What Happens in Vegas: Ford Pickup Truck Smashes Through Stratosphere!

No, it didn't rocket into space, it crashed into the lobby of The Stratosphere Hotel & Casino, and thankfully not into the tower itself. Still, it had to be exciting. And though it is good news that nobody was injured, it may not say much about the crowd coming in and out of the place.

[Excerpt]

Truck barrels through Stratosphere front entrance
 

Ford tough! Image from source, Las Vegas Sun

In what officials believe is the first such incident at the hotel, a vehicle crashed through the glass doors at the front entrance of the Stratosphere tonight at 8. Witnesses said the vehicle, a silver Ford F-150 pickup, entered the valet facing Las Vegas Boulevard, veered hard to the right and through the entrance, causing a loud crash and taking out two sets of the glass doors (four total) before braking on the marble floor inside the casino. There were no injuries reported. . .

Read more at: Las Vegas Sun

Blast from the Past: Ugly Cars of the 70s!

Yes, kids, it's a rerun this week. But it's from two and a half years ago, so it's time for a revisit anyway. It's personally topical, because I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the 2015 Jeep Renegade. While I think it's great looking, there is a contingent (mostly Jeep purists) who think it is ugly. Enjoy!

ORIGINAL POST:

I don't think the new Dodge Dart will land on many
"ugly" lists. Image from MSNBC.

I got the idea for this week's Blast from the Past from the news story that Chrysler is bringing back the Dodge Dart. The new one is a much different critter from the old 60s and 70s Dart, which started kind of classic, and became desperately ugly by the mid-1970s. But so many did!

There is no doubt that Detroit made a lot of ugly iron in the 1970s. Whatever brand loyalty and reputation they may have earned in the previous 50 years was all but destroyed by those crappy cars. Some of them became classics anyway, whether ironically or not. But most of these beasties can only be loved with buckets full of nostalgia thrown on them.


1. Chrysler Cordoba - Only remembered for Ricardo Montalban's "rich Corinthian leather!"
2. Chevrolet Chevette (1976) - This ugly duckling debuted with fanfare it didn't deserve. It never, ever turned into a swan.



3. AMC Pacer - Ugly inside and out, even with a Chevy Nova inside.
4. AMC Gremlin - They took a reasonable looking Hornet, chopped off the trunk, then made it as ugly as possible.



5. Ford Pinto (1970) - Much like the Chevette, Ford tried to make this sound like something wonderful and exciting, and "care free." If you don't care about fires. . .
6. Dodge Dart Swinger - Ten kinds of ugly, swinger or not. (Cheating a little, this is a '69 commercial)



7. Plymouth Duster (1972) - This one actually looked uglier to me in its original time. Given how ugly so many other cars of the era look now, this one is growing on me.
8. Oldsmobile Omega Brougham (1976) - I picked this car because almost nobody remembers it. Unlike the others, it doesn't have a legend that goes with it. But it is a great example of how little thought went into making cars attractive in America in the 1970s. (The original ad is missing, I had to substitute an '80)



That will just about do it for me for the week. I know there are many unrepresented ugly 70s cars, so I tagged this as "Part 1."And we've got other decades to hit too! Happy Monday!

Blast from the Past - Ugly Cars of the 1970s! (Part 1)

I don't think the new Dodge Dart will land on many
"ugly" lists. Image from MSNBC.

I got the idea for this week's Blast from the Past from the news story that Chrysler is bringing back the Dodge Dart. The new one is a much different critter from the old 60s and 70s Dart, which started kind of classic, and became desperately ugly by the mid-1970s. But so many did!

There is no doubt that Detroit made a lot of ugly iron in the 1970s. Whatever brand loyalty and reputation they may have earned in the previous 50 years was all but destroyed by those crappy cars. Some of them became classics anyway, whether ironically or not. But most of these beasties can only be loved with buckets full of nostalgia thrown on them.


1. Chrysler Cordoba - Only remembered for Ricardo Montalban's "rich Corinthian leather!"
2. Chevrolet Chevette (1976) - This ugly duckling debuted with fanfare it didn't deserve. It never, ever turned into a swan.



3. AMC Pacer - Ugly inside and out, even with a Chevy Nova inside.
4. AMC Gremlin - They took a reasonable looking Hornet, chopped off the trunk, then made it as ugly as possible.



5. Ford Pinto (1970) - Much like the Chevette, Ford tried to make this sound like something wonderful and exciting, and "care free." If you don't care about fires. . .
6. Dodge Dart Swinger - Ten kinds of ugly, swinger or not.



7. Plymouth Duster (1972) - This one actually looked uglier to me in its original time. Given how ugly so many other cars of the era look now, this one is growing on me.
8. Oldsmobile Omega Broughm (1976) - I picked this car because almost nobody remembers it. Unlike the others, it doesn't have a legend that goes with it. But it is a great example of how little thought went into making cars attractive in America in the 1970s.



That will just about do it for me for the week. I know there are many unrepresented ugly 70s cars, so I tagged this as "Part 1."And we've got other decades to hit too! Happy Monday!

Fun With PhotoShop: 2011 Retro Cars

Okay, I really should call this Fun With Photo-Paint, since I use the CorelDRAW suite on my PC (at least until my Mac laptop arrives and broadens my horizons). I also should call it half-assed edition, since I started this little project with enthusiasm only to realize that my idea might be a little beyond my skill set (for now!).

2009 Mitsubishi Galant with Lancer Evolution nose

Last week, I did a mock-up of my 2009 Mitsubishi Galant, with a (much more sporty) Mitsubishi Lancer nose grafted onto it.  It reminded me, that back in the day of the big SUVs, I'd always wanted to mock-up an old Ford Pinto with all of the styling cues of the Ford Explorer, Expedition, Excursion and Escape.  It would of course be called the Ford Exploder.  Since that germ of an idea, SUVs aren't nearly as ubiquitous, and Ford's styling isn't quite as iconic as it used to be.  The brand new Ford Explorer sort of apes the Ford Flex, rather than setting its own style.  Anyway, aftter the Exploder idea, I also thought it would be funny to see some of the lesser lights of the 1970s be reborn in the fashion of the Ford Mustang, the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Volkswagen New Beetle.

2011 Ford Pinto

Here are two of those ideas, though like I said, I didn't spend a huge amount of time on them once I realized this was going to be tough to pull off well.  But it's still sort of fun!  When my Mac arrives, I'm going to need the PhotoShop practice, so I may tackle the Dodge Omni. So many car lines have died out though, some great ones--say the AMC Pacer or Gremlin--would be a little trickier to execute.

2011 Chevrolet Chevette

One weird thing I noticed about these two cars is that their hoods are gigantically long compared to today's smaller cars.  This gives the Chevy Chevette a droopy-mouthed appearance when you graft a 2011 Aveo nose onto it.  On the Pinto, I used a 2010 Ford Explorer, harkening back to my Ford Exploder idea. It worked, I think, though I ran out of gas before I got to extending the red rocker panels to the bumper.  The funny thing is, however "grafted on" these 'shop jobs look, the real front end of that Pinto is a collision of lines and planes that itself looks like a bad PhotoShop job!

(Click pictures to embiggen!)

Another Car Company Bites the Dust: Mercury, R.I.P.

Image from source, Wall Street Journal

It makes sense for Ford to kill off Mercury.  They haven't been a distinct brand in a long time, seemingly made up of a bunch of Fords with different badges (and higher prices).  But it's still a little bit--a very little bit--sad.  In my lifetime, I've seen the demise of AMC, Plymouth, Eagle, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer.  Of those, the biggest surprises were Plymouth (which had survived the near death of Chrysler in the 1970s), Olds (which just seemed too old to go away) and Pontiac (which seemed to at least have the most classic cars in its history). But Mercury was just kind of there.

The last Mercury I remember with a distinct personality was the last iteration of the Cougar, and even it was only "cool" for a year or two before it just looked kind of odd.  All the rest have been retreads of Fords, and they didn't even come up with a better logo than the 80s "M" thingy.  I think Mercury missed out on the "retro" craze brought in by the Volkswagen New Beetle, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the newer Ford Mustangs, the Chevy Camaro and the Dodge Challenger.  They should've pulled one of their classic nameplates out of mothballs, and maybe even put a new spin on the winged Mercury head logo.  Too late now.

[Excerpt]

Ford Will Shut Down Mercury

People who work in or follow the car industry have been predicting the demise of Ford’s Mercury division for years. So it is no surprise to hear today that Ford will kill its middle-of-the-road brand by year’s end. . .

Read more at: Wall Street Journal

Saturday Night Live Toyota Prius Commercial

One of the (very) few funny elements of this weekends' SNL.

$650 Ford!

Bwahahaha!


Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

House Passes Auto Industry Bailout

I guess it's a good thing that the House of Representatives has passed an auto industry bailout. I mean, the death of the Big Three (GM, Chrysler and Ford) would be devastating for the economy, and for the morale of the nation. If these guys go out of business, anybody could. And, shoot, what else do we manufacture in this country anymore?

But I get the resistance too. You would think that there would be a finite amount of money to go around. And where do we stop? Newspaper bailouts? Network TV bailouts? Advertising agencies? The adult entertainment industry? Yes, they are in trouble too.

One thing I'm not buying is that the failure of the Big Three is the fault of the workers. Or even the unions. Reportedly, they amount to only 10% of the cost of a new automobile. I think it's high time that CEOs of big corporations be responsible for actually making their companies succeed. Why exactly are they making such big salaries and bonuses? Even if they "forgo" them this year, what have they done to deserve their perks in years past?

[Excerpt]

$14 billion auto bailout bill clears the House

The House pressed toward passage of a $14 billion bailout for the nation’s imperiled auto industry Wednesday night, but the hard-fought deal between Democrats and the Bush White House was in jeopardy amid strong opposition from GOP senators. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Big Three Automakers in Trouble No Matter What?

It's always interesting to read about US stories from publications outside this country. The article excerpted below is from a British paper, about the fate of the US auto industry. The general vibe seems to be that no matter how much money we throw at them, they're in trouble anyway.

Maybe. I mean, the US automakers (or their CEOs and executives) seem to be completely unable to change course when things start going bad. Not one seemed to have a Plan B for if the price of petroleum were to skyrocket. They all seemed to believe that we'd want huge trucks and SUVs forever. They've kept the little, economic cars they make in Europe and Australia, thinking we wouldn't buy them. And they seem to be completely unable to change course for years when it comes to making and selling different cars.

On the other hand, we've been surprised before. Chrysler, when it was faltering in the 70s after years of making crappy cars like the Omni/Horizon, was reborn after government help. American Motors went out of business, but the Jeep lived on (and got better). Nobody could've saved the Gremlin or the Pacer.

So, maybe if the Big Three can survive. Maybe they can start having contingency plans for changing tastes or economies. Maybe they can cancel or sell off slower selling divisions. They don't need to kill Pontiac, they just need to scale it down, and make it something different than a Chevy with a pointy nose. Kill Hummer though.

[Excerpt]

Bleak prospect for Detroit Three despite bail-out

America's Big Three car makers will struggle to stay afloat until 2015 - even if they win a $34bn (around £23bn) government bail-out, a leading auto-industry think-tank said.

David Cole, the head of the Center for Automotive Research, believes that a combination of recession and manufacturing problems will make a rapid turnaround impossible. . .

Read more at: GuardianUK

Toby Keith is a Democrat?

Image from TobyKeith.com

Mglphrp godricklap phliddleput schlumpifarq pradump glurg. . .

Sorry, I think my head imploded for just a second there. The inexplicably popular, country music singin', Ford Truck hawkin', boot-in-your-ass, trans-westite "cowboy" is a Democrat??? Wow. If that does a number on a liberal brain like mine, imagine what his Republican fans must be going through!

From AP: Toby Keith praises Obama

And there will be no excerpt, because I don't want the AP copyright Nazis after me. . .

News of the Weird: Texas HOA Nixes Ford F-150

Image from source, Jonathan Turley

This story caught my eye because--oddly enough--of a conservative talk radio show I heard recently. On the way home from work, I heard KXNT's Casey Hendrickson complaining that his neighborhood is cracking down on "work vehicles" being parked in his neighborhood.

This sounded like whining to me. My own home owner's association has always prohibited work vehicles. I should point out though, that they had no problem with our neighbor's squad car (little wonder), and have been fairly lax about the rule in general. And even though the idea of rules for homeowners gets my hackles up a little bit, sometimes I wish the rules were more strict than they are. On more than one occasion, I've counted 16 or 17 vehicles parked around the four houses that border ours. This in a neighborhood where everyone has a three-car garage, and large three-car driveways to boot.

But who would ever think that in the state of Texas, anybody would be prohibited from parking their Ford pickup truck? Do you suppose Toby Keith is going to put a boot in somebody's ass?

[Excerpt]

Pick-Up and Get Out Out: Texas Home Owner Told by Association to Get Rid of F-150 Truck In Drive-Way

Jim Greenwood has a brand new Ford F-150 sitting in his driveway — the virtual symbol of the Texan lifestyle. However, the Stonebriar home owners association in Frisco, Texas views the F-150 as decidedly low-brow in their high-end community and has told him to remove it. The HOA allows only the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Avalanche, Honda Ridgeline and Lincoln Mark LT. Ford’s new motto is “Drive One,” just don’t try to park one in Frisco. . .

Read more at: Jonathan Turley

Kirk Kerkorian Buys Stake in Ford

Photo from New York Times
Image from Wikipedia

Is Kirk Kerkorian actually C. Montgomery Burns? Seriously. He's got the vague Ruper Murdoch-y evilness about him, he's very, very old, and he still a fabulously wealthy business mogul. I mean, how many people born in 1917 would still be at it this hard?

[Excerpt]

Kerkorian Buys Stake in Ford

This time, Kirk Kerkorian seems content to hitch a ride on the potential turnaround of a Detroit automaker instead of grabbing the wheel himself.

In a surprise announcement, the 90-year-old billionaire’s investment firm, the Tracinda Corporation, said Monday that it was placing a big bet on the fortunes of the Ford Motor Company, acquiring 100 million shares of Ford stock and planning to buy another 20 million shares. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Ford Unloads Land Rover and Jaguar, Cheaply

Automotive news is really the purview of The Other Half, but even I was aware that Ford Motor Company was in some financial dire straights. So, it's time for them to offload some of their extraneous brands. Jaguar, for one, never seemed like a good Ford fit to me, and apparently they finally think so too. But how strange is it that a British mainstay like Jaguar could be taken over first by former British colonists, the USA, and now be run by India? I'll bet the Queen is not amused.

[Excerpt]

Ford clears new path with sale of Jaguar, Land Rover

Ford Motor Co. removed a major distraction from its massive restructuring plan with the sale of luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Group, analysts said on Wednesday. . .

Read more at: The Economic Times