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Dan Neil, car critic at The Wall Street Journal and The Car Show presenter, is pretty smitten with the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, at least on most fronts. As a devotee of the E36 M3, Neil is happy to see that the fairly lightweight coupe comes with an honest inline six-cylinder engine under the hood, even with its forced-induction shenanigans. And the six-speed manual transmission with its excellent clutch and solid shifter apparently warranted spilling some ink over as well, but not all is right in the land of baby M models. According to Neil, the 1 Series M Coupe is “one of the ugliest, most disturbingly wrong car designs in modern history.”

As the locals are fond of saying; them’s some strong words. We won’t be caught leaping to the defense of the vehicle’s aesthetics, but we will say Neil comes down a bit hard on the smallest of the M clan. Sure the car isn’t the prettiest belle at the heel-toe squaredance, but ugliest of them all? That’s a big stretch. We would carefully point Neil’s attention toward the likes of the the Dodge Caliber, just about any crossover from SsangYong or even the hideous of all hideousness, the Pontiac Aztek as contenders for that title. What do you think?

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Dan Neil calls BMW 1M Coupe ugly… is he right? [w/poll]

The Pasadena Art Center College of Design held its annual Car Classic this past weekend, an event that has been a must-attend on our calendars for the past few years. While rain hampered last year’s Car Classic, this year’s event benefited from a typically beautiful Southern California day.

Anyone from the Art Center will tell you that the Car Classic is not a concours event, but rather a display of automotive art. As a result, the selection of cars is fairly eclectic and the vehicles are strewn about the campus lawn in a rather unorganized fashion. While the layout may not be as photogenic, it makes it easy to wander through the sea of cars and simply enjoy each and every one.

Each Car Classic does have a theme, though, and for 2011 the event celebrated Southern California’s influence on automotive design. In addition to the Art Center producing some of the world’s most famous automotive designers, more than twenty advanced automotive design studios call the area home, several of which brought recent concept cars to display. There were also special displays for California hot rods and California beach culture as well as cars designed by Peter Brock. The Petersen Automotive Museum and Mullin Museum also brought out cars from their impressive collections. You can see a sample of the cars in attendance in the high-res gallery above.

2011 Art Center Car Classic celebrates Southern California’s influence on automotive design

The Chevrolet Sonic and its big sister, the Cruze, have proven to the world that General Motors is once again capable of building class-leading small cars. To showcase these cars in a new light, Chevrolet will be bringing a smattering of Sonics and Cruzes to the upcoming SEMA show, with these models accounting for 60 percent of the brand’s show cars. (Don’t worry, there will still be plenty of Corvettes, Camaros and Silverados, and we’ll have details on those in the coming days.)

The 2012 Sonic is the latest and greatest of the Chevrolet small car portfolio, and GM will have 20 different Sonics on display. Here, we see the Sonic Z-Spec I (above) and Z-Spec II (right), showing the different aftermarket options that will be available for the Sonic hatchback. The Z-Spec I wears a lower aero kit that will be available to order starting this December, while the extra body work of the Z-Spec II is still purely conceptual right now.

Not pictured, a sedan version of the Z-Spec I will also be on display, as well as the Sonic Dusk concept, which wears a new Berlin Blue exterior finish, Z-Spec aero kit and a two-tone Mojave leather interior. All the SEMA Sonics are equipped with GM’s 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four, ride on special 18-inch wheels and are fitted with upgraded suspension bits, as well as Brembo brakes.

Both the Z-Spec and Dusk treatments make their way to the Cruze sedan in a similar fashion. In terms of design, the Cruze models look very similar to their Sonic counterparts, though the upsized dimensions of Chevy’s C-segment sedan allow for larger wheels – 19-inch sets on both vehicles.

We’ll have more images and details live from SEMA next week, but for now, follow the jump to read the full scoop in GM’s press release.

Continue reading Sonic and Cruze headlining for Chevy at SEMA

Sonic and Cruze headlining for Chevy at SEMA

General Motors has been noticeably tight-lipped about the specifications for its 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, leaving enthusiasts to salivate and daydream over the sorts of possibilities that can arise from a supercharged, all-aluminum V8. Now we can wonder no more. According to a post in the Camaro5 forums, dealers already have the skinny on the meanest Camaro of them all. The model will reportedly arrive with a blistering 580 horsepower and 556 pound-feet of torque under its wide hood. Those figures are good enough to hustle the 4,120-pound muscle car around the fabled Nürburgring in a skinny seven minutes and 41 seconds, though something tells us that has as much to do with the car’s 51/49 weight balance.

Two wheel options will be available, including a five-spoke and a 10-spoke design, and buyers can pick from a total of nine colors. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard equipment, though a six-speed automatic will also be available for those buyers who wish to leave the cog-swapping to the car. The Camaro ZL1 will also come with the same four-pack console gauges as the SS model, though a boost gauge is now part of the party. Head over to the Camaro5 for a full look at the vehicle’s specifications.

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 specs divulged

Well, we can all stop hoping for a new Dodge Magnum.

Chrysler-Lancia CEO Saad Chebab told Autocar that there will be no Touring version of the redesigned Chrysler 300 built for Europe, saying that wagon sales in the U.S. are not robust enough to justify development costs for a five-door version of the platform. If Europe isn’t getting a Chrysler wagon, we certainly aren’t going to see a Dodge version here.

The previous-generation Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 both spawned wagon variants, the Dodge Magnum for the U.S. market and the Chrysler 300 Touring overseas. The Magnum was never a hot seller, though it had its fans – ourselves included – and Autocar says the 300 wagon was popular both in the U.K. and on mainland Europe.

But with Fiat calling the shots now and post-bankruptcy budgets at Chrysler still tight, we’re guessing any money that could have been spent putting a new Magnum on the road went elsewhere. Like rebadging the 300 and other Chryslers as Lancias.

Overseas-only Chrysler 300C wagon killed off

In the effort to leave no marketing stone unturned, a member of the Earnhardt family has teamed up with a custom home builder to create an exclusive line of houses. Kerry Earnhardt, the eldest son of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., has aligned forces with Paul Schumacher of Schumacher homes. Needless to say, this Schumacher has no affiliation with the racing legend.

Each house is named after a particular memory from the lives of Earnhardt and his wife, Rene. One design, Pocono, honors the track at which Kerry Earnhardt won his first race, while one of the largest plans, Giant Sequoia, is crafted as a tip of the hat to the larger-than-life presence of Dale senior.

All told, there are 19 home designs to choose from. You can check them out by heading over to the Schumacher site for a closer look. In a quasi-related note, Road & Track reports that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. recently said that he’d like to see Michael Schumacher hop across the pond for a quick stint behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup racer.

Earnhardt plays house with team Schumacher

The Nissan Titan is being redesigned for 2014, and if we’re to take the Nissan America’s chairman at his word, another new one will be in the pipeline after that. Colin Dodge tells Automotive News, “We’re going to need two or three cycles to be as professional as the people who have been doing it for 50 or 60 years.”

By that, Dodge is referring to, well, Ram, Chevrolet and Ford. Indeed, domestic manufacturers have been far less impacted by the arrival of Japanese full-size pickups than many had speculated. Nissan’s Titan was introduced for the 2004 model year, but annual sales topped out at 86,945 in 2005, according to AN. This year, Nissan has moved just over 15,000 of the trucks, but is apparently undeterred by slow sales.

On tap for the next-gen Titan will most certainly be some different engine options, as the Nissan spokesman thinks the 5.6-liter V8 that’s been offered since launch has held the Titan back. While nothing definitive is mentioned in the interview, he does say “very efficient powertrains” will be part of the mix. At the very least ,we might expect a variation of Nissan’s VQ-series V6 to finally find a home behind the Titan’s grille.

Nissan to remain “patient” with Titan full-size truck

Ford has confirmed that its Transit van will be manufactured in Kansas City. The company plans to invest $1.1 billion in facility upgrades and tooling to produce both the next-generation F-150 and the Transit in preparation for the van’s arrival on U.S. soil in 2013. That investment is $700 million more than Ford had previously allocated for its Kansas City facility. Ford says the extra cash will go toward new paint and body shops in addition to an integrated stamping plant. The upgrades will also allow Ford to increase F-150 pickup production with the addition of a second manufacturing shift.

Previously, we had heard word that Ford would embrace the T-Series naming convention for the Transit, with models breaking down into trim levels similar to what’s seen on the current F-Series, though the press release after the jump specifically refers to the new van as the Transit. Does that mean Ford will rely on a new system of trim designation for the van? It’s hard to say, but either way, it certainly sounds like the days of the E-Series/Econoline range are numbered. Hit the jump to see the full press release for yourself.

Continue reading Ford confirms $1.1B investment to build Transit van in Kansas City

Ford confirms $1.1B investment to build Transit van in Kansas City

It’s been less than a week since BMW dropped the first images of its redesigned 3 Series sedan on us, but already the imaginations are running wild about what the next M3 might look like. Automotive manipulator Theophilus Chin has given us his take on the F30-based M3, and it’s about what you might expect.

With enlarged air ducts in the front fascia to feed the intercoolers for a rumored twin-turbo V6 setup, Chin’s M3 is more aggressive, but retains the marque’s penchant for subtlety. Around the back, Chin’s M3 sedan has just a bit of a lip on the decklid and the telling quad exhaust pipes, but is thankfully devoid of boy-racer cues.

With the sixth-generation 3 Series sedan styling serving mostly to clean up the E90’s lines, the next M3 will likely be treated similarly when it finally reaches our shores in 2014. While there will be plenty of M3 news to come, if the end product turned out much like these images, we wouldn’t be surprised.

Here’s what the 2014 BMW M3 could look like

Does Technology Make A Segment Leader?

Want to give yourself a headache? Go out and shop for a new compact sedan with the stipulation that it must have seating for up to five passengers and a highway EPA fuel economy rating in the high-30-mpg range or better. You won’t have to look hard, because it seems nearly every automaker is jumping into an already crowded segment and delivering this type of vehicle. Without much effort, we can alphabetically list the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla. Spend a bit more time, and the list opens up even wider.

Sticker prices, fuel economy numbers and warranty terms are objective and indubitable. Driving dynamics, styling and passenger comfort, in sharp contrast, are subjective. To differentiate itself from the crowd, and win consumers over on both fronts, Mazda has worked hard to deliver a competitive compact that is objectively frugal and subjectively stylish and fun to drive.

Enter the new 2012 Mazda3 Skyactiv.

Fitted with a new high-compression engine and offered with two new transmissions, the latest of the Mazda’s energy-efficient variants sounds impressive on paper – but so do most redesigned cars at first glance. We recently spent a day in Southern California putting the updated Mazda3 Skyactiv through its paces to determine if the Japanese automaker has really provided us with something revolutionary, or just another round of marketing hype.

Continue reading 2012 Mazda3 Skyactiv

2012 Mazda3 Skyactiv

Now that we have a clear glimpse of the 2012 BMW 328i and 335i, it’s time for us to set our sights on the next chapter of the 3 Series story: the M3. Our trusty spy photographers caught this prototype doing its thing on the Nürburgring, and though there’s still lots of swirly camouflage, it’s pretty easy to see how the new 3 Series’ design will adapt to the bulgier M shape.

What’s still unknown, however, is exactly what’s powering the next M3. It’s no secret that BMW will be dropping the naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8 in favor of a turbocharged six-cylinder setup, but we’ve heard reports that the automaker’s traditional inline-six may be nixed in favor of a brand new V6 configuration. Either way, expect the new M hotness to pack somewhere around 450 horsepower, and by using a forced induction setup, there should be substantially more torque on tap than the current car’s seemingly puny 295 pound-feet.

BMW M3 Sedan being worked out on the ‘Ring

With the launch of the $23,470 Buick Verano, General Motors has its work cut out in differentiating this luxury compact from its mass market sibling, the Chevrolet Cruze. Verano’s price tag starts less than $500 above a top-of-the-line Cruze LTZ, but GM has a few arrows in its premium-product quiver to insure Verano doesn’t come off as a badge-engineered baby Buick.

While we’re more interested in the engine upgrade, which puts the 2.4-liter four-cylinder from the Buick Regal underhood, GM is touting the Verano’s “1,000-hour” seats. They share leather, foam and padding with the top-of-the-line Buick LaCrosse, and are designed to prevent “hot spots” when driving long distances, says GM in a new press release. (The 1,000 hours GM refers to is the development time that went into the seats, not the duration you can sit in them before experiencing discomfort.)

The icing on the cake is that the Verano’s seat head rests are “positioned to accommodate ponytails and other up-dos without compromising the occupants’ postural comfort,” says GM. Which, of course, makes us wonder whether we might someday see a Steven Seagal special edition Verano. Read the entire press release after the jump.

Continue reading Wear a ponytail? Buy a Buick Verano

Wear a ponytail? Buy a Buick Verano

We’ll admit it, this video isn’t exactly new, but it’s the first time we’re seeing it and, honestly, we’re stunned. The creators have dubbed this “The Mother of All Hot Wheels Tracks,” and after sitting at our desks with wide eyes and dropped jaws, we’re inclined to agree. And not just because it’s amazing to watch a little toy car run a claimed 2,000-foot gauntlet of orange plastic – it’s remarkable from a construction standpoint, too. Think about it: How many times would you design an elaborate Hot Wheels track only to have the whole thing come apart around Turn Four?

Consider this thing the Nürburgring of the Hot Wheels world.

Being the skeptics that we are, we so have to question the authenticity of this race course, only because the changing camera angles leaves some wiggle room for building the sections separately with much less track. You can vote yea or nay in our poll below, but frankly, we want to live in a world where this is 100 percent real.

Regardless, it’s an amazing feat of Hot Wheels engineering, and we highly encourage you to take four minutes out of your day to watch the full video, posted after the jump.

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Continue reading Mother of all Hot Wheels tracks leaves us speechless, if real [w/poll]

Mother of all Hot Wheels tracks leaves us speechless, if real [w/poll]

Holden has resurrected the company’s ground-breaking 1969 Hurricane Concept with a complete restoration. The low-slung, mid-engine coupe served as a showcase for technology that wouldn’t find its way into production vehicles for almost three decades, including a turn-by-turn navigation system, automatic climate control and a rear-view camera. At the time, engineers relied on genuine ingenuity to load the Hurricane with equal parts performance and technology. The navigation system relied on magnets embedded in the road surface to illuminate a series of arrows on the dash while the rear-view camera borrowed from closed-circuit TV.

A group of dedicated Holden workers took it upon themselves to put the Hurricane back in working order using as many original parts as possible. That includes the experimental four-barrel 253ci V8 mounted mid-ship. Holden eventually used the design as the platform for its small-displacement V8 effort, which began later in ‘69, though as GM points out, the V8s wouldn’t receive the four-barrel treatment until much later in the ’70s.

Holden has been working to restore the Hurricane since 2006, and now that it’s finished, the concept will be on display at the Motorclassica Car Show in Melbourne from October 21-23. Follow the jump for a quick video on the car as well as the press release.

Continue reading Holden restores its first ever concept car, the 1969 Hurricane [w/video]

Holden restores its first ever concept car, the 1969 Hurricane [w/video]

Some concept cars don’t die off into the unknown oblivion of some random unmarked warehouse. Instead, they just fade into eBay Motors. The 1994 Ford Power Stroke Concept is the latest refugee from the show circuit that has shown up on everyone’s favorite auction site.

Originally designed to show off the Ford Power Stroke diesel engine, the bulbous and somewhat homely concept is about as aesthetically far from any full-size truck as it gets. The seller says the vehicle functions as it should and comes with the custom wheels and tires that it rolled onto the stage with way back when. Apparently the show electronics are also included in the deal.

Unfortunately, this machine isn’t registered as a street vehicle and likely never will be. As such, the winning bidder will receive a bill of sale. As of the time of writing, the truck has six days left on the auction with zero bids and a $40,000 starting bid. Head over to eBay Motors to check out the auction for yourself.

eBay Find of the Day: 1994 Ford Power Stroke Concept

In the right weather and with the right person, riding in a horse-drawn carriage around Central Park can be romantic… if a little corny. Of course, it can also be a bit odorous and, for those on foot who have to deal with the horse by-product, messy. It’s not just joggers and bikers who object to the city horses; animal welfare groups have long worried about the poor working conditions. Not only do the animals spend their days shuffling along on hard pavement through slow-moving traffic while inhaling exhaust fumes, most of the horses return at night to narrow stalls beneath tenement buildings with never a chance to step into a pasture and graze. A recent petition drive gathered nearly 45,000 signatures in favor of retiring the carriage horses.

Welcome to the 20th century. Central Park may be about to reenact the transition from horse-drawn to horseless carriage as the four-footed form of horsepower is replaced by electric motors. The organization NY CLASS (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets) has commissioned designs for electric carriages, modeled after some early cars, as horse replacements. The plan is to make the cars available to the same people who currently own and drive the horse-drawn carriages so no one will lose a job – except possibly the horses, who may finally get a chance to step onto some of that grass they’ve been circling for years while never getting a hoof off the blacktop.

Right now, the horse-replacements exist only as foot-long models (a bit small for a romantic evening), but if the New York City Council moves forward on legislation to phase out the carriage horses, the electric cars could be replaced with full-size versions in the next few years.

History Repeats Itself: NYC horses may be replaced by electric carriages

Designers tend to be forward-thinking people, and Brooks Stevens was one of the most clever, visionary car designers ever. In December 1942, Stevens imagined for Popular Mechanics magazine what the consumer auto market might evolve into after World War II.

The wartime focus was on sacrifice to feed the hungry furnaces of industry churning out tanks, armaments, ships, and aircraft, and that likely colored Stevens’ opinion that Americans were going to lean toward smaller, more efficient vehicles. The explosion of ever more gaudy designs throughout the 1950s was likely a result of the austerity required to stamp out fascism. Stevens did understand the civilian appeal of the Jeep, and rightly suggested that it would make the transition to desirable consumer vehicle.

The Corvair was perhaps the ultimate expression of the auto ideals of the 1930s with its rear-mounted air-cooled engine, and it’s just the type of car that Mr. Stevens thought would take hold in America. Perhaps he was surprised at how reality received the kind of family car he considered in the 1940s. While he may have missed the mark on the Corvair, misjudging the effect of heart-versus-head when consumers consider cars, Stevens was accurate suggesting the proliferation of wraparound glass, bodies without separate fenders and even the way the eventual re-starting of production would ultimately happen, with carryover designs being the first cars to go on sale after wartime production finished.

There’s more, of course, like some soothsaying about plastics in automotive use, and it’s a fascinating signpost in automotive history. It’s tough to read what Brooks Stevens thought about the eventual cars of the 1950s and not try to imagine what he might say about the actual automobiles of the 21st century.

Industrial designer Brooks Stevens examines the effect of WWII on auto design… in 1942

Admittedly, the U.S. doesn’t offer the world’s greatest driving instruction. By and large, young drivers are forced to rely on their parents to teach them how to handle themselves behind the wheel, which perpetuates a painful cycle of trans-generational bad habits.

State Farm is out to cure that ail with a new program designed to better prepare parents for the rigors of the passenger seat. The Road Trips program incorporates a number of online tools, including videos, intended to alert both parents and new drivers to the challenges associated with learning to drive in 2011. With more distractions than ever before, State Farm says that parents need to understand the temptations facing their children while driving.

The video series features Ralph Macchio of The Karate Kid fame as he walks his son David through the wax-on, wax-off of driving. If it sounds like watching paint dry, you’re pretty much dead on, but we still applaud State Farm’s efforts here. Parents even have a shot at winning a brand-new 2012 Ford Focus SE, too. Head over to the program’s site for more information and hit the jump for a look at the introductory video.

Continue reading State Farms teams up with… Ralph Macchio?

State Farms teams up with… Ralph Macchio?

Our scum-of-the-Earth scale has a special slot near the top for parents who mistreat their children. We aren’t interested in the psychology behind decisions like placing your nine-year-old daughter behind the wheel of your full-size van for a 3 a.m. run to the local convenience store. We just know the behavior is beyond unacceptable. That didn’t stop one Detroit-area father from doing just that. The man was recorded bragging that he had been drinking and that his daughter had served as his designated driver for the trip to the store. He then said he was leaving and that his daughter would once again drive him home.

Surprisingly enough, no one at the convenience store bothered to try and stop the man.

Police later received a call from a concerned driver who spotted the youngster at the van’s controls. An officer stopped the van, but the father refused a breathalyzer at the time. He has since been charged with second- and fourth-degree child abuse. The bottom line here is that what you do with your own life is your concern, but endangering a child with your own stupidity is the sort of act that deserves far worse than incarceration. Hit the jump to see an AP report on the incident.

Continue reading Drinking MI man lets 9-year-old daughter drive his A-Team van

Drinking MI man lets 9-year-old daughter drive his A-Team van

A new report says General Motors has decided against producing a coupe version of the forthcoming 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. We don’t know how far into the development process a two-door Malibu made it, but renderings of the car were shown to journalists last week. When queried, however, GM design chief Ed Welburn told Inside Line, “A Malibu coupe could be a pretty nice car, but it is not in the plan right now.”

GM introduced the new Malibu at the 2011 New York Auto Show, and has said it intends the car to be a truly global product sold in 100 countries. Shorter and wider than the old model, the new Malibu’s proportions would have certainly lent themselves to a two-door – and we’d be lying if we said it wouldn’t warm our hearts to see a “Chevelle” badge on the decklid.

Alas, the coupe market isn’t what it once was, and Chevy clearly has other plans for positioning the car. A 38-mile-per-gallon Eco model was also announced at the New York introduction, taking advantage of GM’s eAssist mild hybrid system currently used in the Buick line to improve the Malibu’s fuel economy by five mpg compared to the 2012 model.

All standard 2013 Malibu’s will be powered by a new 190-horsepower, 2.5-liter, direct injection four-cylinder. This may have influenced the decision against a coupe, which would have demanded a sportier engine. Also likely playing into Chevy’s thinking is an increasingly crowded brand lineup. With new nameplates like the Sonic and Spark joining the one-year-old Cruze and Volt, Chevy sales and marketing has quite a lot on its plate already.

Chevy won’t build Malibu coupe