Punxatawney Phil, that headline-hungry groundhog up in Pennsylvania, did not see his shadow this morning, which means Spring is coming early this year! So how about we fire this thing up and head out for this week's drive around the auto blogs block:
The Auto Prophet notes that Mary Nichols - current CARB chairman and maybe the next head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - told the Detroit News this week that come 2016 or 2017 "everyone will be driving" electric vehicles. Does she know something the rest of us don't?
BMW and Mercedes Benz, are you listening? Who is the AUTOEXTREMIST talking about here: "They went after the influencers in the media and the industry first, then the enthusiasts, and now the consumer public is buying in, too. The result? XXXX is the new luxury-performance standard."
January sales numbers are putting a grin on the face of The Truth About Cars' Derek Kreindler. Why? Because Ford's redesigned Fusion is "nipping at the heels of the second-place Honda Accord" in the mid-size family sedan rankings. He predicted it, don'tcha see?
Then, just for balance, Kreindler points us all to GoodCarBadCar's latest Top 20 Table, which just happens to note Accord's sales are up 75 percent (YTD). Now that's what I call balanced reporting!
Can anybody give me one good reason why Volkswagen isn't selling its Amarok pickup here? (Other than exchange rates, the cost of redesign for this market and VW's inglorious truck history in the U.S.). Carscoop says VW has given the 2013 version more power and some other goodies.
If you are of a certain age and followed Formula One during the 1.5 liter era, then you know all about Bruce McClaren. The amazing firm that bears his name to this day just released a wonderful tribute film entitled "Courage." Even if you know nothing of the man, this is a must-watch, courtesy of Autoblog.
And then there's the "oil-burner from Hell," courtesy of Jalopnik, courtesy of their friends at R&T. It's a Mazda, it's a twin-turbo and it you will not believe the sound.
"Good things are happening at Chrysler," according to The CarGurus Blog. Been awhile since anybody in car criticdom has said that! I have to admit that the Alfa 4C does grab my attention.
Is it really possible for a car to have "a certain pugnaciousness?" Well, Cars.com's Mike Hanley thinks that's an accurate descriptor for the 2014 Mazda 6. I have to admit it is a sharp-looking vehicle.
So why does Marty Schorr over at Car Guys Chronicles get to have all the fun, like driving an authenticated factory lightweight 63 Ford Galaxie 427?
I think it's time for another classic from Pawl Bearing's Auto Engineer Rant. This one is entitled "A day in the life of an automotive design engineer." DO NOT MISS the line about the "chipped 1970s bathroom tiles!"
And here we are at the end of this week's CofC, sort of right back where we started, with EVs, only this time its Green Car Reports telling us January sales numbers for PC-blessed offerings like Chevy's Volt and Nissan's Leaf are, uh, not so good.
But that's life on the green side of the road around the auto blogs, at least for this week's Carnival of Cars. See ya next week, friends and neighbors. Have a great drive this weekend!
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