Cars! Cars! Cars!

Old Future Cars

Whoa! Set your peepers on this killer gallery of old images featuring future cars. In fact, there's a whole gallery of transportation.

Wait, there's more. With your new found interest in transportation you should take advantage of the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library out in hippie California. Oh, all right, we're not sure how hippie California is any more but we've found ourselves overstocked with the word hippie. Hippie. There, we're done.

Our friends at Gizmodo found us this link -- thanks!

New Cars for Next Year

As we all know, car manufacturers change their car line up every year and 2005 is no different. While the majority of cars get minor tweaks (new paint colors or bigger wheels) some get major restyling (Audi's A6 for example) and really can be considered new. Here's the list of cars that are all new or new-enough for 2005:

Acura RL
The 2004 Acura was so old, so tired and so boring that Acura could have done just about anything to this fine, full-sized luxury cruiser and it would have been of benefit. But instead of doing anything, they did everything. Still sticking with a 6-cylinder engine, the 2005 Acura RL adds more aggressive styling (okay, it's still pretty mild but for Acura it's a big change), all-wheel drive and loads of new electronic doo-dads.

Audi A3
The A3 is a totally new model for the U.S. line up. We hesitate to even mention the A3 since it won't be for sale here for some time (summer 2005) but we're suckers for more hatchbacks.

Audi A6
Think the new Chrysler 300 has a big grill? Check out this mama! The 2005 Audi A6 is larger in every direction. And it has more power from its two available engines. We've been fans of the A6 for a long time and are looking forward to seeing it really be competition for the BMW 5-series.

BMW M5
While the 5-series isn't new in 2005, the new M5 is. Its 10-cylinder engine produces over 500 horsepower. The 2005 BMW M5 will be followed by the M6 (later in 2005) which will be followed by us getting divorced because we "look at the M6 in a disturbing and far-too-lustful way."

Buick LaCrosse
The 2005 Buick LaCrosse replaces the Buick Regal. And while it's Buick's entry level car and is aimed at the older buyer, the 2005 Buick LaCrosse doesn't look embarrassing like the Buick Century did. From our first glances at it, it's still a very conservative interior but it looks modern (and not as cheap as the poor Century did). This is a good upgrade for Buick and we expect it to sell well.

Buick Terraza
This is a new minivan for Buick. We expect it to eat into sales of the Rendezdous (or just not sell well).

Chevrolet Cobalt
The outgoing Cavalier was so old and crappy that the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt should sell well unless GM totally fouls up the pricing. With a non-offensive exterior and its decent-looking interior we expect the Cobalt to help GM regain real credibility in the small-car segment.

Chevrolet Corvette
Good lord, GM can make a good product. Scratch that, a great product! From the looks of this sixth generation car, the 2005 Chevrolet Corvette is going to be a winner: smaller and more powerful (that's how to make a sports car!) And check it out, first time since 1962 that the headlights are exposed.

Chevrolet Uplander
This is another one we hestitated to include: it's new but not totally new. The 2005 Chevrolet Uplander is a replacement for the Chevrolet Venture. The Uplander brings Chevy inline with the foreign competition but it certainly doesn't pass them. Especially this year; the Honda Odyssey (the minivan that sent Detroit back to the drawing board) is new enough for 2005 to be on our list (see below).

Chrysler 300
Now this is what a merger of equals is supposed to create. A big American cruiser with dashing good looks, to boot. The 2005 Chrysler 300 retains the name but is a 180-degree turn from the previous model. Well worth a look if you are thinking of the big American car.

Ford Five Hundred
Ford's answer to the big American cruiser is the 2005 Ford Five Hundred. Oh, we know Ford makes the Crown Victoria but the Five Hundred should easily kill off the Crown Vic. Really all the Five Hundred is missing is a V-8 and we'd be shocked if Ford hasn't figured out how to shove one in there. Maybe in 2006?

Ford Freestyle
The 2005 Ford Freestyle is Ford's answer to the crossover vehicle: Nissan Murano, Honda Pilot, etc. Think of the Freestyle as truck version of the Five Hundred.

Ford Fusion*
The 2005 Ford Fusion is a replacement for the Ford Taurus and we say, "About freakin' time!" The Taurus is so old and tired it's not funny anymore. The Fusion will be sold in 2005 (not Fall 2004 like most cars) and expect to see Ford Taurus sales drop to near zero the day after that. *Originally called the Ford Futura.

Ford Mustang
Man, this is a big year for Ford. Will they turn it around? Well, we are positive the 2005 Ford Mustang is going to sell like hot cakes once Ford gets around to selling it. Using design cues from the 1960s, the new Mustang offers styling many of us haven't lived with. Not really aerodynamic, not really modern but all new and freshingly different. The only thing that can hurt sales of the 2005 Mustang is if Ford doesn't make quality job one.

Honda Odyssey
We haven't read much on this yet -- but Honda claims it'll be all new so we'll take their word for it.

Hyundai Tucson
We're not convinced the world needs another cute-ute but Hyundai thinks so... and with the roll Hyundai is on, we expect it to sell quite well. Think of the 2005 Hyundai Tucson as a less-fancy Honda CR-V (in case you don't know the term "cute-ute").

Jeep Grand Cherokee
There's something totally wrong when a brand called Jeep has to redo their fabulously capable off-roader, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, in order to make it more pavement friendly. Hello? HELLO?! Don't buy a four-wheel-drive, off-road dealie unless you are doing to go off-road! We're sorry we haven't made this clear enough. Sheesh. Anyway, the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been redesigned to be rugged enough to go to any mall America can throw at it.

Kia Sportage
Man, this cute-ute market segment is getting more and more crowded with the return of the Kia Sportage. The 2005 Kia Sportage is a great example of the new, affordable, small family station wagon.

Maserati Quattroporte
Oophf! Now this is a lust object. We sincerely hope the 2005 Maserati Quattroporte sells well enough, gets talked about enough, is reliable enough to warrant a full return to the states for Maserati. We've simply gushed about this perfect car before. What a beauty!

Mercedes-Benz R-Class
We haven't found a lot of good, reliable information on this new class of Benz but we can say it'll be some sort of crossover dealie. We bet it'll be pricey, too.

Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class
The SLK is the smallest convertible Mercedes-Benz makes and the 2005 SLK will be significantly more aggressive than in the past. Much more horsepower, much better handling and very sharp styling will be the key elements here.

Mercury Mariner
Another cute-ute but this one's not quite so cute. We aren't sure why Mercury is aiming at the low-end (not price-wise but size-wise) of the SUV market. We tend to think of Mercury drivers as, er, more mature (oh, hell, they're old!) and wanting a little more room... so why build a small SUV? This one is based on the Ford Escape.

Mercury Montego
See our comments about the Ford Five Hundred (above). Once Ford stuffs a stronger V-6 or a V-8 in here it'll sell well. It's not a bad looking car (sorry for the back-handed compliment... we just haven't gotten our mits on one of these yet).

Pontiac G6
The 2005 Pontiac G6 (it's tough to come up with cool letter combos let alone cool names so we guess they just started adding letters and numbers and hoped for the best) is the replacement for the Pontiac GrandAm. And not a moment too soon. Like a lot of what Detroit has been making, the GrandAm was tired three years ago and GM paid the price as car buyers moved away to the Japanese competition. Based on what we've seen we're not sure the Pontiac G6 is going to lure people back, either. But as a replacement for the GrandAm... well, they're not even on the same page. The G6 is that much better.

Pontiac Montana SV6
Eh. Blah. The 2005 Pontiac Montana SV6 (now a name plus letter-number combo dealies) is an big update to it's minivan. But we think it's funny lookin'.

Porsche 911
Major update. More of everything. Up to 444 horsepower. It's the car that was made for the word awesome.

Hybrids! Where are the hybrids?

Whither the Hybrid ?

Pardon us but, where the hell are the other hybrids? There's a waiting list to get a car with really good gas mileage? Come on! There's a line for everything now: a good table, tickets to Avenue Q, a date with Ashley Judd (sorry Nicole!). Now we have to wait for a hybrid? It's a car! Is there anyone to the rescue?

A reasonable question to ask is, "So, who's doing what in the hybrid arena?" Well, don't ask us for facts, but here's what it seems like:

Japanese: The Japanese manufacturers are working on producing more hybrid models based on existing products. Toyota's talking about making a hybrid Camry and Lexus is going to make a hybrid of the great RX330, called the RX400h. And Honda's making a hybrid of the near-perfect Accord. We might even see a hybrid Nissan Altima sometime in 2006.

Americans: Ha! Haha! Mercy, that's a good one. Detroit seems focused on making more V-8s and, in fact, not a single American-designed hybrid is available for purchase. Ford's finally coming out with a hybrid SUV (the Escape) but it's based on Toyota's technology. Oh, the irony isn't lost on us, either. American manufacturers are so stuck on SUVs that their first hybrid (a gas-saving vehicle) is a SUV (a gas-sucking vehicle). Very fitting. And very lame. Hey Ford! How about a hybrid of the Focus. Do we have to teach Ford everything? What smackies.

Germans: Nein hybrids! Germans haven't made a peep about making a hybrid. Rather, they've focused on refining the old, smokey diesel. And we admire that route. Our friends at the Cars site of About.com have reviewed some of those new diesels: 2004 Volkswagen Jetta and the 2004 Mercedes-Benz E320. The diesels seem quite impressive.

Other European: What's Saab up to? Well, as we all know, there aren't any small European manufacturers on their own any more. So, now owned by GM, Saab is making... That's right! A big ol' SUV. (Sigh) How about Volvo? Surely Volvo's not letting us down. Well, think again. Not only are there no hybrids to speak of, we're pretty sure Volvo's gonna stuff a V-8 into the hulking XC90. So, Saab and Volvo are going the big engine route rather than the smaller, more economical ways we're used to from them.

So, for now, it looks this: The Japanese make the two most usable hybrids for sale: Honda Civic and Toyota Prius. And it looks like it's gonna stay that way for a while. The Germans are making due with renewing technology to use less fuel (and less expensive fuel, to boot). Meanwhile, the Americans are ignoring rising fuel prices and are doing what they do best: making trucks and big cars that use as much fuel as possible. Hey, Detroit, make it so you can't turn the engine off -- that'll make sure we use all the fuel.

Check out our Hybrids for Sale article. We list all 2004 hybrid car models.

Rebates & Recalls: Related?

So sales were down at Ford and GM. No surprise, really. We all know Detroit is trying (or pretending to try) to come up with a car that can best the Camry and Accord but... for the last quarter Taurus and Impala sales were down 10% and 11% respectively. Camry and Accord? Up 6% and 17% respectively. So what do you do to move your product? Offer rebates baby!

But how come your car wasn't selling in the first place? As we mentioned above, the U.S. manufacturers can't build a car that equals (forget exceeds) the Japanese models. The Accord and Camry have been at the top of the best seller lists for years and years now and the Americans have been floundering around building Malibus and Tauruses of questionable quality. Another example of U.S. manufacturers not building cars as good: Ford recalls thousands of cars. Recalls aren't exclusive to Detroit but it sure seems that way.

Look, all we know is that Honda and Toyota don't seem to offer rebates and don't often get hit with recalls. And we think that's all related.

Columnist Kills a Pickup

Oh, we know, we're talkin' trucks? Well, you see, when we go around reading the car news we do come across the truck news (we usually just shield you from it). Anyway, reading a review of the new Colorado pickup truck written by the duo of Anita and Paul Lienert we noticed this comment:

SHE: ... I also think the Colorado is the perfect size for a woman, especially the extended-cab version that we tested. The tailgate is not too heavy. The truck is easy to park. ...

We can't imagine any regular dude is gonna pick up this truck now. It's tainted with the approval of a woman! It's like getting a skull and crossbones tattoo on your arm and having a biker guy walk up and say, "Oh, that's the same one my Mom got!"

Cars Changing for 2005

Cars that are changing for 2005. Make sure to read our expanded description of cars changing for 2005.

Acura RL

Audi A3

Audi A6

BMW M5

Buick LaCrosse

Buick Terraza

Chevrolet Cobalt

Chevrolet Corvette

Chevrolet Uplander

Chrysler 300

Ford Five Hundred

Ford Freestyle

Ford Fusion*
*Originally called the Ford Futura.

Ford Mustang

Honda Odyssey

Hyundai Tucson

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Kia Sportage

Maserati Quattroporte

Mercedes-Benz R-Class

Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class

Mercury Mariner

Mercury Montego

Pontiac G6

Pontiac Montana SV6

Porsche 911

This article was not writing on this date -- due to a technical issue it must appear on this date.