Car Lust

In Memoriam: Pontiac Motor Division (1926-2010)

We all saw it coming. Like an airplane falling from the sky, GM had to drop some weight. First came the demise of Oldsmobile; now, reportedly, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer are on the way out. Who knows? Soon other GM divisions may follow this sad lead.

It was not a surprise on April 24, 2009, when the news came. According to Wikipedia, "GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson said the Pontiac brand would be closed by 2010, calling it an 'extremely personal decision.' In addition to speeding up decisions on Saturn, Saab, and Hummer, GM will be left with four brands--Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac."

Pontiac was GM's youth division. At one time, its slogan was "We Build Excitement," which was hardly what you would expect from, say, a Sedan DeVille. When The Monkees needed a cool car, they got a Pontiac, fully customized by Dean Jeffries. During the muscle car heyday, Pontiac was out front. John DeLorean had a huge part developing the trend with the GTO. And nobody else could claim that a "Wide Track" car would help handling.

RIP, Pontiac

We here at Car Lust concentrate more on the amusing and the anecdotal than on the pressing news of the day--after all, there are plenty of quality automotive news sites already filling that niche. But even we can't ignore the huge news that as part of GM's bid to remain viable, it will be axing Pontiac (along with Saab, Saturn, and Hummer) next year. This is obviously huge news; Pontiac is a major GM brand and has produced some legendary cars, but that didn't save it from following Oldsmobile, Plymouth, and AMC into the scrap heap.

The usual suspects have the news aspects handled (Autoblog, Jalopnik, The Truth About Cars, Wall Street Journal, Motor Trend, among others), so we will, as usual, take a slightly different path. Tonight we'll run Chuck Lynch's farewell to the marque, and during the rest of this week we will feature profiles of some of our favorite Pontiacs. Interspersed within this new content will be vintage, possibly soon-to-be-collectible Pontiac-related Car Lust posts of the past. We'll wrap it all up on Friday with a round-table discussing our experiences with Pontiac and how we feel about its demise.

While I'm a Saab devotee and a Saturn loather, we can discuss the implications of this news for those two brands later. This week at Car Lust will be all about Pontiac.

--Chris H.

The James Bond Cars

We all lust after cars we can't have, but how about wanting cars that don't exist? Well, OK, maybe some of these cars exist in stock form, but when did you last operate an oil slick or machine gun from your driver's seat? Had pontoon skis pop out of your rocker panels? Asked, "Can you swim?" and drove off the end of a dock? Lost an unwanted passenger via ejector seat? Of course, we all know one man who has all of these "usual refinements" and more available, and he has been around for quite some time now.

In 1944, Ian Fleming (1908-1964), at his estate in Jamaica named Goldeneye, began writing the first of 13 novels about a fictional secret agent named after ornithologist James Bond, who wrote "Birds of The West Indies." Of course, the movies differ significantly from the books, but the movies have become an institution in their own right, to the point that we all have our favorite 007 film and actor. EON Productions, who made all the Bond films, is an acronym meaning "Everything Or Nothing;" Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli (1909-1996) literally bet the farm on "Dr. No" in 1961, released in 1962. His family, in Italy, crossed cauliflower and rabe to make the vegetable that bears their name.

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

I saw a news item the other day linking to a German language article about independent coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann GmbH which related a bit of shocking news: Der Cabrio-Spezialist meldet Insolvenz an! Karmann, which once built convertibles for Audi, Ford, Mercedes, Porsche, Renault and VW, fabricated convertible tops for those and many other manufacturers, assembled AMC Javelins for sale in Europe, and built its own line of "Mobil" motorhomes, has filed the German equivalent of a bankruptcy petition and is going out of business.

That seems to make this an appropriate time to spend a bit of Car Lust bandwidth on Karmann's best-known product: the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia--or, as one writer rather cleverly described it, the "Beetle in a Cocktail Dress." That description is appropriate because beneath the Karmann Ghia's attractively curvaceous styling is the heart and soul (and floorpan, engine, transmission, suspension, and other miscellaneous mechanical parts) of a humble Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle.

The story behind the Karmann Ghia is a fascinating one, with a surprising (to me, anyway) connection to a member of our own Car Lust family.

MG Midget & Spridget

Everybody knows that MG stands for "Morris Garages". But what's the difference between an 1961 Austin Healey Sprite Mark III and a 1961 MG Midget? Well, I was surprised recently when I read that they are basically one and the same - so much so that they are often called "Spridgets". A slightly nicer interior, vertical grille bars, and MG badges were all that separated them. The Sprite is shown here.

These cars were made for nearly 20 years without any real significant body changes except for wheel arches, windshield curving, and better-operating convertible tops. Engines and chassis bits were upgraded, and the improvements seemed to leap frog the Midget's main competitor, the Triumph Spitfire, back and forth.

But the MG Midget name dates back even before Sprite clone. The MG TC Midget Roadster pictured to the left was the first British car to make significant inroads into the United States. American servicemen returning from Europe after World War II liked the light, nimble, and sporty MG. It had a 1250-cc 4-cylinder, a 4-speed manual transmission, and topped out at 78 mph. More than 10,000 TC Midgets were made from 1945-1949, and they cost 528 pounds when new.

I remember the more modern MG Midgets from my high school days. Please accept these as approximate used sports car prices in the mid 1970s: MG Midgets sold for around $1,400; an MGB at that time would go for about $3,000; a TR6 around $3,000. A good Spitfire would fetch $1,500, and a Porsche 914 was about $4,000. This was fairly big money back then, as a brand new base 1974 Mustang II was $2,895.

Ford Ranger

The story of the Ford Ranger compact pickup trucks may be the best example of automotive evolution, not revolution, in the American automotive market. Now, more than 26 years into production, a few of the parts and pieces on these trucks have never changed.

While most of us think of a Ranger as a small domestic pickup truck, the name has appeared on other Ford Motor Company products. The name first appeared in 1950 on a Ford Panel Truck with extra windows and a conversion to four-wheel-drive by Marmon-Herrington--a vehicle that could be considered one of the first SUVs. The Ranger name made a brief detour away from the truck world in making an appearance as an Edsel model. In 1965, the Ranger name returned to the Ford truck line as the top trim level of the full-size Ford pickup. The name carried on until 1982 when the XLT became the top of the line. Unheard-of truck luxuries like carpet and nice seats were part of the Ranger package.

Development of the compact Ranger pickup began in 1976, and the truck debuted in mid-1982 as a 1983 model, replacing the Mazda-built Ford Courier. Ford would later return the favor; the Mazda B-series compact pickups are based on the Ranger.

Original Ranger engines included a 2.0-liter, 72-horsepower four-cylinder, a 2.3-liter, 86-horsepower four-cylinder, a 2.2-liter, 59-horsepower diesel four-cylinder, and a 2.8-liter, 115-horsepower V-6. The Ranger shared similar styling and engineering features, including Ford's twin I-beam front suspension, with its larger F-150 sibling. In 1986, the SuperCab and Ranger GT models appeared. The Ford Bronco II was based on this Ranger.

Ford Ranchero/Chevy El Camino

Ladies, you may stop reading right now. Avert your eyes, if you must, because this post is about men.
Real men. Manly men. Who do manly things in manly ways, that only manly men can do them. Men who mow their own lawns, fix a leaky faucet, and change their own oil. Men who brew up a pot of battery acid every morning. Men who use after-shave, not "post-shave skin conditioner with aloe, seaweed extract and Vitamin E with a subtle scent of coriander." Men who wouldn't touch a quiche with a 10-foot fork. Men who only drink whiskeys that are named after animals or people. Men who only cry when their father or best hunting dogs die. Men who frankly, my dear, don't give a damn. Men who know every manly cliche from the last 30 years and aren't afraid to use them.

These men drive a particular type of car. A car that drips testosterone like a leaky gasket. A car that says, "I know what I need, and this is it." These type of men know that they'll never drive the length and breadth of the Kalahari, but they will sure as hell be hauling 4-by-8s home from the lumberyard (note: not the "home improvement store"). Men who don't need fine Corinthian leather or a station wagon dressed up as an Urban Assault Vehicle. No, this is the Steve McQueen of cars: no entourage, no workout video, and no froufrou drinks with umbrellas in them.

I jest, of course. The lack of a Y-chromosome doesn't disqualify anyone from appreciating these fine cars, let alone owning or driving one. There are no doubt many men who just don't have the ... um ... good taste to rate this kind of car, and plenty of women who do. It's far more about the mindset than which restroom door you come out of.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Is he talking about one car or two?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. Read on, but only if you feel lucky, punk.

1985 Mercedes-Benz 300TD

When I first read David Drucker's piece on W124-series Benzes, my interest was definitely piqued. One of my first cars was a previous generation 300TD, a big maroon diesel belching beast that's probably still running around to this very day. Then I read this small piece of soul-wrenching blasphemy:

"Fairness requires that I present an opposing point of view, and as it happens, I have one. First: you can keep the Diesels. They’re slow, noisy, and hard to start. And the smoke is embarrassing. And second: the W123 wagon--the 300TD through the 1985 model--could be the most boring vehicle of its type since the first generation International Travelall. That it was burdened with a Diesel engine can only be ascribed to our government’s Draconian CAFE regulations. But regardless of motive, the Series 123 300TD was doubly cursed, and I don’t want one. And here in Scarsdale, where Mercedes-Benzes are fairly thick on the ground, neither does anybody else. 

"It’s not that nobody in these parts needs a station wagon. (Everyone, everywhere, needs a station wagon; most folks just don’t know it yet.) No, Scarsdale has plenty of station wagons, just about every one of them a Volvo. My guess is that the locals see the 300TD as being about as exciting as yesterday’s yawn. Since station wagons themselves are perceived as being pretty dull, it’s only natural that the less boring ones get the nod. That staid old Volvo finds itself in that position indicates that some of the Turbo’s panache has rubbed off on the lesser models."

Mr. Drucker is absolutely correct that, on paper, the W123-series 300TD was about as exciting as waterlogged Melba toast. 0-60 times were best measured epochally and referenced apocryphally ("It may get to freeway speed before the next mass extinction!"). Driving one with its characteristic black plumes of diesel smoke emanating from the tailpipe in California and parts of New York may run afoul of public health regulations that prohibit second-hand smoke. It handles precisely how you would expect a heavy station wagon with an inscrutably byzantine pneumatic suspension system would handle.

None of that matters.  That was never the point.

Lane Motor Museum

Submitted by Shawn Bailey

I know you’ve been to them; those stodgy, cookie-cutter, unrealistic car museums are everywhere. You know the routine. Oh look, another Porsche 911 behind velvet rope! Don’t touch that ‘57 Chevy! Gaze longingly at the billion dollar Bugatti!

Enough of that; it’s time to take a walk on the museum wild side at the Lane Motor Museum, nestled into an industrial and stripmalled area of Nashville, Tenn.

With an unassuming title like that, you’d be tempted to drive on by, but you shouldn't. The Lane museum is unlike any other. In fact, I think it caters to every one of us Car Lust frequenters. It features the largest collection of unobtanium in the U.S. By that, I don’t mean cars you’d see on the auction block at Barrett-Jackson. This is the home of the misunderstood, the unusual, and the bizarre. If you savor all European automotive flavors, welcome to your new favorite destination.

1986-1995 Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W124)

Over the past few months, while other commitments have kept me from venting in this venue, my far-flung colleagues have heaped much praise on a succession of flimsy econoboxes. I take comfort in knowing that most of these objects of their misguided car lust have long since been consigned to junkyards, landfill, and recycling plants. I take even more comfort in knowing that a representative sampling of these turkeys have found homes in the garages of borderline fanatical owners, and that those owners gladly spend non-trivial sums to keep the objects of their obsession in what passed for tip-top condition when they were new. To see a “Cadillac” Cimarron in the wild, so to speak, can serve as a reminder of the kind of thinking that led GM to its current state. Similarly, to see a Datsun B210 with an intact body shell, and in any kind of drivable shape at all, serves as proof that rust is no match for a big pile of money.

I wasn't a fan of these sad little vehicles when they were new, and time hasn't caused me to change that opinion. Indeed, I prefer my tin foil to be wrapped around leftover pizza, rather than turned into a car’s body panels. With that in mind, I’d like to heap some well-deserved praise on a car that belongs on any list of the best, and most important, cars ever built. That car is the Mercedes-Benz E-Class of the W124 generation, which was introduced in 1986 and remained in production through 1995. Given the huge success of the model that it replaced, the W124 needed to bring something very special to the table. Fortunately, in those pre-Lexus days “something very special” was nothing more than “business as usual” at Daimler-Benz AG.

<rant>When Lexus hit the scene it seemed as though Daimler-Benz lost the formula. The models developed in the post-Lexus environment overtly skimped on overall quality in order to accommodate ever more complex gadgets and subsystems. And, taking a page from the GM playbook, they used paying customers as the test bed for those gadgets. Rumor has it that, after a couple of decades in the wilderness, the company is back on track. We’ll see. </rant>

The W124 debuted to worldwide acclaim, receiving accolades for its ride, handling, and bank vault solidity. Over the course of its lifetime, the W124 was available as a four-door sedan or wagon, a two-door pillarless hardtop, and a convertible. Worldwide, the W124 was equipped with gas and Diesel engines ranging from 2.0 to 6.0 liters, and between 1989 and 1993 the car could be had with 4Matic all-wheel drive. Through 1993, the model names consisted of a number (roughly indicating engine size) followed by a letter code whose meaning sometimes described the body style, and sometimes didn’t. In 1994 the letter/number position was reversed, and the letter described the position of the platform in the Mercedes-Benz line. So for 1994, the 300E became the E320.