Porsche, strangled with debt incurred in trying to acquire more than 75 percent of VW, reportedly was negotiating a non-binding agreement with the Qatar Investment Authority that would not only see the Middle Eastern investors gain as much as 25 percent of Porsche but also be granted options to buy as much as 20 percent of VW.

The situation’s increasingly circus-like atmosphere was bolstered by Porsche’s rejection of a VW offer to buy half of the tiny sportscar maker for a reported $5.6 billion - a refusal that came with a petulant admonishment that VW’s offer went to Porsche chairman Wolfgang Porsche instead of the company’s executive board.

The two German automakers have been locked in a years-long battle to decide whether tiny sportscar maker Porsche AG or giant Volkswagen Group will control the other. The Porsche family, in unsuccessfully attempting to take over VW, also riled Ferdinand Piech, the immensely gifted engineer and notoriously prickly current chairman of VW. Piech also is related to the Porsche family and is one of Porsche’s chief family shareholders.

Porsche reputedly racked up more than $12 billion in debt in its run to control as much as 75 percent of VW stock; Porsche currently owns a controlling 51 percent and options to acquire much more. It is those options Qatar Investment seemingly seeks to own as part of its proposed investment in Porsche.

Earlier this year, it seemed Porsche and VW would do the businesslike thing, bury the hatchet and merge. But a concrete merger deal never emerged and the bickering between the companies and families intensified. Now VW questions whether the Qatar proposal for Porsche investment -one that brings no voting rights - is nothing more than a backdoor method of acquiring a large stake in VW.

Middle Eastern investors have turned up the interest in the German auto sector in recent months. In addition to the latest Porsche-VW maneuvers, in March an Abu Dhabi investment firm, Aabar Investments PJSC, spent almost $3 billion to obtain 9.1 percent of Daimler AG, owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand. The stake made Aabar Daimler’s largest shareholder.

Source (article): AUTOOBSERVER

Source (picture): SPORTSCARCUP, AUTOFANS

This new targa-top Solstice is the last of the Pontiacs, the final breath of a brand that failed to adapt to a changing world. Once-proud Pontiac is being phased out by General Motors, its parent, and will be gone in 2010. The Solstice coupe, a fixed-roof variation of the four-year-old roadster, is Pontiac’s last new model.

It could become something of a collector’s item.

“We expect that total production will be in the neighborhood of 1,100 units when we cease operations at the Wilmington plant by the end of July,” Jim Hopson, a Pontiac spokesman, wrote in an e-mail message. All Solstice coupes will have sequential ID numbers, so owners will know exactly which car of the 1,100 they have.

The coupe I tested was the hot GXP version, which comes with a 260-horsepower 4-cylinder engine. Its window sticker of $31,045 created an expectation of polish and comfort that I felt, considering the price, it failed to deliver.

Here is a car that essentially matches my definition a doomed romance. Its drop-dead gorgeous exterior made me yearn for a fling that would turn meaningful, but a week of companionship revealed a list of quirks that included nearly every imaginable character flaw. A love-hate relationship, I suppose, was inevitable.

The spartan cabin, finished in unrelenting black on my test car, was especially noteworthy: I believe it could be the first automotive interior styled entirely by an accounting department. The only minimum-security prison I have ever visited (honest, it was only to interview an inmate) had more luxurious appointments.

The seats are tolerable, but neither supportive nor particularly adjustable — there is no place else for them to go in the cramped cockpit. Plus-size drivers should shop elsewhere.

There is virtually no convenient storage — no handy place for a cellphone, no bin to hold coins, no storage in the enormous console, no cubbies or map pockets in the doors. But there is a slit along the door sill, long enough and wide enough for a package of Slim Jim jerky.

A package shelf under the hatchback rear window is only large enough to hold the bare essentials for a weekend getaway. But if you pop for the temporary fabric top to use when the removable panel has been left home (there’s no place onboard to stash the 31-pound targa panel), the package area is commandeered to store that. So plan your trips carefully, paying close attention to the weather forecast.

The power window controls are perfectly placed for someone with six-inch-long forearms; otherwise, use your elbows. The dashboard instruments are partly eclipsed by the adjustable steering wheel, regardless of its position. The gauge faces and the radio’s digital display panel can be difficult to read, but, hey, it’s only a problem during most daylight hours.

The shifter for the 5-speed manual transmission clanks like a tenement radiator in February. Wind and road noise with the top shut is intrusive enough to warrant constant checks that the windows are all the way up and doors aren’t flapping open.

The turbocharged Ecotec 2-liter 4-cylinder makes an industrial whine but it is capable of pushing this 3,018 pound package — that’s slightly more than the convertible, oddly enough — from zero to 60 m.p.h. in 5.2 seconds, according to Car and Driver magazine. The federal fuel economy rating is 19 miles a gallon in town and 28 on the highway with the 5-speed manual.

The suspension is tuned too soft for thrashing around during amateur hour at your local racetrack. Despite standard Bilstein monotube shock absorbers, there is a generous amount of bobbing and weaving on grip-challenged 18-inch Goodyears.

The stability control system can be turned off, but my advice is to avoid this — or be prepared for some anxious moments of oversteer in spirited driving. In normal driving — freeway cruising, errand-running and getting groceries (although there is little room for them) — the GXP coupe is generally quite pleasant and stable.

Despite its many faults, the shapely little coupe is a sexy attention-getter, another beauty designed by Franz von Holzhausen when he was a rising star at General Motors. (Mr. von Holzhausen subsequently left for Mazda and is now at Tesla.) Outward visibility is atrocious, but that’s the price of being so stylish. If you can’t live with that, buy an old Volvo wagon.

Creature discomforts aside, friends and family all wanted to ride in the coupe, the longer the trip the better. Beware of straying too far from home, though: Consumer Reports found the reliability record of the Solstice convertible and the similar Saturn Sky to be dismal.

So what sort of epitaph, if any, does the Solstice GXP coupe suggest for the once-mighty Pontiac nameplate? In many ways it is a rolling testament of G.M.’s shortsightedness: a pinch of pizazz, a dash of panache, all mixed into a package of unmet promise.

Source (article): NYTIMES

Source (photo): CARWALLS

Very well maintained black and gold pickup that features many extras. This is the extended cab model so it can seat three in the rear in addition to the front driver and passenger seats. Features content theft deterrent alarm system, front power windows with rear swing-out windows, power mirrors and locks, tilt steering wheel, cruise control, powerful A/C with rear vents, and a Delco Electronics AM/FM radio with CD player and TheftLock technology. Interior looks great and it only has 93,000 miles. This car looks like new, so call or email us today to schedule a mechanical inspection or test drive.

The Department of Energy recently announced plans to give loans to car companies in order to retool to make cleaner, greener cars. With billions now available, these car companies will undoubtedly create more green jobs.

In order to appreciate how much this will affect the green landscape, you must understand where the money is going. The three car companies receiving loans are: Ford, Nissan and Tesla.

Ford, which has long had a stated commitment to environmental practices, boasts the 2010 Hybrid Fusion. The company will receive roughly $5.9 billion in loans, which reportedly will be used to change some of their manufacturing plants around to make more hybrid cars. Tesla Motors is receiving $465 million. The innovative startup makes an all-electric car with a battery that can travel over 200 miles on a single charge (it’s also wicked fast). Nissan received 1.6 billion.

Why are clean cars so vital to the green job movement? Imagine turning tens of thousands of car manufacturing jobs into green jobs.

Instead of having manufacturers make dirty gas guzzlers, they can make more hybrid electric and dedicated electric cars. Starting immediately, the loan money will go to directly to hire workers to retool for the clean car industry.

By 2012 not only will many jobs be created, it will also put a good amount of clean cars on our highways. There will likely be a lot more money available to car companies soon, as Chrysler and GM slowly emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Source (article): THEDAILYGREEN

Source (picture): HUFFINGTONPOST

Honda Element

I met Chris Plaisance through a friend who recommended him highly for used vehicle purchases and I understand why. From the very first visit I felt comfortable with having Chris be my personal shopper for the vehicle I was looking for, a Honda Element. He had already taken the time to look into the type of vehicle I was interested in and noted the differences between the models, vehicle value and past sales prices. His search to find the right Element for me was not an easy one, as they are not readily available. But being patient was well worth the wait, I now have an almost brand new Element at a price that I was very pleased with. In addition, he had a buyer for my other vehicle in less than a week! And no hassles with paperwork- buying or selling, everything was done quickly and professionally right at his office. I appreciate how easy Chris made the process for me and I’ll be calling on him for any future vehicle needs as well as recommending PVB and VechicleSpa services to others.

Light blue 2003 BMW 530i in beautiful condition. Entire interior is leather. This sedan comes loaded with extras: power windows, sliding/tilt sunroof, power and heated front seats, built in cellular phone, powerful A/C and an AM/FM radio with CD player. Radio and cruise controls are on the steering wheel. Also features an on board computer that has capabilities for parking assistance, travel time calculations, speed limit alert, and others. Contact us today to set up an appointment for test drive or mechanical inspection.

But Bentley won’t be without a flagship for long. The ultra-lux market “is our heartland,” said Stuart McCullough, board member for sales and marketing, during an interview at the L.A. show. He went on to say that the Arnage replacement will have an “attitude toward craftsmanship and longevity.” We take that to mean it will have classic styling and a palatial, extremely lavish interior that does not strive so hard to look modern as its market rival, the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

At the same time, we should also expect the new car to utilize more space-age materials such as the advanced lightweight-polymer seat tracks rendered through rapid prototyping that are found in the $400K Brooklands coupe and the new Azure T.

Finally, the new flagship will also be a torque monster, just like its predecessors. McCullough said that the company focuses on “performance delivery”—i.e. forceful acceleration through extremely high low-end torque. “Our engineers are obsessed with low-end torque.” Good. So are we.

Bentley to Focus on Individualization in the Future

Without getting any more specific about that car, McCullough did give us an idea of what we can expect from Bentley as a brand. “We would like to take coachbuilding further.” He referenced Bentley’s history back in the 1920s and 1930s of selling a chassis and engine to a customer, who would then have input on the design of the body and interior that would be fitted around them. Of course, this initiative will have to work within today’s much stricter regulatory framework in terms of safety and emissions, he said. Bentley is already renowned, however, for its Mulliner custom-build program that includes long-wheelbase versions of the Arnage, armored cars, and purpose-built vehicles built for royalty, so if there’s any company experienced enough to know how far it can push the envelope, it’s Bentley.

Also—surprisingly—another Bentley insider at the show also said that the company is preparing a plan to reduce emissions of its cars “to Prius levels.” We’ll hear about this plan in early 2009, likely at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, at which point we’ll see to what extent that might be an exaggeration.

Arnage Replacement to Have it All

The Arnage replacement, then, should embody all of the above: classic styling, a high level of customizability, and torque for days, with a nod to the environment tossed in for good measure. Bentley has released an official teaser image shown here, all but confirming its pledge to “classic styling,” with sheet metal sculpting reminiscent of the current Arnage. It will face more competition than ever, including not just the Phantom, but also the next-generation Maybach as well as the next Lagonda, which will be sold through Aston Martin dealer channels but is expected to share much with the Maybach. Expect to see a debut of the new Bentley later this summer.

As for derivatives of the popular Continental lineup, such as a rumored Continental “lightweight,” McCullough has no comment other than “anything is possible.”

Source (article): CARANDDRIVER

Source (picture): ETHANOLPLUG

1975 Dark Red Corvette Stingray in excellent condition with 13,073 miles. With its factory A/C and alarm system; power brakes, steering, and windows; and saddle-colored leather interior, this car looks incredible. Previous owner completely restored the car. Features a Pioneer sound system (including an AM/FM radio with CD player) and a completely rebuilt 350 CI 205 horsepower engine. Call today to schedule an appointment for mechanical inspection or test drive.