motown 2010: really big shew

Well, I seem to be blogging my midwestern trip in a somewhat non-linear fashion so I spologize if the sequence of events seems somewhat out of order. There's still one dispatch due from Detroit but today we are focusing on the Motown 2010 show sponsored by the Lambda Car Club, and one of two large gay and lesbian car shows annually.

The West Coast Meet is held annually in San Luis Obispo, CA, and is alternately hosted by the Freewheelers Car Club of San Francisco and the Great Autos of Yesteryear of Los Angeles. Their event is always large and well attended.

By contrast, the Lambda Car Club (primarily on the east coast and midwest but extending all the way to Phoenix) has an annual Grand Invitation hosted by a different member region each year. As I mentioned earlier, I attended Destination Detroit, the first show in the Motor City, in the summer of 1990. It was there my 1956 Desert Rose and White 1956 Imperial was named Best In Show, although in reality I think the award it received was really "Most Pink Car". Undeserved awards nonwithstanding, it was a great event and set a high standard for those shows to follow.

We returned to Detroit in 2000 for "D2K', an outstanding event in which we were exposed to significant Manufacturer sponsored event, including a Lincoln concept car under the porte cochere of our hotel and an unforgettable GM Cocktail Party full of legendary GM Motorama cars. Another one of the record books.

My excitement for Motown 2010 was twofold- first that the Detroit folks produce an excellent event full of Automobile History, and second that it marks the third Grand Invitational I have attended in Detroit- the car show twenty years in the making, as it were. Quite a few original attendees from 1990 and 2000 were in attendance, along with at least three of the show cars on the field.

In terms of sheer numbers, the event was huge- over 400 attendees displayed 230 cars on the show field, ranging from a 1916 Cole to a trio of 1991 Fleetwoods. The variety of the cars never fails to delight, and the only way to accurately portray the show is to link to the album. It's mind blowing. I apologize in advance that there are just shy of 400 photos, and my ongoing technical problem with flickr leaves me unable to tag the photos at this time.

Many thanks to our friends at the Lambda Car Club- Detroit Region for producing such an outstanding event. I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Tonka Truck meets Manpurse- 2011 Kia Sportage

KIA showed off their new 2011 Sportage in San Francisco last week. It's the fifth all new product in just under two years, following on the heels of the Soul, subcompact Forte sedan, the two door derivative Koup, and the Sorrento SUV.

It's the third generation of Sportage, and this one looks like it came from Extreme Makeover: Kia Edition. It has a much larger footptrint- wider and longer with expressive exterior styling in the flavor of miniaturized Audi Q7 (no surprise to learn it was penned by former Audi stylist Peter Schreyer) and giant 18" wheels (standard on EX) which are worthy of the coolest Tonka trucks. Did I mention that the target audience is single and male? It's a stylish and playful look which has a MUCH more upmarket look than its predecessors. Status seekers might consider swiping a set of interlocking rings for the grille, I think the car could carry it off.

A much more upmarket execution permeates the interior as well. I called it a Manpurse inside- a black on black compartment with comfortable, well tailored leather seats, an Infinity Audio System with Bluetooth, USB, Sirius Satellite Radio heated and cooled driver's seat, and a ginormous Panorama sunroof. Yes, it's a lot of black but so is a Coach bag, and I found much more pleasing it more honest than fake wood or fake aluminum or fake carbon fibre which the Europeans love so much these days. (And didn't they malign us for our fake wood in the 70's? All fashion comes back, I guess...) The storage console is larger now, the glove box is cooled (Evian, anyone?) and the door pockets are roomy. All in all, a well designed Manpurse, and the rear seat will be more than comfy for taking the French Bulldogs to Palm Springs for the weekend. Also coming later in the year is Kia's handsfree UVO system, developed by Microsoft and rather similar to Ford's Sync. But more of that when it comes on stream.

Power comes from the 2.4 litre Theta four cylinder engine. In this guise, it produces 176 hp, and gets 22 mpg in the city and 31 highway. Compared to the last gen's V6, it has a bit more power, a bit less torque, and quite a bit better highway fuel economy. For those who need more go, a 270 hp turbo will be introduced mid-year.


Driving impressions are favorable. The Theta engine idles very smoothly and is quite adequate for the car's needs, although I think the Turbo will be much more suited for sporting drivers. While not a sports car, the Sportage handled quite nicely on the twisting roads of Half Moon Bay, the increased width made it feel quite stable, and the ride was quite pleasant for a vehicle of this wheelbase. Again a big improvement over past generations and in no way a "penalty box."

Possibly the biggest improvement is invisible to the naked eye- residual value. In the retail biz, the better the residual, the lower the lease payment and traditionally Kia has not been blessed with high residuals. However, one of the benefits of Kia's reinvention has been an improvement in the residual values that lenders have assigned to Kia models. In the case of Sportage, the improvement has been dramatic. A 36 month residual value of 61% has been assigned to the base Sportage, up twenty-two percentage points over the 2010 model. This is as dramatic of an improvement as I have ever seen in one year and, when combined with the price point of the car ($18,990 base and fully equipped in upper twenties) should result in a very compelling affordability story. Perhaps I should have mentioned that first.


So if your taste runs toward the tailored Audi look but budget constraints preclude such a reality, you might take a look at the Sportage. I was quite favorably impressed.

motown 2010: walter p chrysler museum

After stammering out of the GM Heritage Center in a daze, we managed to stagger back into the car and drive a few miles down the road to the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. This one is a more prominent building arranged on three levels with an awesome rotating spire-o-mopars as a focal point. This one is more like a museum than a big toybox, with a fascinating section following the early engineering advances of Chrysler Corporation.










A delicious blend of special treats- ranging from one of the very first 1924 Chryslers ever produced, to a gorgeous 1934 Airflow, one of the seven 1941 Thunderbolt disappearing hardtop coupes, a sampler platter of wooden bodied Town and Countrys, an excellent representation of the finned Mopar, an exquisite Dodge la Femme (previously documented here) displayed complete with all accessories- and my all time favorite, the elegant Engle-bird 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car. Again, I will let the photos speak and the link to the photos is here. (I must apologize that my flickr account won't let me update at the moment, so I can't caption. Technical support to come! Enjoy

motown 2010: gm heritage center

My flight was almost four hours late arriving into Detroit (thanks, United, for your very typical service) so I had to hit the deck running. Thursday morning we were up early for a full day of museums. The highlight of the day was the GM Heritage Collection, a nondescript building in an industrial park in a northern suburb.










But once inside, it's an automotive field of dreams. The Turbine powered Firebird I revolves on a turntable, surrounded by its two successors, Firebird II and III, and a cornucopia of Motorama alumni. Le Sabre, Le Mans, Cyclone. Legendary names all neatly lined up in a row.

The Buick Y-job of 1938 rests alongside the Velite of 2004. The 1962 Special deluxe, 1953 Skylark and 1963 Riviera were part of Buick's Auto Show Fleet. The 1983 Riviera Pace car convertible with Buick's first twin-turbo V6 that directly led to the Grand National.

A row of Pontiacs including the Trans Am Type K wagon show car. 2+2's and Firebirds. Corvette concept cars that graced the cover of many a Motor Trend magazine in my childhood. Sting Ray. Mako Shark. Aerovette. Chevys. Seemed liked thousands of them. A sensory overload. I kept having to remind myself to breathe.

Rather than having me ramble on and on, follow this link to a gallery of the GM Heritage Center.

destination detroit

Twenty years ago this month, I steered my Desert Rose 1956 Imperial (white top and wire wheels, thank you) toward the Motor City for a very special car show. It was the Grand Invitational of the Lambda Car Club, the country's largest gay and lesbian car club. Detroit was hosting for the first time and it was my very first gay car show, having found Lambda only a few months prior.

It was a long day on I-94 winding up from Chicago (the axiom about Michigan having two seasons- winter and road construction) was never more true and although the big Hemi's temperature gauge never wavered, mine came close to overheating. Finally, long after sunset, I turned the big pink Mopar into the parking lot of the host hotel and the headlamps immediately caught a row of....Model A Fords. It occurred to me that I might have made a grevious error in judgment. I stepped into the office and asked if there was more than one car club staying there. The lady glanced over my shoulder at the grinning Pepto Bismol Imperial and smiled. "Oh, you guys are out back. Take the first left." I did as instructed and saw a row of glistening tailfins. I was home.

It was a week long graduate study course in automotive history. Museums, homes of the auto pioneers, old historic factories, even searching for the faded Imperial water tower on mound road. A couple of hundred guys, many of whom have remained friends to this day. Many other fine people no longer with us. Over a hundred cars on the field. An iconic time.

Last week I was in Detroit for their "Motown 2010", on the twentieth anniversary of the original. Another awesome event with four hundred people and over two hundred cars in attendance. A lot of people from the original and even three cars on the field from the 1990 show. I'll be sharing stories throughout the week. I'm in automotive sensory overload. This is a good thing.

Couture Cars- Designer Wheels and Special Editions of the 70's- by Jeff Stork

Part One: In The Beginning

It was probably inevitable that the decade which saw the meteoric rise of designer jeans and conspicuously branded handbags would also see the birth of the designer automobile. The wonderfully outrageous design sensibility of the label obsessed 70’s practically demanded such a creation. But how did such a wonderfully audacious marriage first take place? The answer may not be what one would assume.

While it is well established that all of the domestic producers were actively engaged in producing ever more luxurious (and thus more profitable) upgraded trim packages for the status conscious consumer, the stroke of Genius (or possibly the Fickle Finger of Fate) in this case goes to those dapper fellows at little old AMC.



Like many marriages both then and now, this one began in the back seat-literally in this particular case. In the fall of 1971, for the grand sum of $142, AMC spontaneously created a new class of automobile with the introduction of the Hornet Sportabout by Gucci. The cute yet humble little grocery getter was transformed by a totally unique interior featuring hunter green and beige deluxe vinyl seats and door panels. The Gucci signature red and green striping, generously applied, accented the interior trim. A full Gucci striped headliner was fitted as a finishing touch. The special Sportabout was offered in four distinctive exterior colors- White, Stardust Silver, Yucca Tan and Grasshopper Green. A total of 2,583 customers added the Gucci touch to their little Sportabouts.



AMC was sufficiently buoyed by the results to take the next step. They followed up at mid-year with their next entry, the Pierre Cardin Javelin. It featured an avant garde interior of Chinese red, plum, white and silver stripes on a black background. Cardin striping raced down the headliner as well. It featured silver striping on the exterior and was offered with several exterior shades, although it was most commonly paired with Wild Plum. A total of 4,152 fashion mavens plunked down an additional $85 each for the Cardin makeover.



The year 1973 brought yet another AMC designer edition, this time pairing up with a name more widely known to the American public- Levi’s. The Levi’s edition Gremlin bowed to polite yet denim-clad society, featuring spun nylon denim-esque fabric on its seats, door panels and map pockets. It also featured the famous flame orange stitching and copper rivets, Levi’s tags on the seats and Levi’s exterior ornamentation. It was the most costly AMC designer package to date, listing for $277 (but included a deluxe interior with luxurious touches like insulation and a glove box door), and was so successful that it was offered through the 1978 model year and even expanded to other AMC models. The Gucci Sportabout and Pierre Cardin Javelin were continued for 1973 as well. Clearly, AMC had taken the lead.



Bless those dear souls at General Motors- they almost got there so many times. They thought about it when they offered an upgraded velour interior as a 70th anniversary option on the 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood, but it bore no signature. Their first near miss happened in May of 1972, when they affixed a Tiffany clock key ring to the special edition 1972 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. The car had a gorgeous pillowed interior, rear seat back pockets, special door panels and came in a special color, Tiffany Gold, but they stopped short of labeling it as a designer edition. Instead they resisted the addition of anyone else’s name to their products and ignited the Battle of the Broughams-almost every series would soon be offered in an upgraded Limited, Brougham, or d’Elegance. Luxurious velours and plaid fabrics were everywhere and some pretty plebian nameplates were enriched- like the Luxury LeMans and later the Luxury Nova. You’ll know you’ve made it when it’s written on your fender in a calligraphic sweep of chrome. From here a few unique editions were only a small step.



Enter Hank the Deuce, over at Ford. Those dears from Dearborn decided to stick their toes into the water, rather boldly at first, with bicentennial themed Sprint décor option packages offered on Ford Maverick, Mustang and Pinto. A field of white inside and out with bold blue accents and red pinstriping, they were set off with USA flag decals on the rear quarters which looked as it they had literally been purchased at a truck stop in I-80. But the cars were bright and youthful, and it was a start. Their next move was considerably more soigné- an elegant triple silver luxury group for the 1973 Continental Mark IV: special metallic silver exterior finish with a special silver finish long grain roof. Inside, silver metallic leather or rouge red velour. It was remarkably handsome, and profitable at an additional $400 MSRP.

The trend continued to build momentum in 1974 and 1975. AMC’s popular Levi’s trim was expanded to the Hornet carline. Silver Luxury Group Mark IV’s were supplanted by the Gold Luxury Group in 1974, and the launch of Continental Designer Groups in 1975 in a bevy of colors including the popular Lipstick and White.



GM ventured further into special editions with its Spirit of America Impala, Nova and Vega models. They featured a Navy Blue or white exterior with white vinyl roof, white vinyl interior accented by blue, color matched wheels, and special striping and ornamentation. Tres Bicentennial, indeed. Cadillac debuted its special d’Elegance De Villes (with striped Mardi Gras velour interiors) and the ultra swank four-passenger Fleetwood Talisman, featuring front and rear bucket seating and two consoles with locking storage compartments. That particular option cost approximately the same as a new base Vega.



Over at AMC, the Cardin Javelin was retired and the youthful coupe market was being captured by an all new 1974 Matador coupe. To keep the momentum going, an Oleg Cassini Matador was offered in 74 and 75, featuring copper carpeting, seat buttons, and even gauge faces fitted to a black knit fabric interior. The exterior choices were Black and White, each with copper painted accents (grille background, rear cove, wheel covers) and usually fitted with a Copper vinyl roof. Of course appropriate badges rounded out the package. AMC owned the game at the moment, but a major competitor was about to shift into high gear

Coming Next: Part II- Hitting the Stride