Cadillac ULC – Click above for high-res image gallery
According to Autocar, Cadillac may have a burning desire to lock horns with Mini. The site quotes designer Niki Smart as saying that the time is right for The Wreath and Crest to build a model akin to the company’s Urban Luxury Concept that we saw at this month’s LA Auto Show. His reasoning? The company needs metal that’s more appealing to European buyers than what’s available in the current lineup. That means a heavier focus on small, hatchback designs that still retain the premium Cadillac aesthetic. Smart seems to think that translates into a Mini Cooper fighter.
With its scissor doors and 78 mpg hybrid drivetrain, the Urban Luxury Concept isn’t any closer to production than the now-iconic Sixteen Concept of years past. Even so, Smart told Autocar that GM’s Advanced Design Studio has looked into ways to make the vehicle production ready, funky doors and all. While we aren’t exactly wild about the design of the ULC, the thought of a flingable Cadillac with a V on its hatch is certainly a notion worth mulling.
A Rasmussen Reports poll fielded in November – before General Motors’ IPO – finds a rise in the preference of “American-built” vehicles, as well as a willingness to accept U.S.-built Toyota and BMW products as the same as buying an “American” product.
Forty-one percent of respondents said they look for an “American-built” car first when they’re in the market for a vehicle. That sentiment is attributed by many analysts and researchers to a sense that people are showing more and more sentiment for “buying local.” That’s just a few points below the 44 percent who said they look for “the best possible deal regardless of where it was manufactured” while just 12 percent said they look first for a foreign-built car.
The sentiment favoring American-built car brands has risen quite a bit since Rasmussen conducted a similar poll in June 2008 when just 32 percent said they looked for an American brand first.
Good news for foreign owned automakers building vehicles in the U.S. Forty-one percent of respondents said they viewed buying a foreign brand of car that’s manufactured in the U.S. as “the same as buying an ‘American’ product” meaning those people believe a Mexican-built Ford Fusion is just as American as an Ohio-built Honda Civic. Forty-two percent, however, dissented from that notion while the rest were unsure.
The poll also found 59 percent saying they “consider just the Detroit Big Three – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – to be American car companies.”
Fifty-four percent of Americans said they are less likely to buy a GM car because the federal government is/was the automaker’s majority owner. Still, in a separate survey in early June, 48 percent of those who planned to buy a new or used car in the next year said they are at least somewhat likely to buy either a Ford or a vehicle made by GM. Those findings included 20 percent who were ‘Very Likely’ to buy a Ford and 26 percent ‘Very Likely’ to buy a GM product instead.
It seems that the nation’s stockpile of W76 nuclear warheads is due for a tune up. According to The Kitsap Sun, the Navy is moving 1,600 and 1,800 of the warheads from their home at the Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base in Washington State to the Texas panhandle for updating. The 100-kiloton are between 23 and 32 years old, and as such, require updates to their aiming, firing and fusing systems. In order to get those updates, the warheads will have to travel by road in special, unmarked tractor trailers. For obvious reasons, the Navy isn’t into sharing the travel itinerary for the warheads, but according to The Kitsap Sun, specially-trained federal agents are tasked with transporting the weapons.
The trucks are forbidden from driving in foul weather, and a host of secure shelters along the way will house the big rigs should the skies turn cloudy. Likewise, the drivers aren’t allowed to go for more than 32 hours without sleeping in a real bed, despite the fact that the tractor cabs are sleepers. In addition, the trailers themselves are protected in the event of an accident.
Still, the knowledge that large numbers of nuclear weapons are coursing through the country’s interstate system should give us all pause before cutting off that tractor trailer in traffic.
Even before the first drum of oil drops out of the Jubilee Fields, red-hot controversy is threatening the welcome news. The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) apparently, believes that the oil money could be used as collateral to contract huge loans for “infrastructural development.”
The Competition Commission, National Treasury and Economic Development Department on Tuesday reached an agreement over how Pioneer Foods’ penalties would be handled.
Dario Franchitti drives Jim Clark’s legendary Lotus 38 – Click above to watch video after the jump
We’re sure that open-wheel hero Dario Franchitti has managed to realize quite a few of his four-wheeled dreams over the years, but he’s only just managed to top them all with a drive of Jim Clark’s legendary Lotus 38, a car that Clark piloted to victory in the 1965 Indy 500.
Franchitti, like Clark, was born in Scotland and the two share a love of going fast. Jim Clark’s Lotus 38, with its four-cam V8 pumping out around 500 horsepower, is a very different vehicle then the modern day IndyCar that Franchitti pilots for Chip Ganassi Racing. Regardless, the Lotus is a pure racing machine and a true piece of motorsports history, and it’s a treat to listen to Dario discuss his experience behind the wheel of the Lotus. His insight is important but his excitement is palpable – this is a rare opportunity and he appears to treat the opportunity with the appropriate level of respect and admiration for Clark and Lotus.
How’d this all come to pass? Dario Franchitti, working together with Road & Track, reached out to The Henry Ford Museum, Lotus Cars USA and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to make this event happen. It’s all captured on the video after the jump, and it’s just the first in a series of events designed to celebrate the Indy 500. In the near future, we will get to see Bobby Rahal drive the 1912 winning National and Sam Posey hop behind the wheel of Roger Ward’s 1962 Leader Card Special.
For now however, it’s all about Franchitti in Clark’s Lotus 38 at the Brickyard. Stop reading and start watching (and listening!) by clicking past the jump.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Monday warned European countries that, if they did not engage in a partnership with Africa on a footing of equality, then Africa may consider other options – such as China, India, Russia or the countries of Latin America.
2010 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet – Click above for high-res image gallery
Ford has yet to officially announce the 2012 Mustang Cobra Jet, but the full details on the car are apparently now available thanks to a Puerto Rican Ford dealer that published the specifications early on their website. The car, named after the legendary Cobra Jet drag racers of the late 1960s, was relaunched in 2008 at the SEMA show and revised in 2010 (pictured above).
Now Ford Racing is updating the car once again with a slew of new upgrades and options. The 2012 Cobra Jet will come standard with an aluminum block (previously an option) and the 5.4-liter V8 now also boasts a fortified crankshaft and upgraded forged connecting rods. The rear suspension and brakes have also been improved, and springs rates both front and rear have been optimized. New black anodized Weld Racing wheels are wrapped with Cobra Jet branded Goodyear tires with an all new compound. Finally, three colors will be offered – red, white and blue – with an optional graphics package.
Hit the jump for the full list of specs and features for the 2012 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet.
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Episode #206 of the Autoblog Podcast is staffed by Chris Shunk, Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and Chris Paukert. We hit the Autoblog Garage first and then cover the confirmation of the Porsche Cajun, what it means that the Nissan Leaf has been named European Car of the Year, and finish up talking about the new Car and Driver 10Best list. Of course, we finish with your questions at the end, and it’s a breezy hour and twenty-three minutes. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #206: Porsche Cajun, Nissan Leaf COTY, 10Best
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If you’re in the market for a new car, today just might be your day. According to both Time and TrueCar.com, a perfect storm of factors have collided to make this the best day all year for consumers to get the greatest deal possible on a new hunk of sheetmetal. With a perfect mix of dealer incentives and manufacturer rebates mingling with the fact that dealers are now staring down the barrel of end-of-the-month sales targets and a stack of 2011 models coming down the pike, savvy buyers should be able to call the shots.
Time reports that some models are seeing discounts of 19-37 percent off of their retail MSRP. If you’re clever, you just might be able to snag the keys to a 2010 Mazda3 for a hair over $10,000(!) or a 2010 Hyundai Accent for just $7,341 – a savings of around 31 percent off of the Korean’s sticker price. Head over to TrueCar.com for a look at other big savers.
[Sources: Time, TrueCar | Image: Joe Raedle / Getty Images]
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