By Marty Padgett
February 27th, 2007
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Winding Road says the
Honda Civic Type R is coming to the U.S.
Driving other
Hondas on a backgrounder event, the online magazine’s man in Japan got lots of “heavy hints” that the 220-horsepower hot Civic would cross the Pacific in 2010.
The U.S. version would likely be a four-door, the magazine says. And a limited-slip differential would be standard, to keep the Type R’s power moving to the wheels efficiently. An illustration on the site shows their interpretation of how it might look.
Winding Road speculates the four-door would be an easier body style to sell, given that the Civic hatchback sold in Europe (like the Type R above) wasn’t developed with the U.S. safety regs in mind.
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Tags: Asia, Motorsports, Enthusiasts, Japan, Shoppers, Cars We Love
Posted in: 2004, 2007, Honda, Sedans, Hatchback, Coupes, Civic
By Marty Padgett
February 27th, 2007
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GM’s Swedish arm
Saab is
celebrating 60 years of car-making this summer. The first vehicle, the “Ur-Saab” (pictured), was revealed to the automotive world on June 10, 1947 in a staff canteen at the aircraft company’s Linköping headquarters.
To mark
the start of the celebrations Saab has published a list of 60 things you didn’t know about the premium brand. Here’s our pick of them…
*
Saab once considered going into boat-building instead of cars. In 1944, as war was drawing to a close, the aircraft maker was looking to diversify into other products during peacetime. A number of aluminum-hulled boats, including some with hydrofoils in the bows, were built. In the end automobiles were considered a better bet.
* It was back pain suffered by a senior
Saab executive that prompted the development of the heated driver’s seat, an innovation from
Saab in 1971. The pain was particularly bad on cold, frosty mornings and a colleague devised a means of heating the driver’s seat to minimize the discomfort.
* Rather like the first Model T
Ford, you could have an early
Saab 92 in any color you liked – as long as it was bottle
green. The paint was readily available in surplus army supplies left over from the war.
Saab did not offer a color choice until 1952.
* Jack Nicholson (
As Good As It Gets), Matt Damon (
The Bourne Supremacy), Richard Gere (
Final Analysis), Paul Giamatti (
Sideways), Jerry Seinfeld (
Seinfeld) and Reese Witherspoon (
Sweet Home Alabama) have all appeared in a
Saab Convertible on screen
.--Richard Yarrow
Tags: Europe, Shoppers
Posted in: 2007, Saab, Coupes, Classics
By Marty Padgett
February 27th, 2007
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Toyota says the educated work force is what drew them to the Tupelo area for
its eighth assembly plant in North America - in direct contrast to what some people think about the state's workforce.
Toyota officials, after the glow of the press conference today announcing their new Mississippi plant, will have to explain how they arrived at their research on education. In an annual ranking of states by independent research publisher Morgan Quitno Press, the state ranks 48th out of 50 for education. The ranking is based on 21 key elementary and secondary education indicators of expenditures for instruction, pupil-teacher ratios, high school graduation and dropout rates, and reading, writing and math proficiency.
Mississippi also was ranked 50th, last, in the union based on health. That ranking, also by Morgan Quitno, is based on infant mortality rates, the percent of population not covered by health insurance, per capita expenditures for health care, percent of population lacking access to primary medical care, childhood immunization rates, and percent of adults who smoke.
Other media outlets
like the New York Times have said Americans can no longer attract new plants because of the lack of education and the lack of nationalized healthcare. The
Toyota announcement flies in the face of that editorialization, but
Toyota's leap into more unknown territory bears watching, since
Nissan has experienced teething problems at its Mississippi plant.
The new plant site is located near both the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State. And like other plants located in the South, that in-between location could be an important distinction - giving the plant a ready source of college grads who might want to stay down south.
--Jim Burt
Tags: North America, Industry, Manufacturing
Posted in: 2007, Toyota, Crossover
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