WeeklySA_AdminRETRO STYLING: Top Gear named the convertible variant as the worst car of the last twenty years
By Ali Mphaki
When this haughty fellow driving in a PT Cruiser arrived at this pool party which was teeming with a bevy of beauties I tried engaging him in small talk by throwing a jibe that he was driving in a truck!
Needless to say, there was nearly a third world war as the fellow who seemed to be spending most of his time lifting weights his muscles bulging out of his tight vest thought I was trying to steal his thunder, or whatever, and threatened to re-arrange my handsome face.
Despite my incessant entreaties that the PT in PT Cruiser stands for ‘Plymouth Truck”, the isguqa just would not understand. “You think you know too much”, was his epitaph to our near-fight. But the final blow came from my mini-skirted high-heeled partner when she said “le wena wa phapha”, words that will forever ring in my mind whenever I feel the urge to talk to people I don’t know.
Well, what the guy didn’t want to know is that the Cruiser was originally planned as a Plymouth. The PT Cruiser was part of the nostalgia wave that included models such as the Volkswagen New Beetle and the Mini Cooper sweeping the motoring world in the new millenium. Intended to evoke a 1930s look, the PT Cruiser rather than being modern renditions of the original namesake models, was a new design based on the 1930s and 1940s.
There is no middle fence when it comes to the Chrysler PT Cruiser. You either like it or not the front-engine, front-wheel drive, compact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed internationally by Chrysler in 4-door hatchback wagon which debuted in 2001 running up to 2010, followed by a 2-door convertible in 2005–2008 body styles—over a single generation, with an intermediate facelift for model year 2006. Noted for its exterior recalling styling from the 1930s, the PT Cruiser was designed by Bryan Nesbitt.[4] The interior packaging was noted for its high-roof, high h-point seating, and flexible cargo and passenger configurations—a multi-level cargo shelf as well as a fold, tumble, and removable rear seating. By the end of production in July 2010,[5] worldwide production had reached 1.35 million. The US version came standard with a 2.4 L four-cylinder gasoline engine. In addition to this standard model, a 2.2 L four-cylinder diesel engine built by Mercedes-Benz was also available in Europe, Asia, and South Africa.
The PT Cruiser was offered in Japan until April 2010, when it was replaced by the Dodge Caliber] In 2001 Car and Driver acknowledged the PT Cruiser on its Ten Best list and the PT Cruiser also won the North American Car of the Year.
In 2013, Top Gear named the PT Cruiser Convertible as the worst car of the last twenty years.-Additional reporting Wikipedia
BMW AND MERC FACE CARBON EMISSIONS SUIT
BERLIN – German activists have filed a lawsuit against BMW and Mercedes-Benz for refusing to tighten their carbon emissions targets and give up fossil fuel-emitting cars by 2030, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Tuesday. This is the first time German citizens have sued private companies for exacerbating climate change. The NGO, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, confirmed to Reuters that the lawsuits had been filed on Monday evening. In letters to the firms in early September, the companies were given until September 20 to agree to the NGO’s demands, which also included limiting production of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars ahead of 2030.
Neither of the companies has so far set an end date for ICE car production. BMW and Daimler confirmed to Reuters on Monday that they had not accepted the NGO’s demands.
VW SCOUT OFF-ROAD-ORIENTED EV?
Rumors of a rugged electric SUV from Volkswagen originally emerged in late 2018 and it wasn’t until early 2020 when they returned. Weird names like “T-Rug” and “Ruggdzz” have been speculated, but it looks as though the model could carry an oh-so-familiar moniker – Scout. VW now owns the rights to the “Scout” name through Traton, a subsidiary joining together Man, Scania, and Navistar brands under the same corporate umbrella. For those unfamiliar with the latter, Navistar was created back in 1986 as a direct successor of the old International Harvester company and it owns the “Scout” trademark to this day.
Speculation is rife that “Scout” could become a separate brand rather than a VW, adding the model could even be sold in standalone dealerships rather than sharing the showroom floor with Volkswagens. It’s highly unlike it will go by the name of “International Harvester Scout” considering agricultural company Case IH has been in the possession of the “International Harvester” name since 1985. .With Jeep hinting at an electric Wrangler and Ford also suggesting a Bronco EV is in the offing, it would make sense for VW to want a piece of the action with its own off-road-oriented EV.
CHINA PUT BRAKES ON EVS
In many cases, they were lured into existence by provincial governments dangling cash and other incentives to make Beijing’s dream of turning China into an EV powerhouse a reality. Local authorities helped manufacturers set up factories that promised jobs and development — if they succeeded. But the tide began to turn in November, when regulators asked regional governments to review and report back on the scale of their support for the auto industry.
Alarmed by unbridled investment in the sector — and the bankruptcies and zombified factories that came with it — Beijing is applying the brakes. “We have too many EV firms,” Xiao Yaqing, China’s minister for industry and information technology, told reporters Sept. 13. Mergers and acquisitions will be encouraged as the market needs to be further concentrated, he said. The government is also looking at setting production limits for the EV sector, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News this month, with provinces unable to green-light new projects until surplus capacity comes online. Resources will also be channeled into a few select EV hubs.The moves are a potential warning sign for investors who have poured money into electric carmakers and the technologies that support them over the past year.
FASTEST COP CARS IN THE WORLD
These are the vehicles that put the ‘hot’ in ‘hot pursuit.’Chasing Cars an Australian magazine listed the police cars used in every country, and then researched their top speed and how much they cost. We found: The world’s fastest police car is the Bugatti Veyron used in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which reaches 253mph/407kmh. Six of the eight fastest police cars in the world are found in the UAE.
UAE also has the world’s most expensive police car: the AUS$4.4m/US$3.4m Lykan HyperSport. The USA has the third-fastest car in the world, the Z06 Corvette (228mph/367kmh).
The fastest police car in Australia is the Holden Ute Dog Handler (155mph/249kmh).
All prices are in US dollars except when noted.
