Ford revisits fun cars of decades past with new Tbird and Bullitt
[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ The 2002 Thunderbird attracted all sorts of passersby along the shore at the surfer’s museum near Monterey, Calif.
2/ A gathering of Tbirds at a rest stop on Highway 1 in the Big Sur region drew attention.
3/ Getting on top of the Pacific Coast fog allowed the top to come down on the new Thunderbird.
4/ The Tbird interior shows off some retro cues but has strict contemporary efficiency.
4/ A pair of Bullitt Mustangs awaited test drives in Monterey, Calif.
5/ The driver is reminded of the early Mustangs with the Bullitt’s gauge package.
6/ The glassed-in headlights give the Bullitt a fierce look, while the tail is emblazoned with the special-edition name. ]]]]]
The everyday tedium of work can be a lot more enjoyable if a little fun can be injected. At Ford Motor Company, the labor of building cars and trucks to compete with the giants of the industry have brought obvious benefits.
Now it’s time for Ford to have a little fun.
Some of the most fun times for Ford date back to the 1950s and 1960s. In the ’50s, Ford built a small, 2-seat sporty car called the Thunderbird. It was small, sleek, contemporary and elicited high levels of emotion from customers and those who saw and coveted them. After building the Tbirds for 1955, ’56 and ’57, tedium took over. Somehow, the Thunderbird grew into a large and far less pleasurable vehicle, becoming a 4-seat coupe, and then a sedan, and growing larger and less sporty by the year.
In the 1960s, Ford shocked the auto industry with a small, affordable sporty coupe called the Mustang. It was a 4-seater from the start, but never more than a coupe, and it, too, elicited strong emotions, right up through the 1970 model year. Then, as if practicality required Ford to make everything bigger to be better, the Mustang grew a foot in 1971, stayed large for a while, then shrunk down to a small compact again. The Mustang is back to being a sporty coupe these days, but there are those at Ford who remember the best Mustangs of all time — the 1968-through-’70 models.
It seems that the popularity of cars like the original Thunderbird and the early Mustangs captivated the public enough to gain starring roles in popular movies. Consider “American Graffiti,” and “Bullitt,” two films that have endured through generations.
“Remember Suzanne Somers, and the white Tbird in American Graffiti?” asked Ford vice president Chris Theodore. “Then there was Steve McQueen in Bullitt, and the most famous chase scene in movie history — a memorable 8-minute stretch with absolutely no dialogue.”
Of course, I remembered the Bullitt scene, where MacQueen in a dark green 1968 Mustang chased a couple of bad guys in a Dodge Charger up and down the steep hills of San Francisco, flying off every flat intersection before plunging down the next block. I had forgotten the American Graffiti bit, with Suzanne Somers, long before the days of Thighmaster promos.
In those days, Ford seemed to be having a lot of fun. Nowadays, Ford sells pickup trucks, SUVs, a lot of sedans of various sizes, and has made it as one of the world’s automotive giants. But you wonder if the company has the wherewithal to ever have that kind of old-time fun.
Well, wonder no more.
Ford summoned several waves of automotive journalists to California this past week to behold the wonders of retro-fun. It was a chance to make introductory test drives of new versions of both the Thunderbird and the Mustang Bullitt.
THUNDERBIRD
Ford brought out a concept car Thunderbird at last year’s Detroit International Auto Show. It was a neat, all-new design, with rounded front and rear, looking both contemporary and a little bit retro. Reaction was so overwhelming that Ford decided to build the car for the real world, and it brought it to life swiftly.
The original Tbird was 175.3 inches long, 52.4 inches high and weighed 3,180 pounds. It was powered by a 292 cubic inch V8, and cost $3,000 in 1955. With Ford executives filling the air with terms such as “heritage” and “emotion,” they unveiled the new car, and it is a jewel. It is 186.3 inches long, 52.1 inches high, and weighs 3,775 pounds. It is powered by a 3.9-liter V8. It will be priced from $36,000 up to $39,000
Ford likes to say it is the Lincoln LS engine, but in reality it is the sensational high-tech V8 built by Jaguar and swapped into the LS, while also powering the Jaguar S-Type and sports car. It is a dual-overhead-camshaft, four-valve-per-cylinder beauty producing 252 horsepower at 6,100 RPMs and 267 foot-pounds of torque at 4,300 RPMs.
The transmission is a five-speed automatic.
Frankly, except for the two-seat configuration, there are few similarities to the original Thunderbird. But while it has a few retro touches, the new Tbird might best be described as a projection of what the Thunderbird might be like for 2002 if it had never strayed from its original 2-seater concept.
We got a chance to drive the Tbirds down the South Coast of California, from Monterey to Big Sur. Typically, while that drive is perhaps the best in the world when it’s sunny, it is still one of the best the way we found it — with a heavy, low-hanging cloud of fog rolling in off the Pacific and shrouding the cliffside roadway as it winds its way along and above the coast. We changed drivers as we visited a neat art gallery and coffeehouse on Highway 1, and the sight of a dozen new Thunderbirds — identical except for color choices of black, white, red, yellow and turquoise — attracted all kinds of attention.
It was thick and moist and about 50 degrees when we angled off Highway 1 and headed inland, twisting and curving up, up and finally above the cloud of fog, where the temperature was closer to 80 and the sun created a surreal effect looking down on the fog-bank below. A flip of the switch, and we put the top down on our glistening black Thunderbird. It took more work to snap into place the boot covering the folded top. You also can buy an optional hardtop for the car, which snaps securely on top and comes with the porthole windows familiar to those who recall the original as a hardtop.
Zipping up and down and around the curving roadways, the Thunderbird had plenty of power, and the smooth-shifting transmission was clear evidence why a 5-speed automatic is far superior to the usual 4-speed version. But it also was evident that the Thunderbird is a cruiser, not an all-out sports car.
The Tbird will be in showrooms by late summer, Ford officials say, and will start at a sticker price of $35,495 — another place where the new car doesn’t resemble the original’s $3,000. All of them will come with the fold-down top, with the hardtop an option. The standard fold-down top has a large rear window, glass, with a heated element, and it fits snugly and easily. In fact, it fits tightly enough that when you open and close the doors, the windows drop 12 millimeters in order to clear the roof and seal tightly into it.
Traction control and chrome 17-inch wheels are standard on the premium models. Traction control is optional on the basic model, which Ford chooses to call the “deluxe” model. The 6.7-cubic feet of trunk space is enough, Ford officials claim, to house two golf bags.
Safety has been well tended to in the Tbird, with steel side door beams, side head and thorax airbags to supplement the frontal bags, and even a two-piece driveshaft to eliminate the risk of one long driveshaft that might bend and break, which could threaten to penetrate the passenger compartment. The long driveshaft is because the front-engined Tbird has rear drive, like the original. With its low-slung silhouette and neat headlight and grille, the new Tbird doesn’t look much like the originial from the outside. But unless you like the original tailfins, you probably will prefer the contemporary look of the new one, which is very classy, and yet pleasingly understated.
BULLITT MUSTANG
The new Mustang has taken great effort to look more like the original, or at least like the early-year 1968-70 models. It does the job, and is impressive either in expensive Cobra form, with its hand-built, 32-valve aluminum V8, or in basic GT form, with its 16 valve, single overhead cam design. The GT is a very good car, having benefited by upgrades every time the hottest Cobra has been revised.
Now along comes the Bullitt, and it is an impressive compromise. It has the GT’s easy-to-live-with allure for everyday driving, but it approaches the Cobra’s spectacular handling characteristics. In fact, the Bullitt, with its considerable suspension tweaks, handles so superbly it is nearly perfect the way it responds to your every input of steering, twisting around the tightest curves and staying flat and firmly planted no matter how hard you go into them.
We got to take a dozen or so identical, dark green Bullitt Mustangs from a diner in downtown San Francisco, up the same hills and along the exact same route that the moviemakers traced when the late Steve McQueen roared through that famous chase scene. Of course, I didn’t drive it that forcefully on those hills, although we crested one hill with enough of a surge to feel pretty light as we started to go down the other side, with perhaps the sight of Alcatraz out there ahead in the harbor providing a deterrent to going too hard.
Style-wise, the Bullitt has its name on the rear trunklid, but otherwise has only subtle styling cues. The headlights are completely covered by a curved glass lens, and there are no foglights. Ford executives say they wanted to “reduce weight” as the reason for deleting the foglights, although using the new “bullet” shaped foglights might have been more logical.
Art Hyde, chief engineer for the Bullitt project, said the plan was to bring alive the spirit of fun and “looking cool.” Clean styling on the vents, pillars and rocker panels, with no rear spoiler, and a fabulous exhaust note are all in place. Under the skin, the Bullitt has been lowered, with higher spring-rate shocks, different valving in the shocks to make the handling neutral, and altered pedals to aid heel-and-toe driving. An 11-inch clutch with tremendous grabbing ability but easy foot feel makes the 5-speed manual easy to operate. Two-piston calipers on 13-inch discs aid the stopping, and the 4.6-liter V8 has been modified with a race-proven intake system and dual throttle-body intake.
The entire Bullitt package costs $3,695 over the price of the Mustang GT, and Ford execs claim that the amount covers about $8,000 worth of parts if they were bought and installed separately. The option would lift the price of the Bullitt to something around $27,000, but only 6,500 models will be built, virtually assuring it as a collector’s item. They are in showrooms now, as 2001 models.
Seats similar to the Mustangs of the ’68-70 era are in place, as are the 5-spoke alloy wheels, which look a lot like the old American mags on the originals. A spring-loaded, brushed aluminum fuel door opens out from the flank, and is brushed silver, a neat touch.
Roaring up and down the hills of San Francisco was neat, but nowhere near as impressive as heading south toward Monterey, using both the hill country inland from the coast, and zipping down the coast highway. The Bullitt can be bought in black, dark blue or green, although the test cars came only in green, because that was what McQueen drove in the movie. Its retro image is only an image, however, because the new model is an improvement on those great vintage Mustangs of three decades ago.
New Q45 takes Infiniti luxury to its new-found performance roots
[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ The new Infiniti Q45’s lean and agile stance looks sufficiently racy adjacent to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Turn 4 grandstand.
2/ A unique seven-lens low beam provides precise focus for the headlight, with the high beam a separate light.
3/ The navigation screen could be set to find a shortcut to a hotel from inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
4/ The driver’s entry invites you to leather and wood-coated luxury but with a distinctive and roomy sportiness.
5/ The Q45 has a unique look, with the smoothly contoured rear similar to the Audi A6. ]]]]]]]
Nissan’s new Infiniti engine did not win the Indianapolis 500 last weekend. In fact, there were only three of them in the field. But the last serious challenge that winner Helio Castroneves faced in the race came from Robbie Buhl, who closed right in on him and then spun out trying too aggressively to pass him. Pretty much everyone agreed that for sheer power, Buhl’s Infiniti-powered race car was the fastest car on the track in those closing laps.
Similarly, the Infiniti Q45 sedan I drove to Indianapolis wasn’t in any competition on the 10-hour trek, but its engine was a wonderful blend of power, quick response, and fuel efficiency.
Being fast doesn’t always mean being first in auto racing. But the technology required to make an engine run fast enough to win can equate to superior engines for real-world use.
Over the last couple of decades, some Japanese companies have found auto racing providing rich benefits in engine technology. Honda always made good, economical, trouble-free engines, and then it went racing, dominating first Formula 1 and then CART racing, and since then its engines have been incredibly high-tech for performance while retaining all those previous assets. Same with Toyota, which got into CART racing and is now doing well, and suddenly the Celica and MR2 are a lot more fun from a performance standpoint while also remaining trouble-free, durable and efficient.
When Indy switched over to a separate, rebel formula for engines six years ago, the only two manufacturers who could be coaxed into participating were General Motors and Nissan, GM with the Olds Aurora V8, sent to race teams or high-performance shops for refinement to race tune. Nissan sent its top dual-overhead-camshaft Q45 V8 from its upscale Infiniti flagship, but in a different manner.
The Infiniti engines would be supplied to racers for a fee, but Nissan engineers would refine and tune it, and replace those engines as necessary, but it wouldn’t allow engines to be sent to after-market race shops for preparation. The result is that the plentiful Aurora V8s have dominated, although Eddie Cheever has won with the Infiniti. And last weekend, the final bit of drama in the race came when the swift and smooth Castroneves was pretty much overtaken by the raw power of Buhl’s Infiniti.
All the technical data of the Infiniti is retained by Nissan engineers, and no question some of it has filtered through to the 2002 Infiniti Q45, which always has been the corporation’s top luxury sedan. Designed to retain Infiniti’s target market, which is the BMW 540 and 740, the Mercedes E or S Class, the Audi A6 or A8, and such domestics as the Cadillac Seville STS and the Lincoln LS, the Infiniti is little more than a fantasy car to the masses, at a sticker price of $50,000.
We’re talking about the 2002 model Q45, which was shown first at auto shows last year and has been in a carefully planned program for replacing the current model. The Q-ship I test drove was the Sport model, which means it has all the luxury characteristics of the standard Q45, but has a sport package which consists of an active rear damping suspension, which can be set for different stiffness, plus 18-inch wheels, smoke-tone wood inserts on the dashboard, and blue-tone headlights and back-up lights.
That’s a $1,500 option, and the test fleet car also had the $2,100 navigation system, which is based on a digital videodisc device, and plays out on a 7-inch screen at the top of the center-dashboard area. Power sunshades that can cover the rear window and the rear seat side windows are another option, as are heated front seats. That boosted the sticker of the test car to $55,895, which is a lot of money. However, it is not a lot for a luxury-sports cruiser that can run with the world’s elite cars.
LOADED, STANDARD
The standard equipment list on the Q45 sounds like everything in the parts bin, the luxury bin and the futuristic bin. It starts with the motor, which is now a 4.5-liter V8 with 340 horsepower at 6,400 RPMs and 333 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 RPMs. That is a lot of low-end pulling torque, and also a hot-rod lot of high-end horsepower. With four valves per cylinder clicking away under those dual cams, and a precise electronic engine-management system, the power is sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed automatic transmission.
The automatic has a Tiptronic-like manual shift gate off to the right side, where you can bump it to upshift or downshift. In a large, heavy luxury cruiser, you might not use the manual gate for much rev-building, but it remains extremely useful in exiting freeways and downshifting to get you into third, for example, for driving on more residential streets.
About the only complaint I could muster in a week’s time with the Q45 is that the car seemed to hesitate on abrupt power changes, almost as if it was giving you time to reconsider before leaping ahead furiously.
With the Sport model’s larger wheels and low-profile (P245/45 by 18 inch) tires, and the active suspension set to the firmest “sport” mode, the big Q cornered well and showed excellent agility.
It also surprised me by delivering 24.7 miles per gallon on the highway, cruising effortlessly at 70 to maybe 75 miles per hour, for hours at a time, with maybe an occasional burst to pass a couple semis, and just to let that powerful engine stretch its legs — for scientific reasons, you understand. Trust me, you have to be watchful or you could go zooming right on up and past 100 without straining anything.
Other powertrain items include independent front and rear suspension, speed-sensitive power steering with excellent feel through the wood and leather steering wheel, vehicle dynamic control which is above and beyond the traction control system to make sure you stay pointed in the proper trajectory under all conditions. The other side of such going performance elements is provided by 4-wheel power disc brakes with antilock and an electronic brake force distribution system that can tell by the force if you need full-panic stop pressure and applies it properly.
The leather seats are comfortable, supportive and infinitely adjustable, the driver’s outside mirror automatically dims if the driver behind you is too dim to dim his lights, and the directional signals have remote blinkers on the outside mirrors’ extremity. The audio system is a 300-watt Bose deal, with a tape player mounted below and a glove-compartment-mounted 6-disc CD changer.
For safety, there are front dual-stage airbags, plus front side airbags and front and rear side-impact air curtain bags, along with pretensioners and load limiters on the seat harness straps, as well as child restraint tethers. The headlights, also, are phenomenal. The low beams consist of seven little bullet-shaped lenses al focused on brightening your way, with a larger, separate high-beam lens. There were no foglights, but the light system was as good as I’ve witnessed without them.
Luxury touches include bird’s-eye maple trim done up in that new grey-ish “smoked” color that I call “barnwood grey.” It’s repeated on the steering wheel and shift knob. Power windows have one-touch up and down, and the dual-zone temperature and climate control system also is standard. There are rear air and heat vents as well. Infiniti’s signature touch is a classy analog clock, right there in the middle of the dash.
SHORTENING THE TRIP
Driving that haul to Indianapolis alone caused me to get prepared, mentally and munchily. It’s a great break to stop for meals on a long trip, but I wanted to get there as directly as possible. So I ate a large breakfast, and set off, loaded up with some healthier-than-normal munchies. Included was a sack of veggies that included whole red, orange and yellow peppers sliced up; a half-pound of almonds, half plain and half with sea salt, mixed together just right; a couple of bottles of ginseng-laced iced tea, a bottle of naturally-sparkling mineral water, and a thermos mug of coffee.
That allowed me to avoid any lengthy meal stops. I drove until I had to make a fuel stop, made one other rest-room stop, and made it the whole distance, over 625 miles, in just under 10 hours. That worked out to be an average speed of 63 miles per hour. All of that was calculated instantly for me on the 7-inch screen at the top of the center dash panel. You also could tune the audio system on that screen, adjust the climate control, and operate the navigation system.
I was all set with radio stations locked in, a working knowledge of how to get the thing to scan, plus a couple of good cassettes in hand, and a variety of CDs. Trip music can be extremely important to fighting fatigue, especially when you’re driving alone for 10 hours. In celebration of Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday, I had some of my favorite early-best Dylan discs as well as his newest one, and a wide range of others, including a couple of Joni Mitchell’s earliest albums, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, and a classic Leonard Cohen live concert, and the year-old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young disc. My theory is the music has to be good, but it’s mandatory to have significant words, too, to keep you mentally stimulated instead of drummed into a stupor by a pounding beat without identifiable lyrics.
A key element of the trip was the navigation system, which was, in a word, fantastic. I’ve made the drive to Indianapolis to know that unless you have an extra hour or two to waste, or a reason to stop in the big city, you want to avoid Chicago. So I circumvent it, going south from Rockford, Ill., to I74, which is a straight easterly shot into Indianapolis well south of Chicago. When I clicked onto the navigation system, I got it to Indianapolis easily enough, but then I challenged it by installing the name of the motel chain I was booked into.
It gave me five choices, and I clicked the one I was at, although I had never been there before. In a moment, the system gave me a route choice of shortest time or shortest distance. I clicked shortest time, and, sure enough, the computer also avoided Chicago, sending me precisely on the same route I would have chosen, only on a new freeway stretch of I39 I hadn’t been aware of. The computer screen gives you a map of the route ahead, and you can click on “birdview” and get a sort of raised, 3D view of the road ahead, set up in increments you can adjust from ¼ mile to 20 mile scope.
The screen is backed up by a pleasant, English-accented female voice that advises you of upcoming turns. “Stay in the right lane, and prepare for a right turn in a half-mileÂ…” Or, when you pull off to refuel, and the computer thinks you’ve gone astray, it says: “As soon as possible, try to make a legal U-turnÂ…” Very impressive, but most impressive was when it directed me to the hotel I had never before seen or stayed at, exiting the freeway at the right spot, going on past it, making a right, and then doubling back on the frontage road, all at visible and voice commands, until the final: “You have reached your destination.”
I even set the thing up once to launch me on a shortcut back to the hotel from inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the map showed a large, colored area that was the entire track region, with the outside streets identified, by birdview. Coming home was a breeze, too, because I set it on my destination address in the Twin Cities and it delivered me exactly to the driveway. It did not, however, identify the Lakewood Road for my home in Duluth. That meant the map showed me turning off the freeway and the arrow showed me moving northward where there appeared to be no road.
Eclipse Spyder GT, Volvo C70 test vanishing top-down weather
[[[[cutlines:
Eclipse 1/ All sorts of grooves and scoops enhance the flashy Eclipse Spyder convertible.
Eclipse 2/ The newest Eclipse GT is as sleek as a jet fighter or powerboat from the side.
Eclipse 3/ Cylindrical tubes could better augment the gauge package if tilted toward driver.
Volvo 1/ The Volvo C70 looked good on Hawk Ridge, even when there were no hawks.
Volvo 1 alternate/ Hawk Ridge’s view formed the backdrop for the Volvo C70 convertible.
Volvo 2/ A seat in the Volvo C70 was the perfect vantage point from the cliff of Hawk Ridge.
Volvo 3/ Inside, the Volvo C70 provides actual rear seat living room, unlike most convertibles.
From the standpoint of an automotive columnist, this is the time of year to be in a hurry.
First, September is the last time to drive the remaining vehicles from the outgoing model-year before the new-year changeover. And second, when those late-arriving cars happen to be convertibles, it’s time to race to complete the reports before the fast-changing Northern climate renders them invalid.
So, when both a Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Spyder and a Volvo C70 showed up back to back — both convertibles, and both 2001 models — it made sense to combine them into one evaluation. If we hurry, we can beat the hauling out of fleece pullovers.
Convertibles, in case you haven’t noticed, have made a healthy comeback from near extinction a decade ago. Cars were getting more conservative and more boring, and there seemed to be no place to promote or market a car that had fun written all over it. And convertibles definitely have enjoyment as their basis.
During their comeback, an entire new group of sports cars have emerged, and various coupes have had their tops peeled back to capitalize on the resurgence of ragtops. Mitsubishi has been building the Eclipse for three generations now, and the newest one, which has a sleek, racy nose and all sorts of grooves, lines and contours along the sides, makes a striking visual impact as a convertible.
Volvo, on the other hand, has restructured its whole line, into new and contemporary sedans and wagons. So taking the roof off the 70 model makes it the C70, and it takes on an entirely new personality as a classy, though costly, convertible.
ECLIPSE SPYDER GT
Ever since the first Eclipse rolled off the line at Normal, Ill. — either as Mitsubishis or as Plymouth Lasers or Eagle Talons — I’ve enjoyed driving them. The first ones were tight little wedgy coupes, with driver and passenger seats that more resembled jet fighter cockpits than car interiors. The second version was much more rounded and appealing to the general coupe buyer than the harder-edged originals.
The third one tries to encompass both, with a sporty flair, but also with a lot of creature comforts. For 2001, the Eclipse convertible takes on the unwieldy monicker: Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT.
It is a stout performer, however, and my older son, Jack, thinks it is in the class with the hallowed Volkswagen GTI as a fun machine. I’m a bit more reserved about it. But there is no question it is armed and dangerous with a 3.0-liter V6, complete with four valves per cylinder, run by single overhead camshafts on each bank of cylinders.
Sure, the Eclipse has some shakiness, as do most coupes-turned-convertibles, but it also goes swiftly and straight-on wherever you aim it, with smooth and efficient performance. Its suspension holds you flat, aided undoubtedly by stabilizer bars and gas-filled shocks with firmer settings on the specially tuned 4-wheel independent suspension. The big 17-inch by 6-inch-wide alloy wheels and the 215-50 tires also help plant the footprint.
With a 5-speed manual, the 3-liter V6 flings you on down the road impressively. In fact, I’d like to have a sixth gear for freeway cruising. Fuel economy is estimated at 20 in the city and 27 on the highway, and I got about 25 miles per gallon in combined driving.
When you do stop for gas, there is no insistence of premium, which is important if you want to save a dime or more per gallon on fuel that is creeping toward $2 a gallon. And it is a joy to fill the tank, because there’s a spring-loaded silver alloy fuel-fill cover that you can pop up, very race-car like.
I like the swoopy look of the front, and the side view is flashy, with too many grooves for my taste, but I particularly like the rear end design, with those huge taillights and a curving spoiler arcing up and across the trunklid. So what if it blocks some of the view through the rear-view mirror?
With dual front airbags and side impact door beams, with front and rear crumple zones to absorb energy, the Eclipse is as safe as possible against crashes. The 4-wheel disc brakes also help haul the Spyder down from speed.
The power roof has rear glass, and it goes down and comes back up easily, with the flip of locking switches and a heavy hand on the electric switch. With the top down, you’ll be tempted to leave it that way, regardless of the weather, and throw on a turtleneck, jacket and cap. Plus, in the Great White North, you can always cheat and put the top down but turn on the heater.
Halogen headlights and halogen foglights are impressive, too, although I would have to tinker with them before being convinced they couldn’t be aimed better for more massive road coverage. The optional leather seats are part of a GT package that also includes atilock brakes, a power driver’s seat, the front seat side airbags, and a 7-speaker sound system with a 4-disc changer in the dash along with the radio and cassette.
The price sticker is $28,297, which is a lot for a car, but not a lot for a loaded-up convertible sporty coupe.
My biggest criticism of the car is the same as when it was first introduced. You sit in the driver’s seat and look at large speedometer and tachometer, and flanking them, you have a decent sized fuel gauge on one side and temperature gauge on the other.
However, Mitsubishi designers insist on placing those exterior gauges in cylindrical housings that would be pretty neat, if they were angled in to be aimed directly at the driver. They aren’t. Instead, the cylinders point straight back. They don’t actually cut off your view of the dials or the needles, but they do cut the gauges off almost by half, so you tend to feel as though you might not be seeing the whole gauge on either side.
They aren’t about to change it, so if I bought one, I would take a small saw, and hack down the inside edge of those cylinders to afford a clear view at a glance.
VOLVO C70
The Swedish car business has undergone a few changes in recent years, with Volvo and Saab still competing for the nation’s automotive superiority, but with Ford taking over Volvo much the same way as General Motors has taken over Saab. In both cases, the new parents have let the adopted offspring run free, thankfully, because they are among the world’s neatest cars for safety, performance and eccentricity. The auto business needs more of that.
Volvo has redesigned its full model line, rounding and shaping things into something other than squares or rectangles, which is pretty revolutionary for Volvo. Also, the company that used to insist on rear-drive only, now builds all front-wheel-drive cars, except for a couple of all-wheel-drive wagon versions.
The new sedans are fine, solid vehicles, so it is no surprise to find that the C70 convertible is also a fine, safe, solid sporty machine. Some Volvo models are also surprisingly inexpensive, but not so the C70 convertible. The base sticker price is $45,550, and as tested it was $48,825 — thanks to a cold-weather package with heated front seats and stability and traction control. A premium sound system and 17-inch wheels are the only other options.
A 5-speed automatic transmission is smooth and efficient in getting the car through its paces, and while the EPA estimates show 20 city and 26 highway, I got 24.7 miles per gallon in combined driving, and a dip under 20 in town.
Under the hood, there is an oddity, a 2.3-liter, in-line 5-cylinder engine, with dual overhead camshafts and a turbocharger. The turbo emits a telltale whir every once in a while, otherwise the only indication it exists is that the C70 takes off with more power than a 2.3-liter engine should allow.
All sorts of safety things are included, because it’s a Volvo, starting with the unit body construction with its roll-cage design of high-strength steel and energy-absorbing materials. A side-impact protection system with side airbags in addition to the front bags, and a whiplash protection system, and automatic safety tensioners on the harnesses, plus something called rollover protection pretty well fills out the chart.
Integrated foglights are another touch that could be considered safety related. Leather seats, an in-dash 3-disc changer in the dash as a feature of the 400-watt, 12-speaker audio system, and a trip computer are other added features.
Everything worked well, including the no-latch power top, and the 8-way power driver and passenger seats were neat.
There also is real room in the rear seat to put people, unlike most convertibles. However, that was my biggest complaint against the Volvo C70. The power seat switches let you move the buckets fore, aft, up, down and tilt. When you get out, you find another switch, mounted higher on the backrest. Pull up on the switch, and the backrest whirs as it tilts forward, which allows you to easily reach into the rear seat for stuff.
In case you want to let someone enter or exit the rear seat, you can hold onto the switch, and soon the whole seat starts whirring as it moves slowly forward, until a large gap is opened to allow rear seat access.
The only problem is, if you just want to reach back there to grab a jacket or brief case, and you want to simply flip the seat backrest forward and then back, you’re out of luck. Once forward, I couldn’t find any way to simply return the backrest to its assigned position. Instead, I had to hold it until it slid slowly, slowly, slowly forward, after which it would let me slide the backrest back. Then I had to hit the other button to make the whole seat slide back — slowly, slowly slowly again — until I could climb into the front.
Maybe this is a sign that Volvo has let Ford sneak in with an idea. Otherwise, it is distinctly un-Volvo-like to have some nuisance gadget like that anywhere on board.
I drove up to Hawk Ridge on Hawk Ridge Weekend last Saturday and Sunday to check out the scenery and to show off the Volvo, both top-up and top-down. It made for nice picture background, and there weren’t many people around. Planning Hawk Ridge Weekend for a specific date in September is a lot like driving a convertible in Northern Minnesota in September — risky. You should never risk taking Mother Nature for granted. Luckily, the C70, and the Eclipse, for that matter, look good even with the tops up.
Cars and trucks of all shapes and prices highlight 2002 models
[[[[cutlines:
1/ Ford is reintroducing the Thunderbird in a slick package that combines the retro trend with /futuristic touches.
2/ Chevrolet continues to stress large trucks — large in size and in profit margin — such as the 2002 Avalanche pickup-SUV.
3/ Volkswagen has restyled the Passat for 2002, with smoother aerodynamics and increased power on a solid family sedan.
4/ The Toyota Camry has been the top-selling car in the U.S. for several years, and it is totally redone for 2002.
Do you like cars? Do you like trucks? Do you like all things in between the two?
Stick around, because there is sure to be something, and more likely dozens of somethings, that will catch your eye and attract your attention among the new vehicles already turning up in automotive dealerships everywhere.
The big news of recent years, such as the outburst of Sport Utility Vehicles, the resurgence of retro cars, sports cars and convertibles, and the introduction of crossover vehicles that blur the lines, has led the automotive industry to a world where anything goes.
There are domestics made in the U.S., imports made in foreign countries, domestics made in other countries, and imports made in the U.S. — enough to further blur the lines of nationalistic pride. There remain a few uninformed who think a “foreign car” is anything not made by General Motors, Ford or Chrysler, and who may yet find it hard to accept that Chrysler is now DaimlerChrysler, having been bought out by that storied old German company.
As has become the trend in recent years, however, the once-Big Three of the U.S. are stressing trucks more than cars, because people not only continue to buy SUVs, pickups and minivans in amazing numbers, but they continue to be willing to assure the manufacturers of enormous profits in the process.
Tops among the truck segment are a barrage from General Motors, including the new Chevrolet Avalanche and the GM threesome of the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada, plus a Cadillac Escalade that is a Caddy version of the daringly styled Avalanche. Buick introduces its first SUV, the Rendezvous, which is a sleeker version of the star-crossed Pontiac Aztek.
A sleeper among the GM entries is the new Saturn VUE, yet another new SUV, but a compact one with a lot of cleverly designed interior amenities, and powered by the proven Saturn sedan engines.
Ford also has big truck news, with the Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer all new and with a much more stable chassis design. And the large, specialty aimed Lincoln Blackwood combines SUV and pickup in a flashy model that cannot, for some reason, be obtained with 4-wheel drive.
Dodge comes out with an all-new Ram, full-sized pickup, and Chrysler breaks out the new Jeep Liberty, which replaces the venerable but tired Cherokee.
As for the cars, it is still far too early to assess what will be the hottest sellers among the new 2002s, but that doesn’t stop us from hitting the high points in offering an assortment of what’s new and what is sure to attract some attention. Among the traditional domestic manufacturers, Ford will have the biggest car news with the reintroduction of the Thunderbird.
Built as a roadster but with an available hardtop, the Tbird has a retro look to it that will remind purists of the mid-1950s original. The car will be a touring joy, although it will stop short of being a hot-performing sporty car. Not that it couldn’t be. The Thunderbird will be powered by the Jaguar-built 3.9-liter V8 that is also used in the Lincoln LS, and it will turn out 252 horsepower, but it will be filtered through only a 5-speed automatic transmission that is geared for smoothness, not neck-snapping performance.
Ford also will introduce an SVT (Special Vehicle Team) version of the subcompact Focus, making it a true pocket-rocket to complement the high-volume economy models.
Chrysler was quite active in 2001, introducing new Sebring, Stratus and minivans, on the heels of the sizzling PT Cruiser. So for 2002, Chrysler is throttlng back, with about the only new model a special version of the sporty full-size sedan, the 300M.
General Motors also had a fair number of introductions in 2001, and the only completely new car from GM is the Cadillac CTS, which will replace the Catera and is a bold new design that is sort of a block shape chiseled down into a unique form. It is aimed at the top European entry-level sedans from BMW, Audi and Mercedes, plus such Japanese entries as Lexus, Acura and Infiniti.
Elsewhere at GM, change is coming. Oldsmobile is about to be eliminated, although it will continue to sell existing models as long as there is some demand. Chevrolet loses the Prizm, which is in its final season as a rebadged Toyota Corolla, and the Toyota connection switches to Pontiac, where a crossover vehicle called the Vibe will debut.
The Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird get collector’s editions, which come just before the end of their long and storied histories. Some say the names will be resurrected on new models after a couple of years away. Buick remains unchanged, trusting stability and consistency might continue to attract a loyal following.
From the European side, where all the companies seem to be riding the crest of success, Volkswagen is making the most moves. Having made an early introduction of the Passat full-sized sedan, which comes with a strong 190-horsepower, 30-valve V6, also will be available with a unique new V8 that is actually configured like two small V4 layouts, one on either bank of the V. In addition, Volkswagen increases the power of the GTI in either 4-cylinder or V6 form, and the Beetle and Jetta also share in the power surge, getting the same engine upgrades from 150 to 180 horsepower with the 1.8-Turbo 4, and 201 horses with the VR6, which shows up with four valves per cylinder and dual overhead-cams.
Audi will start selling a renovated A4 model in the sub-$30,000 bracket. The outgoing model clearly rejuvenated Audi’s position as a world player in the sedan business, and the new model has bobtailed rear lights and an all-aluminum 3.0-liter V6 replaced the iron-block 2.8, and it comes blessed with five valves per cylinder and Audi’s unexcelled quattro all-wheel-drive system if you so choose. Strong as it is on innovations, the A4 also will offer a continuously-variable automatic transmission on the front-drive V6 and all 4-cylinder models.
BMW has a new 7-Series luxury sedan field coming out, with infinitely variable intake valve timing and a 6-speed automatic transmission, plus adjustable stabilizer bars front and rear. The popular 3-Series sedans and coupes will introduce a new M3 version for 2002, with power boosted to 333 horsepower from its 3.2-liter in-line 6. For those who can’t get enough fun touches, the M3 will offer shift paddles behind the steering wheel for sequential shifting.
Mercedes has a new C230 coupe, which is a sporty 2-door version of the entry level C-Class, and it comes with a 192-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, with either a 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic.
The other big news from Europe is the introduction of the X-Type Jaguar, a $30,000 entry-level sedan that performs impressively and has full-time all-wheel-drive. Volvo, also, goes to all-wheel drive in the S60 sedan. Saab offers the 9.3 only in sporty Viggen form, stressing the bigger 9.5. Britain’s Land Rover brings out the Freelander, a more compact and affordable SUV.
Swinging to the other side of the world, the Far East has some impressive new entries. Just when you think they must have exhausted all the ideas on technology, along comes Toyota, with a new Camry redesigned from the ground up in an effort to maintain its hold as the top-selling U.S. sedan. The Camry comes with plenty of luxury and a new sportier version as well, and its styling looks remarkably like the Mercedes C-Class.
Toyota also introduces the Matrix, a neat little sporty wagon that will be the basis for the Pontiac Vibe, as well. The Matrix was introduced at the auto show circuit last year, and was a big hit. It will have the hot powerplant from the Celica sports coupe. The Highlander is yet another in the ever-expanding fleet of Toyota SUVs. In upscale Lexus form, Toyota offers a new ES300, which continues to be based on the Camry, and the SC430 sports hardtop was introduced as an early 2002. The sporty IS300 sedan adds a SportCross wagon back.
Honda with a new Acura RSX sports coupe, and a hot Si version of the Civic, making up for the demise of the long-popular Prelude, which will cease to exist. The CR-V small SUV is also all-new, with different styling, and more power from its engine, and the highly successful Odyssey minivan gets a whopping boost up to 240 horsepower with a 5-speed automatic and rear disc brakes in a thorough upgrade.
Nissan has been busy, too, with a new Sentra SE-R performance sedan, and an all-new Altima midsize sedan that gets V6 power, while offering a new Q45 luxury sedan from its upscale Infiniti branch, which also has a new G35 sports sedan, priced more moderately.
Mazda has a new prize with the Protégé compact sedan redesigned and featuring the Protege5 as a slant-back wagon version. Mitsubishi has a competitor for the Protégé with the introduction of the Lancer, which replaces the Mirage in the compact sedan segment. The Galant and Diamante get cosmetic styling changes.
Subaru has a couple of hot numbers, with the Impreza WRX and WRX STi rally-based compact sedans, loaded with 227-horsepower, turbocharged engines. On a more sedate note, other Impreza models are very impressive both as a sedan and sport wagon. Suzuki brought out the XL-7, a larger small SUV, if that makes sense, just after the first of the year as a 2002. Isuzu drops the high-style VehiCross after a brief run, but comes out with the Axiom, another new SUV.
Korea also has become a major player in the auto business, and Hyundai leads the way with a new Sonata sedan and the XG300 becomes the XG350 with its engine enlarged. Kia makes big news by introducing the Sedona minivan, priced under $20,000 and with a 195-horsepower V6. Daiwoo models remain basically unchanged.
Chevy jumps into the trendy forefront with huge 2002 Avalanche
[[[[cutlines:
1/ The Chevrolet Avalanche is a large and opulent combination vehicle that can be converted from SUV to pickup truck.
2/ A lot of molded plastic cladding accents the long Chevy Avalanche, protecting against rock chips and encasing the pickup box.
3/ A rear window behind the 5-passenger interior can be removed to allow open air all the way to the tailgate.
4/ A mammoth and stylish display of high-tech headlights and grillework set off the unique look of the Avalanche. ]]]]]
We’ve seen it coming, from a long way off, and it’s not just because it’s so big.
General Motors, accused of falling behind in the technology race as well as in the progressive styling competition, is making 2002 the year it takes giant steps to catch up. And the Chevrolet Avalanche is the Bigfoot of giant steps.
GM in general, and Chevy in particular, have certainly not lagged behind in the truck end of the current SUV/pickup craze. With the Silverado, Chevy has the second-most-sold vehicle on the planet, second only to Ford’s F150. And with the large Tahoe and the very large Suburban, Chevy has set standards for the trend toward huge SUVs.
But the competiton is pecking away from all sides, and the most recent trend in the truck business is crossover vehicles, those machines that can convert to fit an assortment of lifestyles and trends. The trendiest vehicle of the future might be the one that can best meet the most current trends.
With Ford coming out with various versions of its pickups, and the Lincoln Blackwood, which is like a giant Navigator SUV with the rear third cut off and replaced with a pickup box, Chevrolet has responded with the Avalanche, and it is, in a word, formidible.
From the outside, the clear-lens headlights and driving lights are both above and below the signature Chevy horizontal grille bar, and they are angled off in all directions, almost as if Chevy is trying to come up with a massive front end that can take on the Blackwood, the Navigator, the Dodge Ram and possibly any Kenworth you might spot.
The lower bumper area is covered with thick plastic stuff that looks and feels pretty bulletproof to the touch, and probably is to any stray boulders as well. The plastic stuff continues around on the lower sides, and has stylish little notches in it here and there, heading toward the pickup box rear, where it visually meets the sloping shaft coming off the roof of the crew cab.
On top of the box is more heavy-duty plastic, a secure cover over the box itself, with side troughs for storage of smaller items that can be locked away for privacy.
Inside, the test vehicle was a five-seater, with two bucket seats in the front, and three rear seats, inside those full-size back doors, and they are arranged in a 60/40 split to fold down. A normal customer might wonder why the rear seat in a two-row interior would be designed to fold down, but that’s where the biggest difference — beyond style — comes in.
The Avalanche pickup box is 5-foot-3 in length, which is pretty good, but it’s short by large pickup standards. But the design allows you to fold down the rear seatbacks, then flip a switch and the “midgate” folds down on top of that to form a flat floor that goes all the way back, extending that pickup box to 8-foot-2 — which is long, by big truck, small truck or SUV standards.
The glass partition that looks like a rear window has two switches at the top, and turning them allows you to drop that rear window out, which opens the whole thing all the way from the folded-down rear seats to the tailgate. The glass stashes away in a fitted indentation in the midgate.
As an eye-catcher, the Avalanche stops and seems to startle onlookers. It is not unlike the Pontiac Aztek, which met with unanimous disapproval for being hideously ugly when it was introduced a year ago, looking like a fat Grand Am run amok on steroids.
The Avalanche is nowhere near as disagreeable looking as the Aztek, make no mistake. But when you drive down the street and notice people looking at you and smiling, you become immediately aware that if they are Chevy fans, they generally think this is the greatest looking vehicle ever built, and if you’re a Ford or other non-Chevy person, you think it looks ridiculous.
I found myself between the two extremes, but then I got to sit inside and drive the Avalanche. True, the full-four-door crew cab and the pickup box collaborate to make it extremely long — 221.7 inches, on a 130-inch wheelbase — as well as heavy. That doesn’t help the maneuverability, but the Avalanche proved to be plenty agile in spite of its heft.
With a 5.3-liter V8, the Avalanche takes off and runs fast and strong, with 285 horsepower at 5,200 RPMs and a whopping 325 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000. Even though it hulks at 5,820 pounds, the Avalanche will launch from 0-60 in just over 8 seconds. The Tahoe, and even the Suburban, also go fast, because of the tremendous power from the big V8, so the fact the Avalanche goes swiftly isn’t a big surprise. Those trucks aren’t known for great fuel economy, either, and the Avalanche fits that bill, too, with EPA estimates of 13 city and 17 highway. I got 13.1 miles per gallon on combined driving.
More surprising, the Avalanche handles surprisingly well for a hefty truck. The test vehicle had 17-inch aluminum wheels with 265/70 tires mounted. The independent front suspension and multilink coil rear suspension, bolstered by an off-road package that includes tuned shock absorbers and springs, help keep the big beast flat and stable in cornering, and a pleasing lack of tippy feeling that might be assumed from a high-center-of-gravity truck.
The other thing that is big about the Avalanche is the sticker price. Brace yourself. The test vehicle had a base price of $33,245, and as-tested, it came in at $37,406.
For that, however, the Avalanche is clearly loaded.
To start with, you have 4-wheel disc brakes, front and side impact airbags, a trip computer, leather seats, a trailer-towing package, a towing/hauling transmission, the convert-a-cab (Chevy’s choice of words, not mine), and the assortment of rigid composite covers and boxes on the pickup box. It also has a neat heavy rubber mat on the cargo floor.
Options that helped boost the price include 6-way power seats with the leather trim, electric sunfoor, the off-road package, which also add skid shields, special floormats and some off-road quality air filters and suspension parts. Also, the OnStar communication global-positioning and help system, electronic climate control, tilt wheel, cruise, and a potent stereo with CD player.
The looks of the Avalanche may be somewhat controversial, but big, bold and brazen seems to be in these days.
Driving the Avalanche came at a useful time for me, too, because among other things, we were looking for a few large boulders to haul up to our home, which is being renovated. We spotted a good spot, and I loaded a dozen or so into the rear, onto that thick, rubber mat, and inside the composite tailgate. No problem, and I drove away. I actually forgot about unloading the boulders for a couple of days.
I remembered with a bit of a surprise, when I had to make an abrupt stop to avoid one of those wonderful folks who ran through a red light to make a right turn right in the path of this three-ton monster. I hit the brakes, and slowed without trouble while swerving to miss the bozo. At that time, I heard a rumbling sound coming at me from behind, with some degree of force. They bumped, comfortably, up against the front edge of the pickup box.
But I couldn’t get over the irony of it all, that I almost got nailed by an avalanche in my Avalanche.
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.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports