Ford aims for safety, clean-powered cars
DETROIT, MICH.
Safety, environmentally sound vehicles, powerful engines and general success were among the main topics Wednesday as media week continued at the Detroit International Auto Show.
Ford was at the forefront of the safety issues, while Honda announced record sales across the board for 1998, with intentions of breaking those records this year. Ward’s automotive technical magazines also named their fifth annual list of their favorite 10 engines.
First, safety. Ford announced its intention to become the first automaker to install the latest, tecnically advanced safety measures in all its vehicles, across the board.
Helen Petrauskas, Ford’s vice president of environmental safety engineering, said that Ford’s Advanced Restraints System will include seatbelt pretensioners, designed to sense an impact and tighten the shoulder strap to keep occupants from sliding; and energy management retractors, which sense that the g-forces are continuing to rise after an impact and actually use a torsion bar to twist and further adjust the tension of the belts to limit the amount of force ultimately confronting the occupants.
Sensors also will be combined with dual-stage airbags, which can deploy either with full force or lessened force, after reading such elements as the driver’s seat position in relation to the steering wheel, and the weight of a passenger seat occupant. Combined with sensing the force of the impact, a passenger airbag might not deploy with a young child or light adult in the passenger seat for a light impact, and might deploy with full force for an adult in a heavy impact, as well as various combinations in between.
“Some of those safety elements will begin appearing this year,” said Petrauska. “Our intention is to integrate and refine seat belt and airbag technology with plans to make the technology standard equipment.”
Ford executives also stressed environmentally sound vehicles and introduced a variety of test prototypes. “As it is, our cars are at least 98 percent cleaner than the cars we built in the 1970s,” said Bill Powers, Ford’s vice president for research.
He introduced a white Ford Contour powered by a fuel cell. Made of aluminum for light weight, the car generates its own electricity from on-board hydrogen tanks.
Another vehicle Ford displayed is the P2000 SUV, which has a fuel cell developed by a Candaian firm, which uses a system that generates power from hydrogen and oxygen., emitting only water vapor, and therefore zero-emissions. It has 90 horsepower and should get 80 miles per gallon, and Ford is aiming it for production by 2004.
Ford introduced still another futuristic subcompact, called the “TH!NK,” with an exclamation point instead of an “i.” It is plastic-bodied and being built in Norway by a company that lacked resources. Ford acquired majority interest in the company, and now the little 2-passenger electric car, which can go 40-60 miles between charges, will be sold in the four Scandinavian countries within a year, with future expansion possible.
American Honda announced that its 1998 sales totaled 1,009,600 — up 7 percent from 1997, which had been the previous record yer, and topping the 1-million mark for the first time in company history.
Richard Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda, said records were set for the Honda Civic and CR-V, the Acura TL, as well as total car and total truck sales. “We expect this year to be even better,” said Colliver.
He added that despite anticipated huge sales of the new Odyssey minivan, Honda has no intention of getting into the red-hot pickup truck competition. “Honda’s expertise is in cars, and front-wheel-drive,” he said. “We have no plans for making a pickup or selling one made by someone else.”
Ward’s AutoWorld and Ward’s Engine and Vehicle Technology Update are two industry magazines, and the staffs of those magazines tests and analyzes engines, giving awards to their choices of the best 10 in cars costing under $50,000. This year’s picks, which had to be available for sale in 1998, are: BMW 2.8-liter in-line 6; BMW’s 3.2-liter in-line 6 “M” series; Jeep’s new 4.7-liter overhead-cam V8; Mercedes 3.2-liter V6; Ford’s 5.4-liter overhead-cam Triton V8; General Motors new 3.5-liter V6 with dual overhead cams; the Corvette/Camaro/Firebird 5.7-liter V8; Nissan’s 3-liter VQ-designated dual overhead-cam V6 from the Maxima; and Toyota’s 4-liter, dual-overhead-cam V8.
Detroit Auto Show concepts go in all directions
Detroit, Mich.
What will be looking at in automotive showrooms when the new century starts? If the Detroit International Auto Show is any indication. We’ll be buying cars, and trucks, and car-like trucks, and truck-like cars, and vans, and vehicles that are both ultra-modern and retro.
The Detroit International Auto Show has grown immensely over the last four years, and it now can justifiably take its place among the world’s premier automotive expositions. True, Frankfort, Paris, Geneva and Tokyo may have more elaborate shows, but Detroit is Motor City in the U.S., and when the world’s manufacturers bring their new stuff to Detroit, it is under the scrutiny of factory executives, top-level engineers and world-class designers.
There are, according to the Detroit Free Press, over 6,000 journalists from over 65 nations in Detroit this week. Never mind how many locals buy tickets next week for the show itself, the fact that it has become a focal point for the world’s automotive media, requiring this entire week for press-conference introductions virtually every half-hour, indicates its stature.
The risky part about having a huge show in a snowbelt area like Detroit is that you might find a winter storm, such as the blizzard that strangled the airport and reduced some media members to skating in on ice-covered I94. Also fitting, in this era of Sports Utility Vehicles, that all-wheel drive would be a welcome feature on such journeys.
The biggest news out of Detroit so far this week is that the Volkswagen New Beetle won the 1999 International Car of the Year, which was not such a big surprise, and that the Jeep Grand Cherokee won Truck of the Year, which was more of a surprise to some.
The New Beetle, a modern, front-wheel-drive Golf-platform-based compact car shaped like a modern/retro version of the 1950s-60s German economy car icon, captured the hearts of U.S. car-buyers, and obviously the review hardened panel of 48 journalists as well. The Beetle earned 292 voting points, to 142 for the runner-up Honda Odyssey minivan, and 124 for the Chrysler 300M.
The Grand Cherokee accumulated 300 points to 285 for the runner-up Chevrolet Silverado, with the GMC Sierra third at 151. The Silverado and Sierra are identical, except for grille and trim alterations, and obviously took some points from each other. But the Jeep is a worthy winner, with an all-new platform, design, and 4.7-liter overhead-cam V8 engine.
Those vehicles seem to make an accurate forecast for the vehicles being featured on just about every display. The retro look captured by the Beetle may have started a trend that will lead auto-makers to try to stir up similar passion from a buying public that seems to have grown weary of contemporary look-alike vehicles.
And the truck craze may or may not be heading for a downturn, but manufacturers seem to be looking for new and better ways to put highly profitable trucks into more garages. The same goes for ecology-minded visionaries, who are offering a surprisingly large array of subcompact little cars.
For example, Ford is one company attacking all those fronts. The Thunderbird nameplate is back with an all-new vehicle, and while Ford officials insist it is not retro, it is decidedly retro, even down to the first T-Birds of the late 1950s.
Ford also is bringing out a new Explorer that has four doors, with two rows of seats, and a small pickup truck box behind the passenger compartment. At a glance, it is difficult to tell whether it is a crew-cam 4-door pickup, or an Explorer with a box.
On the economy front, Ford showed off the new Focus subcompact that is its world-car replacement for the Escort.
General Motors is jumping into the future with a group of concept cars that may or may not find their way into production. GM has announced that it will forget about the usual fall model-year changeover and offer a new vehicle whenever the spirit moves them, just about every month for the upcoming years.
GM’s Cadillac brand (don’t call it a division) is showing the Evoq, a roadster sports car with some borrowed Corvette pieces and the high-tech Cadillac Northstar V8. It is so retro that Cadillac flanked it on the display with some old-time restored convertibles that gave journalists pause to check whether they were well-restored old cars or new retro pieces.
Chevrolet is reinstating the Impala sedan name on an all-new car, and showed a concept Nomad — another retro name — that is a futuristic 2-door station wagon. Buick displayed the Cielo concept Cielo, Oldsmobile the Recon, and Pontiac the Aztek, for good measure.
Chrysler Corporation, the smallest of the U.S. Big Three, led the way with numerous gala introductions, showing off its new partnership with Mercedes-Benz, a move which clearly is the biggest news story of the just-ended year. Chrysler showed off a the Citadel concept car and Plymouth had a stunning new Cruiser, a square-back car that is clearly retro, but is actually shorter than a Neon.
Dodge displayed a series of sporty R/T versions of the Neon, the Intrepid, the Dakota pickup and an all-new and flashy Charger. If that wasn’t enough to fill the Dodge display, a massive Power Wagon spinoff of its huge Ram pickup was an eye-catcher. The Neon will only be available as a 4-door sedan for the 2000 model year.
The domestics were challenged by virtually every foreign nameplate, and with good reason, as many of them make their new vehicles in the U.S., thoroughly blurring the distinction between import and domestic vehicles. Among the most impressive of a large array are Honda’s yet-to-be-named “VV,” which is a commuter compact powered by a 1-liter 3-cylinder plus an electric motor, designed to get 70 miles per gallon, meet ultra-low emission standards, and come out in actual production within a year.
BMW showed off its new X5 Sports-Activity Vehicle (SAV?). Meanwhile, Nissan surprised everyone by first showing the Xterra, a fairly subtle spinoff of its Pathfinder on Monday, then making a huge splash with two new vehicles — an SUT (Sports-Utility Truck) that is another 4-door crew-cab based vehicle with a small pickup box, and an entirely new Z concept sports car.
If this array shows where the automotive industry is headed, it’s apparently heading in all directions at once.
Mercedes, Chrysler plan to help each other out
DETROIT, MICH.—
The merger between Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler Corporation caught the automotive world off-guard. And officials of the new DaimlerChrysler would like to keep the rest of the auto world off-guard as they carve out a greater share of the expanding world automotive market.
While the merger was by far the biggest news in automotives in the past year, if not the past decade, the true impact of the new company was underscored dramatically at the Detroit International Auto Show.
Bob Eaton of Chrysler, half of the chairmanship of the new organization, introduced Jim Holden of Chrysler and Dieter Zetsche from the Stuttgart side at a press conference/reception at Cobo Hall, the enormous facility that houses the top U.S. auto show.
Zetsche put it perspective when he said that if a German brewery and Coca Cola had merged, nobody would want them to mix their beverages, because each has its own uniqueness, which is what makes both of them valuable. He drew the parallel with Daimler and Chrysler.
“Chrysler has a solid market share of the medium to upper levels of car-buyers,” Zetsche said. “The New Dodge has a solid presence in the lower and middle segments; there is only one Jeep; and it’s known worldwide; Mercedes also is known as a global premium brand.”
He added that the two companies have agreed on concepts that will allow both to help the other in area’s of specific expertise, but will stress the safeguarding of their unique brand names.
Holden added another perspective to the global strategy. “Mercedes sold 170,000 cars in the U.S. last year, which was a record,” he said. “Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge and Jeep combined for 2,510,000. So together, we’re dang close to 3-million cars, and we think we’re going to blow these figures away in the next year.
“We have a matrix sales plan in place. Dieter will be responsible for marketing and brand management in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia; I will take the NAFTA areas of North America, and Ted Cunningham will take Latin America and South America. Dieter can develop marketing for Chrysler and Jeep in Europe, and we can help Mercedes with some marketing and distribution in North America.
“We can expand our presence without overlap, and we’re ready to go for 1999.”
Interesting as that concept is, I found it more interesting to talk to Juergen Huebbert, a top executive at Daimler-Benz. It is evident that virtually everything Mercedes builds has some impact in the U.S., from the big and medium sedans, to the new M-Class Sports-Utility Vehicles. I asked him which Chrysler products he envisioned being marketed effectively in Europe.
“The 300M for sure,” he said. “And the Cherokee, the Voyager, and there’s a good chance for the Cruiser.”
The Cruiser is the little, square-back, retro-style vehicle that is a concept car at the Detroit show, but being readied for sale within a year in the U.S. It appears to be part Prowler, part 1940s street rod.
“The spectrum at the moment is that we have an 18 percent market share in the U.S., 4 percent in Europe. Obviously, we want to expand on that,” Huebbert said.
As for the Voyager minivans, I wondered about whether a U.S. style craze for the minivans could be generated in Europe.
“I’m still working on that,” Huebbert said.”For me, the interesting thing to see is how everybody is seeking some niches, and to see which ones might work in Europe.”
Overall, the biggest impact the merger might have on Chrysler is the elimination of the historical criticism about quality control and attention to detail. Ironically, Chrysler seemed to overcome those problems greatly with the computer-design work on the new Intrepid/Concorde/300M, but if the quality improved greatly, it is much more difficult to change over the reputation.
Mercedes, meanwhile, is the world’s standard for excellent attention to detail and quality control.
Style-wise, while Mercedes models always have had a dignified class about them, although some accuse Mercedes of being too conservative. Nobody ever has accused Chrysler of being cautious when it comes to design and style.
Maybe one of the other major benefits of the merger will be a tradeout: Mercedes helps Chrysler solve all remaining quality-control problems, and Chrysler gives some extra flair to a C280.
New trend combines car-truck-SUV features
You’ve got your cars, and you’ve got your trucks. And never the twain shall meet. Yeah, right.
While attending the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, it became evident that the quest for making those twains meet is practically universal. And, none too soon.
It turns out, Detroit has a long-standing policy of not plowing residential streets. So the media week for the Detroit show was preceded by a 2-foot snowstorm. Apparently, for decades all the big snowfalls quickly melted away, thanks to Detroit’s proximity to the lake, and it hasn’t been a major problem.
This time, it was a problem. The snowstorm was immediately followed by Minnesota-like temperatures, plunging below zero and staying there. The freeways were cleared, the airport was only partially cleared. Residential streets stayed clogged with knee-deep snow. If your Ford Escort was snowed in on Sunday, it was still snowed in on the following Thursday. Schools were closed all week.
Finally, on Thursday, the mayor declared a snow emergency, then he had to go out to surrounding communities to borrow equipment and try to take on a seemingly hopeless job.
Of course, it would have been routine for an Up North town in Minnesota or Wisconsin to handle that snowstorm without missing a beat. But Detroit was absolutely paralyzed by the storm. And even though I was driving a basic, simple Honda Accord sedan with no trouble — except to dodge some extremely weird and dangerous out-of-control vehicles — it made you appreciate the assets of all-wheel-drive SUVs or pickups.
Inside Cobo Hall at the massive auto show, the latest trends in those trucks were on display. The most dazzling included the pickups turned into SUV-types, like the Ford F150 or Dodge Dakota, or the SUV-turned-pickup-wannabes, like the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Navigator, or Nissan concept sports-utility truck.
For several years in a row now, the Ford F-150 full-size pickup truck was the No. 1 selling vehicle in the country. And the Chevrolet full-size pickups were second. It’s that way again this year, with the Ford Explorer sports-utility vehicle third, and the Dodge Ram, Chrysler minivans, Ford Ranger, etc., all moving up and challenging.
Meanwhile, on the car front, the Toyota Camry came through with a late sale-filled rally to win as the top-selling car, beating out the Honda Accord and the Ford Taurus. But none was close enough to challenge the top three trucks.
The annual explanation was that there are so many different car models, and comparatively few truck models, so that naturally the top-selling trucks might take over, but the total sales would still show that there were more cars sold than trucks. Then, late in the 1998 model year, it happened. Truck totals outdid car sales for the final month.
We can all sit back and theorize that most truck-buyers used to buy trucks because they needed them for work, but nowadays people buy trucks for security, trendiness, occasional towing, or whatever. We also can assume that most people who buy trucks might be better off with cars, but they like trucks and they buy what they like.
The fact of the matter is that people used to buy pickup trucks because they were cheap. They could buy a used car, which entails a certain amount of risk, or they could buy a new pickup truck for the same price as the used car. No more. Manufacturers are making pickups every bit as expensive, if not more expensive, than many car models. And yet people keep on a-buying them.
Somebody had the great idea to put an extended cab on a pickup, and that made a useful alternative, eliminating the biggest drawback to a pickup. It was natural then, I suppose, that somebody would find a way to put another door on the extended part of the cab.
Ford and Chevy battled to get it out first, a reverse-opening third-door on their pickups. Both companies put the third door on the driver’s side of the compact pickups, and the passenger side of the full-sized pickups. Dodge came along and scooped them both, putting doors on both sides. Ford quickly followed, and amazingly Chevy came out with its long-awaited new full-sized pickup and stayed with only a third door.
Meanwhile, SUVs and minivans continue to proliferate, in all sizes, shapes and targets. That brings us up to date, and back to Cobo Hall, where the auto show is still going on in full bloom.
Obviously, when you think about it, if extending the cab a little, and putting a squished-in little bench seat back there, with skinny little rear-opening doors accessing one or both sides, the next step shouldn’t be a surprise. If a cramped little extended cab is good, then a larger, more spacious extended cab where you actually can sit comfortably is better. Having proven that if three doors are good, four doors are better; then it follows that if little, rear-opening “suicide doors” are good, then full-size, normal-opening doors are vastly better.
So look here: Ford has extended its extended-cab F150, and put four full doors on it. Dodge has done the same with the midsize Dakota. Both take what we used to call a “crew cab” for hauling work crews to the job site and made it a logical alternative for real-world consumers.
Coming from the other direction, Lincoln took its huge Navigator SUV and chopped off the third-seat or rear cargo area, turning it into a short little pickup box. It’s a different way to accomplish the same thing, converting a large SUV into 2/3 of a large SUV with 1/3 of a pickup box.
Nissan has done the same thing with a compact concept vehicle, merging its Frontier pickup extended cab with its highly successful SUV theme.
The point is, while it appeared cars were cars and trucks were trucks, these trucks are decidedly more car-like. It’s like taking a large sedan and turning the trunk into an open pickup box, or turning your pickup into a full four or five passenger sedan up front.
The future is here already; it’s at the auto shows now and will be in a nearby showroom soon.
2.7-liter V6 is a jewel in Dodge Intrepid
1999 Dodge Intrepid—
Likes: The 2.7-liter V6 is a jewel, with surprising power and fuel-economy.
Dislikes: You have to get the base version to get the 2.7, excluding some nice interior and exterior features and the Autostick.
Bottom line: Base price $19,890; as tested $22,410.
With almost any car purchase, buying the base version gets you the caterpillars of the automotive world, and you have to pay significantly for enough options or special packages in order to get to “better” and “best” of what’s available.l
But if you go to buy a Dodge Intrepid, pause a moment on your way to the upgrade and check out the base version, with the 2.7-liter V6 engine. In my opinion, that is the best standard engine ever made by a U.S. company.
When the Dodge Intrepid was redesigned for 1998, Chrysler did an exceptional job of tightening up an already impressive sedan. Its silhouette remains arguably the sleekest of any U.S. company’s car. At its introduction, I got a chance to briefly drive the car with its all-new base 2.7, and the upgraded 3.2 V6. I thought the 3.2 was very smooth and very impressive, but I thought the 2.7 was spectacular — high-revving and responsive, with an amazing amount of power for its size, and for pulling around such a large car.
Factory test fleets generally are top-of-the-line models, to show off all the flashy equipment that allows the companies to make their money. After test-driving a 1998 Intrepid or two with the 3.2, I mentioned to Chrysler officials that it would be really interesting to give a thorough test to a base model with the 2.7.
Meanwhile, for 1999, Chrysler has added the 300M to its stable, which I wrote about a while ago. It is a blunt version of the Intrepid, with a larger and more powerful 3.5-liter V6, designed to challenge bigger V6 or V8 engines. It was strong.
Then, a few weeks ago, I got a chance to drive a 1999 Intrepid, and I was in such a hurry to get going that I drove the car a couple of times before thoroughly going over it. I was surprised that instead of alloy wheels, it had standard wheels with covers. I also thought it was somewhat spartan in its features.
But when you hit the gas, that Intrepid took off like a scalded cat. I figured it must have gotten the larger, more powerful 3.5-liter V6, but when I finally got around to popping the hood, I was amazed to see, right there on the intake manifold, the designation “2.7 DOHC.”
Sure enough, my original theory was borne out. The base 2.7 is an exceptional engine. I stopped by Duluth Dodge, up on Hwy. 53, to reexamine the differences between the base Intrepid and the ES model, which has foglights, alloy wheels and the 3.2 engine. Even the sales guys seemed surprised at my analysis of the two engines, and they obviously hadn’t hammered the 2.7 to put it through its paces.
Basically, when Chrysler revised the Intrepid, it decided to jump into the next century armed with state-of-the-art motors. It installed a high-tech computerized system, and they designed what they call a “no-paper” trio of engines. They used existing blocks and built all-new variations for the 3.2 and 3.5 V6s, putting single overhead camshafts atop the cylinder heads, actuating 24 valves — four per cylinder.
In high-performance concept, putting an overhead cam on an engine instead of pushrods allows you to rev higher and extract more power. Putting four valves per cylinder gives you still more capability. Better yet is to put dual overhead camshafts above those valves, so that one cam operates the intake valves and the other makes the exhaust valves work. That is the ultimate method for extracting maximum efficiency and capability from a valvetrain, and therefore from the combustion chamber.
And that is what Chrysler engineers did with the 2.7. It spent $510 million upgrading the Kenosha, Wis., engine plant to build the 2.7, while the 3.2 and 3.5 revisions are built in Trenton, N.J. Engineers told me they did 1,500 versions of the 2.7 engine on computers before ever building a model.
Normally, companies do some computer design, then build mock-up models, then build a prototype engine. Once it’s up and running, refinement can be done to improve the efficiency. Chrysler spent an industry-record short time of 26 weeks from original concept to finished product by bypassing all those steps with a coordinated “CATIA” computer program. In fact, David Knapp, from Cokato, Minn., the brother of Steve Knapp, last year’s Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, worked on perfecting software for that program.
It was designed to coordinate all engine elements from air-intake, through the combustion process, including balancing and tolerances and even aerodynamics, on through the exhaust system. The 2.7 is all aluminum, heat-treated to be stronger than steel, and it has a forged steel crankshaft instead of cast iron.
With overhead cam engines, your main worry is the timing belt, which must be changed at around 65,000 or 75,000 miles, because if it ultimately wears through and breaks, you could do some serious and costly valve-tagging. The 3.2 and 3.5 engines have timing belts, as do almost all OHC engines. The 2.7, however, has a timing chain, which eliminates the worry about the belt wear.
The result is a light, compact, jewel of an engine, with extremely close tolerances on all computer-designed parts, which turns out 200 horsepower at 5,800 RPMs and has 190 foot-pounds of torque at 4,850. That’s 74.1 horsepower per liter, more than any other base-level engine. Hot-rodders are astonished at the engine’s output, because 2.7 liters equates to a mere 165 cubic inches, and hot-car standards used to look at displacements of 302, 350, or over 400 cubic inches — more than twice as big as the 2.7, but not with twice the horsepower.
On top of that, the 2.7 burns regular gas, and it has EPA estimates of 21 miles per gallon city and 30 on the highway. In my test, I got 28.4 miles per gallon in combined city-highway driving. And, trust me, it would have been difficult to run the engine harder than I did.
My lone criticism of Chrysler’s execution of the engine is that it seems intent on downgrading its own product. While it is in the base version of the Intrepid, the upgraded ES with its 3.2 gets the Autostick transmission, which is a 4-speed automatic, but with the capability to allow you to move the lever to an adjacent gate and shift it manually, without a clutch. That’s a fun and appealing option, but it cannot be ordered with the 2.7, even though it would be a perfect fit, because the 2.7 revs quicker and higher.
So, to appreciate the capability of the 2.7, I had to hand-hold it through its shift points. If you do that, and hammer the throttle, not only will the Intrepid zip away with authority, but the engine will shift itself at about 6,300 revs, safely below the redline. That makes it idiot-proof for someone who might be careless or want to abuse the engine. It also has a great sound. Chain-driven cams normally are noisy, but this one sounds good, probably due to the stiffness designed into the engine, and the balance from the close tolerances.
If I were buying an Intrepid, I’d go for the base version, then add my own special wheels and foglights, which would be the only way to get the 2.7 and even improve the looks and road-holding capability.
The base Intrepid is reasonable, at $19,890, but it is a large and spacious car, with excellent front room and visibility, enormous rear seat room and a huge trunk, all within those sleek lines. At that you get 4-wheel disc brakes with independent touring suspension, power windows and locks, an cruise control. The test car had a $1,140 package that included power 8-way driver seat, premium 120-watt audio system, keyless entry, etc., plus a cold-weather package with both an engine block and battery heater, plus oversize 16-inch wheels and antilock brakes. That boosted the tally to $22,410.
Not cheap, but a bargain considering what you get. And especially the smiles you get whenever you step on the gas and hear the sounds of over-achieving, high-tech power out of that 2.7-liter engine.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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