Happy 25th anniversary, Mazda Miata: Mazda debuted the Miata at the Chicago Auto Show 25 years ago
Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:49 AM PST
Mazda debuted the Miata at the Chicago Auto Show 25 years ago
 Mazda
"Greatest car in the world," says Blake Z. Rong.
By: Blake Z. Rong on 2/10/2014
On Feb. 9th, 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show, Mazda unveiled a sports car that would forever change the world of sports cars: the Miata.
Imagine a world without the Mazda Miata -- a cold world, cruel and desolate. Birds would stop singing. The laughter of children would be a forgotten memory. Our sun would wither away into a faint husk of its once-radiant self. Disaster. Worst of all, the streets would be filled with -- to our horror -- hundreds of thousands of Mercury Capris.
We would have no sports cars. Without the Miata, there would be no cheery little two-seat roadster: no Honda S2000, no BMW Z3, no Mercedes-Benz SLK -- no Rover MGF or Fiat Barchetta, for those of you reading overseas. Who knows how the FR-S or BRZ would have turned out, if they even made it through to existence. Bob Lutz would look like a crazy person introducing the Solstice/Sky twins. Stark raving mad, foaming at the mouth about some "sports car" that wasn't a Viper! 900,000 people wouldn't be able to brag about their inclusion in the "Guinness Book of World Records." Legions of weekend warriors from the SCCA Spec Miata class would otherwise stay home, probably picking up gardening as a hobby, and failing at it: the constitution of a race-car driver has no room for green-thumbed patience. There'd be no Playboy MX-5 Cup, no bright and shining high schoolers who make good use of their karting endeavors. Garth Stein would have never written "The Art of Racing in the Rain." Corky Romano would have nothing to drive.
Mazda still has its early Miatas in its hidden basement. This is heartening. Because to use Mazda's hashtag parlance, that Miata back in 1989 was genuinely a #gamechanger.
With all the hoopla over the next Miata, this past Chicago Auto Show would have been a nice time for Mazda to show it to the world. Imagine that: a back-to-basics reintroduction of a car that reintroduced "back to basics." Alas, there was none -- we're looking at next year's Chicago show for the next Miata, if rumors through the grapevine are to be believed. In the meanwhile, we do get a nice press release.
For an enthusiast, that next Miata should be one of the most dramatic unveils yet. In developing such a unique product, Mazda has the burden of enticing the most traditionalist fanbase in all of automobiledom: Miata owners. You think the Lotus Owners Club is tough to appease? These sorry bunch of meanies will kvetch if a cupholder divider is 0.06 grams heavier than last year's. And wait, why are there cupholders in the first place? Already the rumors are flying: impossible weight figures, turbocharging, Kodo styling. Maybe they'll put a Corvette engine in the next one! The Miata's formula -- or the Triumph's formula, the Lotus's formula, the Austin-Healey's formula, if you will -- is simple, but it is still never predictable.
In fact, these Miata-owning dorks will converge at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on the weekend of Sept. 6 to barge their way into another Guinness World Record: the most Miatas in one place. The organizers have Mazda's full support -- this year, more than ever. Even the Hiroshima factory shift managers couldn't have foreseen this. If the record is set, it'll be a great way to celebrate the Miata's anniversary before the next model arrives, to carry us to the start of another 25 years of sporty motoring for the masses. Hey, it'll be fun. Bring the kids.
 
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Rumor: New Toyota Supra, entry-level sports car confirmed: Toyota PR says no; our hearts say yes
Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:14 AM PST
Toyota PR says no; our hearts say yes
Meet the Toyota FT-1 concept, which just debuted at the Detroit auto show. Photo by Autoweek.
Toyota calls the sporty FT-1 concept a "spiritual pace car." Photo by Autoweek.
From the double-bubble roof to the gigantic retractable rear spoiler, the FT-1 is cartoonish -- in a good way. Photo by Autoweek.
Concept car touches like the rear taillights abound on the FT-1. Photo by Autoweek.
The racy interior of the Toyota FT-1 concept. Note the steering wheel-mounted start button. Photo by Toyota.
What's under the hood of the Toyota FT-1 concept? The plastic engine cover doesn't reveal much. Photo by Autoweek.
The nose and headlamp of the Toyota FT-1 concept. It's a surprisingly bold place for that familiar logo to appear. Photo by Autoweek.
By: Graham Kozak on 2/10/2014
Fans of Japanese performance cars haven't had much to complain about lately. First we get word that Nissan is gearing up to build a production version of the Datsun 510-inspired IDx concept. Next, we learn of a new "Initial D" movie on the horizon.
The only way this could possibly get any better is if Toyota decided to put the FT-1 concept, which we first saw at the Detroit auto show, into production.
According motoring.co.au, that's exactly what has happened. And if the enthusiast site's unnamed sources can be believed, the car will be called the Supra when it arrives in a few years -- perhaps as early as 2016.
Now, we hear a lot of wild things from those proverbial unnamed sources -- many (make that most) of them too good to be true. In this case, though, we desperately want to believe the mystery insider or insiders feeding the Australian enthusiast website intel.
Toyota, for its part, denies all of it. We asked representatives of the automaker for something -- anything -- to bite on. "At this time, there are no plans for production of the FT-1" is the only response we got.
Yet, the automaker has suggested that public response to the so-called "spiritual pace car" may influence future product.
Motoring's source says the FT-1 concept's "sharp lines, scoops and edges will definitely be 'softened' for the market," but we can't say we're too surprised or disappointed by that. A concept car is a concept car, after all.
More intriguing are the pair of proposed powertrains, which seem tantalizingly plausible. Base level is a turbocharged 2.0-liter I4, supposedly the same one from the upcoming production version of the Lexus LF-NX.
The range-topper will be a hybrid setup much like the next-generation GT-R, with the bulk of the car's projected 400-plus hp coming from a turbocharged 2.5-liter V6. Also very Nissan GT-R-like is the price: At an estimated $90,000, the next Supra will be out of reach to most enthusiasts.
Perhaps hoping to placate the masses, Toyota is supposedly working on a smaller, entry-level sports coupe to debut in 2017. Slated to be more affordable than the Scion FR-S at around $15,000, the car would get a hybrid powertrain revolving around a 1.5-liter inline-four.
Next up? CEO Akio Toyoda recently reiterated Formula One racing is a no-go so long as he's around, but maybe his fingers were crossed. If Motoring's prognostications end up being on the money, nothing would really surprise us.
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Toyota to end Australian manufacturing in 2017: In exit, Japanese automaker will join Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi
Posted: 10 Feb 2014 11:20 AM PST
In exit, Japanese automaker will join Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi
 Toyota
The Toyota Tarago, a version of the Previa sold in Australia. The automaker says it won't build cars in Australia after 2017.
By: Graham Kozak on 2/10/2014
When Holden announced that it would no longer build cars in Australia after 2017, that country's flagging automotive industry was effectively put on notice -- Mitsubishi had stopped building cars there in 2008, and Ford says its two plants there will close in October 2016.
Now Toyota has announced that it has no option but to end vehicle Australian vehicle production. Like Holden, it will close its factories there in 2017.
Thanks in part to the country's strong dollar, building cars in Australia has become a money-losing proposition; over the past 10 years, Toyota says it has lost nearly $1.6 billion operating in Australia, despite government support to the tune of nearly $1.1 billion. It's the same story Holden told as it announced its plans to end Australian production.
Toyota kicked off its Australian manufacturing operations 1963, when car-assembly firm Australian Motor Industries began building the Toyota Tiara. Toyota eventually took control of AMI, purchasing a controlling interest in the company in 1968. By 2012, the Japanese automaker was building more than 100,000 cars per year in the country. 73 percent were exported to other markets.
The automaker's current Australian-market lineup looks much like ours, with mainstays like the Prius, Corolla and Camry and some vehicles, like the Kluger and Rukus, that are sold here wearing different names (the former is the Toyota Highlander, the latter the Scion xB). Basically, there isn't anything built and sold in Australia that isn't also built somewhere else.
Still, the decision to end Australian manufacturing is expected to impact 2,500 Toyota workers plus up to 50,000 in related fields -- and it will spell the end of an industry that stretched back more than a century.
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One Lap of the Web: Metal Machine Mazdas: Automotive goodness from all corners of the Internet
Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:30 AM PST
Automotive goodness from all corners of the Internet
 Speedhunters
Brad Lord of Speedhunters tells the story of a very cool barn find.
By: Blake Z. Rong on 2/10/2014
-- Someday, for some reason, you might find yourself in Jaworzno, Poland. And if you're there, you might drive down Grunwaldzka and make a right on Krolowej Jadwigi (we've never been to Jaworzno, actually) and end up at the Jeff Hanneman Circle Pit, a roundabout named after the late guitarist from Slayer and, therefore, the most badass road junction in the universe. The traffic circle could -- and should -- also double as a demolition derby for FSO Polonezes. How metal would that be? Literally?
-- If you enjoy car reviews mixed with toilet humor -- and who doesn't, really -- you should be watching Regular Car Reviews. Every video is a surreal cinema v�rit� for car nerds who might otherwise be arguing "THIS VS. Z06?!" on the Supercars.net forums. (Sample dialogue: the Jeep Grand Cherokee is "the official car of alimony payments and Now That's What I Call Music!" The 1990 Chevy Suburban is "a machine made for blasting Radar Love between tollbooths on the Northeast Extension!") Recently, Mr. Regular was involved in a car accident with his beloved Toyota Echo. He created an online fundraiser to ask for donations. He just needed $5,000 for a new car, something that could spur him on a road trip across the country reviewing other people's cars. He posted the fundraiser at 7:35pm. By 9, the funding was almost double of what he had asked. We wish him well and hope he buys something that isn't "the missionary position of the automotive industry."
-- Are you tired of the following: intact bones, clean lungs, property values, appeased neighbors, a distinct sense of self-preservation? Then head over to Metro Detroit and liberate these two gasoline-powered bumper cars from what appears to be a Scooby-Doo haunted house. They bounce around on inner tube bumpers (not shown) and resemble Doctor Who's Cybermen. Powered by 5.5-horsepower Honda lawnmower engines, they'll enhance your current lifestyle of bad decisions! Call the number and ask for Don.
-- Jay Leno, now liberated from his day (er, night) job, performs his take on the 25th anniversary of the Mazda Miata, bringing in Miata godfathers Bob Hall (Autoweek alumnus!) and Tom Matano. Leno's is a 1996, supercharged, red like the rest of 'em; because for a man with more cars than God or Bruce Meyer, he still has room for the simple things in life. (We implore Leno to remove the useless, tacky style bar, please, as his chin alone does not constitute rollover protection.)
-- Before Mazda built the Miata, before even the RX-7, the company built a sports car by the name of RX-3. (In America, the RX-3 SP was thoroughly rad.) Speedhunters has the line on an RX-3 race car from the Japanese Touring Car Championship -- found, as it were, in a New Zealand garage. The venerable Savanna also raced at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1978.
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Chevrolet is bringing CNG power to the 2015 Silverado HD: Compressed natural gas bi-fuel system saves money, gives trucks 650 mile range
Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:56 AM PST
Compressed natural gas bi-fuel system saves money, gives trucks 650 mile range
 Chevrolet
CNG bi-fuel option is coming to Silverado 2500HD and 3500HD trucks.
By: Jay Ramey on 2/10/2014
Chevrolet is taking CNG-powered vehicles seriously, with so many of their trucks being used in commercial fleets, so it was perhaps no surprise that we'd see a version of the 2015 Silverado HD that can be run either on gasoline or compressed natural gas before long. Chevrolet brought the 2015 Silverado 2500 HD CNG to the Chicago Auto Show, to let prospective buyers as well as the media to learn about at the savings that could be realized with this environmentally friendly setup.
The HD CNG truck will offer bi-fuel capability coupled with its 6.0-liter V8 engine that's been modified with hardened valves and valve seats to run on compressed natural gas. The gasoline engine already produces 360-hp ad 380 lb-ft of torque, and while running on compressed natural gas the engine will make 301-hp and 333 lb-ft of torque. But the small tradeoff in power is nicely offset by the savings offered by using natural gas, as Chevrolet claims that the Silverado HD CNG will save its owners $2,000 per year in fuel costs over 26,000 miles, running on CNG 75 percent of the time. And running on CNG and gas, the trucks will have a total range of approximately 650 miles.
As with other CNG bi-fuel trucks, the Silverado will have a separate tank and will allow the driver to switch fuels with the flip of a switch. Once the CNG runs out, the truck automatically switches over to gasoline.
 Chevrolet
The tank is located in the trunk, and is installed by a GM supplier after the CNG option is selected through a dealer.
"With CNG capability to be offered on all Silverado HD cab configurations, customers have a wider range of choices when it comes to selecting the alternatively fueled truck that matches their needs," said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president of General Motors Fleet and Commercial. "And for companies and municipalities that maintain multiple trucks in their fleet, the fuel cost savings of CNG can really add up in a year."
The CNG option will be available on the 2015 Silverado 2500HD and Silverado 3500HD trucks with single rear wheels -- so no dually models for now. The Silverado 2500HD double cab and crew cab models are available right now, while the 2500HD regular cab and 3500HD will be available in July of this year.
"Silverado bi-fuel pickups are available through any of Chevrolet's more than 3,000 dealerships across America just like any other model," added Peper. "It's one of the industry's most seamless integration of OEM-delivered CNG vehicles."
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Rare 1950 Packard woody wagon to cross the block at Amelia Island: Nicely restored Station Sedan to be offered at no reserve at RM's Amelia Island sale
Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:19 AM PST
Nicely restored Station Sedan to be offered at no reserve at RM's Amelia Island sale
 RM Auctions
This well restored Station Sedan is one of the very last few built.
By: Jay Ramey on 2/10/2014
Many of us probably don't picture a station wagon when we hear Packard Eight, so it's a special treat to see one get proper attention at a major auction. Concours events usually feature a handful of early post-war Packards, though visitors rarely get to see one of the company's magnificent wood-paneled station wagons from the late 1940s, which were actually called Station Sedans. But we'll be seeing this example offered at RM's Amelia Island auction in just a few weeks, on March 8.
Curious naming aside, the Station Sedan was a bit of new concept for Packard which had produced its first station wagons just a few years prior, in 1940, basing them on the six-cylinder 110 model and the eight-cylinder 120 model. And unlike most woodie wagons at the time they were very exclusive models, meant for customers who had already owned the best Packard sedans at the time and wanted an estate version to keep at their estate out in the country.
Packard revisited the station wagon bodystyle in 1948, essentially taking the Standard Eight Sedan the reworking the rear half to the car, as well as the doors and roof. Packard designed the rear section in semi-fastback style, creating a swoopy profile that accentuated the curves of the car. The wood panels fit over the altered metal body panels, with only the tailgate using the white ash wood paneling for structural purposes. And speaking of the tailgate, the two-piece doors were designed to open in a clam shell manner, which was a novelty at the time.
 RM Auctions
The interior appears better than new even in photos.
As elegant as they were, the Station Sedans just didn't sell well enough in the late 1940s. Post-war car buyers were interested in more affordable cars, and with the early post-war designs evolving quickly, the car-hungry crowds were not in the mood for an exclusive and expensive handbuilt machine like the Station Sedan. Part of the 1948 production remained unsold, carrying over into the 1949 model year, with 1950 being the final year of production for this bodystyle once the pace of assembly was pared down to meet actual demand.
The example here is one of the last examples of this model delivered, and prior to joining te collection of the well-known consignors, Richard and Linda Kughn, this Station Sedan received a complete and very thorough restoration. The restoration effort included the replacement of white ash woodwork, and a high-quality respray in Turquoise Blue. This car features a tan leather interior (which appears better than new even in the photos), along with tan carpets and a wood-grained dashboard. The overdrive transmission that this example was optioned with should make this a nice summer cruiser.
 RM Auctions
Very few examples were made over a three year production span.
This example is estimated to bring in between $60,000 and $80,000. Needless to say, one can't restore even a driver-quality example for that much today (just think of the hours and expertise required for fabricating the woodwork alone), so if the winning bidder ends up taking this car home for an amount in between those two figures they'll essentially be getting an incredible discount on the restoration, and the car will be thrown in for free. Interest in post-war woodies and rare station wagons is gaining steam, and with the undeniable visual appeal of this example we have a feeling that the high-estimate for future examples of this model may be revised following this sale.
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