Dale Murphy. The Breakfast Club. Hall and Oates. The Trans Am. Spiked hair. Blade Runner. Dave Parker. Run DMC. The Merkur XR4Ti. What do they all have in common? All born of the 80's, a decade that doesn't get near the respect it deserves.

If the 90's was a decade of innovation, and the 70's was a decade of turbulence, how would you define the 80's? A hangover?

Let's look at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Oh sure, George Brett, Nolan Ryan and Paul Molitor are in. They were shoo-ins. But what about players that were the mark of their decade, a pitcher like Jack Morris or a power hitter like Dave Parker? Don't even get me started on Jim Rice. (He ought to make it next year, but dear Lord!)

What about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Grandmaster Flash, U2 and the Police are obvious. Is there no room for Hall and Oates? C'mon! "Rich Girl"? "Man Eater"? Who wasn't humming those songs? And Aerosmith, I hope you send royalty checks to Run DMC, because without their cover of "Walk This Way," critics would mention you in the same sentence as the New York Dolls (which would be appropriate for additional debates in the ongoing Boston vs. New York rivalry). And, has any band that got its start in the 80's been bigger than the Beastie Boys? "No Sleep 'Till..." And, say what you will about Duran Duran, but didn't that band define New Wave the same way the Sex Pistols defined Punk Rock?

And what about cars? If we were to start a Cars Hall of Fame (for automobiles, not the band), which cars from the 80's would make it? Here are my first-ballot Hall of Famers:

• Delorean: the Nirvana of cars. Better to burn out than to fade away.


• Trans Am: If you compare the mid-80's Trans Am to the late 70's Trans Am the Smokey and the Bandit version wins every time. But if you compare the mid-80's Trans Am with other American muscle cars of its era (Mustang—yuck, Camaro—eh) it definitely gets my vote.


• Porsche 944: 80's Pop Quiz. What car did Jake Ryan drive in "Sixteen Candles?" That's right, and don't tell me you don't know who Jake Ryan is. Some would argue that the 911 better defined the Yuppie generation, but the distinctiveness of the 944 screams 1980's.


• Jeep Cherokee: It was the first mainstream SUV, and spawned a legion of copycats. If not for the Cherokee, 50% of the U.S. population would be driving wagons, or worse—minivans (also introduced in the mid 80's thank you very much).

You can certainly make an argument for other cars: BMW 3 Series, and the emergence of the Murder's Row of sedans—Taurus, Camry, Accord. The Ferrari Testarossa (I'll get out my white suit and aqua blue tank top right now) would certainly be worth mentioning.

But you can't deny that the four cars above had an indelible impact on an industry and a decade.

Hey, the 80's may not have been the most impactful decade. It wasn't as tumultuous as the 70's. It wasn't as innovative as the 90's. But as you go to put on that new pair of Vans you just bought, stop and give the 80's the respect it so rightfully deserves.

16:12 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green was center stage at this year's Detroit auto show press preview. Smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles and concepts starred along with more hybrids, including rechargeable plug-ins. Ethanol partnerships were announced and new clean diesel engine options for large pickups were featured.

Automakers also introduced more powerful engines and performance sports cars, such as the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Green won out, however, especially because of concerns about the higher cost of gasoline and new government fuel economy regulations that soon will begin to take effect. A few green highlights from the Detroit auto show:

• Smart, the tiny car brand that is part of the Mercedes Car Group, showed a new convertible. The U.S. unit probably has 20,000 buyers for the 2008 "fortwo" that begins arriving in the U.S. this week. The fortwo gets 49 mpg. You can visit smartUSA.com for more information.





• Toyota plans to sell a plug-in hybrid by 2010 in the U.S. and General Motors also is on its way to producing commercially viable plug-ins—such as the Chevrolet Volt—in the same year. The lithium-ion battery technology is creating some challenges at this time for both automakers.


• Most automakers, including Toyota, Honda and GM, plan to introduce more gasoline/electric hybrids in 2009. Saturn unveiled three hybrids, including the 2009 Vue Green Line plug-in hybrid. Even GM's Hummer brand showed a hybrid concept vehicle called the HRX.


• Ford has introduced a new environmentally friendly system and brand called Ecoboost that will be expanded in 2010 to include its large pickup trucks. EcoBoost uses a turbocharger and direct fuel injection to improve fuel economy and lower emissions. Ford showed its small Verve subcompact concept that was designed in Europe with affiliate Mazda. Toyota intends to meet the new U.S. CAFE standard of 35 mpg much earlier than the 2020 deadline.


• Toyota and Honda and German manufacturers—Daimler's Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and BMW—intend to introduce clean diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. next year. Land Rover introduced a concept SUV that runs on clean diesel.





• Chrysler showed three hybrid concepts—the Jeep Renegade, Dodge Zeo (zero emissions operations) and Chryslerexo Voyager—that are small, short and look like they just came from Mars. Even exotic carmaker Ferrari showed a sports car that runs on biofuel, and premium sports car maker Fisker Automotive unveiled the Karma plug-in sports sedan, which will be available at the end of 2009.


• Ethanol partnerships were touted. Toyota will increase its investment in ethanol derived from wood waste, through an affiliated company. GM announced a partnership with Coskata Inc. to use the company's technology to make ethanol from practically any renewable source, including garbage, old tires, and plant waste. The fuel will cost $1 less per gallon than gasoline.





• These many different green approaches, concepts, and introductions make it clear that automakers are willing to begin offering a broad selection of vehicles with alternative fuel options for consumers. It will be interesting to see how many of these vehicles make it to market and how much we will have to pay to enjoy the privilege of driving more fuel-efficient and cleaner vehicles. However, at least we'll have a wider range of choices in the near future. And it looks as though automakers still will be offering vehicles with more power as well as fuel efficiency.

Note: The North American International Auto Show at Cobo Hall in Detroit, MI, is open to the public from Monday, Jan. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 27.

12:10 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Coming to Detroit in the middle of January is nobody's idea of a good time, unless you're a car junkie, that is. For decades, car junkies from around the globe have been trotting to Michigan in the dead of winter to attend press conferences on a grueling schedule at which some of the hottest cars on the planet are debuted. The 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit marks my 11th consecutive year covering this media extravaganza, and to be perfectly honest, it's not much fun anymore.

In 1998, when print publications ruled and the Internet was viewed as an amateur-hour fad, attending the media preview days in Detroit was a thrill. Every product unveiling was a surprise to all but a select few, and the competitive aspect of rushing to a workstation to write, file, and publish a story before anybody else produced an adrenaline high that lasted throughout the three-day event. At the time, I worked for a little start-up called Edmunds, and we felt like David taking on Goliath. We worked hard, slept little, and ultimately grew that little start-up into a dominant force in automotive publishing.

Today, there are no more surprises. With the advance information that is distributed and the broken embargo dates in the new competition to get the story live, spidered, and indexed by Google in the race for Top 10 link ranking, the show has lost much of its excitement. The media attend more to schmooze rather than to report on new product. And with live video feeds, such as those provided this year by General Motors, why fight for territory at a press conference or in the press room when you can stay home, see your kids every night, and pull everything you need down from a Web site?

This morning, just after lamenting the state of the world with a former colleague and wondering aloud if I would bother to attend in 2009, I went to the GM press conference. Upon arrival, it was clear the news would be from Cadillac. Predictably, after the thudding techno music and flashing lights stopped and GM product czar Bob Lutz came onstage, the Cadillac Provoq and the Cadillac CTS-V rolled out to more flashbulbs and video cameras than Britney Spears confronts outside the Malibu Trancas Canyon Starbucks. Yawn. Been there, done that, time to pack up.

But wait a minute. Now Ed Wellburn, GM's VP of Global Design, is up there on the stage, and he's yakking about a car they've managed to keep secret. I flick the camera back on as a new montage begins rolling on the giant screen behind Wellburn. Now I'm excited! Now I'm going to get a thrill! Now I get to see something never seen before! GM has made coming to Detroit in the middle of the winter fun again!

Onto the stage rolls the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept , gleaming in a Titanium finish, and looking gorgeous under the klieg lights of Cobo Hall. I've got the video camera trained on the car as it spins on a turntable .It's beautiful, it's exciting, and now the press conference is reminding me why I give up a weekend of my life every January, leaving my family in palm-dotted Southern California for dark, gray, wintery Detroit and a room at the Holiday Inn Express. This smoking hot Cadillac CTS Coupe, a car we all knew was coming to battle the BMW 335i Coupe , Infiniti G37 , and Mercedes-Benz CLK , has reignited my automotive passion, my competitive spirit, my reason for being here in the first place.

After the remarks have concluded, I immediately e-mail colleagues about the car, and within hours a photo gallery for the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept is live on JDPower.com . Have I beaten the competition? No. GM's live press conference feed was probably on You Tube within minutes of the car's unveiling. But that doesn't matter to me as much as the fact that Cadillac proved it could keep a secret, and because it could keep a secret, I'm glad to be in Detroit in the middle of January.

13:16 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Female buyers tend to buy compact models—especially fuel efficient crossovers—equipped with the latest safety features and which retail for less than $25,000, such as the new Nissan Rogue, according to J.D. Power and Associates research.

However, the top two models with the highest percentages of female buyers during the second half of 2007 were European compact car models—the Volkswagen New Beetle and the Volvo S40, according to retail transaction data collected by the Power Information Network (PIN), a divison of J.D. Power and Associates.

The Beetle (56.2% female buyers) is a perennial favorite with women customers and the higher-end Volvo S40 (55.4% female buyers), an entry-level compact luxury car, is offered with many safety features including an optional back-up camera for a starting list price of less than $25,000.

Top 10 Models With Female Buyers

One of the least expensive models on the market, the Suzuki Reno compact, also had one of the highest percentages of female buyers. The Reno, a five-door hatchback introduced as a 2005 model, has sporty styling, a good warranty and sells at an affordable price of less than $14,000.

Five of the top recent choices by female buyers have been compact crossovers from Asian brands—the Kia Sportage and its sibling, the Hyundai Tucson. The Hyundai ranks among the three highest models in initial quality level in its segment. Other hot crossovers with female buyers include the all-new Nissan Rogue and the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, which are the two best-selling compact crossover vehicles in the U.S. The only midsize model on the list is the Isuzu Ascender utility, which shares the same platform as the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy, and is priced from slightly more than $27,000.

Note: The table is based on female buyer percentages from retail transaction data gathered by the Power Information Network, (PIN), a division of J.D. Power and Associates from July 1-Dec. 31, 2007. Models with insufficient sample size are not included.

08:50 | Permalink | Comments (0)

When we landed at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on a snowy night in late December, we gathered our bags and headed for the Hertz Rental facility, which was located in one of the terminal's three-story parking ramps. It was windy and 18 degrees. My husband, who is a Hertz #1 Club Gold member, reserved a Ford 4WD Explorer for our week in Minneosta's winter wonderland. A gold XLT model was waiting in the garage spot with our name above on an electric sign. A Hertz perk.

We easily fit six bags and an electric guitar case in the rear cargo area with a fold-down third-row seat. Our two teenage sons (the younger one is over 6 ft. 2 in.) had plenty of room in the second-row seats.

As we exited the airport parking ramp and headed into Midwestern snow country, we weren't sure about driving conditions, especially since we now live in Southern California. The online weather report had projected flurries. Instead we were welcomed by about six inches of powder. Snow continued falling and though it was difficult to see more than a few feet ahead, we noticed two taxicabs and a minivan at angles on the side of the road. Evidently they'd been traveling too fast for the icy road conditions.

My husband had put the truck into automatic 4WD, which helped us steer through the snow on the unplowed entry to the Crosstown Highway from the suburb of Bloomington. Other cars in front of us were slipping and sliding. Since the road was ice under a coat of snow, my husband drove at a slower-than-usual freeway speed of 40 mph and braked very slowly. He also left ample distance between the SUV and the vehicle ahead, which kept us from landing in a ditch or having an accident. When we merged onto Highway 35W, we ended up in a line of "Lookie Lous." On the opposite side of the freeway, several cars had spun out and a tow truck was pulling them out of the median ditch area, which was filled with piles of plowed snow.

After exiting the freeway at Minneapolis' 35th Street, we crept along the unplowed streets until we came to a major conduit: Hennepin Avenue. The snow kept falling as we turned right onto Irving Avenue South, which is one block off of Lake Calhoun—one of the Twin Cities' best sailing lakes. Holiday lights glimmered and the trees were weighed down by the heft of snow and ice crystals. The Explorer continued to ease through the snow as we turned into the driveway of my mother's home—a driveway that was filled with more unplowed snow. We parked easily in the back yard, and the boys leapt out of the vehicle, ready to pull off two-foot icicles from the second-floor landing of the outside back steps.

During the next few days, we were able to walk and drive through more snow in the Twin Cities with the help of the 4WD utility. Instead of being snowbound, thanks to the Explorer we could go shopping at Rosedale in St. Paul—and Southdale, the first enclosed mall in America. We also visited Best Buy, which has headquarters in South Minneapolis. During one of the daily storms, we parked the Explorer outside on the street during a local rock-and-roll and blues show at Famous Dave's in Calhoun Square and were able to sweep off the windows and roof after midnight and shuttle back to the house and the hotel. The Explorer also ferried us back to the airport the following Sunday with only one stop for a tank of gas. I've decided that renting a 4WD midsize utility is the way to go when you want to have a wonderful time in a winter wonderland.

16:06 | Permalink | Comments (2)