. It transported him, he declared, “not only in silence and comfort, but also in safety.”

Yes, Aston Martin's One-77 Is Insanely Fast

Yes, Aston Martin’s One-77 Is Insanely Fast

The Aston Martin One-77 started with a simple directive from company CEO Ulrich Bez: Build a car that will take your breath away. It’s done just that with a 220-mph blast during testing.

Aston claims a One-77 hit 200.007 mph during high-speed testing “at a top-secret proving ground in Southern Europe.” The company didn’t provide any further details beyond saying the runs were made during “dry but windy” conditions. If the number’s valid, the One-77 is on pace to be the fastest car Aston Martin has produced since its founding in 1913.

To hit that kind of velocity, Cosworth is hand-building the 7.3-liter 12-cylinder engines. The goal is 750 horsepower and 750 Newton-meters (about 553 pound-feet) of torque.

Power is nothing without control, so the engine propels a car with an adjustable suspension derived from the race cars of Europe’s Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Series. Once you enter triple-digit velocities, the active suspension lowers one inch and the rear spoiler rises four inches to improve handling and aerodynamics. A rear diffuser provides additional downforce. Carbon-ceramic brakes slow you down in a hurry. It all sits in a carbon fiber monocoque chassis wrapped in hand-formed aluminum bodywork.

That kind of perfomance won’t come cheap, and the One-77 — so named because Aston will build just 77 of them — will run about $1.8 million when it goes on sale later this year. As much as we want one, we’ll be lucky to afford the Aston Martin Cygnet city car.

For more moto-porn, check out the photo gallery we ran after drooling on the One-77 in Monterey.

Photo: Jim Merithew / Wired.com

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EXPERTS agree a recession can be the perfect time to start a business.

EXPERTS agree a recession can be the perfect time to start a business.

Even so, launching a supercar hire club with membership fees of £10,000 a year sounded daring – verging on foolhardy.

But ecurie25, in Wakefield, has got off to a flying start, attracting 24 members in its first three months.

And club director Paul Brown, who lives in Bramham, is hoping the firm will continue at full-throttle through 2010.

Mr Brown, who also owns Cars on Demand leasing firm in Wakefield, said: "The business plan for the full year was to get 40 members so already we're over half way. It's going really, really well."

He said: "It's better to start something up in more difficult times because if you gear yourself up for that period and things improve, they can only get better."

The club started life in London and the operation at Wakefield's Trinity Business Park, is a spin-off which boasts a fleet of cars worth around £750,000, including an Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster, Bentley Continental GT and Jaguar XKR 5.0.

The most recent, and most expensive addition, is the Lamborghini LP560-4 Spyder – one of only six in the country – worth around £181,000.

And while the annual membership fee for around 40 days of classic motoring would price many of us out of the market, some people are so wealthy that for them tightening the pursestrings simply means hiring a £150,000 Ferrari F430 rather than buying one. After all, the typical annual cost of running such a motor is about £30,000.

And for those lucky enough to have their own performance car sitting in their garage, they can loan them out to the club to be used by members – and earn some extra cash.

Mr Brown, who runs ecurie25 with wife Karen, said businesspeople didn't always want to attract attention by driving to work in expensive vehicles when times were tough – they were happy to use them once in a while.

He said: "If someone owns something like an F430 they can put it on our fleet, we maintain them and insure it for them and they can let other members use it and pay them so much per mile – it's a way of off-setting the depreciation of their own car."

But for many people it's simply a golden opportunity to drive cars they could only dream of owning. Mr Brown, 42, said for some it was about the thrill of the drive, while for others it was all about the technology and engineering.

Drivers, what's in your stars?

t's a New Year full of hope and potential. At this time, it's important to remember that the road is a field of chance. Fortune favours the brave and those with winter tires. In an effort to keep Globe Drive readers apprised of what the annum may hold, Road Sage presents your motoring zodiac forecast for 2010.

With which cars are you most astrologically compatible? What is your optimum cruising speed when you factor in Mars's transit through Leo? Should you have your oil changed during a full moon?

Keep your head to the sky. All will be revealed…

Capricorn (December 22-January 19): The sea goat. Like most sea goats you are over-achieving and stubborn and enjoy wearing pinstripes. In 2010, avoid turning signals. Avoid turning. Drive as straight as possible. Danger lies around the bend. During the late winter months you will be blinded by sunsets when driving west. Capricorn, use only Burger King drive-thrus, even at breakfast. Consider buying a Lexus, but then buy a Hummer.

Aquarius (January 20-February 18): The water boy. In 2010, think hybrid. Buy a Prius and drive around to show everyone how ecologically friendly you are. Feel the sanctimony. That light that keeps going off on your dashboard? Look into it. Go ahead, read a book while driving. Do it. You are least likely to be cut off by a Libra.

Pisces (February 19-March 20): The fish. The zodiac sign most loaded with Omega 3. For the last decade you have been under the sway of the Andromeda constellation. Take heart! The year 2010 is the year you finally buy a van, line it with shag carpet; and install an eight track stereo full of April Wine tapes. Now drive to Cape Breton.

Aries (March 21-April 19): The most “Ram Tough” of all the signs of the zodiac. Your hooves make steering very difficult. Because of your horns no cop will ever give you a breathalyzer. Buy a Buick Lacrosse. Begin legal action against Dodge for appropriating your name.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): The bull. Beefy and dangerous. At least once a redheaded guy in a Hyundai Genesis will cut you off while merging onto the highway. Each time you will not believe this guy did that. You are most compatible with people who own cars that are worse than yours. The year 2010 will be stressful. Purchase an old Impala and take a sledgehammer to it.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): The twins. Duplicity is your middle name. You favour yellow lights. You own two cars. Sell one and then buy a Mazda MX-5 and move to California. Try acting. Land a small role on the new season of Scrubs. Meet actor Zach Braff. Be unimpressed.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): The crab. Your hard shell hides a soft narcissistic inside. Now that the Moon is in Eta Piscium it's time to admit that you don't know how to drive stick. Get ready Cancer: 2010 is the year you finally leave your house! Celebrate by leasing a Smart Car. Congratulations, you're still a loser.

Leo (July 23-August 22): The Lion. Astrology's second banana. The Andrew Ridgely of the Zodiac. Your best friend George Michael owns a Ferrari 599. All you have is an Audi Q5. Your insurance will go up for no reason. You will pay it anyway. You will take a lover who owns an Acura TSX. You will fall madly in love and be surprised by the fuel economy. Be sure to end this relationship on August 23.

Virgo (August 23-September 22): The virgin. You will be offered a lift in an Aston Martin DB9. If you take it you will need a new astrological sign.

Libra (September 23-October 22): The Scales Thing. You enjoy looking in the rearview mirror in order to judge the quality of your hair. Mars and Venus will align to cause the iPod accessory you got for Christmas (the one that is supposed to allow you to listen to your iPod through a radio channel) to be really staticky and never quite work yet function well enough so that you can't really take it back to the store. Do not hurl it from your car. You will hit a 2003 Pontiac Sunfire.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21): The Scorpion. Smallest sign in the zodiac. Thanks to Jupiter's transit through Uranus, the year 2010 is the year you stop driving slow in the middle lane of the highway. Just move over to the right lane. You can do it. While rolling up the rim you will cut your lip. If you wait until your birthday to renew your licence you will disappear.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21): The Liar. While commuting, every time you wear a white shirt you will spill coffee on it. Consider brown or black shirts. Sagittarius, 2010 is the year you can get away with stealing a car. Be judicious in your selection.

ASTON MARTIN CYGNET ON VIDEO

ASTON MARTIN CYGNET ON VIDEO

Teaser offers new glimpses of Aston's controversial city car

These are the first 'moving' images of the new Aston Martin Cygnet city car (that's the images moving, not the car).

You'll have to be patient, though, because you won't see the Cygnet for the first minute or so of the video, and no Aston appears at all until a few seconds before that.

Instead you are treated to 60 seconds of free running which, while impressive in its way, isn't exactly what we want to see in a car teaser video. Our advice? Wait for it to load and then skip straight to 1m 10s for a peek at the controversial Toyota iQ-based city car.

Oh, and if you can explain why the two free runners 'melt' into the Cygnet at the end, do let us know, because we can't work it out at all. Unless the new baby Aston is supposed to be able to jump over walls...