Projo Cars Blog

Irv Gordon, who has driven his 1966 Volvo P1800S 2.7 million miles in 43 years, has responded to my recent blog about his achievement.

And given the snideness of my blog, his note was very sweet. Indeed, he did not even take me up on a major mistake one of my colleagues has pointed out to me: the time he took to reach one million miles was 21 years, not 11 years.

"Hello Peter,

What is there to "Make of" my 1800 and it's accomplishment? Everyone has a hobby..a place to go to relax and restore one's vitality. Mine is my 1966 Volvo P1800S. The car does all the work while I just get to "go for a ride" and enjoy the scenery.

I am most fortunate that I decided to buy such a durable car that has taken me everywhere I ever wanted to go and never protested nor let me down. I have had my car for for 43 years and only had a wife for 23. She liked to fly, I liked to drive. Simple story...nothing to ponder.

Irv"

Thus Irv reveals the essence behind his achievement, and indeed the essence behind everyone involved with cars, whether racing them, restoring them, admiring them, buying them, selling them, collecting them, showing them, working on them, cleaning them or simply, as Irv does, driving them.

In a word, passion.

People often assume that I know alot about cars because I write about them. I respond that while I write about them, what I really write are love stories. And the story about Irv Gordon and his Volvo is very much a love story.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

DETROIT -- Automakers had another difficult month in June, but sales figures released Wednesday included faint glimmers of hope for the industry, according to The New York Times.

The Ford Motor Company has been hoping to separate itself in consumers' eyes from its domestic rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, which have been forced to accept government lifelines and to file for bankruptcy.

June sales suggest that is happening. Ford, which has not asked for a government bailout, said its sales were down 11 percent from June 2008.

By contrast, sales fell 33 percent for General Motors, which has temporarily shut many of its factories to pare inventories, and 42 percent for Chrysler, which closed all of its United States plants while it operated in bankruptcy protection.

Ford also outsold Toyota in June for the third consecutive month, and the company is regaining share while discounting its vehicles less than G.M. and Chrysler.

Ford said its sales in more than half of the country were about even with or greater than a year ago. Stagnant demand in the West and Southeast, where the housing market has been hit hardest, dragged the company's overall sales lower.

"Ford is a much stronger brand than a lot of us give it credit for," said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds.com, a Web site that gives car-buying advice to consumers. "They're able to sell the car and not the deal."

Asian automakers reported declines ranging from 32 percent at both Toyota and Honda to 23 percent at Nissan.

Over all, industry sales fell 28 percent compared with June 2008, a dismal figure on its own but the smallest decline since September.

Aston Martin has announced a new compact car concept, the Cygnet. Aston calls the car a "luxury commuter concept," according to The New York Times.

The Cygnet, which means young swan, takes traditional Aston styling cues -- big-mouth grille, alloy wheels and what appears to be carbon-fiber vents cut into the hood -- and transposes them onto the petite proportions of the Toyota iQ city car.

At only 117.5 inches long, the iQ, which Toyota began selling in Japan and Europe late last year, is slightly longer than a Smart Fortwo.

Despite the Aston makeover, the Cygnet will still be powered by Toyota's 67-horsepower 998-cc 3-cylinder engine -- 353 horsepower shy of the Aston Martin V-8 Vantage, a slinky $120,000 sport coupe that, until now, served as the brand's budget model.

The V-8 Vantage can accelerate from zero to 60 miles an hour in 4.5 seconds. The iQ takes roughly three times as long.

One obvious question is whether the whole thing is a joke. After the number for the Aston Martin headquarters in Gaydon, England, was punched in, a polite spokesman said the Cygnet, while still a concept, is very much for real. "A lot of our customers have two, three or four cars in their garage," he explained. Company research found that this fleet often includes at least one small car for zipping around town.

"This concept -- akin to an exclusive tender to a luxury yacht -- will allow us to apply Aston Martin design language, craftsmanship and brand values to a completely new segment of the market," said Dr. Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin's chief executive, in a news release.

So seeking to capitalize on this niche within a niche market, Aston Martin came up with the Cygnet. Based on trusty Toyota underpinnings, the production version could arrive by 2010. Prices and production numbers are not set, but, according to the Aston spokesman, the price could be around $33,000. The Toyota iQ starts at $15,800 in Britain.

Already having an Aston Martin sports car could help your chances even more because sales priority will be given to existing clientele. Sales will initially be limited to Britain and Europe. But Americans can take heart. Scion could begin selling a version of the Toyota iQ in the United States as soon as late 2010, reports Motor Trend. It is likely to cost much less than the Cygnet.

NEW YORK -- Facing a July 10 government funding cutoff, General Motors Corp. is calling for quick approval of its bid to sell its "good" parts into a new company and emerge from bankruptcy protection, according to The Associated Press.

A bankruptcy court hearing on the sale enters its third day Thursday. On Wednesday, a GM attorney warned in closing arguments that the only option to the sale plan is the company's liquidation.

"The economics in this case don't change if this sale doesn't get approved, they just get worse," GM attorney Harvey Miller said, adding that the resulting liquidation would place the future of GM's hundreds of suppliers in danger, as well as send the U.S. into an even deeper economic crisis.

I have a mistake in today's Lifebeat section of The Providence Journal which I want to correct as quickly as possible.

On page D7, I wrote a small piece about this weekend's Perryville Antique Auto Show which lists the wrong day. The show is this Sunday, June 5.

It is also not the Perryville Hot Rod and Antique Auto Show, rather the Perryville Antique Auto Show.

I apologize for any confusion and want to thank Diane Smith, who organizes the show with her husband Bob, for her gracious understanding.

Peter C.T. Elsworth

DETROIT -- U.S. sales at Ford and Chrysler last month offered sharply different views on the downtrodden U.S. market for cars and trucks, while General Motors held its own even though it entered bankruptcy protection, according to The Associated Press.

Ford's June sales showed signs of stabilization, as the healthiest Detroit automaker posted its smallest sales decline of the year at 10.7 percent. It also said it gained market share.

But Chrysler Group LLC, just weeks after exiting bankruptcy protection, reported a 42 percent drop in sales, hurt by a big cut in fleet sales and declines in all its models except the Dodge Challenger muscle car.

GM reported a 33.4 percent sales drop, slightly larger than the 30 percent drop it reported for May before it entered bankruptcy protection. GM plans to sell or close Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab to focus on four core brands - Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

June sales from other automakers indicated that the industry downturn has begun leveling off. Toyota's U.S. sales fell 32 percent in June to 131,654 units - a smaller decline than in previous months for the Japanese automaker.

Last week I noted that lower diesel prices were helping sale for German-made vehicles from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

Now it seems they might be alone on the diesel front as Automotive News is reporting that the American and Japanese companies are backing off the technology.

Apparently, plans to introduce nine diesel vehicles next year have been scrapped due partly to the higher cost of the engines and partly to concern about lingering bad impressions of the technology.

The diesel powered vehicles that had been scheduled were: a light-duty Dodge Ram pickup (Chrysler); an F-150 pickup (Ford); GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups (General Motors); an Acura TSX sedan (Honda); a Maxima sedan and a Titan pickup (Nissan); and a Tundra pickup and a Sequoia SUV (Toyota).

It seems that American and Japanese companies are continuing to put their money on gas-electric hybrids.

As far as I am concerned, the ideal combination would be diesel-electric hybrid engines but that would be a high-priced combination of two expensive technologies.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth