Car Lust

11/29/08 Roundup

Gorgeous Panamera

About a week ago, Autoblog put up a post highlighting the official photos of the new four-door Porsche Panamera. The idea of a Porsche sedan hasn't exactly excited Porsche purists already disillusioned by the existence of a Porsche SUV, and that's understandable. For my part, I have to admit that I'm about as eager to see a Porsche sedan as I am to see a Jeep sedan or a Lamborghini sedan. I'm sure Porsche can produce a fine sedan, but what's the point?

Well, imagine Porsche-istas' outrage when the official photos revealed that the Panamera is a five-door hatchback. The horror! I, of course, am delighted. Rather than just another fast, anonymous sedan in a world filled with fast, anonymous sedans, now the Panamera has a purpose. Sport wagons are cool; five-door sport hatchbacks are cooler. A Porsche five-door hatchback, swaddled in leather and wood, with (dare I dream) folding rear seats? Be still my beating heart.

Childhood Car Memories

Car Lust is about our emotional connection to the automobiles in our lives. Over the course of our writings, we've shared a few misty memories of the cars we saw and rode in when we were small (for example, here, here, here, and here).

Now it's your turn.

What are your earliest automotive memories? Hit the "comments" button and let us know.

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cookie the Dog's Owner already perfectly summed up my Car Lust-related Thanksgiving emotions; so I'll complement that with this image from Car Lust commenter That Car Guy, commemorating his favorite automotive turkey--the Chevy Vega. Car Lust readers, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

10 Cars That Damaged GM's Reputation

Popular Mechanics recently released a list of 10 cars that they felt damaged GM's reputation. It's hard to argue about most of their choices, but since we've already established ourselves as a vanguard of poor taste and questionable automotive judgment, I felt it was important that we briefly review our feelings on some of these cars and remind everyone that, yet again, we have no taste or shame.

Thanks

Tomorrow is a day set aside in the United States to express thanks for one's material and spiritual possessions. In the spirit of the day, I’d like to do a little expressing of thanks for what I’ve got here in this little corner of cyberspace.

Hudson Hornet

The Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash-Kelvinator in 1954 to form American Motors, and the Hudson nameplate disappeared from the marketplace completely after the 1957 model year. Half a century later, few people other than old car buffs were even aware that there had once been a Hudson Motor Car Company--until they saw the character of Doc Hudson in the 2006 Pixar film Cars.

While Cars is a fantasy, the character of Doc Hudson is firmly grounded in real life. There really was a Fabulous Hudson Hornet that dominated stock car racing in the early 1950s and won three straight championships.

Even off the racetrack, the 1951-54 Hudson Hornet was pretty fabulous.

The End of an Era

As of last Friday, the Zastava automotive plant in Serbia closed its doors and ceased production; the Zastava plant was best-known for producing the Yugo, which went out of production earlier this month.

The Yugo is best-known as one of the great automotive punch lines of all time, the subject of innumerable jokes, and one of the last truly awful cars available in America. Perhaps others are better-informed than me, but I was shocked to discover it was still in production.

Some will cackle at this news, but I'm a bit saddened. Whether you consider the Yugo an object of lust or disgust, all can agree that it was a unique little car that spiced up our lives with its very presence. I think it was a sharp-looking little car, and a throwback to simple, blunt-object cars like the Citroen 2CV and Volkswagen Bug.

And, if nothing else, the Yugo was useful for purposes of context--it made everything else look just a little bit better.

--Chris H.

Point/Counterpoint--Retro Cars

Cookie the Dog’s Owner: Not too long ago, we Car Lust contributors had a lively discussion on the philosophy of automobile design and styling which was sparked by an e-mail from distinguished automobile designer Virgil Exner Jr. In the course of the discussion, my brother contributor Rob the SVX Guy said some things about “retro” cars that I felt compelled to respond to.

Rob wrote:

"You're wrapping modern internals around an outdated design language, which can be amusing, but it isn't really good design. For example, take the new Mustang, or the new Challenger. I mean, yeah, they're kinda neat, but over the long run I doubt they'll have the appeal of a car designed for today's era, with today's technology, and today's style. They exist because an aging demographic has the money to finally buy what they wanted 30 years ago, and that's what sells."

With all due respect, Rob, I think you are entirely too negative about retro styling.

Insufferable Blasphemy!

Since I have already set the precedent of responding to online articles in a completely un-timely way, I may as well respond to the Vehix.com article "Prepare to Get Scared: Top Ten Ugliest Cars in American History." The article ran more than a month ago, so I obviously have my finger firmly on the pulse of the automotive blogosphere.

Author Nathan Adlen does a nice job in producing a well-written riff on pretty familiar theme. Bashing ugly, terrible, and generally unpopular cars is fertile ground for a writer. I have read a bunch of articles on the subject over the years, and I own a few books that do the same--despite my bias towards defending bad cars, these books and articles are usually good for a few good chuckles. And, of course, if taking easy potshots at bad cars is a crime, I'm guilty. Adlen's piece is little different from that standpoint. It's witty, and he gets in some well-turned phrases. No, my beef is with his choice of cars.

Nice Audi R8 ...

... except it's actually a Ford Probe. Yes, really--take a look. If you take a minute to really look, you can see it in the proportions and the wheels. The interior picture is a dead giveaway.

I don't often say this about kit cars, but this actually looks really good--there's something about the flowing rear that really works. For the sake of the proud driver, I hope it's a Probe Turbo--I can imagine Audi purists tarring and feathering those responsible for this sacrilege.

--Chris H.