It's alive! Well, almost

As of Monday, Tesla officially began production of the Tesla Roadster, the sports car that runs entirely on electricity. Keep an eye out for them in Hollywood, George Clooney and Michael "Flea" Balzary are on the list of people who reserved one. For more information on the Tesla Roadster, read my previous post here.

It might be a Smart Choice

Despite the pictures I have hanging over my desk, I missed a major occurrence in the automotive world, and for that I sincerely apologize. But the way I see it, if I missed it, other people probably did too, so I’ll go ahead and fill you in just in case.

This past January, the United States became the 37th country to sell Smart cars, according to Smart’s website, www.smartusa.com.
If you’ve been to Europe, chances are good that you’ve already seen this small auto cruising around the streets, parked perpendicular to a curb or parked in some other ridiculously small place. The size of the car is impressive. It looks like a Power Wheel for grown-ups, and I have seen people who would tower over the car while standing next to it somehow climb in and out.
But the size is part of the reason it hasn’t been sold in the U.S. until recently. Because in all honesty, with the number of SUVs out on the road, who wants to risk their life commuting in a Hot Wheels car?
To give you a basic idea of the size, the Smart ForTwo is 106 inches long, about 62 inches wide and 60 inches tall. For a little perspective, a MINI Cooper is about 55 inches tall, 66 inches wide and 146 inches long.
In my world, size is only a small factor. What really matters is what is under the hood. If you want a car for performance or speed, the ForTwo is not for you.
A one-liter, inline three-cylinder engine powers the ForTwo. It has 70 horsepower at 5800 rpms, according to the website, and 68 lb-ft of torque at 4500 rpms. The top speed is 90 miles per hour. This car was clearly built for convenience, not excitement.
The EPA estimate predicted an average of 33 mpg city and 41 mpg highway. The lower gas mileage makes the car less desirable — for slightly lower mileage, you could be driving a MINI.
The price of a ForTwo isn’t entirely impressive either. For the very basic coupe the MSRP is $11,590. The next level up, the passion coupe is $13,590, and the cabriolet version of that is $16,590. I can think of several other cars in the same price range that I would rather drive.
The ForTwo is available with an automated manual five-speed transmission, yet another option I’ve never been fond of. I prefer traditional manual transmissions, none of this electric, you-can-only-go-up-or-down-one-gear-at-time stuff. But I do like how the ForTwo handles.
I, along with dozens of other Irvine Spectrum shoppers, had the opportunity to test drive a ForTwo last May, and though it doesn’t have the kind of power I’d like (plus the guy that was sitting in the passenger seat was a little squeamish, so I had to take it easy) taking corners around the parking lot was as much fun as racing go-karts. And I do love go-karts.

Scions a sigh

Remember the year 2003? Remember thinking, “What the hell?”
I do, because that’s what I thought the first time I saw an oddly shaped box with wheels. I remember walking up to it, taking note of all the sharp angles and the badge that said, “Scion.”
In 2003 I wasn’t going to as many car shows, so I missed the unveiling of Toyota’s daughter company, Scion, but thanks to Google I was able to fill myself in on the new brand.
During its first years, Scion had two main cars, the xA and xB. The xA was a small hatchback that was a little funky looking, but not shocking enough to turn heads. I mean really, how creative can you get with a hatchback, anyway?
But the second model, the xB was the one that sparked my interest in the company. For those of you who don’t know the truth, the xB is a station wagon — it just looks like a shoebox on wheels.
Scion was designed for younger drivers. I guess that means my contemporaries and me. I did see a few of these in my high school parking lot, and I see some even now at Cal State Long Beach.
But no matter what Scion does, I’m really just not impressed.
In 2005 Scion started selling its very own coupe, the tC. The tC is probably the only model I could see myself driving. For its price tag (base MSRP $17,620), it’s a pretty chic-looking car with smooth lines. It also has a 2.4-liter engine and can put out 161 horsepower at 6,000 RPM.
For the 2008 model year, the xA was discontinued and the xB was given a makeover, but it was more like a make-under. I was never a fan of the moving box, but at least it was distinctive. Now it’s toddler-friendly with the corners rounded.
The xA was replaced by the xD and the 1.4-liter xA engine was changed out for a 1.8-liter one that puts out about 128 horses.
At this point, you may be thinking, “Neat, but what’s the news?” And that’s the problem. The news is just not there.
Scion was supposed to be a company with cars that constantly change, yet since the start of production there hasn’t been many exciting facelifts. If there’s one thing I know about my generation it’s the fact that most of us have short attention spans. Scion, like its parent company Toyota, can’t seem to handle our high-speed lifestyles, despite the flashy displays at auto shows.
Later this month, at the New York Auto Show, Scion will be unveiling its new coupe concept. Based on the one barely-revealing picture I’ve seen, the new concept will be just what Scion needs to re-ignite its creative spark, because whether people love the cars or hate the cars, Scions should invoke the reaction, “What the hell is this?”

2008 Geneva International Auto Show

Tuesday was my birthday. And though it was my 21st, all I really wanted was a plane ticket to Switzerland and a press pass to the 78th Annual International Auto Show in Geneva.
The show is from March 6-16 and there are going to be so many world premieres I'm going to have to drink myself into oblivion so I don't feel as bad about missing out.
A newer version of a car that would most likely grant me eternal happiness if I ever called it my own will be making its debut. A Jaguar XKR-S coupe. I fell in love with the XKR last fall, but after ogling the latest version for about 30 minutes I remember why I adore it. It's a fierce looking coupe powered by a 4.2-liter V8 engine, unfortunately I don't see the price of it going down to my range any time soon.
Another dream car of mine that's becoming a reality is the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione as a cabriolet. That's right, the Alfa Romeo staple is losing its top but none of its class. Under its hood is a 4.7-liter V8.
One more car that's probably going to be over priced, then I'll get to some a affordable car, I promise. But this is not only a world premiere of a particular car, it's a world premiere of a new class of vehicle. BMW has made what they call a Sport Activity Coupe (SAC). It's not your average crossover, which is the offspring of an SUV and sedan, because they've given a SUV body coupe like features. It's bad enough that so many drivers in monster SUVs already drive like they're sitting behind the wheel of a compact sports car, but it seems as though now BMW is fully encouraging that behavior. Keep an eye out for the X6, because you might need to remind the driver that although BMW says it's built from a coupe, it's still much larger and should therefore be handled with more care.
I'm not usually a jealous person, but sometimes, I feel like as Americans we get the shaft from car companies. I feel betrayed by our home-based company Ford because it offers Europeans cars I'd like to see on our highways, the Focus Coupe-Cabriolet. The Focus is a common car for people in my age group probably because of it's price. Recently the styling and gas mileage has improved so I'm expecting to see even more. But I won't see anyone driving a Focus with the top down, because that option just isn't available in the states and I can't figure out why. Do we not have nice, sunny, convertible-friendly days here in the states? Do convertibles not sell here? Why won't Ford give us the option? Personally, I think they'd sell pretty well. It's a cute car, it could be reasonably priced and should get excellent mileage. There you go, one practical car, as promised.
There are also a lot of European market cars which aren't available in the United States, but that doesn't really bother me because the cars just aren't that stunning and I don't really know much of European-only brands so I would feel inadequate in telling you about them.
The four cars I mentioned are the ones I'll be missing tonight and the rest of the week. Perhaps I'll start my celebration off tonight with a toast to the dream of the Geneva Auto Show, maybe next year my birthday wish will come true.