Autoblog

click above image for gallery of the Aurora Safety Car

"We pass the basket for a second collection this week at Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration so the parish project car can be finished." It didn't go down quite like that in the Branford, CT parish of Father Alfred Juliano back in the 1950s, but the priest did build a car of his own design that was partially funded by parishioners. I remember rifling through a stack of musty Mechanix Illustrated backissues in my misspent youth and coming across a feature on this vehicle, called the Aurora. A lot of people have declaimed the hideousness of Juliano's "safety car" throughout the years. It certainly has a peculiar reverse rake to its stance, while the flowing, organic form of the fiberglass body give the Aurora the appearance of a quickly departing Sea Ray , rather than an automobile headed at you.

Father Juliano had a lifelong automotive avocation and studied art before entering the priesthood. His intent with the Aurora was to create the world's safest automobile atop a salvaged Buick chassis. The body was hand-laid fiberglass and the bubbilicious daylight openings are rendered in plexiglass. Despite his efforts, things did not go well for Fr. Juliano. The car's press unveiling was a disaster, and Juliano ultimately ended up in financial trouble and was forced to leave his order. The Aurora was given to a garage to settle a debt, and that's where England's Andy Saunders tracked the vehicle down. Andy runs an auto import and customization business, and relishes a challenge. Restoring the Aurora was an arduous process, but as you can see, it's risen like Lazarus from the very disintegrated state Andy found it in. Since its restoration, the car has appeared at several events and museums, including Goodwood. Quite the resurrection.

[Source: NY Times, Photo: Andrew Saunders / NYT]

click the pic above to see a gallery of 50 shots of past Toyotas

When Toyota's Toyopet Crown arrived in the United States in 1957, it was met with snickers from Detroit. General Motors was king, and Ford and Chrysler weren't in the dire straights they face today. Fifty years later, nobody's laughing. That first Toyopet Crown wasn't well regarded, but in 2007, Toyota is giving General Motors a noogie. In 1957, Japan was very much thought of like China is today. That first Toyopet Crown wasn't a great deal, and Toyota had to surmount a mountain of real and perceived shortcomings before it would be taken seriously. In fewer than ten years, though, the Japanese automaker had refined the Toyopet into the Corona, a far more luxurious and modern car than the import-icon VW Beetle. Toyota was gaining fast on other import makes, and aggressively improving its products.

The Corolla debuted in 1968, and the compact offering became the marque's best selling model. The basic recipe of inexpensive small cars and pickups with reliable, well-engineered running gear carried Toyota through the 1970s and into the 80s. Along with its cohorts from other Japanese brands and tightened emissions and safety regulations, the dominance of the VW Beetle was crushed by the time 1979 ended. The 1980s were banner years for Toyota. It'd taken thirty years of Corona, Corolla, Celica, Celica Supra, Tercel and HiLux for Toyota to get its due, but things really shifted in the 1980s. The Camry debuted in 1983, and it now occupies more garages nationwide than any other vehicle. The Lexus luxury division launched in 1989 for the 1990 model year and made the Germans rethink their luxury cars, too. Technological innovation has created Hybrid Synergy Drive, and the Truck-cum-HiLux went on to become the Tacoma. Toyota continues to push for world dominance, and they're not just nipping at GMs heels, they're a proverbial tiger on the back of a wounded gazelle at this point. Quite a trick for a company that opened its US branch on Halloween back in 1957. We'll see what treats the global auto wars have in store for us in the next 50 years.

hit the jump for Toyota's official passenger car chronology

[Source: CNN Money via Motor Authority]

It's the Ultimate List, at least until it becomes the Penultimate List the next time some publication decides to go through the exercise of picking the best of all time, and then justifying the results. Automobile Magazine has picked up the gauntlet for its September 2007 issue, and selected what they've termed The 25 Greatest Cars of All Time. Of course nobody's going to agree with each one of their picks, but their list is a good one, backed up by solid explanations for each picked. Thus, it's hard to fault the gang at Automobile - they love cars as much as the rest of us, and most of the cars that made the cut would likely also be our picks.

For some outside perspective, there are sidebars sprinkled throughout the feature with figures like Mario Andretti, Walter di'Silva, and Caroll Shelby (among others) opining on their idea of the greatest car of all time. You could accuse us of being sentimental fools, but it's heartening to see the past so well represented, even when more modern cars can run rings around the four-wheeled icons that made the cut. Choices are organized into five categories: Dynamics, Innovation, Supercars, Racing, and Icons.

More after the jump, including Automobile's original list of 150 nominees and a few of those selected as the Greatest of All Time. Click the Read link to view Automobile's final list of 25 cars.

[Source: dBusinessNews.com]

The Volkswagen Company turned sixty years old last week. In July 1946, German dealerships Gottfried Schultz in Essen and Raffay & Co. in Hamburg, Germany received their first Beetle sedans (saloons).

The Beetle's history reaches as far back as the 1930s. However, the first one built under the Volkswagen name came shortly after the end of World War II. British army officer Major Ivan Hirst, who controlled what would be the first Volkswagen factory, obtained an order of 20,000 sedans for the British military. The now-named Volkswagen factory shipped eight Beetles to Gottfried Schultz while sending one to Raffay & Co. Both continue to be large Volkswagen dealerships today.

The military approved the establishment of 10 major distributors and 28 dealerships later that year. Volkswagen would go on to sell millions of its Beetles world wide. In the U.S., Volkswagen sold the turtle-shaped car until 1978. The car would not return to the world's largest automotive market until 1998 as the New Beetle.

Related:
UFOs beamed out of Roswell as VW New Beetle 2K Car Show begins
Volkswagen hoping buyers stick around for New Beetle styling gimmick
VIDEO: Jet-powered VW New Beetle


[Source: DueMotori and Wikipedia]

Forbes automotive columnist Jerry Flint provides a history lesson of various automotive couplings and even triads to illustrate that while a few have been beneficial to one or (rarely) all parties, most fall flat on their faces. None, however, are easy for any of the parties, successful or not.

Successful mergers, buyouts, partnerships, and other combos include General Motors' Daewoo purchase and its acquisition of the HUMMER name. Chryslers' purchase of American Motors (AMC) that not only gave Jeep to the automaker but a top notch engineering team. Interestingly, Renault sold its controlling shares of AMC because its French unions couldn't stand the thought of francs bolstering American products. Sound familiar, anyone?

But successful combinations are scarce. Flint discusses DaimlerChrysler's alliance with Hyundai Motors and, earlier, Mitsubishi, both of which fell apart. Ford nearly lost the Brazilian market with its ill-fated Volkswagen alliance in the "AutoLatina" venture. And Flint provides a litany on GM's failed alliances, from Fiat to Suzuki to Isuzu, and the cost of each to the company.

Flint isn't necessarily against mergers or alliances, he just points out that none of them, no matter how successful they are eventually, are ever easy.

[Source: Forbes]

Monday, March 27th, 2006 will mark the second decade since Acura was launched as the first Japanese luxury brand in America. According to retired GM executive George Spauling and Post and Courier writer, Acura was also a first among automakers as a new division with its own dealership network since Ford's launch of Lincoln/Mercury back in 1945.

Honda had turned to a company, Namelab, to come up with a name for the new division. The first vehicle, the now legendary Acura Legend (pictured), was dubbed a "better BMW" by Motor Trend. Later, the NSX would receive the "Top Ten Performance Cars" award from the magazine. Success? The company sold its two millionth vehicle by 2002.

With Acura's moves in California and Japan, it will be interesting to see what the next twenty years hold for Honda's successful offspring.

[Charleston Post and Courier]