DOT proposes data-recording black boxes for all light-duty vehicles

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Remember Me: Aston Martin V12 Vantage Carbon Black

A couple of weeks ago, Aston Martin was kind enough to get me behind the wheel of a V8 Vantage S. A beautiful car, no doubt. So good looking in fact that you can call the Henrik Fisker penned coupe a modern day classic and get very little argument. Even from serious car guys that like little more than to sit around and argue. Fast, too, with 10 more horsepower (for a total of 430 hp) and 15 extra pound-feet of torque (361 lb-ft) than normal, all stuffed into 3600 pound sexified package. And the automated-manual transmission is so clunky that I’d almost forgotten I’d driven the poor Vantage S. In fact, when the PR lady at Aston wrote and asked how I enjoyed the car, I never wrote her back. I had nothing nice to say! Which is why yesterday, when I climbed into the 2012 V12 Vantage Carbon Black parked behind our office, I did so with low expectations.

And I gotta tell you: the window switches work backwards and there’s no auto up. The air conditioning barely works at all. The nav screen would have been worst in class a decade ago. Today, I can’t figure out if it’s pitiful or comical, though I supposed tragedy plus time does equal yucks. My wife described the interior as, “Like sitting inside an athletic shoe,” and the shift knob looks like a clubfoot. The seats are both highly uncomfortable and totally unsupportive. The gauges not only look cheap, but they don’t work very well. Why is there no indicated redline? And how about an oil pressure gauge? I’m not even entirely convinced that the fuel gauge works. Either way, the big-motored Vantage gets atrocious mileage. And costs about $200,000.

That said, if I were a savvy collector, if I were a man with the bankroll and foresight to make a move, I’d grab one of these with low miles just off lease and warehouse it somewhere for the next couple decades. Because the Aston Martin V12 Vantage is absolutely incredible and will only age well. Serious, it’s glorious. A borderline-inconceivable if not preposterous if not absurd notion of a car, yet an oh-so-classic concept all the same. We’re going to stuff a real humdinger of a motor into a small car and give it three pedals. Yes please!

Here’s all you really need to know: The V12 Vantage has a big, 6.0-liter V12 located about a foot from your chest, a six-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive and an exhaust note that could open up for Slayer. Let’s stick with the sound for a second. While the V12’s engine note is superb, it’s the back-burble of the exhaust that lights your chest hair on fire. Under wide-open throttle the quad-pipes sound like Zeus sharpening his chainsaw on a cinderblock; let off the gas and he’s now gargling lava.

Then of course there’s the speed with which this little beast closes gaps. Think about how often you come upon a Camry hogging the fast lane in whatever it is you drive. Now multiply that by the speed of profanity, sweat and a mechanical sledgehammer. The result is that every single car on the road becomes an obstacle, a rolling chicane, before you can downshift. But that’s fine because should you decide to go around them, the V12 Vantage features laser-guided, homing pigeon style handling. Feel like slowing down? The squeaky yet ginormous carbon ceramic cymbal-sized brakes are more than up for the task. And remember, once you let off the throttle, the father of the gods starts gargling once more.

This car comes from another time and place. It comes from… the 80s. A time when supercars had faults and flaws, some actual personality and character, and were the better for it. Since when did you want your Lamborghini to behave like an Audi? Supercars used to be temperamental sons of bitches that dared you to love them. They smelled funny, they hurt your back, they rarely ran and you couldn’t see what you just blew past. Amen! The V12 Vantage is cut from that same tattered but eternally fetching cloth. This car is a warts and all type of monster. Instead of Carbon Black, Aston should have branded this one the Lemmy Kilmister edition (thanks Phil).

I liked the V12 Vantage so much that I started calling people I hadn’t talked to in years just because they had to know. We’re talking real and serious car guys, who even though we hadn’t said boo to one another in 18 months, had no problem carrying on a 30 minute conversation because that’s how special this big-motored Vantage is. Remember, since the demise of the Murcielago, Aston Martin is the only company left on earth attaching manual transmissions to V12s, and the Vantage is the smallest car they make. Meaning that I’m driving the lightest three-pedal V12 automobile you can buy. I had to let everyone capable of grokking that fact’s significance know all about it. Maybe most telling, is that the V12 Vantage made me think of my father, the man who drilled into me the inherent superiority of all things automotive and British, and why you most look past all their imperfections to spot the perfections. He would have absolutely loved this top rung Vantage; I wish there’s someway I could give him a ride.

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BMW to offer exclusive matte Frozen Black M3

After selling out of its last matte-finish special edition M3 in just 15 minutes last year, BMW has stepped up to the plate with an even more limited new model, the 2011 Frozen Black Edition M3 Coupe.

Swathed in BMW Individual Frozen Black, the M3 Coupe features a deep metallic sheen, the automaker says. BMW developed a specific silk matte clear coat for the paint scheme, which gives it a unique shine-free look. Unlike the last Frozen Gray special edition, the Frozen Black Edition comes with a full factory warranty, although BMW says it will provide buyers with instructions on how to care for the unique paint shade since matte finishes require special treatment.

The car will also get 19-inch black M3 GTS wheels wrapped in high-performance summer tires, red brake calipers, and gloss black exterior accents. Inside, BMW continues the theme with black Novillo leather over every seating surface, but red stitching throughout helps break up the hue.

All 20 cars will be identically equipped, including the M-DCT transmission, the Competition Package, Premium Package 2, navigation and virtually every other M3 option available.

How to get yours
BMW says it will keep one of the Frozen Black Edition M3s for itself, so only 19 will be available to the public at a price of $79,650. By our estimation, the paint shade represents about a $1,600 premium over a similarly-optioned M3 with metallic paint.

BMW will open the ordering books on June 16 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, when it will take orders at 1-800-245-4269. Delivery will take place shortly thereafter at a buyer’s chosen dealership.

The remaining M3 will stay part of BMW of North America’s collection, although the automaker says it might make it available for sale at a later date.

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DOT proposes data-recording black boxes for all light-duty vehicles

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Oil and Profits … Chrysler Finally Back in Black

Crude oil futures dropped the morning after Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden, though they were off just 27 cents per barrel as I write this. Both the economy and the price of gasoline have altered American car-buying habits, such as they are. We’re buying sedans and crossovers and have cut back on big pickups, with construction fleet keeping that last segment at a decent level, down to 10+ percent of the market from roughly 14 percent before the Great Recession. The midsize truck-based SUV segment, which was so big and so profitable in the ‘00s, has virtually disappeared.

The Detroit Three have updated their fleets to reflect these shifts, and now even Chrysler Group LLC has been able to benefit. Its $116 million net profit for the first quarter of 2011, small as it was, represents the company’s first black ink as a new company. It was Chrysler’s first net profit, in fact, since 2006, before Daimler sold the automaker to Cerberus. For the first quarter of 2010, Chrysler Group lost $197 million.

During and after bankruptcy, Chrysler virtually brought production to a halt, and sold off existing stock at heavy discounts. U.S. sales began to pick up last year, and by the end of the first quarter of ’11, sales rose 23 percent, to 286,950 units for Q1 ’11 versus 234,215 for Q1 ’10. The global numbers look pretty good, too. International sales were 394,000 (including 50,000 in Canada and 20,000 in Mexico) for the quarter, up from 334,000 (45,000 Canada, 19,000 Mexico) a year earlier.

The 2007 United Auto Workers contract, and the further concessions from the 2009 bankruptcy are finally starting to kick in. Chrysler can make money on cars, even low-margin models like the new 200 and even as it has to pay incentives to move leftover Sebrings, for example.

Average Transaction Prices (ATP) are up, using Chrysler’s calculation based on J.D. Power & Associates data. The ATP for a Chrysler Group vehicle was $27,300, with a $3,800 average incentive, in Q1 ’10. This dipped to $27,000 ATP with a $4,200 average incentive in Q2 ’10. For Q1 ’11, the ATP is $28,300 with a $3,400 average incentive.

The question now is whether timing is good for new, truly improved cars like the Chrysler 300, as $4 gas becomes commonplace. Monday morning, Marchionne said the new models so crucial to Chrysler’s near future are rolling out slowly, to make sure quality is good.

New Chrysler 200s, 300s and Jeep Compasses “are hitting the market as we come out of Q1,” Marchionne said. “I still have an adequate inventory on the ground (on those models, but…). We need to fill the pipeline to sell them.”

After years of storing unsold cars and trucks on lots all over Metro Detroit, and then trying to force them on a bloated number of dealerships, inventory got as low as 179,000 in December 2009, with a 58-day supply. As inventories grew in ’10, the days supply ranged from 58 to 63. In March, Chrysler had 302,000 vehicles in inventory, a 67-day supply.

Perhaps Chrysler has found its level. While Marchionne intends to grow sales and market share by 2014, a 60-day supply is considered ideal.

Chrysler reports that Q1 ’11 net revenues were up 35 percent, from $9.7 billion in Q1 ’10. Modified operating profit was $477 million this first quarter, up from $143 million for last year’s first quarter. Cash on hand was $9.9 billion on March 31, up from $2.5 billion on December 31, 2010.

Marchionne says Chrysler dealerships have an average of fewer than two 200s in stock, right now. While it’s just a band aid job on the less-than-mediocre Chrysler Sebring, the 200 is a heavily advertised move in the right direction, much like the 2008-11 Ford Focus, with decent styling.

Chrysler still relies heavily on trucks, of course. The Ram pickup (previously the Dodge Ram) is up 39 percent for the quarter, to 52,739.

Ford Motor Company last week reported a healthy $2.55 billion first quarter profit, up from $2.09 billion in Q1 ’10. General Motors reports first quarter earnings on Thursday.

This comes as gas prices reach new highs. In Metro Detroit, the average price for regular unleaded hit $4.15, up 17 cents over the past week. Prices have been fairly high for the whole quarter, though, and so far the result seems to be that Chrysler 300 shoppers may downsize from Hemi V-8 to 3.6-liter V-6, not to a 200 or Dodge Caliber.

The Detroit Three said the ’07 UAW contract would allow them to earn profits on smaller cars, not just SUVs and trucks. So far, their promises are proving true, though the margins are still fairly thin. It remains to be seen whether the UAW will get greedy and try to win too much back in the ’11 negotiations. UAW President Bob King’s decision not to pick a single of the Detroit Three as a “strike target” is encouraging, though.

Just one more thing, for comparison purposes. ExxonMobil earned $10.65 billion net income in the first quarter, up from $6.3 billion in Q1 ’10. BP posted net income of $7.2 billion for Q1 ’11, up from $6.2 billion.

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Rebecca Black, Eminem Giving Chrysler Extra (Blemished) Face Time?

Rebecca Black - Friday

Quick: Which music-video face do you most associate with Chrysler now: Eminem, or Rebecca Black?

Chrysler no doubt would rather have you think of its Super Bowl commercial, starring Eminem, but it would be hard to find someone who logs any time connected and hasn't seen the cobbled-together music video for "Friday," by Rebecca Black.

Both videos, in recent weeks and months, have seen millions of YouTube views.

The "Friday" video shows Black deciding to ditch the school bus and instead ride illegally—at least in most states, according to graduated-licensing (GDL) rules—with three other friends and a very fresh-faced teen boy driver in a Chrysler Sebring Convertible.

Says Black:

Kickin' in the front seat
Sittin' in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?

"Well, you can't take the middle seat, which has no seatbelt," we thought.

But that's what the video shows her taking, while she and fellow passengers—and, gasp, the driver—completely omit seatbelts, while it's clear the vehicle is moving. And then there's the standing-up in a moving car, while they're "cruisin' so fast."

The Chrysler Sebring Convertible, according to Chrysler and the federal government, is a four-passenger vehicle.

The video also shows several other Chrysler vehicles, a Dodge Grand Caravan and Jeep Patriot, in the scene.

Let us know what you think: Is all the "Friday" exposure doing anything good for Chrysler? And furthermore, is the Eminem video/commercial broadening interest in Chrysler, or just stoking Detroit pride for people who already have it?

[FOX News]

 

 

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Ford: Supply Limited For Black, Red Vehicles

If you're looking for one of several Ford or Lincoln vehicles in black or red, you'd better be ready to settle with what's out at the dealership—and potentially even paying a little extra. Ford has just told its dealerships to halt orders of some models with certain hues of semi-metallic red or black paint, because of a supply interruption due to the recent earthquake in Japan.

Tuxedo Black is temporarily not offered for order on a number of Ford trucks and SUVs, as well as the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKX. There's also a problem with red for Ford F-Series Super Duty and Ranger pickups, Econoline vans, and the Ford Focus and Lincoln Navigator.

According to CNN Money, both hues rely on an ingredient called Xirallic to get a slightly metallic look, and the recent natural disaster in Japan caused a supply disruption from the company that was providing it.

Don't look for the shortage to last that long; Ford is looking for another ingredient to take its place.

[CNN Money]

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