Robert Hall

Well, that's what they call it..and some of signs were in English and Spanish. 5th largest US city, and yet the auto show is a pretty small affair.

138hp is less than the Cobalt's 2.2 w/ 155hp, though. Why not offer the 2.2 or 2.0 Turbo as options? The C-pillar black plastic just shows a lack of imagination and screams cheap, I'm afraid.

Went to the new car show downtown today, wandered around a couple hours. Mercedes-Benz was (inexplicably) absent, as was SAAB (understandably) Impressions: GM: Sat in 4 different Camaros, incl. the Transformer edition. Hard to see out of, but overall pretty comfortable. The interior trim and materials look better in person than in the pics, IMHO. Surprised how tiny the trunk opening is relative to the size of the trunk lid. They had a gorgeous dark red '10 ZR1. Was locked and covered in fingerprints. The red Gran Sport convertible was sweet. Loved the CTS wagon. First I've seen, in CTS advert red..love that color. Nice how the rear seat folds flat. Sat in a black on black w/ black out windows CTS-v. Drool. What a beast. Saw the new LaCrosse, SRX, Terrain and Equinox up close for the first time. Sat in all...all have nicely done interiors. Strange plastic hinge covers on the LaCrosse trunk hinges. The LaCrosse has some odd proportions--narrow, tall, short nose, very short tail, long midsection. But it seems to work. Ford: Really liked the '10 Taurus and MKS. Sat in both, liked the design and detailing inside out. There was a dark green SHO on display. The MKT looks much better in person than in pics. It's a huge wagon. The '10 Fusion, Milan and MKZ are pretty nice. The Raptor is over the top, wild in orange w/ orange interior trim. Sat in a Ford Transit, neat funky white Euro van. Sat in several '10 Mustangs, love the parchment and saddle/black interiors. They had a Grabber Blue Shelby up on a dais. Outside, Ford had about 8-10 Fiesta hatchbacks, doing ride and drives. They look really good in person, nice modern European B-seg car. Chrysler: Thin on anything really new, but got to sit in a couple Challengers. Really like the heft and size of them. Wish the interiors weren't so dark and austere, though. other: Didn't really look at the Japanese brands.. though the new Suzuki Kizashi looks pretty distinctive, and the ZDX looks better in person, in a dark brown. The Insight looks like a cheap Prius knockoff. Liked the '10 GTI and Golf. The Passat CC looks really good in black. Sat in a goregous Audi S5..white, w/ red and black interior. My favorite of the Germans, I think...though the bright blue R8 was pretty special also. Sat in a BMW X6. Horrific rear visibility. Beautiful interior, wierd exterior. Didn't take any pics, didn't take a camera. Figured there are plenty of pics of new cars online.

If you remove the pics of the trucks and the voiceover, the imagery reminds me of a political ad..reminds me of Reagan's 'Morning in America' spots from the '80s.

I've seen that rumor in a few places, but since Ford hasn't actually announced anything, I assume the worst.

The brand I see most likely to die soon that hasn't been announced is Mercury. Only 4 models for '10, all rebadges. Nothing new announced. I'm skeptical if Ford will keep it around. They didn't do any Mercury versions of the recent crossovers (Edge, Flex) or the Taurus..

Ah, hence the advantage to smallest possible footprint. Sounds like the Smart is the most ideal...RWD, 2 seater, available in a convertible.. Article on best city cars

Yes. Around 1957. It was their first 'fleetside'..Chevy Cameo equivalent.

I've never had an issue in large cities with larger cars (i.e. LA, Chicago, Phoenix)--was always able to park in garages w/ cars at about 200-215" overall length. You must be talking about street parking in NYC or something? Some place w/ undersized parking spaces?

Here's the first magazine 'first drive' I've seen of the Spark, from Car magazine (UK). Car magazine Spark review "first impressions of the Spark are of a competent car with a surprisingly grown up and spacious feel to it." 143.3 inches overall length, 1904lbs.

+1. Or a '69-70 Marquis ragtop...I remember seeing one of those in Florida as a kid, and another one here in Phoenix a couple times over the last year. I think I've only seen two of them in my lifetime! I'm sure the '49-50 Merc is iconic, it just has zero appeal to me..I just can't get into cars of that era.

Watching a Cube on the freeway in traffic last week a couple of times, I think some of it's details (the side windows in particular) are downright wierd....

Precisely. The mass market wants functional, reliable vanilla FWD generics, that's what sells in volume, along with equally dull trucks. Enthusiast-oriented cars are a very small percentage of the market.

This is going to be a cheap, sub-$15k car, so obviously, they are going cheap on the materials and details. I wouldn't expect anything to look 'hand crafted' at the bottom end of the market. Looking at the pics, it looks exactly like what it is--a productionized 5dr version of the Beat concept.

If the price and content are right, it will sell, esp. when gas goes back up. A percentage of the target market will like the radical styling. The Cube and Soul are selling well, they are just as radical. Just because you (or I) don't like the styling, doesn't mean others won't find it appealing.

Hot Rod magazine around 1980-82 had an article on a 32 Ford roadster w/ a rear mounted Citation engine and transaxle, IIRC. Here's one w/ a Aurora engine. Mid Engined 32 Ford

Or Saleen or SMS or Panoz. Maybe just a 'Domestic Other' folder to catch these smallest fish.

The magazines have reviews of pedestrian models all the time---n-way comparisons of family sedans, compacts, crossovers, etc. Obviously, cover stories of supercars and other performance vehicles get attention and sell magazines. But the magazines still run articles on the mainstream stuff.

How about Canada? You realize the US imports twice as much oil from Canada than Venezuela and about 3 times as much from Canada as Saudi Arabia..Mexico is 2nd only to Canada. US Oil imports

Or drinks and dinner at Earls or Bostons. Or some Western Pizza...yum. (I particularly like Earls).

They are going with an angry appliance look, to appeal to the generation that likes 'Transformers' movies.. I wonder what the Cadillac 'Art and Science' style version will look like.

'67-70 Cougar, definitely. Grew up with them, my Mom still has 3 ('67 and 2 '68s). I like the '69-70 Marauder, '69-72 Marquis and Monterey...pretty much any full size Merc from '61 into the '70s. I also like the '68-72 Montegos and Cyclones..there is a sharp orange '72 Cyclone around here that I see occasionally. I've never cared for the '49-51 Mercs...the humpy styling does nothing for me, I guess they primarily appeal to an older generation that remembers when they were common...I just can't relate to '50s styling in general, I find the '70s lower-longer-wider much more appealing.

That's one of CARBIZ's standard themes...he's repeated it several times here before.

Not only that, but it's a backwards bowtie...(would look correct from inside the car, though).

One of the best looking T-types I've seen was a dark brown. I always liked those cars in the blend-in, stealthy colors.