A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Gorgeous Alfa-Romeo Giulia ticks all the boxes
Well, the sheets are finally off and we've got our first look at the sedan that'll join the 4C Coupe and Spyder in welcoming Alfa-Romeo back to North America. I have two words, and both of them are humina. Humina-humina!
The Giulia is approximately a BMW 3-Series rival in size, but oh sweet Lord does it look bella. You can't see this, but I'm gesturing wildly to convey just how exciting this car is. First, there's lots of aluminium for lightness and stiffness. Next, there's a twin-turbo Ferrari-derived V-6 good for 510 horsepower. Then, there's perfect 50/50 weight distribution, and active aerodynamics to improve handling at speed. What could be better? What single thing could crown this sumptuous red beast like a tiara on a royal princess? Well how 'bout this: you're going to be able to buy the car in its most hard-core Quadrofoglio form, only in manual and rear-wheel drive.
And lo, the heavens parted and a mighty voice came from on high.
"Be not afraid," it spaketh, "Yes the reliability will be utterly disastrous, but just look at what I have createdeth. Not bad, eh?"
Oh yes please.
Toyota splices Sienna minivan to Tacoma pickup
It is important for families to have shared interests. Board games night, for instance. Family movie time. Post apocalyptic desert vehicular combat. You know: the traditional pursuits.
If you're into the latter, then sign up for this wild beast, the Toyota Ultimate Utility Vehicle (UUV). Designed for the school commute to drop off your little Lord Humungous and wee Furiosa, the UUV looks exactly like you'd expect: like it's driven by Mad Dad Max.
Were you thinking of merely buying a Honda Odyssey in Touring trim? That is a puny plan. Instead, build your own version of this SEMA-special Sienna/Tacoma mashup (obviously not intended for production) and go raid the neighbours for gasoline reserves.
Chrysler Canada gets Wrangler out of the cans
It's always great when a promotional stunt does a little good as well. In this case, the benefit was two- fold, with a group of 12-18 year olds getting to practice their building skills, and the results going to charity.
Built on Canada Day (get it? "Can"ada? sigh) the Canstruction team built a full-sized convertible Wrangler out of 4,500 tins of food, with all cans going directly to the Vancouver Food Bank. A little awareness about food bank needs during the summer months is much needed as reserves tend to get low this far away from the Christmas and holiday season.
For the students involved it was a fun task. The Canstruction non-profit tries to fight hunger and poverty while also encouraging kids to get into science, math and engineering.
Lexus to bring back SC badged grand tourer
The old SC430 didn't have a legion of fans, but it was very good at its job. As a grand tourer of exceptional reliability and polish, you could hardly do better.
Now, Lexus appears to be mulling a return to that form with a new SC, one that'd take on the BMW 6 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupe. The car, so it is said, will be based on the LF-LC concept shown a couple of years ago at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Power is rumoured to be the same as in the current RC-F coupe, a 450 h.p. V-8. Being a Lexus, there's a higher-powered hybrid model planned too.
The RC-F already feels a little more like a Grand Tourer than a corner carver, so perhaps this a good thing. Expect the SC to be poised, refined, impeccably crafted, and to have a face like a deranged hair dryer.
Cadillac XT5 ready for production
Cadillac, so they would have you believe, is a company built on luxury with a new edgy focus on performance. Certainly, it's true that they built some very sharp-driving cars, but the sales figures don't lie: were it not for the XTS crossover, Caddy would be in the poorhouse; it's more than half their sales. Thus, the replacement must be excellent. A few spy shots are out, and, well, it's not amazing. The prototype has the Cadillac cues, but looks more like a Ford Escape than the Standard of the World.
Still, perhaps this is only a demo. If Cadillac is to succeed, they'll need more mini-Escalades than chrome-infusions for Chevy-based crossovers.
Spend Saturday celebrating classic cars
This Saturday is the province-wide British Columbia classic car day, a whole 24 hours to celebrate chrome, steel, oil, and gasoline. If you're on the North Shore, the place to be is down at Park and Tilford, where Carbs and Coffee will be kicking off with an event running 8-11 a.m. The great thing about Cars and Coffee style gatherings is that they're not your traditional car show. There's time to shoot the breeze, but it's short and informal enough to swing through and check out a few cool machines, and still have time to clean your gutters. If you're going to pick one day to cruise down, this is the day. The Classic Car Adventures guys will be there, as well as a whole host of North Shore car enthusiasts. Stop by, grab a coffee, bring your camera.
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