Author: Eric Peters

It began with high hopes – and an audacious plan. Unfortunately, it belly-flopped badly… . By the mid-1980s, Cadillac was still the “standard of the world” – if by “the world” one meant nursing homes and the parking lots of Florida retirement communities. GM’s premier division – once purveyor of coach-built V-16 masterpieces in the 1920s and ’30s – had become purveyor of the automotive equivalent of the Early Bird Special: Rebadged (and re-priced) versions of Chevys, trimmed with vinyl roofs and fitted with fake wire wheel covers. You could almost smell the Noxzema. Not much future in that – because your … Continue reading →

The ’70s (and early ’80s) were Weird Years for the car industry. The muscle car era of the ’60s was fading fast, but the fumes still lingered… what would come next? What would be in between? Chevy’s answer – well, one of them – was the Monza 2+2. Though small, it was still rear-wheel-drive. And while it came standard with a Briggs & Stratton-esque (and Vega-sourced) 2.3 liter four, you could order it with a V8. Imagine that. Now, it wasn’t much of a V8. It was actually the smallest V8 Chevy ever put into a production car. Just 4.3 … Continue reading →

There’s something weird and cruel about the fact that diesel engines are – for the most part – for the  affluent-only. You’d think it’d be the reverse. And it is … in Europe. Over there, more than half the passenger vehicles on the road have diesels under the hood and most models (cars, crossovers, SUVs) offer the option. This is not surprising, given that gas costs about the same per gallon as a decent quality whiskey costs per liter here. But why aren’t diesel engines more commonly available here? Or rather, why are they almost exclusively offered in high-end models like … Continue reading →

Oldsmobile had a long and distinguished history—and suffered a slow, painful death. The process of mortification began in the early 1980s, when General Motors gutted the formerly independent engineering departments of each of its seven car divisions. They eliminated the Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile-built engines that had made each of these divisions’ cars unique, not just “badge-engineered” clones of one basic model fitted with a different grille and set of wheel covers. By the end of the decade, all GM divisions would share identical “corporate” engines built by a new entity, GM Powertrain. Pontiac was the first to go; after 1981, … Continue reading →

There is an episode of the TV show Top Gear involving a Prius hybrid and automatic weapons. God, I wish I could afford to do the same to a Tesla. Unfortunately, I (and thee) are too poor to afford a Tesla. But that doesn’t mean we won’t continue to be forced to “help” Elon Musk build these mobile – just barely (and briefly) monuments to crony capitalism. This is a company that bleeds money like a machine-gunned hemophiliac, yet doesn’t die because fresh transfusions are always available. Just last week it was announced the company lost another $100 million and change while delivering fewer … Continue reading →

Not much, it turns out. 60 horsepower – about what a circa 1984 Aries K car’s engine produced – is sufficient for A to B getting there and back. More is certainly nice – and definitely fun – but hardly necessary. Not in the USSA, anyway. Land of “defensive driving” and checkpoints and safety abounding. Eighty is on the cusp of statutory “reckless” driving in several states. Possible jail time. Certain loss of license and guaranteed “SR-22″ (pay three times as much as you used to) insurance. For the next five years. Anything close to 100 is well across the line and … Continue reading →

Car salesmen are… salesmen. Their job is to sell you stuff. Whether you need it or not. Here are some things you don’t need – and some things you need to know about: * You probably don’t need the optional engine – Wanting more power is one thing; paying extra for power you don’t need – and let’s be honest, can’t make much use of – is another. Unlike in the past, when many cars were under-engined as they came, there isn’t a new car on the market that can’t do 0-60 in 11 seconds or less and most (better … Continue reading →

It’s the “bells and whistles” that get the headlines – and grab your attention. But they might also grab your wallet once the warranty runs out. A classic example from long ago is the aluminum block four-cylinder engine GM trotted out back in the mid-1970s. It was a revolutionary design based on a high-silicon alloy that eliminated the need for pressed-in cylinder liners. It was also very lightweight, which promised to improve both the fuel economy and the handling of the car it was built for – the Chevy Vega. Stop me if you know where this is going… No? Well, the … Continue reading →

This is me driving a 2015 Acura TLX. Actually, it’s the Acura TLX driving me. The car (and other Acuras, including the new MDX) has a “steering assist” feature that uses cameras to keep the thing in its lane – more accurately, in between the yellow line to your left and the white line to your right – without you doing anything. Cameras “see” the painted lines – and electric motors steer the car. Neat, certainly. But is it a good idea? I think it’s an awful idea. For two reasons. One, though touted as a way to make driving … Continue reading →

It’s fun to own a “classic” (read, pre-modern) car. It can also be a hassle. Before you dive in, it’s a good idea to know what you’re in for, both good – and bad. The good: Pre-modern cars have personality; they’re interesting – something homogenized, same-same modern cars aren’t. Cars built in the ’70s and before were designed largely the way designers – rather than government bureaucrats – wanted them designed. Hence the wild fins, the jutting angles, the instantly recognizable differences between say a Chevy and a Ford (today, you tell them apart by the shape of the grille). Even such … Continue reading →

Should it be illegal – a crime in and of itself – to dislike cops? The Fraternal Order of Police – the union for cops – thinks it ought to be. It is officially demanding that cops – already a protected (and entitled) class – be further set apart from ordinary folks by passing legislation that would enable prosecutors to pursue additional “hate crimes” charges against any not-cop who is accused of voicing anti-cop sentiments while, say, “resisting arrest” by attempting to ward off the wood shampoo being administered by a cop. Or in the course of committing any other crime involving … Continue reading →

Cheap gas is making hybrids seem like less of a deal. Which in turn is making them harder to sell. Which is tough nuts for those trying to sell them – but could be really good news for you, if you’re thinking seriously about trying to buy one. Consider the Toyota Prius – the best-known (and best-selling) hybrid. Its base price is $24,200 and it can travel about 588 miles (combined city/highway) on 12 gallons of gas (full tank). As compared with the Toyota Camry sedan (non-hybrid version). With the four-cylinder engine, the base price is $22,970 and it can travel about 510 … Continue reading →

Most of us would like our vehicles to last a long time – and cost us as little money as possible during that time. Here are a few tips toward that end: * If your vehicle has a manual transmission, the first time you start the car in the morning – especially if it’s a cold morning – select neutral after starting the engine, gently release the clutch and let the car idle for about 30 seconds before driving off. This isn’t about warming up the engine(that’s no longer necessary, unless the car is very old and has a carburetor rather than … Continue reading →

We all do it – and that includes the cops who spend their days giving ustickets for doing it. Of course, they enjoy legal impunity to speed as much as they like, as often as they like. “Speed” only “kills,” it seems, when one is not wearing a special costume. At any rate, since we all drive faster than the posted speed limit, at least occasionally – even Clovers – it seems right and proper that we do what we can to avoid being dunned for doing it. And feel no moral guilt about practicing such avoidance. Our ancestors felt no … Continue reading →