In defense of GM's Saab?

I think a lot of people have hated on GM's management of the Saab brand.  And with good reason.  Some of the cars were lackluster, and their overpriced WRX-based 9-2X, and bloated Envoy-clone 9-7X were boneheaded line extensions par excellence.  However, just as Pontiac bowed out with the surprisingly refined and competent G8 sedan, it seems like GM finally nailed it and produced something really gorgeous and compelling with the latest 9-5 sedan right before selling off the brand(Saab, you owe me big time for this plug!).

The new 9-5 really carries off the Nordic cleanliness that Saab should be about (clear influence from the stunning Aero X concept car can be seen throughout), while exuding the gravitas and presence that its German competitors have down to a science.  It's a pity that in both Saab and Pontiac's cases, the cumulative effects of years of mismanagement proved too great a burden to be saved by one great design. 

You don't see that many brand new Saabs on the road these days, but this 9-5 on the street in midtown stopped me in my tracks and took my breath away.  The stance, the detailing, the distinctive look. They really got this one right, at least from the outside. If Saab ever re-starts production, (they currently are so broke they can't pay their suppliers and are awaiting a government bailout in Sweden) it's a shame that Jason Castriota will probably ruin this understated, elegant new brand language before it even can spread across the whole product line. I'm glad GM survived the "carpocalypse" but it's a shame that Saab might be robbed of its potential as a result.

Ferrari 456 - Il Cavallino's last great Gran Turismo

Every time I look at the new FF, I think how Ferrari's design standards have fallen from the peak of taste and restraint they reached in the mid 1990s.  After the excesses of the 308/328 and Testarossa era (aka the 1980s), Ferrari offered the more refined, if less exciting 348, and finally some superb designs like the 456 and the F355.  The 456 in particular oozed desirability and exclusivity, but had a particularly Italian sense of purity and restraint that enhanced its exoticism rather than detracted from it. 

You look at a 456 and can't help but picture a wealthy Milanese gentleman clad in cashmere sweater and his elegant wife stepping out of it at their Lake Garda weekend home.  Today's Ferraris...well, can you picture anyone other than a douchebag getting out of one? The interior of a 1990s Ferrari is also far more sober and clean-lined than the more elaborate confections being dreamed up today--it emphasizes the luxury of the materials used, rather than the styling.  But that brings me to my real questions here: Has Ferrari's taste atrophied? Or is their current design direction just a response to a shifting customer base in new markets? Were the 456 and F355 anomalies, or do they represent the last vestiges of the true spirit of the marque?

Lamborghini Laptop sets new low in taste... Please make it stop.

I often wonder if 15 year old boys are running the licensing divisions at Ferrari and Lamborghini these days.  I have long averted my eyes in disgust at the various supercar-branded laptops, mice, and hard drives that have proliferated over the past 5 or so years. But this new Lamborghini laptop puts me over the edge. This cash-grabbing monkey business masquerading as "branding" really needs to stop. Now. Please.  This new product line crosses the line between fanboy obsession and downright kitsch. I'd put it in the same category as a couch made from the tailfins of a '59 cadillac. Just vulgar.

Adams Probe 16 - Space Age Joyride!

Every wondered what that crazy sports car from A Clockwork Orange was??  Well, it wasn't designed for the movie!  The car's name -very fitting if you've seen the film!- was the Adams Probe 16.  Designed and built by the Adams brothers, who were engineers from British constructor Marcos, the car epitomized the wild, low-slung look of the space age.  The driver and passenger recline as low as an F1 driver of the era, with the top of the car sliding open for access.  The whole business is only 3 feet tall - perfect for looking up the miniskirts of admiring ladies as you cruise by with that inline 4 buzzing away behind your head!  Beautiful from some angles, hideous from others, the Adams Probe 16 definitely is a time capsule to an era when cars were far more outlandish, adventurous and fun than they are today!  There are supposedly only 3 examples in existence. The Orange one below belongs to collector Phil Karam.

Slippery Listers

Cool period photos of the Frank Costin-designed Lister Jaguars. Costin was, aside from Jaguar's Malcolm Sayer, the premier designer of aerodynamic racing car bodies in Britain at the time, penning the famous Vanwall GP cars as well as many early Lotus models.