68 PERCENT INCREASE IN PONY CAR SALES IN OCTOBER 2009

[Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" here]

Bangshift.com has linked to a Wall Street Journal Article by Jonathan Welsh entitled "A Varoom of One's Own: Muscle Cars Return."

The premise of the article is that Ford's Mustang, Chevrolet's Camaro and Dodge's Challenger are performing contrary to the general automotive market.

Welch's piece quotes several new Pony Car owners about why they've switched from formerly trendy vehicles such as trucks, SUVs, imported sports cars, and Euro sedans to the latest automotive fad.

Among the grease-stained "true believers" and muscle car fundamentalists at Bangshift, these casual owner comments have raised no small level of irritation. For example, one commenter lamented:

"Musclecar sales are up 68% this Oct. as compared to Oct. last year...let's see, would that be the Oct. '08 when the handful of Challengers available were only yours at between list and $10,000 over, and you couldn't find a Camaro? Remarkable point the writer makes there. Then he couldn't finish the piece without making a jab at the Mustang and championing his probable favorite car, the BMW...which the article is not about. . . .

He should be working for Csaba Csere somewhere. Anyhow, if the WSJ can't get it right at something you know about, don't figure they do much better at things you don't."

The WSJ article is not a bad piece of journalism. The reporter merely quoted the Pony Car buyers he interviewed.

Of course the "midsize sporty" sales category is ridiculous -- a brain-dead snoozefest FWD wimp car like a Toyota Camary Solara is hardly in the same niche as a Shelby GT500 or a Challenger SRT-8 (anywhere other than in the editorial offices of Consumer Reports, and among some bean-counting auto company bureaucrats who need to justify ripping off the motoring public).

Certainly an increase in supply (Challenger, Camaro) has rallied nostalgic brand partisans and increased demand. And the basic premise of the article is correct insofar as there are certainly some faddish customers who would likely be buying something bigger and/or more expensive if the economy and energy markets were better.

But the following factors cannot be discounted:

1. Gasoline: Fuel prices have stabilized in a range which favors the current crop of Pony Cars.

2. Last Call: Dread over future CAFE increases and environmental regulations likely motivates some buyers to go for one last automotive party before the 35 m.p.g. wussmobiles become the order of the day. In many ways we're at about the "1969-1970" phase of the "Second Supercar Era."http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2007/04/missing-second-supercar-era-its-old.html

3. Rebellion: These cars are the essence of socially-acceptible, middle-class, "Red State/Suburban" rebellion against the "system" of government-controlled, sealed-for-your-protection motoring. Pony Cars are a "look at me" way of "showing off" and rejecting the current "PC" orthodoxy (Just as much as Prius-styled electric hybrids are "the other side's" banner for "showing off" and rejecting "selfish" consumerism).

4. Macho: The Pony Cars are among the few "masculine" automobiles produced in America (hence the attractiveness to former image-conscious light truck consumers)

5. Another Fad: With the Pony Cars being about the only new thing appealing to casual automotive enthusiasts (not Bangshifters) that's being produced by the bankrupt Detroit automakers, it's not surprising that these niche vehicles would counter the declines in other sectors. Moreover, both the Challenger and the Camaro are still perceived as new and fresh (a sporty coupe typically has about a 3-4 year lifespan before the style becomes dated among the trend chasers).

6. The visceral appeal: As we know, these cars have an emotional swagger that's missing in inoffensive, Japanese-style transportation appliances. That still resonates in a fairly large sector of the American motoring public.

7. Power-to-Weight: There's a tipping point at ~ 13 pounds per horsepower. At that point, a car accelerates fast enough to make 95% of the public believe it's "hot." Virtually all of the current Pony Cars are now in this range. Combind that with the fact that none of these cars require any special "futzing" or hassles and are reasonably practical as daily drivers. If the price point is low enough and the styling fits the vehicle's persona, then you've probably got a guaranteed winning combination (at least until insurance costs, fuel prices, social pressures or some other external squelches demand).

8. Empty nests: The current generation of Pony Cars are selling predominantly to folks who do not need minivans, SUVs or sedans to ferry around kids. The prices are still too high to appeal to the youth market (insurance price must be factored in here).

Bunkie Knudsen famously said, "you can't sell an old man's car to a young man, but you can sell a young man's car to an old man." In other words, practical, hassle-free high performance combined with attractive style will likely always outperform the "commodity market" for vehicles.

That being said, a 2% share means that 98% of the market needs, wants or is settling for something else (which ought to alarm high-performance enthusiasts). For example, Ford's low-performance Fusion garnered record sales during the same time period. Most certainly the Mustang-hating bean counters in the Glass House will be championing that fact as they push for more "cost synergies" and "eco-responsible" FWD product.

MORE EVIDENCE THAT FORD IS KILLING PERFORMANCE (AGAIN)

[Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" here]

Call this one a rumor. But if it's true, it's bad.

“The new Focus RS is pretty special, and not just because of its incredible performance, but because it’s likely to be the last car of this type you will see from Ford.”

He explained the economic downturn meant there was “absolutely no business case” for any new RS models at the moment and that this situation would probably never change.

This sad development, if true, reminds "Truth With Speedzzter" of FoMoCo's disasterous overreaction and myopic retrenchment from high performance and racing in 1970:

After nearly a decade of "Total Performance" success (mostly at the professional level), Henry Ford II became concerned by the safety-emissions regulatory storm brewing in Washington D.C. and his responsibility to Ford's shareholders. After some turbulent hearings by a Congressional committee, Henry reacted by slashing the racing program. When Henry fired Bunkie Knudsen (who had left GM after being bypassed for promotion), Ford lost its biggest racing fan. Lee Iacocca was then all too ready to purge "Knudsen" loyalists, many of which shared Knudsen's passion for motorsports and to strictly execute Henry's hasty retreat on factory racing and high performance.

Thus, in November 1970, Ford killed its racing and "Muscle Parts" programs. Ford's largest domestic competitor at the tracks -- Chrysler-- also severely cut back its sponsorships and then killed the Hemi. An era was over.

Ford seems poised to repeat all of the same mistakes again.

Let's all hope another wimpy "Mustang II" or FWD PROBE-Stang isn't on FoMoCo's tree-hugging docket (although that would be better than killing off the storied Pony Car tradition entirely).

Speaking of wimpy and green, FoMoCo is busting a gut to sell "THE ALL-NEW 41-MPG 2010 FORD FUSION HYBRID"

The 2010 Fusion Hybrid is the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan on the planet. And right now, you can take advantage of a $3,400 tax credit when you make the new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid your own.

Now that'll really make up for a dwindling supply of real high performance vehicles . . . .

Tell'em Barack Obama sent you . . . .

Not that taxpayer subsidzed hybrid motoring in a Mexican Ford will be cheap. It will cost around $1,000 more than in a hybrid Camry ("$27,270 for a hybrid gas-electric version" versus $26,150 for the Tokyo version of Mr. Electric's snoozemobile).

But then Ford would like to sell SOMETHING . . . ANYTHING . . . .

Ford Motor Co's (NYSE:F - News) chief analyst, George Pipas, estimates that U.S. auto industry sales dropped in February to a range of about 9 million units. Retail sales, or vehicles sold at showrooms, likely declined about 40 percent in February.

This is reflecting in poor dealership profits, according to the Automotive News:

U.S. auto dealer profits slid to a nearly two-decade low in 2008 and could fall even more this year. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the average dealership made a net pretax profit last year of just 1.0 percent of sales, down from 1.5 percent in 2007.

Apparently even gouging baby boomers on GT500s can't take up the slack . . . .


NOW EVERYBODY . . . .

Gray skies are gonna clear up,
Put on a happy face;
Brush off the clouds and cheer up,
Put on a happy face.
Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy,
It's not your style;
You'll look so good that you'll be glad
Ya' decide to smile

That's apparently what the folks at MazdaSpeed have done. On steroids.THE NEW MAZDASPEED 3. . . a front end "happy face" only a clown could love?

Perhaps it's just "Truth With Speedzzter," but does the juxtiposition of the new front-end blackout panel, eye-shaped headlamps and nameplate on the new Mazdaspeed 3 look like some sort of clown on "meth" (that other, bad kind of "speed")?

Not good.

And the new Mazdaspeed 3 apparently is shipping with the same engine that gets slaughtered by GM's direct-injected turbo EcoTec. So perhaps the clown face is for display in the mirrors of the various tuner cars that outrun the 'Speed 3.

Or maybe it's a grimace.

Where are brilliant "muscle car" designers like the late Larry Shinoda when you need them? At least Shinoda knew how to apply contrasting "blackout" panels to a musclecar without creating a circus wagon effect.

THE NERVE OF FORD VERVE?
Ford Motor Company (F) revealed "the first hints" of its "future small-car design vision" at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

According to the FoMoCo press release, "Ford Verve Concept is presented here in Frankfurt as a bespoke concept car to generate reactions while our production plans are taking shape."

And reactions it shall generate (just wait for it -- after some more PR spin).

John Fleming, President and CEO of Ford of Europe continued: "Our Design team took an unrestrained approach to how our future small cars could look, and this eye-catching concept was one of the results. If we get the reaction we expect, I’m certain that the team will incorporate elements of this advanced design vision into our final production design. This will make the next generation of small cars from Ford very compelling indeed."

With such flowery preening, you’d expect something as revolutionary as a pocket-sized, modern-day Tucker Torpedo, or as fresh and clean as the original flush-glass Audi 5000, or as elementally functional as Dr. Porsche’s original "people’s car," or perhaps something as futuristic and flashy as Chrysler’s 1957 "Forward Look" line.

But instead, what FoMoCo’s got for all its "unrestrained approach" is a generic-looking mishmash of current design cliches. It’s "very compelling" of a barf-bag.

Perhaps it’s not the "reaction" Mr. Fleming expects.

Certainly, designing a small car for an overly regulated world in the current climate of anti-carbon hysteria is a daunting task. Pressing function and flash into a shrunken footprint with economies-of-scale manufacturing practicality is almost like attempting to scale Mount Everest on a single energy bar while wearing a nylon windbreaker.

But it could be done. In theory.

The problem with the Verve is that "unrestrained" is apparently Ford-speak for uncreative cribbing from the bargain bin of today’s SUV/crossover-driven styling "language."

The Verve’s shape is that of a bloated, "two-box" egg, festooned with huge wheel arches at the corners. It evokes the same sort of generic impact as any similar Asian design.

It starts out with a massive, gaping, below-the-bumper trapezoidal inlet "mouth" (sans any of the shiny Fusion "razor blades" of American small Fords). The hideous, huge trapezoid is wider at the bottom than the top, yielding a harsh, furious and negative "face." This "anger" is further augmented by slashing, slanted headlight pod "eyes" of the current fashion. The light housings are "unrestrained" insofar as they appear pulled back toward the doors even further than current Asian practice -- as if the result of a bad facelift or being ripped back by a 200 m.p.h. gale.

So much for the "cheap and cheerful" school of small car design.

(Speedzzter wonders if the next "unrestrained" styling frontier is an entire front fender (wing) made from a headlamp cover . . . or maybe a slanted headlamp pod that flows back into the cowl or front doors . . . .)

The Verve’s "cheeks" are pockmarked with ordinary SVT/RS-style fog-lamp "dimples." Above the bumper is a narrow slit of an upper grille that seems to be lifted from the current WRC-leading Focus RS. A Ford oval bisects the upper grille’s nostrils. Absent that necessary brand awareness touch, nothing in the front clip suggests that the Verve is a Ford product or is anything but another forgettable Korean or Japanese subcompact.

In line with current practice, the Verve has a high "character line" which slashes upward to the rear, dividing the arched greenhouse from the solid parts of the egg-shell body. The character line's angle tips up higher at the tail end, reminding younger viewers of a Nissan SUV and older ones of the quarter windows on a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle or a 1968 Ford Torino Sportsroof.

The steeply-raked windshield and the SUV-high cowl follow the chopped-top, "mail-slot" profile now in vogue. This makes the Verve's body seem taller and fatter than it probably is. But the side windows dip down below the cowl line in the front. This slightly expands the size of the front side windows to a "parcel slot" and reminds older viewers of the venerable 1980s Ford Fox-body window treatment (albeit with more slants and curves).

The egg-body is modified by a huge lower skirt (similar to the hastily-added running board covers of the 1940s) which provides the lower frame for a giant stylized vertical vent behind the front wheel arch. The upper vent border is a crease which follows below the beltline until parting company at the Chevelle-Torino flip-up. It’s nice, but nothing you haven’t seen on a score of Asian subcompacts.

The curved roof line of the greenhouse appears to "short-sheet" tall rear seat passengers (as is the current style-over-function practice). Either that, or the roof simply towers over the front seat. Given the apparent SUV-inspired height of the Verve’s profile, married to the Honda CRX-inspired egg sloped roof, it’s possible that the rear seat passengers might have almost enough headroom.

In short, the Verve strikes the wrong nerve. It appears to be another derivative, designed-by-committee assemblage of tired, current styling gimmicks.

Given all of the rehashed (recycled?) body lines, perhaps FoMoCo ought to tag it "RE-VERVE."

FUSION FUEL CELL SETS A SPEED RECORD

FoMoCo and Ohio State University packed a Ford Fusion with a trunk and back-seat full of experimental Ballard hydrogen fuel cell gear, all attached to a Ford GT transaxle driving the rear wheels (at least they got that part right). Then they named the 6,700 lb Hindenburg beast "999," in homage to Henry Ford’s primitive and brutal 1903 land-speed record holder.

Employing a claimed 770 Reddy Kilowatt horsepower, FoMoCo then ripped the Bonneville Salt flats with a 207.279 m.p.h. pass on August 16, 2007. FoMoCo’s PR scribes breathlessly claim that "Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999", is "the world’s first production-based hydrogen fuel cell race car."

Kudos to FoMoCo for recognizing Ford’s racing past in this current effort.

But it strains credibility (as well as the amateur spirit of the Bonneville Nationals) to claim that this exotic Fusion funny car is "production-based"). Moreover, it does nothing to allay the fears of Ford’s racing and motorsports enthusiasts that FoMoCo will eventually abandon grassroots motorsports in a pique of hyper-environmentalism.

At least FoMoCo didn’t let GM or Toyota beat them to the glory of the first speed record for this odd type of vehicle.

Of course, if in fifty years or so, if the unpaid sportsmen racers of Bonneville are battling it out in hydrogen-electric whips instead of good old internal combustion race cars, the 2007 Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 will seem like a prophetic legend. Otherwise, it will be just another publicity stunt that help mark the end of an era in automobility.

Of more interest to enthusiasts is the "big block modular" "Boss" under the hood of a Roush development Mustang drag racer, as pictured in this month’s Hot Rod magazine . . . . And Let's all pray (HARD) that the rumors of a DOHC 6.2 liter "Twinforce" v8 in development are true . . . .