This past weekend, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz was one of the guests on National Public Radio’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me. The comedic weekend quiz show regarding recent news events often takes the show on the road, and this show was recorded in Lutz’s home turf — at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater.
Lutz participated in the show’s “Not My Job” segment, where they invite experts from one field on to answer questions from another unrelated area. Since Lutz has been a fighter pilot, racecar driver, and auto executive, they decided to ask him three questions about people who never like to leave the house at all.
“You must choose one of the Big Three,” they joked when Lutz was hedging on three choices, to which Lutz quickly replied, “…which may some day become all of the above.” Lutz didn't correctly answer any questions, which is par for the course on the show, but the questions are really just a way of loosening up the guests, as host Peter Sagal chatted with Lutz about his two fighter planes and being able to buy a decommissioned military aircraft for what Lutz described as “less than you’d pay for a nice Ferrari.” “Instead of trying to compete with them, you could simply strafe them,” joked Peter Sagal, referring to competition from other car companies, and how they might not have access to their own ‘air force.’
They also discussed Lutz’s being hired by GM at age 70, and laughed about the contentious name ‘LaCrosse’, which allegedly is French Canadian vernacular for, as Sagal interjected, “a form of self-entertainment.” The model has been called Allure in Canada, a name that Lutz, clearly critical of the decision, said sounds like a perfume.
Lutz had a chance at the end to plug the Chevrolet Volt, which he called his “perfect car.” “This can bring about the revolution and really make us independent of foreign oil and solve all the other problems,” he said to applause.
Chrysler's recent crop of concept cars haven't been approved for production-but that didn't stop the company from letting the press get their hands on them for a spin.
The automaker brought an assortment of show cars - a handful from each category - out on a warm spring afternoon, some just to sit and look pretty, but most for us to actually slip inside and drive down the tony waterfront in Grosse Pointe, Mich. The selection covered quite a range, from entry-level roadsters to high-line sedans, as well as a variety of Jeeps and trucks.
And while they didn't confirm any of the vehicles were headed for production, some hints were offered. Which of the vehicles is closest? You'll have to stay tuned to TheCarConnection's auto show coverage.
Until then, tell us - which Chrysler concept do you think should head into production?
A lot of strange and intriguing e-mail crosses my digital transom. There are the rants and the raves, the corrections and the questions, and of course, plenty of press releases. You learn whose notes you want to read first—the e-mail hors d’ouevres, if you will—and those always include old friend Dick Nerod.
Now retired from General Motors, Dick is seemingly as active as ever, even if it’s just sending out notes like the one I got this morning on the N2A. Rather than interpret his words, here’s what he tells us: “This is built by N2A (No 2 Alike) motors. Cost $75,000 over cost of new Corvette. The company is planning a production run of about 100 vehicles. Sits on a Corvette C6 chassis, front styled like a ‘57 Chevy, side like a ‘58, rear like a ‘59. Hence the designation "789."
Apparently, this design mashup made its appearance at Autorama earlier in the year and is the brainchild of Fred Kanter, a collector and entrepreneur who also happens to own the rights to the Packard brand name. From what we’ve been able to piece together, it took him about 14 weeks to produce the carbon fiber body, though pretty much what’s underneath is stock C6 ‘Vette. That means about 400 horsepower from the LS2 V-8.
We’ve seen plenty of similar ventures over the years, including the disastrous Excalibur, thirty-some years ago. Whether N2A will pull it off is uncertain, but the look is certainly intriguing. To our own, jaded eyes, the most striking angle is the rear, which really does capture the best features of the ’59 Chevy.
What’s going on in Detroit on fuel economy? What’s the best General Motors publicity campaign on wheels? And why are the French suddenly our favorite people in the world again? Listen up to the latest podcast of TheCarConnection.com’s letters to the editor, where this week, we’ll talk about the Obama machine’s misstep on fuel economy, the rise in gas prices and what America should be doing about them, and whether Chevrolet’s Volt or the Blue Devil corvette is the GM halo car. Our readers will tell us why the editor’s a “dysfunctional Bushie,” why we all need to “stop panicking,” and lastly, why we all need to “get off our Viagra and Cialis” and stop driving while drunk—that’s courtesy TCC’s newest and certainly oddest reader.
We’re all frustrated by drivers who don’t respect the most abused law of traffic: keep right, except to pass. But someone’s finally doing something about it, in the form of a grassroots group that seeks to point out those piggish drivers and change their habits into better driving skills.
Left Lane Drivers of America, says founder J.A. Tosti, is the cure for the slowpokes in the fast lanes. Go to their site (linked below), and you can get a decal that says “MOVE OVER,” with a clever arrow pointing the way for the clogs in the traffic arteries.
“The idea here is not to be rude or pushy,” Tosti says, “but to offer slow drivers a gentle prod, reminding them of the need to either pick up the pace or make room for those who choose to drive a bit faster.”
Why do people drag their feet in the left lane? Tosti says it’s a bunch of reasons. “Some of these offenders are timid and tentative, some are completely oblivious to what’s going on around them, and some are self-appointed ‘hall monitors’ regulating what they alone have determined to be proper driving speeds,” he wrote in a release sent out this week.
With states slacking on their duties in enforcing the rules—keeping right except to pass is the law in many states—Tosti says his efforts could improve traffic flow, which could in turn cut down on road rage, accidents, and we say, fuel use – since slow drivers cause jams and accidents that eat gas.
What do you think? What’s the worst you’ve seen in the left lane? Tell us below, and check out their Web site for more information.
Veteran auto journalist Marty Padgett gives you news and opinions on the latest, hottest, greenest and fastest new vehicles on the market--and what's coming down the road.
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