TweetThe first application of Sir Alec Issigonis' engineering breakthrough – All Photos by Randy Stern, except otherwise noted Remember Sir Alec Issigonis? The innovation he created by switching the orientation of the engine, changing the traditional transmission to a transaxle and sending power to the front wheels was a magnificent idea! The Austin/Morris Mini was …
I had a habit of renting cars in lieu of actual car ownership. They were expensive forms of therapy that enabled me to explore the place I call home. In the first several years of my life in the Twin Cities, General Motors provided a particular car that would be a staple of anything I attempted to do to explore and be social.
TweetIt was 2009. The clouds were looming over Renaissance Center as to how to exit from its Bankruptcy case after taking Troubled Asset Relief Fund money. Amid the sell-off of General Motors' "old" assets, the automaker also announced the wind-down of the Pontiac brand off of their product portfolio. This was the second brand that …
TweetIt has been a while, has it not? The whole My Favorite thing… It is not for lack of imagination. Rather, I have been busy on many fronts. One such front is a new venture for me that might lead to a dream job. More on that when things sort itself out on that front. …
We at Victory & Reseda< ?i> have some good news…and some bad news.
First, the good news: Holden will build the VF Commodore before we know it! Essentially, the VF will be a re-skin of the current VE. As you know, the VE came out on General Motors' Zeta platform designed for a series of rear-wheel-drive vehicles aimed at Australiasia and North America. The VF is slated to use lighter materials – namely aluminum – add a bunch of tech on-board and to emulate a global design language as dictated by Chevrolet.
Power for the VF should be the same. Australian consumers already enjoy two High Feature V6s (a Holden design, in case you're wondering) of 3.0litre and 3.6litre displacement. The top engine should be the newest generation Small Block V8 – displacing 6.2litres as in the current Corvette.
North American consumers received their first taste of the genial Aussie in the Pontiac G8 – a future classic by all accounts. Currently, the Zeta underpins the Canadian-built Chevrolet Camaro and long-wheelbase Chevrolet Caprice PPV (also sold as a Holden and a Chevrolet in various markets from New Zealand to the Middle East).
If this was any other year, I'd be happy to celebrate my birthday on Super Bowl Sunday.
Not this year, I'm afraid. It is not because the Minnesota Vikings went into complete retrograde. Just my interest in the National Football League waned severely this year, thanks to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the constant frustration with the state of cultural relations with most major professional sports leagues.
Frankly, I could care less who is playing in this year's Super Bowl. If it is your team that will be on the field inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis – good luck!
Still, football was one of sports for the longest time. I recalled some memories from the game – in attendance, of course. In some cases, they involved automobiles.
On this special Super Bowl/birthday edition of Five Favorites, let me log back into time to see what crazy automobile-related events transpired around the pigskin and the 100-yard field.
TweetLet me get personal for a moment: I miss Pontiac. General Motors’ bankruptcy forced the largest automotive concern in the world to make some sacrifices. Since one of the complaints by analysts and pundits had been the large number of brands on sale by the company, GM was forced to make some sacrifices. It had …