What Not

A commenter recently posted this possibility in response to the recent withdrawal of Koenigsegg from the purchase of SAAB.

I think that the most realistic solution for Saab is that BAIC buys the tooling for some models and that Volvo Car Corp. buys the Saab brand. It will be hard to operate Saab now since Saab has lost so many customers to other brands since fall 2008. Economies of scale — which previously has been the most significant problem for Saab — is now worse than ever. It will be expensive to continue Saab operations for the next years to come in the same way as in the past.

The only realistic way to save Saab´s dealership network in Europe and the US is to cut fixed costs dramatically while retaining the same quality of the products. And the only way that could be done is to build near badge-engineered Saabs on the same assembly line as Volvos. In fact, I think that would be a better solution for Saab than building cars based on Opel underpinnings. Volvo is a more prestigious brand and has a better quality reputation than Opel. Even if you change less on a Volvo model it would probably sell in larger numbers than a Saab-Opel equivalent.

Comment about Saab, Swedish officials in rescue plea for carmaker

Could it work? I’m not so sure.

The idea of keeping the company in Sweden is good. Nobody wants to see the dedicated employees of Trollhattan lose their jobs.  And the idea of using an upscale platform is also good. But I’m not convinced that the two could work together in the long run. Wouldn’t it be like The Ohio State University buying out the University of Michigan football team? It wouldn’t take long before the two brands would lose all that sets them apart. Nobody really wants that.

Believe me, I’d love for Leikin Motor Companies to purchase a SAAB franchise! But realistically the two brands probably wouldn’t work well together.

… it would seem that Elves ride in Volvos!

My sister made flannel hats for the kids a few years ago and my oldest son still wears his. You might expect him to be embarrassed about wearing a pointy green hat, but he really doesn’t care what people think. I like that. And to make it even better, one of the moms from Jefferson’s school wants my wife to make hats for her whole family.

Sign up for your hat in the comments section.

“Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?”  If Mickey Mouse were looking for the best SUV in Australia over $40,000, he’d be driving the 2010 Volvo XC60 D5. At least that’s what the Drive Car of the Year article says.  According to Drive, the XC60 beat out the Lexus RX350, BMW X5, Audi Q7, and Mercedes ML. Nice going, Volvo!

H/T Swade

QUESTION:

What automaker was the first to mass-produce a vehicle that uses a lithium-ion battery?

ANSWER:

Mercedes-Benz recently was the first with the all new 2010 S400 Hybrid. Check it out.

After many months of emails, phone calls, and brain storming, the new website for Leikin Motor Companies is a reality! Click on the picture above to visit the site. From there you can view the three dealership websites. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the changes that have been made.

The only Ian Fleming novel I’ve ever read was the classic children’s story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. For every car aficionado out there — the book is better than the movie by far! Every page oozes with information telling you that the author knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the automobile.

However … when Disney made the movie, they put together a beautiful car. Enjoy pictures and a little history about Disney’s creation in Dan Strohl’s latest article, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Does the picture give it away? This is the car my five-year-old daughter called “Muh-zetti” when we had the privilege of taking a coupe for a test drive. Yes, Mystery Car #62 is none other than the Maserati BITURBO Spyder. Let me just say that the car we test drove had the nicest interior of any 1980′s era car I have ever driven.

The Maserati Biturbo is a sports car introduced by Maserati in 1981. The Biturbo was … of somewhat smaller dimensions than the BMW 3 Series of the time …  featuring, as the name implies, a two-litre V-6 engine with two turbochargers and a luxurious interior. The car was designed by Pierangelo Andreani, an engineer from the De Tomaso team, somewhat influenced by the design of the newer Quattroporte III (Italdesign Giugiaro), as can be observed on the front fascia.

Export versions came initially with a 2.5L V6, after 1989 it was enlarged to 2.8 Litres, while for Italy a two-litre high-performance version was originally produced (to avoid the 38% sales tax imposed at the time on cars displacing more than 2000 cc). The aluminum 90 degree SOHC V6 engine was roughly based on the 2.0L Merak engine. Itself based on earlier V8 Formula One Maserati engines, designed by Giulio Alfieri (1924-2002). The carbureted 2.5L engine produced 185 hp (138 kW) and 208 lb·ft (282 N·m) of torque in North American spec and slightly more elsewhere. Fuel injection was fitted in 1987 raising power to 187 hp (139 kW). In 1989 the 2.8L engine bumped power to 225 hp (168 kW) and 246 lb·ft (334 N·m) of torque for North America and 250 hp (186 kW) for Europe.

Wikipedia

This piece of history was parked in front of Every Tire & Wheel in Eastlake, Ohio. Wanna buy it? It’s supposed to have only 25,000 miles and looks to be in decent condition. During my quick walkaround, I didn’t see any rust. So, it might be a decent car. But the question lingers in my mind. Would anyone pay $1900 for a Dodge Omni?

My brother had a couple of these—a white one and a red one. At the time I thought the red one was pretty cool. Of course, back then I thought a Cavalier was kinda cool, too. My brother’s red Omni had red velour seats that were surprisingly comfortable. But as with most Dodge products, it didn’t last very long and ended up sitting in our back yard for quite some time.