Monthly Archives: November 2014

Feeling hawkish

The Silver Hawk (1957-59) replaced the Flight Hawk and Power Hawk in the Studebaker line. (Spotted in Arnprior, Ontario)

It’s one of those cars that makes you wish you were living in the ’50s.

The part after the polio vaccine.

Anyone wandering by this stunning 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk would assume its vibrant, triple-tone paint job, plentiful chrome and unapologetic tail fins were the product of a company awash in money and idealism.

Not true.

The 1959 Silver Hawk escaped the cost-cutting being performed by a financially desperate Studebaker.

The car this Silver Hawk was based on – the radical 1953 Studebaker Starlight, sculpted by legendary designer Raymond Loewy – did emerge in a time of seemingly limitless postwar bliss – for both America and Studebaker.

Six years later, Studebaker’s fortunes had fallen drastically, and the Indiana-based company was in what Lee Iacocca would call ‘triage mode’. An ill-fated merger with Packard and a myriad of other issues saw Studebaker in the red, leaking money, and struggling to survive.

The Loewy-designed coupes – Starlight (pillared coupe) and Starliner (pillarless hardtop) – were given a re-working for 1956 to freshen their appearance, and were expanded into five models. The Flight Hawk, Power Hawk, Sky Hawk, Silver Hawk and top-line Golden Hawk oozed ‘1950s’, but didn’t sell in enough numbers to balance the company’s books.

Powered by a 259 c.i.d. V-8, the 1959 Silver Hawk served as Studebaker's flagship during that lean year.

In the background of these glorious models, the parent company was doing everything possible to cut waste and increase revenues, with moderate (but ultimately limited) success. The stodgy Studebaker Champion was stripped down to become the entry-level Scotsman (1957-58) and the same car was chopped and shortened to become the spacious ‘compact’ Lark (1959-64).

Those models gave Studebaker just enough money to struggle onward rather than folding altogether. In the waste-cutting department, the Silver Hawk – Studebaker’s best-selling Hawk model – was kept for 1959 while the others were canned.

The ’59 Silver Hawk was available with a 170 c.i.d. inline-six making 90 horsepower, or a 259 c.i.d. V-8 making 180 or 195 horsepower, depending on carburation. Buoyed by the success of the Lark, Studebaker saw renewed interested in the Silver Hawk that year, selling 7,788 units.

For ’59, the Silver Hawk’s lettering moved to its tasteful (for ’59) tail fins.

The Silver Hawk name was abbreviated to just ‘Hawk’ for 1960 and ’61, as Studebaker soldiered on into a decade it wouldn’t survive. The body remained exactly the same for those model years, though an upgrade engine appeared in the form of the company’s 289 c.i.d. V-8 (making 210 to 225 horsepower).

A transmission upgrade was also offered in 1961.

The last of the Hawk lineage – the 1962-64 Gran Turismo Hawk – is still a classic, despite being a facelifted model based on 11-year-old architecture. Right up until its demise in 1964 (1966 in Canada), Studebaker had the uncanny ability to transform dated designs into something reflecting its era.

Call it ‘grace under pressure.’

Is it a sedan…or just a Mirage?

This overseas-market Mitsubishi Attrage is what any U.S.-bound Mirage would look like.

Good news, lovers of diminutive, low-cost subcompacts!

It appears that a four-door version of the Mitsubishi Mirage will eventually find its way to North America to join its 3-cylinder hatchback sibling. News of the addition was leaked to Motor Trend via a Mitsubishi excutive at the recent L.A. Auto Show.

“Rent-a-car companies rejoice,” declared Carscoops.com upon hearing the news.

Their reaction promises to be more animated than that of the general population’s.

The Mirage hatch came to North America in the fall of last year with a low starting price and good advertised mileage – just the thing to combat high gas prices and a stagnant economy.

It also brought a 74-horsepower 3-cylinder engine that left no one’s heart on fire. Still, it sold far more units than, say, a Kia K900 – way more, in fact.

This calendar year, U.S. sales figures show a total of 14,240 Mirage hatchbacks sold as of Halloween, while Canadian buyers snapped up 3,561 in the same time frame.

Since last fall, a far-batter-reviewed competitor has emerged – the Nissan Micra – and oil prices have fallen steeply, which changes the playing field. So far, it doesn’t seem like the bigwigs at Mitsubishi are in much of a rush to get the Mirage sedan to U.S. and likely Canadian) shores anytime soon.

Going by pictures of the Mitsubishi Attrage, which the Mirage is billed as overseas, an improved (front end featuring chrome and actual grille openings) would accompany the new four-door.

Links:

http://www.carscoops.com/2014/11/mitsubishi-to-bring-mirage-sedan-to-us.html

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2013/10/mitsubishi-mirage-sales-figures-usa-canada.html

Iron chic

1972 Buick LeSabre Custom, spotted in Edmonton, Alberta.

Low interest rates have been kind to Canadian car buyers, but they’ve served to slowly eliminate a once-common automotive entity – the beater.

You know, the rust-and-primer coated barge that just needs to make it through one more winter until its owner’s fortunes turn around? An increasingly rare presence in this day and age, and high gas prices and emissions regulations haven’t helped, either.

When so many road-going classics are now of the waxed weekly, Sunday drive variety, you really start to take notice of the beaters – especially the legitimately classic ones.

On a hot, dry day in July, this rusting land yacht beckoned to me from the side of Gateway Boulevard in south-end Edmonton, Alberta. A 1972 Buick Lesabre Custom, this rig truly fit the definition of ‘beater’.

Rusting everywhere along the lower body panels, and with a sun-faded vinyl top, this Brougham Era tank used to be a lot more commonplace. Yet, even with its rust and faded paint, its chrome still sparkled and the overall car still exuded a feeling of solidity, like a grizzled rancher who has no plans of retiring.

The LeSabre had beefier bumpers for ’72, in anticipation of federal 5-mph crash regulations coming down the pipe.

Clearly, this beast had been through many a winter, and the only reason there’s any body left is because Alberta doesn’t salt its roads.

The LeSabre was one of those ubiquitous ’70s full-sizers that, like the Caprice and LTD, seemed to make up a good part of the American landscape during its reign.

The LeSabre, slated above the Century in the Buick lineup but below the Electra 225, ran with few changes from ’71 to ’76, before downsizing shed both length and weight. Under the hood of this version was the trusty 350 c.i.d. V-8, now with Nixon-era EPA-mandated emissions controls.

A 455 c.i.d. V-8 was optional, with a badge on the front fender broadcasting your engine choice to the world. The only transmission available was the 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic that propelled GMs from the 60s to the 90s.

The ’72s featured beefier bumpers than the previous year, an acknowledgement of the federally-mandated 5 mph bumper requirement that came into effect the following year. The ’73 bumpers weren’t nearly as graceful and form-fitting as those on the ’72.

The Electra 225 Limited was the top-end model for ’72, with the LeSabre slotting beneath it.

Times were changing in the American auto industry. Besides smog controls, Nanny State features like ‘fasten seatbelt’ lights and door ajar chimes entered Buick equipment lists in ’72. This was also the last year for full-size Buick ragtops.

The OPEC oil embargo the following year would bring a whole new world of hurt to the industry, one that nearly killed a member of the Big Three by the end of the decade.

Still, seeing this relic 42 years after it rolled of the assembly line is a reminder of how far the industry has come since that turbulent decade. And, we can’t forget that GM, and Buick, lives on today.

Big time

Besides doing big business, the 2014 Nissan Sentra boasts size – both inside and out – at the top of its class.

If you’ve been seeing a lot more Nissan Sentra’s plying the roads lately, it isn’t your imagination.

Buyers have been snapping up the Sentra like canned goods before a Category 5 hurricane, giving the traditional compact car players a run for their money.

This is a big step back into the spotlight for a venerable model that had become almost invisible in Nissan’s lineup.

October sales in the U.S. show a staggering 56.3% increase over the same month last year, while year-to-date sales are up 44.7% over 2013. In Canada, Nissan moved a total of 1,372 Sentras off dealer lots in October, compared to 1,178 in Oct., 2013.

One thing I can’t help but notice when I see one is its size. You’d swear it was pushing into mid-size territory. If this were the 1990s, you couldn’t tell me the 2014 Sentra is smaller than a Chevy Corsica or Ford Contour.

(Ah, that long lost ‘lower midsize’ category. May it rest in peace.)

After seeing this sizeable compact eleventy billion times, I figured it was time to get down and dirty and compare measurements, just to see if my eyes were deceiving me.

Sentra sales are up 44.7% over last year. (Image: www.newcars.com)

Dimension-wise, I compared the Sentra to other popular vehicles in its class – the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Ford Focus and Chevy Cruze. Cargo volume was thrown in for good measure, because who doesn’t look a big trunk?

Going by factory spec, it turns out the Sentra is indeed on the large size, coming in at-or-near the top of its class in terms of length and wheelbase.

At 182.1 inches in length, only the Toyota Corolla bests it, and that’s only by five-tenths of an inch. This was somewhat surprising, as the Corolla in my eyes – appears a little stubby.

The Sentra’s wheelbase, 106.3 inches, was matched by the Corolla and the Mazda 3.

Trunk space, at a generous 15.1 cubic feet, was at the top of the pack. The closest challenger was the Cruze at 15 cubic feet. The other four vehicles ranged from a measly 12.4 cubic feet in the Mazda 3 to 13.2 cubic feet in the Corolla and the Focus.

The Sentra makes no sporting claims in its advertising, preferring to sway car shoppers with value. Offering lots of space for the money is a time-honoured tactic that seems to work well, assuming that the product is at least of fair quality.

With the other brands in a sales tug-of-war fueled by claims of driving excitement (and a healthy dose of name-recognition), it seems the folks at Nissan made a conscious choice to go big, or go home.

Links:

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01/nissan-sentra-sales-figures.html

SVX FYI

Subaru SVX (times two), spotted near Low, Quebec.

It’s like seeing two white rhinos in one place.

That place? Rural Quebec.

Once the pride of 1990s Japan, the Subaru SVX threw all the futuristic trappings it could find into the sporty luxury coupe, which was sold in limited numbers from mid-1991 to 1996.

The most tell-tale styling cue/gimmick on the SVX (sold as the hard-to-pronounce Alcyone overseas) was the window-in-a-window treatment, which made the car look like it had just driven out of a dystopian film set in the near future.

Under the hood of the SVX, you’d find pretty much everything except a turbo. Its twin-cam 3.3-litre flat-six used the fanciest multi-port fuel injection system available at the time, complemented by platinum spark plugs and a hefty computer nanny overseeing engine functions.

All this hardware brought the car up to 231 horsepower, which was delivered to all four wheels via the only available transmission – a four-speed automatic. No manual tranny meant that the car’s sporting credentials were not complete.

A little closer: Its tires may be flat, but that block heater cord is ready for action.

Technologically advanced, and reasonably fast, the flagship SVX was by far the most expensive product offered by Subaru at the time. Productions costs were high and buyers limited, leading to a situation where Subaru lost money on each SVX they sold.

Offering front-wheel drive base models at a reduced price didn’t reverse the tepid sales trend. Despite projecting (read: hoping) that annual sales would touch the five-figure mark, less than 25,000 were sold worldwide for the entire model run – a little more than half of that number reaching North American buyers.

Subaru’s supercar was an ambitious vehicle at the time, but multiple factors ensured that it never quite measured up to its name (Alcyone – the brightest star in the Pleiades star cluster, which forms Subaru’s corporate logo).

I am the resurrection

Will a $5 billion investment from Ford boost Lincoln’s sagging fortunes? Time will tell.

There’s been no shortage of spilled ink when it comes to debating the (seemingly) age-old question, ‘What are we to do with Lincoln?’

The iconic 92-year-old brand, once the pinnacle of American luxury, has meandered along on a rudderless path for years, churning out forgettable vehicles while whispers of its impending demise grew ever louder.

Well, it seems that Ford is finally deciding to do something about the wayward marque. New CEO Mark Fields clearly believes in the ‘go big or go home’ mantra, and late last month announced plans to pump piles of money into the Lincoln Motor Company.

Like gasoline through the carb of a 460 V-8, this copious cash infusion is aimed at jump-starting the brand into renewed relevancy.

How much cash, exactly? At least $5 billion over the next five years, according to Reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/24/us-fordmotor-lincoln-idUSKCN0ID2FU20141024

To compete, you need to offer a variety of things that people want, and do it as good or better than the other guys. Like any company with two brain cells to rub together, Lincoln knows this, and the 2014 MKC small crossover is a good example of a move in a more competitive direction.

But one new vehicle doesn’t save a company. The $5 billion will be allocated to freshening up the existing lineup while adding new goodies to the shelf.

The creation of a new, highly-configurable platform to underpin several new models is at the centre of the rebuilding plan. The platform will reportedly be able to accommodate drivetrains utilizing the front or rear wheels (or all of them).

Now that there’s fuel being added to the fire, it should be interesting to watch Lincoln attempt to rise from the ashes.

Lincoln Mk. III (1969-1971) spotted in Prince George, British Columbia.

Whether it will attain past levels of glory remains to be seen, but I’ve got my fingers crossed – like always – for a new flagship Continental sedan, ideally with suicide doors.

I’m never backing down on that wish. And if that’s too much to ask, can we please get a personal luxury coupe?

Driven to Attraction

If it has an engine, it has a heart