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 For those who find the showroom-stock Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster just a touch declassé, their rarefied tastes may now be indulged to the full. An appropriately cooler-than-thou reaction, please, for the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster Versace.
Yes, for a mere squillion bucks (Lambo/Versace do that ‘no price tag attached’ thing, which always means something eye-watering), prospective customers may personalize their cars (or pimp their rides, depending on one’s viewpoint) by choosing from a selection of specially designed cosmetic features. These include black-and-white leather seats (sorry, the real description is: opulent full grain soft nappa leather) hand-embroidered with the Versace Greek fret motif. The same stuff covers the dash and doors. The Versace-edition car also has (for the first time) a transparent hood, so plebs and princes alike may gaze in wonder at the lusty, mid-mounted V-12 engine -- which really is a good thing.
And there’s a whole bunch of accessories ‘inspired’ by this joint venture. Hand-crafted exclusively in black matte calfskin, sporting stitching and edging à la française, plus a palladium-engineered tag displaying both Versace gorgon and Lamborghini raging bull logos are: a trolley bag, suit carrier, sports bag, briefcase, suitcase, gloves, driving shoes, belt, wallet, key ring, beauty case, a hat and (so the press release says) a pair of jeans. Surely that last item isn’t in black leather, because such a thing might construed as tasteless.
These baubles will be sold at Versace boutiques and selected Lamborghini showrooms (What? Some Lambo dealers are too downmarket?) from this November. Plenty of time to acquire an imagination.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Lamborghini
 That well-known marketing information company, JD Power & Associates, has found out something shocking: we’re not enjoying our cars so much these days. Who’d have thought -- especially with gas prices being what they are? Every year, this company polls over 81,500 car buyers and/or lessees between February and May for opinions after their first 90 days of ownership. The collated facts make up the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study.
Now in its 13th year, the 2008 APEAL findings show a significant decrease in ‘owner delight’, with fuel economy accounting for 50% of this drop. On a 1,000-point scale, an average APEAL score is 770, a decline of 2% since last year. Considering fuel prices went up by 27% over the same period, car manufacturers seem to be doing a good job of easing the pain.
 They’re accomplishing this with toys. Only in the audio, entertainment and navigation category have scores improved. “Manufacturers are working to increase customer delight by introducing entertainment and navigation technology that owners find particularly appealing,” says David Sargent, VP of automotive research at JDPA. “The key to doing this successfully is to develop technology features with the needs and wants of the user in mind -- most importantly, ensuring that technology is designed to be consumer-friendly and intuitive to use. Technology that is overly complicated to operate runs the risk of disappointing the customer.”
Two words: BMW and iDrive. To be fair, though, this system gets easier with each new model.
 The happiest responders were Honda drivers, citing the Fit (for the second consecutive year), the Odyssey (for a fourth consecutive year) and the Ridgeline (again, for four years running) as the cars with real APEAL appeal, coming top in their respective classes. Although, as is so often the weird way with statistics, Honda saw a decrease in owner satisfaction, dropping 12 points from last year’s 776.
The most dramatic fall, however, was Scion’s shedding of 36 points to 773. Other interesting facts: the Ford Focus was declared the industry’s most improved vehicle and Porsche was the highest-ranked nameplate for the fourth year in a row.
-- Colin Ryan
Photos: Honda
By Martin Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
 The last thing backers of plug-in hybrid vehicles needed was the sight of a Toyota Prius powered by the cutting-edge technology sitting in flames beside the road.That’s exactly what they got earlier this month, when a plug-in Prius operated by a South Carolina electric cooperative caught fire and was burned to the automotive equivalent of “well done.”
No one was injured in the fire, which apparently started when sparks from loose connections in the car’s battery compartment ignited the upholstery. But the incident certainly hasn’t helped advance the cause of the plug-in hybrid.
In its unmodified, off-the-showroom-floor state, the Prius is a “traditional” hybrid powered by both an electric motor and a gasoline engine.
A plug-in version of the car powered by lithium ion batteries, which could go farther on electric power and could be recharged between trips, isn’t expected from Toyota until 2010 at the earliest. In the meantime, a variety of after-market companies will convert a Prius to a plug-in for anywhere from $7,000 to more than $20,000.
It was an after-market plug-in converted by Hybrids Plus of Boulder, Colo., that went up in flames. It was one of 10 acquired by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn. of Arlington, Va., and distributed to member utilities for field testing. “We really just want to see how these things work,” said project manager Andrew Cotter.
The cooperatives’ fleet of plug-ins has been parked while an investigation was conducted. Although the report, issued Friday, said the batteries themselves weren’t at fault, lithium ion batteries have been under a cloud since a series of recalls two years ago related to fires in laptop computers and other devices.
Carl Lawrence, chief executive of Hybrids Plus, acknowledge that the incident was caused by “an assembly problem,” which comes as a relief to backers of plug-in technology.
“I was worried that this would turn into a major incident, but actually most people seem to understand that this was an incident that didn’t involve the batteries,” said Felix Kramer, founder of CalCars.org, a Palo Alto-based advocacy group. “In fact, the batteries came out of it looking very good.”
Toyota, which officially takes a hands-off policy toward after-market plug-in conversions, said this is the first incident of this it’s aware of. There are at least 150 plug-in hybrid conversions on the road, according to Kramer, about half of them in California.
Photo: Toyota
 For 2009, the delectable Maserati Quattroporte luxury sports sedan has received a little freshening up in the looks department. The grille now features vertical slats -- a traditional Maserati design feature and just like the GranTurismo (the super coupe based on the same platform). It also gets LED lights at both ends and the side view mirrors have been re-shaped, connected to the body with more streamlined mountings.
Inside, a new entertainment and navigation system is part of a revised cabin that offers two new colors of leather upholstery: Marrone Corniola and Sabbia. No idea what they are (although the first one might be a deep red), but they sound great and have the distinction of replacing the beige option.
The great thing is that this Pininfarina design (one of Italy’s -- nay, the world’s -- top studios) is still uncorrupted by the obligatory mid-life revamp that all manufacturers feel the need to do. The 2009 Maserati Quattroporte is available as, um, the Quattroporte and the Quattroporte S, a slightly sportier model. The former has a 4.2-liter V-8 engine, the latter a 4.7. Both are wonderful, both are Ferrari-sourced.
Maserati neglected to mention whether the prices will go up, so consider the current starting MSRP of $110,600 as something of a ballpark. The new cars will be delivered from October onwards.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Maserati
 Sometimes, a 6.0-liter 12-cylinder engine with 552 horsepower isn’t quite enough. The good people at Bentley understand, sympathize and now deliver one that produces 600 hp. They did this with the Continental GT Speed coupe and have now done the same thing with the Flying Spur, the GT’s four-door sibling.
The 2009 Bentley Flying Spur Speed gets a hike in power (through tweaking the engine management) with an upgraded suspension and braking system to contain the extra muscle. This makes it the most powerful sedan the company has ever built. Despite weighing roughly the same as an average English stately home (slight exaggeration), the car still sets off from standstill to hit 60 mph in a mere 4.5 seconds on the way to a 200-mph top speed.
This updated version has a slightly new look, with a more upright radiator grille (for better cooling), revised air intakes just beneath it, a new sleeker rear bumper and a wider sports exhaust. The cabin gets a high-quality audio system (appreciated all the more thanks to some diligent sound deadening) and this is one of the few marques where the word ‘marquetry’ can be used. Also included is an intelligent, radar-based cruise control.
Being Bentley, the company has done nothing so vulgar as to mention money, but since the two-door GT Speed commands a $24,000 premium over the cooking Continental, something along those lines will no doubt apply to the Flying Spur Speed. An estimate of $195,000 shouldn’t be too far off the mark.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Bentley
 If anyone has a special motorsport-related car they’d like to put on display at a California car show, the people involved with the Ventura Motorsports Gathering might be pleased to hear from them. The organization’s 2008 event takes place on Sunday, July 20 at Mission Park in downtown Ventura, and it’s seeking sports and racing cars of any nationality to accompany machines that have taken part in the Peking to Paris Rally, the Mille Miglia of Italy and the Panamerican races.
This year’s focus is a salute to the Jaguar marque, but there will also be Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati and Mercedes-Benz cars. Admission is free to the public. Potential exhibitors should click onto the VMG website sooner rather than later: the deadline for entries is July 1.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Classic-vintage cars.co.uk
 Yes, it happened a couple of weeks ago and 6,000 miles away, but this is interesting. Audi won the the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. Sure, whoopee and all that. However, the fuel used by Audi’s R10 TDI race car was not distilled from crude oil.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the world’s most iconic motor races and anyone who caught it on the Speed channel would have seen the cars keeping up a ridiculously fast pace -- even in the rain. This is about as serious and hardcore as motorsport gets. And not a drop of gasoline was burned by the winning car.
The R10 TDI runs on diesel, but not just any old diesel. It used Shell’s BTL biodiesel (BTL stands for biomass to liquid). The other good thing is that it isn’t based on corn or anything else edible. It uses things like wood scraps instead. Compared to traditional diesel, this fuel can emit almost 90 percent less carbon dioxide. For the race, Audi used a combination of BTL and GTL (gas to liquid) -- which is a synthetic fuel made from natural gas.
Owners of diesel-powered cars won’t be pumping BTL any time soon, but its viability has now been proven. When the Audi Q7 TDI comes to North America early next year, it could be one of the few sensible ways to run an SUV.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Audi
 Most people can be forgiven for thinking that Nissan stopped making the Maxima about five years ago. What with the 350Z at the sporty end of the spectrum and the Quest minivan at the other, Nissan’s big (and less than thrilling) sedan has been lost in the shuffle somewhat. But the Maxima is indeed extant and about to sing a slightly louder, more urgent song.
The 2009 Nissan Maxima is an all-new car, the seventh generation to bear the name. Its exterior and interior styling has marked similarities with high-end cousins from the Infiniti brand, and the 3.5-liter V-6 engine that powers the front wheels (to the tune of a robust 290 horsepower in this instance) is a well-known -- and well-loved -- feature lurking behind both badges.
In normal use, this engine -- and the whole car, for that matter -- is quiet to the point of Trappist, but Nissan has engineered in a little extra induction and exhaust snort that stirs the blood a touch when the gas pedal gets a workout. Coupled to a CVT (continuously variable transmission), which is the only gearbox available, the new Maxima manages to improve highway fuel consumption by 1 mpg yet with 35 hp more.
The aforementioned CVT might have elicited a groan from those familiar with earlier versions. This one works really well: much quicker, quieter and smarter. It doesn’t seem out of place in either the Premium trim model (with a dual-panel moonroof and high-quality leather) or the stiffer, eager Sport version.
The new Maxima goes on sale from June 26 and, although prices haven’t been announced yet, expect to pay somewhere around $30,000. Some time next year will see the introduction of a 3.0-liter V-6 turbocharged diesel-powered version. Even though diesel costs more than gas at the moment, anyone who does a lot of highway miles might be inclined to do the math and find this to be a worthwhile purchase.
Incidentally, check out those headlights -- there could very similar units on the upcoming 350Z replacement, the 370Z, that debuts at this year’s Los Angeles auto show in the fall.
-- Colin Ryan
Photos: Nissan
 Fans of world-famous skateboarder Tony Hawk might like to put in a bid for his blinged-out 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited. The people from DUB magazine ‘Hawkized’ the car by fitting off-road tires, a lusty exhaust, a super-duper audio system and, natch, a skateboard rack. And now it’s on eBay (no snooty auction houses for the big H), with the auction set to finish on June 22 at 7 p.m. Pacific time. At the time of writing, the price is $45,500.
The winner will receive four VIP tickets to Hawk’s Boom Boom Huckjam tour and meet the man himself before the show and also be featured in a future issue of DUB. Proceeds from the sale will go to the Tony Hawk Foundation, which strives to bring free, quality public skate parks to youth in low-income communities across the USA.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: eBay Motors
By Peter Mooney, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Volvos 2008 ad campaign simply refuses to play it safe.
Since I’ve long considered myself to be a stereotypical serial Volvo owner, I decided I’d love to check out all the 2008 Volvo commercials. With the exception of one commercial that looked like it was an homage to that crazy Liz Taylor White Diamonds perfume commercial they seem to dust off and run about every ten or twenty years, I enjoyed viewing them all very much.
But, as in a night filled with a variety of dreams, it’s always the nightmare that sticks with you the longest. And this spot with the Liz Taylor Gamblers, the film cutting back and forth between one dramatic yet inexplicable scene to another, and the female spy or undercover model wearing Undercover Girl makeup who is picked up off of a yacht by a helicopter in the middle of the ocean to be whisked to who-knows-where for who-knows-purpose is still with me.
Now, a week later I believe I know what this commercial’s subtle message is–‘If you have no idea what this action packed TV commercial is about, you’re not alone. Very much like you will never be alone in your Volvo for reasons too numerous to list here in only thirty seconds.’
But the other commercials were definitely beautiful and filled with the kind of family togetherness, warmth and love so many of us got the pleasure of experiencing right up to the day our spouses threw us out and filed for divorce.
Yes, they felt that real.
But you might notice that the vehicles are filmed driving on ultra-scenic windy roads. I was positive these were the same windy roads used in every BMW commercial I saw when I was working with BMW four or five years ago and felt compelled to pay attention.
Yes, car commercials showing the cars driving on a beautiful windy roads. Perhaps you’ve seen such a thing before yourself.
I remember having to hold myself back when somebody at BMW told me they were thinking seriously about changing their TV campaign showing their cars driving on beautiful windy roads because it was beginning to appear to BMW that perhaps other automotive advertisers were beginning to copy it.
Oh my aching back. I thought to myself, this is like saying ‘everybody is copying my idea where I use a can of tuna and some bread to create something I’m currently considering calling a tuna sandwich.
Anyhow, back to the 2008 model year Volvo spots. Apparently they have moved on from their classic safety strategy. I have read this was the result of consumer research, which showed buyers were not as interested in that message as much anymore. The research indicated a strategic move to another positioning entirely.
This move served to remind me one of the things I would often suggest to the Sacred Keepers of the Consumer Research in meetings like the one I imagine Volvo attended before making this strategic shift: Everybody has the same research. Predictably, everybody comes to the same conclusions. Then we all write commercials to the same new strategy and all of the advertising ends up looking and sounding the same.
I experienced this phenomenon over and over again. I would like to suggest to you that when you see similar ad campaigns from five different competitors in any category, from cars to dog food, nobody is copying the others commercials. These commercials came out of the same research that led to the same strategy that led to what looks like the same ad campaign.
Advertising professionals are nothing if not superb followers.
So, if you’re Volvo and the research clearly indicates car buyers just aren’t as interested in safety anymore, you drop everything and wait earnestly for the presenter to deliver the new, updated silver bullet strategy for 2008. I’m guessing they said customers today are more interested in luxury and prestige. When I was working on Acura, that’s what the research indicated as well as 'safety isn’t as important to consumers anymore. I bet the research company is actually recycling old research figuring, since pretty much nobody over 50 is left in advertising, who'd notice?
Now, we’re going to see more fashion-like commercials for Volvo. We were forced to do the same thing for Acura around 1994. It’s a very hard thing to pull off. (We didn't.) Then if you through some magic succede you just look like everybody else.
But more importantly, where does this leave me, the now out-of-date classic Volvo buyer? Me, the one who used, that’s right, used my Volvo with the clean Scandinavian design to tell the world I’m not playing the fashion game here. I’m practical. Plus, I don’t want to be killed by a drunk or simply psychopathic driver? How will I get my message out now to the people who need to know what I’m all about? Do I have to buy a Subaru to zig while others zag?
I don’t want a Subaru.
You know what I would have suggested to Volvo if I had been at this meeting where it was reported safety was no longer as interesting to people as it used to be? I would have said what I often said at such a strategic dog and pony show, maybe we made safety uninteresting. Maybe if we could go back and come up with some new, wildly creative ways of touting our great safety story and then these people would say, ‘hey, wait a minute! I’m suddenly interested in safety again.’
But now that I think about it, I’m sure everybody’s throwing out whatever strategy they had a week ago and focusing on gas mileage, even Hummer. So, as the late Gilda Radner would say “never mind.”
 The Volkswagen Tiguan is hardly just out (quick update: it’s a crossover SUV, bigger than a Rabbit, smaller than a Touareg), but there’s already a zero-emissions version powered by a fuel cell. It’s called the Tiguan HyMotion, no doubt because hydrogen supplies the motion.
The fuel cell produces 107 horsepower at one end and clean water vapor at the other. With the assistance of an electric motor, the Tiguan HyMotion can enjoy 134 hp, although the zero-to-60 mph time of 14 seconds could only be described by kinder souls as leisurely. It also sports a pack of lithium ion batteries to store power created by the fuel cell and from braking energy regeneration. Beneath the floor is a tank of pressurized hydrogen (stored at over 10,000 psi), which holds seven pounds of the gas.
Just like similar vehicles from other car makers, the Tiguan HyMotion is not available to the public, mainly because these things usually cost about $1 million to make. This is one of those “look how far we’ve come along the alternative energy route” exercises. Which is a shame, because hydrogen is slowly -- very slowly -- becoming easier to buy in California. This fall will see a new filling station opening near LAX, a joint operation between General Motors and Clean Energy Fuels Corporation, set up in part to fuel the Chevrolet Equinox/Virgin Airways program.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Volkswagen
 Former Baywatch star and animal rights activist, Ms. Pamela Anderson, is putting her 2000 Dodge Viper RT/10 sports car (much like the one pictured here) up for auction. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Ms. Anderson has been heavily involved with PETA for several years now, calling the organization her “ethical advisors.” Meanwhile, the auctioneers have described her car as sporting a “soft-top convertible roof, front spoiler, racing pinstriping and a [doh] luxurious leather interior.” No wonder Anderson wants to get rid of it.
The auction (which is pa rt of an event with the theme ‘Blonde Bombshells’ and will also be offering rare footage of Marilyn Monroe from The Misfits) takes place at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on June 21 and 22. The Viper RT/10 is a fiberglass-bodied, two-seater roadster with an 8.0-liter V-10 engine that develops 450 horsepower and sends the car to speeds in excess of 180 mph. This one is expected to fetch somewhere between $30,000 to $50,000.
There, I got the end without making one immature joke about airbags. Darn it, I just did.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Dodge
 We’re hurting every time we drive onto a gas station forecourt and it’s only going to hurt more in the near future (at least). So what is Toyota doing about it? The company has promised two new hybrid vehicles, a third-generation Prius and a good long look at batteries.
Prius the Third is due out next year and is rumored to be bigger and cleaner, with smarter packaging of its nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack and hybrid drivetrain. It should be faster too. A new 1.8-liter engine is expected to succeed the current 1.5-liter unit (that can only earn the compliment of workmanlike). Power would then jump from 75 horsepower to 100 hp. In tandem with a new-generation electric motor, the combined ‘muscle’ could rise from 110 hp to about 160. Hardly scary-fun, but that’s not the point.
More interesting, perhaps, will be the two totally new hybrids. One will be a Toyota and the other will wear the Lexus badge. The Toyota, due in 2010, will be bigger than the Prius and will run on lithium-ion batteries, making it the company’s first production plug-in hybrid -- the next ‘Holy Grail’ for eco-friendly mass-produced cars (the Chevrolet Volt will also be a plug-in hybrid). No doubt the Lexus will deploy similar technology, but in a more luxurious package.
Up to now, the supply of NiMH batteries has been a sticking point for Toyota, rendering it unable to produce all the hybrid vehicles the global market has been demanding. To that end, the company is setting up a battery research department with a view to looking past nickel, even beyond lithium, and into new possible chemistries. The next big buzz term could be metal-air batteries. Either way, higher battery production means more hybrids coming off the line.
Just to round things out a bit, Toyota also claims to have a new, highly efficient and compact six-speed manual transmission coming out this year. And two gasoline-powered engines -- a 1.3-liter and a 2.5-liter -- featuring stop-start technology are also due before 2008 comes to a close.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Toyota
 This is the 2009 Porsche 911, re-worked for this model year. Doesn’t look too different from the 2008 car, does it? But as is often the way with Porsche, there have been some subtle evolutions.
Hidden from view are more powerful 3.6-liter trademark flat-six engines (3.8-liter for the 911 Carrera S). They now deploy direct fuel injection, a more efficient method that manages to perform the magic trick of improving output and emissions simultaneously.
The 3.6 version in the ‘plain’ Carrera gets a boost of 20 horsepower, bringing its total to a healthy 345. The 3.8 engine in the S is blessed with a further 30 hp and so sports a muscular 385. It can zip to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and hit a maximum speed of 188 mph. Nice.
The 911’s other big technical upgrade goes by the catchy name of Porsche-Doppelkupplung (which, regardless of how it sounds, is not a game commonly given out at Christmas). PDK is an optional seven-speed transmission with a double clutch arrangement. It can work in automatic mode (replacing Porsche’s venerable Tiptronic system), or drivers may flick through the gears in sequential fashion and utilize some of the expertise Porsche has gathered through using similar transmissions in racing, executing changes in mere fractions of a second.
The understated visual tweaks include LED daytime driving lights, with bi-xenon headlights; LED tail and brake lights; and optional Dynamic Cornering Lights (the type that can illuminate around bends). The air intakes in the front bumper are now larger and so are the side mirrors.
Some enthusiast websites also mention a revised rear bumper, uprated brakes and a smarter Porsche Active Stability Management (PASM) traction control system, but those details have not been divulged officially. Not yet, anyway.
Yes, the new car will get all the gizmos du jour: touchscreen navigation, Bluetooth and iPod hook-ups, satellite radio, etc. And yes again, it will cost more. Sources have the MSRP starting at $75,600 (up $2,100) and the new cars reaching American showrooms in September.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Porsche
Father’s Day is almost here. And does anyone have any idea what to buy them? This is a short but considered list of humble suggestions for the car enthusiast dad.
Accutire Digital Tire Pressure Sensor
Under-inflated tires have an adverse affect on handling, braking, tread wear and fuel consumption. Regular checks are ideal for keeping a tab on tire pressures and a handy gadget makes the task easier and a little more like fun. An Accutire MS-4751WC provides quick, accurate readings (many gauges at gas station forecourts are less than accurate). Don’t forget to check the spare. The large backlit display is easy to read, while the rubberized grip and cast metal housing should provide years of service. $17.99, from Amazon.
Continue reading Four Father’s Day gift ideas »
 Go to the Hertz car hire desk at LAX and you could ease out onto Highway One in a special-edition Corvette. That’s because the company has teamed up with General Motors to create 500 Corvette ZHZ models, available from June 16 in 24 major metropolitan areas around the country.
Sporting a distinctive yellow-and-black livery (the Hertz color scheme), the ZHZ is part of Hertz’s Fun Collection. And fun it should be, since its 6.2-liter V-8 engine is good for 436 horsepower, which is a spry six more horses than a showroom-stock, entry-level Corvette. It also has a ‘sport’ suspension setting for a customized ride, special seven-spoke wheels and a performance exhaust to give it an aural presence that matches its visual impact.
The financial impact runs at $780.49 a week, which says ‘hurts’ more than ‘Hertz.’ But for that, Sirius satellite radio is thrown in. The ZHZ Corvette is available in coupe form only, which might disappoint visiting convertible lovers hoping to experience sunny SoCal to the full, but it does have a racing car-style paddle-shifting six-speed transmission. Not that anyone should be tempted to give this car some serious stick. No one abuses hire cars, right?
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Hertz
 This rather abused-looking 2007 Chevrolet Malibu is the next best hope for General Motors and for the automotive world in general. Because it’s a test mule for all the hardware that will go into the new, electric-powered Chevrolet Volt.
Yes, the Volt has gone from nice idea to working model and GM’s vice chairman, Bob Lutz, has driven 20 miles in this development model -- dubbed the Mali-Volt -- at the company’s proving facility. “The thing that’s eerie is the silence,” says Lutz. “There’s no mechanical noise whatsoever.” Even when Lutz hit speeds of up to 80 mph, the car never once actuated its 1.0-liter, three-cylinder internal combustion engine (on board to generate electricity that is then stored in a pack of lithium-ion batteries).
 This type of battery (as found in laptops and cell phones) has so far proved somewhat problematic for such a large-scale application, but Lutz says the Volt’s batteries are “exceeding expectations.” It seems that any problems have been mechanical rather than electro-chemical, so conventional engineering can iron out the wrinkles. The only other significant downside is that they’re still expensive, but as production ramps up, GM expects their cost to drop dramatically.
Lutz describes the powerplant’s acceleration as “great.” He also found the car’s handling to be good because the location of the batteries keeps the car’s center of gravity nice and low. GM predicts that ‘real’ prototypes wearing the actual Volt bodywork will be running around by next spring. Production models should be available just over a year after that. “We’re good for November 2010,” says Lutz.
For the full interview, click onto Green Fuels Forecast’s website.
-- Colin Ryan
Photos: GFF and General Motors
Jay Leno has become the first owner of a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. Last Monday (June 2), he drove his own 1970 Challenger to Valley Dodge in Van Nuys, California, to pick up his new ride (MSRP: $37,320), resplendent in a black paint job. “I can’t believe he didn’t light up the tires as he drove out of the dealership,” said Dodge’s Howard Teasley. “Leno showed more self-control than I would.”
Self-control seems to be just one of Leno’s virtues. As a well-known avid gearhead and car collector (his automotive acquistions can be seen on www.jaylenosgarage.com, his General Motors-sponsored website), his influence in the car world is considerable. As one Dodge representative said: “It’s kind of like the automotive equivalent of being chosen by Oprah’s book club.”
The new Challenger SRT8 has also been hob-nobbing with other members of the ‘Rich and Famous’ club. Dodge recently arranged a track day at Willow Springs International Raceway, up near Rosamund, California. Among the attendees were Snoop Dogg, Carmen Electra, David Spade, Luke Wilson, Jaime Pressly and Rob Lowe, most of whom have expressed an interest in purchasing said 425-horsepower muscle car.
“We had so many inquiries from people in Hollywood about buying a new Challenger that we decided to organize a little event,” says Dodge’s Mike Accavitti. “It’s great when you have something people really want.” Amen to that.
-- Colin Ryan
Photos: Chrysler
By Peter Mooney, Special to the Los Angeles Times
 As I snoop around the automotive world looking for interesting advertising stories, I’m naturally drawn to the Volvo brand. I've purchased three new Volvos in a row. My Mother's pure Swedish. She’s never let me down. I figured Volvo wouldn’t either. Then I read Volvo is moving from Irvine to New Jersey. Why?
The idea in 2001 was to move Volvo headquarters from New Jersey to Southern California. For the best in car advertising this is and was the place to be. Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Nissan and Honda ads have been hand crafted in Los Angeles since these fine nameplates first arrived on our shores.
But in 2008 Volvo has officially given up on us and they’re moving back East. I believe it’s because nobody told them that Los Angeles and Orange County, where they chose to make their home and the home of their ad agency, are much farther away from each other on the creative map than they appear to be on the map you got from Auto Club. In fact, if you saw the creative map, you wouldn’t even think they were in the same country.
So, as Maxwell Smart used to say, “They missed it by that much.” They went all-Irvine in the county of my youth named after it’s once endless citrus orchards now mowed down and covered with cold and personality free office buildings and matching suburbs galore. (I live in Orange County again 25 years later. My, what a difference!)
Yesterday I was telling somebody at Volvo, it’s like you were this family who always wanted to stay at the beach. The family drives thousands of miles to fulfill their dream and they drive to California. But then they pick a place to stay one mile from the beach.
Now, Volvo announces they’re moving from Irvine to New Jersey as if it was a brand new idea that just occurred to them in an executive brainstorming session. They state “The relocation will make North American operations more efficient by bringing everyone together in one location, as well as bringing everyone three time zones closer to the Swedish headquarters,”
Didn’t all of those conditions exist before they moved from New Jersey to here? Have the time zones experienced some major shifting while I must have been thinking about something else? Has Sweden moved and I’ve just been too cheap to buy a new map of the world?
I can’t help but wonder if things would have gone differently had anybody explained to them that you couldn’t expect to get the same kind of creative advertising in Orange County as you would get in Los Angeles. I do not know why. For some reason no one can fully explain, the second you cross the border going due south from L.A, something in your creative soul simply refuses to go with you.
 Tired of soul-less Asian cars? Wait until early next year when the 2010 Kia Soul comes out. It looks set to compete with the Scion xB (or perhaps the xD), certainly for the title of Boxiest Car on the Road.
Its styling has been a joint project between Kia’s California and South Korea (Seoul?) design studios. This photo is of the production version (slightly more visually interesting -- but probably more expensive to make -- concepts have been doing the motor show circuit of late).
The time is right, though. People are moving to smaller cars that are cheaper to run. But such criteria doesn’t have to preclude some kind of personality, which -- like it or not -- the Soul appears to have.
Exact dates and specs haven’t been announced yet, but something like a 1.6- or 1.8-liter four-cylinder should provide the kinetics. Neither have prices been spoken of. However, since the Scion xD starts at $14,550 and Kia has a reputation for being a budget brand, expect something in or slightly below that range.
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Kia Motors
By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
 The 2009 Star Motorcycles' VMax was unveiled in a cloud of smoking rubber Tuesday night, which was appropriate considering the many burnouts this 197.4-horsepower machine will inspire when it hits the market in October. Powered with four cylinders configured into a 65-degree V, the new VMax is also likely to flatten a few eyeballs -- not just from its 123 pound-feet of torque, but its brooding and masculine profile. The new VMax is black, but if it were green, it would be the Incredible Hulk of motorcycles. A 1,679 cc beast of a machine, it gulps air through the huge scoops protruding from its sides, then forces it down the engine's 16-valve throat and out the catalyzed, 4-1-2-4 titanium exhaust jutting from its haunches.
The VMax first came on the market in 1985. It's received only minor updates and color changes in the years since. But for 2009, Star has gone all out, outfitting the bike with fuel injection, anti-lock brakes and many of the same MotoGP-derived technologies it uses on its supersport models, i.e. a slipper clutch and computer-controlled throttle and intake systems to deliver power more responsively. The chassis has also been updated with an all-aluminum frame that uses the engine as a stressed member and jacked-up components that can handle some major thrashing, i.e. 52 mm titanium-coated fork tubes and 6-piston-caliper, 320 mm wave rotor brakes on the front.
The concept for the next-generation VMax has been kicking around since 2005, well before the U.S. economy began to sour and gas prices started going through the roof. The current economic climate may be the reason Star is making a maximum of 2,500 VMax bikes for the U.S. market this year. The company appears to be testing the waters to see if obscene power in a brooding and somehwat expensive package has traction. Dealers are currently taking $1,000 down payments for the $17,990 bikes, which will be built to order.
2009 Star Motorcycles VMax
Base price: $17,990
Powertrain: Liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, DOHC, four-stroke, 65-degree V4, 4 valves per cylinder, 5-speed
Displacement: 1,679 cc
Maximum horsepower: 197.4
Maximum torque: 123 pound-feet
Seat height: 30.5 inches
Wet weight: 683 pounds
 Honda is trying to sell cars to dogs. The company has launched a website that provides information about dog-friendly cafes and hotels, dimensions of its models’ cargo space (for stashing cages) and a ratings system that ranks seat fabric for ease of removing dog hair. So far, Honda Dog is only for Japan, but this idea could easily trot across the Pacific.
There are also events where prospective customers can take test drives with their best four-legged friends. This idea follows from Honda’s W.O.W concept, shown at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, which was designed especially for dogs (blowing the only chance to call a car the Bow Wow and get away with it) and featured easy-to-clean detachable seats, wooden floors and a pup crate set into the dashboard.
 Pooch-pampering qualities have already found their way into a vehicle Honda makes for its domestic market, the Freed minivan. It has a low floor, so even a Corgi can jump in. However, American dog owners can collar another prizewinner. Believe it or not, there’s a website called DogCars.com that has awarded the 2007 Honda Element best in show, scooping the "most paw" ratings for canine comfort (it even has anti-nose-print windows). One commenter (who is also an Element owner) pants: “Thanks, Honda. You were trying to fill a surfer-dude niche and you accidentally made the most rockin’ dog-friendly vehicle ever.” Which is not to be sniffed at.
— Colin Ryan
Photos: Honda
 Before the well-known Lamborghini Diablo, there was the Chrysler Diablo. And whereas Lamborghini produced about 2,900 Diablo models, the car pictured here is one of a kind. It’s a 1957 concept car, with a hand-made body fashioned by Italian coach builder Ghia and based on the chassis of a 1955 Chrysler 300.
This Diablo was conceived by Chrysler’s head designer of the time, the highly influential Virgil Exner (who used wind tunnel testing and compound curved glass), and was created for the 1957 American car show circuit, becoming the marque’s star concept of that year. At 22 feet in length, it’s also one of the largest concept cars ever built. And it almost never made the trip from Europe. It was scheduled to ship on board the ill-fated Andrea Doria, but last-minute work delayed its departure.
Back in the day, the Diablo cost Chrysler more than $250,000. With its interesting provenance, it should fetch considerably more when it goes under the hammer — for the first time ever — at the Pebble Beach wash-and-wax fest Aug. 15 and 16 (concept cars are a featured highlight of the auction this year).
If you’re planning to hit Monterey at that time, pack a few extra million, just in case.
— Colin Ryan
Photo: RM Auctions
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For those who find the showroom-stock Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster just a touch declassé, their rarefied tastes may now be indulged to the full. An appropriately cooler-than-thou reaction, please, for the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster Versace.
