A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
The return of the Bullitt – times two
Perhaps no car-chase movie is as beloved by gearheads as the Steve McQueen vehicle Bullitt.
Everything about it is right: the bad guys in their menacing black Dodge Charger, the jumps, the tire smoke, the cat-and-mouse action. At the risk of heresy, I’d say the rest of the movie is pretty slow-paced, but the 10 minute, 53 second chase scene makes up for it.
That’s especially true if you’re a Mustang fan, because Frank Bullitt’s forest green 1968 Mustang was an instant screen icon. It spawned hundreds of imitators over the years, to the point that Ford even decided it would be a good idea to release new versions of the Mustang as factory-made Bullitt special editions.
For a long time, however, the original hero car from the movie (two were used, and the stunt car was found a while back) was a long-lost legend. As it turns out, it was tucked away in a garage, just waiting for the right time to emerge.
And emerge it did, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, rolling up beside Ford’s latest tribute to Bullitt. The old car is in mostly original shape, and even comes with a letter Steve McQueen wrote when he tried to buy it back (the owner declined).
Next to the old is the new, a 475 horsepower, 5.0-litre monster wearing dark green paint and black alloys, and with minimal badging. A cue-ball shifter sits atop a six-speed manual – the only transmission offered – and the car carries over the regular Mustang GT’s performance package suspension and braking upgrades.
The icon from the past is worth almost too much to fathom. However, if you’ve always been a fan of the movie, Ford’s got a Bullitt with your name on it.
Land Rover releases V-8 Defender
The Land Rover Defender is a wonderfully simple vehicle, featuring all the space of a shed, the build quality of a shed, the acceleration and handling of a shed, and the all-terrain prowess of a border collie. Who, incidentally, sheds.
Despite agricultural feel and occasionally wonky reliability, the Defender is loved by all, from actual farm workers to tweed-wearing upper class twits traipsing around the countryside trying to blast pheasants into atoms. It is as universally appealing as a Wellington boot, and features much the same interior.
Land Rover canceled the Defender a while back, as it would of course not meet stringent rules for emissions and safety. However, that’s not stopping their heritage division from cranking out a new tribute version, and charging through the nose for it.
Featuring a 5.0-litre V-8 with close to 400 h.p., this refreshed Defender keeps the shed-based looks but is ready to blow the doors off lesser sheds. Badged to celebrate Land Rover’s 70th anniversary, it comes with improved suspension, bigger brakes, and is available in both two- and four-door versions.
The cost? Some £150,000, or about $260,000 Canadian. If that’s a bit too much for you, not to worry: the Germans have a slightly cheaper, equally fancy shed on offer....
Mercedes-Benz reveals new G-Class
Built originally as a military vehicle, the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen has defied convention for decades, becoming a darling of the urban moneyed set. You see these things all over West Vancouver, nervously avoiding puddles and generally acting the prima donna.
Which is a shame as underneath, the G is the real deal. Sure, it’s expensive, but the off-road potential is equal to anything else out there, from lifted Wrangler to hopped-up Land Cruiser.
Despite being slightly bewildered at how much people love their boxy throwback, Mercedes-Benz continues to please its fans by building the G-Wagen and charging lots of money for it. In Detroit this week, they released the new one – which looks exactly the same as the old one.
However, on the inside the new G-Class has the interior appointments of a high-trim E-Class. There’s sumptuous leather, wood, and a huge swathe of tech from dash-wide high-resolution screens to a clever voice command assistant. It’s like having your heritage home renovated inside to include all the latest conveniences.
Speaking purely for myself, I admire the handful of G-Wagen owners around the North Shore who fit their machines with knobby tires and head off into the back country. If you’re not getting it dirty, it ain’t a real G.
Return of the Ranger
Rounding out our lineup of best-loved nameplates is the happy news that Ford is bringing the Ranger back to its lineup. Well, they had the Ranger elsewhere, but now it’s coming back to North America.
Obviously judging that sales of the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon are going strong, despite the established presence of the Toyota Tacoma, Ford will be launching their mid-sized pickup later this year. There will be the usually bewildering array of trims, but the mountain bikers in the crowd may want to cast their eyes towards the rugged FX4, while the home handyman may wish to check out the basic X models, which should cost about as much as a well-equipped Honda Civic.
Power will come from a 2.3-litre turbocharged four, mated to Ford’s 10-speed automatic in most cases. That should mean plenty of torque when you need it, but solid small-truck fuel economy when you don’t.
It’s good to see the mid-sized pickup truck market starting to heat up again, even as the F150 and Silverado remain strong sellers. Like all our aforementioned icons, this new Ranger looks like the perfect machine for getting out there and Doing Stuff.
Watch this space for all the week’s best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to mcaleer.nsnews@gmail.com.
