Chrysler to shed Viper

Chrysler is putting its Dodge Viper sports car business up for sale in the latest move by a U.S. automaker to shed a niche product.

The No. 3 U.S.-based car company said today that it had been approached by potential buyers for the Viper unit, which Chrysler wants to sell as part of its strategy of focusing on a smaller number of core products.

Analysts said the division could fetch up to $100 million. Potential buyers include East Asian and Indian automakers that have been looking to get instant entree into global markets by buying established brands. Indian automaker Tata, for instance, bought the Land Rover and Jaguar brands from Ford this year.

A small-scale "supercar" builder such as Shelby or Saleen could also be a potential buyer, although the price tag could be a bit steep for outfits of that size, said David Healy, an analyst at Burnham Securities.

The Viper, introduced in 1992, is a "halo" car. The intention is to generate buzz, not big sales.

Although the aggressively styled speedster has maintained a loyal following since its introduction — there are Viper clubs across the country — its halo may be dimming a bit.

"I'm not sure how many people go into a Dodge showroom and buy a Caliber after they 'ooh' and 'aah' over a Viper," Healy said. "I'm not sure it's as much of a traffic builder as it might have been when it was new."

Racing trophy queens on display

Women and fast cars seem to go together like, well, women and fast cars.

And that’s not a recent development — as evidenced by the “Trophy Queens” exhibit opening today at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona.

As the title suggests, the exhibit features dozens of rare photos of the generally swimsuit-clad young women who presented a trophy and a kiss to winning race drivers.

The exhibit covers trophy queens from the 1930s through the 1970s and includes photos of a certain 19-year-old model named Raquel Tejada, who went on to fame and fortune as actress Raquel Welch. From 1956 is a photo of Barbara Huffman, dressed differently than in her '60s sitcom heyday when, under the name Barbara Eden, she starred in “I Dream of Jeannie.”

“Wherever there are race cars, there always seems to be pretty girls,” museum spokesman Bill Groak said. “Funny how that works."

Trophy queen legend Linda Vaughn, named Miss Hurst Golden Shifter in 1966, will be on hand at the opening to greet fans and pose for pictures.

The exhibit opens to the public around 2 p.m. after a private preview. It will run for a year during regular museum hours Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for kids 6 to 15. For more information, call 909-622-2133 or go to museum.nhra.com.

-- Martin Zimmerman

(See another pic after the jump)

Photos Raquel Tejada (Welch), top, and Linda Vaughn, bottom, from collection of Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum.

Stick shift option for Ferrari California

So, is the upcoming 2009 Ferrari California going to be a cruising machine purely for posers? That’s the worry coming from some quarters of Ferrari fandom. And they might have a point: since when has a hardcore driver’s car had a retractable roof?

The answer seems to be: since now. Not only will the California be able to hit 60 mph in three-and-a-bit seconds from standstill, but the suspension has been honed by none other than seven-time world Formula One champion, Michael Schumacher. The California will also be available with a manual gearbox, which should really please the purists, and the HGTC pack that features such track-friendly features as a tightened suspension and carbon-ceramic brake discs. The car also gets a set of lightweight wheels.

With a 4.3-liter V-8 (set in the front of the car, as opposed to being mid-mounted like many Ferraris) and developing 460 horsepower that drives the rear wheels, the California looks like it has plenty of go to back up the show. It should reach the dealers next spring.

-- Colin Ryan

Photo: Ferrari

Diesel pickups from India delayed

Mahindra & Mahindra still hopes to be the first Indian automaker to enter the passenger vehicle market in the U.S., but the company has miles to go before ringing up its first sale.

Make that millions of miles. Global Vehicles USA Inc., Mahindra’s American distributor, had hoped to have the automaker’s compact pickup trucks on showroom floors here by next summer. That launch date has now been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2009.

The reason? Execs at Global Vehicles, based in suburban Atlanta, say Mahindra ordered up more testing to make sure the trucks meet the expectations of American buyers. So 25 pickups will be driven 125,000 miles each over U.S. roads over the next several months. That’s more than 3.1 million miles.

“They want to make sure they get the vehicles right,” said Xavier Beguiristain, Global Vehicles’ vice president of marketing. “They’re very keen on that.”

Mahindra’s diesel-powered two- and four-door pickups still need get all the requisite U.S. regulatory approvals as well. They will have to meet the EPA’s tough new diesel emission requirements for the 2010 model year, a goal that Beguiristain said is attainable.

“These will be 50-state vehicles,” he said....

Big car teaser

Drumroll, please ... the all new 2010 Buick LaCrosse has a grill!

That's all that can be gleaned from this "exclusive" first-look photo released today by General Motors Corp. of its redesigned family sedan. The photo at right is not cropped or altered; it's exactly as GM released it. It is the only photo available of the car, and our guess is that unless you are a designer specializing in grills and headlamps, it doesn't say all that much.

Except, perhaps, that carmakers, and particularly GM, work very hard to establish what they call a "story" leading up to the release of new models. The LaCrosse will be fully unveiled at the L.A. Auto Show in November, and this photo is designed "to help build interest toward the actual unveil," said Buick spokesman Bob Tripolsky.

Releasing teaser photos of parts of cars is becoming increasingly common. The goal is to generate buzz and lots of pictures in car magazines. Some carmakers prefer poorly lit profile shots, while others go for near abstract renderings that are awfully reminiscent of Franz Kline drawings.

Detroit bailout?

With carmakers on the rocks, or approaching them fast, a hot topic is whether Washington would bail out a General Motors Corp. or a Ford Motor Co. should the shadow of bankruptcy fall upon them. Would either of the presidential candidates, John McCain or Barack Obama, come to their rescue? 

Well, Detroit isn't  waiting for November to find out. In recent months, the industry has been quietly lobbying Congress to back $25 billion in low-interest loans for auto manufacturers and suppliers. Now the industry, along with the United Auto Workers union, is asking for $25 billion more, and it's doing it with a lot more volume.

The original $25 billion loan package, which would cost the government an estimated $3.75 billion to guarantee, was written into the 2007 energy bill — the same one that imposed the new, more aggressive, fuel economy standards. The aim of the loan program was to help offset the estimated $100-billion cost of improving fuel efficiency in cars to 35 mpg by 2020. But that money has not yet been appropriated by Congress, and the Department of Energy has not yet written final rules on the loan program. Now the industry is amping up the pressure to get those things done.

With automakers reporting huge second-quarter losses — $15.5 billion for GM and $7.8 billion for Ford — Senate Democrats late last month proposed spending $900 million to back $6 billion of the $25 billion in loans to automakers; that proposal is set to come up for a vote next month. But the new plan being pushed by the industry would fully fund the already approved loan guarantees and provide $25 billion more over the next few years.

Complete details of the industry-backed plan should be unveiled after Labor Day, but early details suggest it would be a juicy deal: Interest on the loans would be about 4.5%, less than a third the rate that the credit-challenged carmakers can expect to get on the open market. Moreover, Congress would have the option of deferring all payments for up to five years. Likely backers come from the Michigan delegation, including Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 

Best designs — according to Kelley Blue Book

The eye of the beholder is a strange and wonderful thing — if Kelley Blue Book is anything to go by. The good folks at KBB perform a regular survey, called Brand Watch, that measures consumer perception of exterior and interior designs. The latest results put Honda at the top of the "non-luxury sedan/coupe/hatchback" category for exterior design. Winner of the corresponding luxury segment? BMW.

For interior design, the class of the non-luxury sedan/coupe/hatch pack is Toyota, with Lexus winning the premium spot. Not so eyebrow-raising, but odd that there’s no mention of Volvo in this respect. Still, there does seem to be an element of reassuring predictability when it comes to the sports car/convertible stream: Porsche takes the exterior honors and Audi’s interiors get the nod.

Domestic brands do pretty well, especially trucks. In both fields, consumers liked Chevrolet's products the best. Click here for a full list that also takes SUVs and minivans into account.

—Colin Ryan

Photo: BMW

Edmunds.com's least-expensive compact pre-owned cars

With the economy in flux and gas still about $4 a gallon, more buyers are forgoing new vehicles in favor of those that are "new-to-you." The big gets are the certified pre-owneds — used cars with warranties and service benefits. To help eliminate some of the guesswork, automotive information site Edmunds.com has compiled a list of what it considers the five best 3-year-old and 1-year-old small cars.

Click on the photos below to see which models made the cut, plus their EPA fuel economy, available transmissions and engines, and Edmunds' True Market Value pricing. According to Edmunds, the TMV takes into account "dealer inspection and reconditioning costs, the cost of providing a manufacturer warranty, and the cost of additional benefits provided by certain manufacturers, such as roadside assistance and loaner vehicles."

2007's top 5 certified pre-owned vehicles

2005's top 5 certified pre-owned vehicles

—Whitney Friedlander

Photos: From top, the 2007 Toyota Yaris and the 2005 Dodge Neon.
Credit: From top, Toyota and Chrysler

Honda's infertility problem

As if automakers didn’t have enough hot-button issues to deal with (fuel economy and global warming, for example), Honda can add another to the list: gay and lesbian rights.

The American Fertility Assn. this week accused the automaker’s Alabama division of denying insurance coverage to same-sex domestic partners seeking so-called third-party fertility treatments (artificial insemination involving sperm or egg banks, surrogate motherhood, etc.) while providing coverage for opposite-sex domestic partners.

It seems the issue came up when Alabama Fertility Specialists in Birmingham looked into insurance coverage for one of their patients seeking artificial insemination, who works at Honda’s Lincoln, Ala., manufacturing plant and is in a same-sex domestic partnership.

Dr. Michael Steinkampf, founder of the fertility clinic, was quoted in a news release from the fertility association as being “a little disappointed” by the automaker’s stance. (Honda’s U.S. manufacturing facilities are set up as semi-independent operating companies, and policies such as employee benefit plans can vary among plants.)

Honda, however, issued a statement saying the insurance plan covering the 4,500 workers at the Alabama plant doesn’t pay for third-party fertility treatments for any domestic partner couples, regardless of gender.

“The plan includes domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples” in other areas of coverage, the automaker said.

Audi rings the iPhone

Audi has just launched the first Apple iPhone application from a carmaker. The ‘Audi A4 Challenge’ is a driving game that uses the iPhone’s motion sensor (accelerometer), allowing players to steer a virtual version of the all-new 2009 Audi A4 through a series of courses that become gradually more difficult. It works a bit like the controller on a Nintendo Wii.

“The iPhone is an ideal platform to help introduce the Audi A4,” says Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer for Audi of America. “Audi customers are smart, sophisticated and technologically savvy. We’re very excited to be the first automotive manufacturer to connect with our audience through the iPhone.”

The game was created in two weeks by Factory Design Labs of Denver. “It’s reinventing the shopping experience. In combination with the A4 iPhone website, this is the first viable mobile marketing solution in the automotive space,” says Scott Mellin, Factory Design Lab’s CEO.

The application is now available from Apple’s iPhone Application Store for free. The new A4 goes on sale in September, costing at least $32,700 more.

—Colin Ryan

Photos: Audi