Eyeing the Rearview as He Shifts Into 1998
It is permissible to review the old year when already two days into the new year because automotive writers spent most of 1997 writing about cars for 1998, which proves, if nothing else, that car guys lose all sense of time and rarely know what year of the week it is.
As a matter of fact, when last year was just becoming November, some chosen scribes already were up north and playing in the snow with the 1999 Lexus RX300 and LX470 sport-utility vehicles. Both luxo-bullies are premiering at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens today. Detailed critiques will be published next month, but initial impressions of the latest Lexi have formed.
The little guy, the V-6-powered RX300, is aimed squarely by price and performance--even by certain styling elements--at busting the chops of the Mercedes-Benz ML320. Snap judgment: We don’t think it will come close.
Big Louie, the V-8-powered LX470, seems poised by the depth of its technology and comfortable heft to stare down the royal and seemingly immortal Range Rover, founder of all this frenzy for trucks masquerading as sedans and ski cabins. Capsule call: Because of recent quality and reliability chinks in the Briton’s reputation, Lexus just might leave the aristocratic yet quirky Range Rover with a distinct limp and a list to starboard.
Sport-utility vehicles, of course, stayed in cast-iron command of The Motoring Year That Was.
Maybe the easiest way to emphasize the heat of the fray is to list manufacturers that don’t make sport-utes. Rolls-Royce and Ferrari. Audi and BMW. Jaguar and Hyundai. Saab and Saturn. And Volkswagen.
It was expected that Mercedes-Benz’s 4WD wagen would do better box office than “Titanic.” Mercedes is a car maker that generally hasn’t missed a beat in the past century, and everything it touches seems to turn to icons. Nobody expected the large, bulbous and bordello-flashy Lincoln Navigator to play particularly well. Yet sales are off the page, which proves the public always keeps a soft spot for cartoon characters and any product that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Last year, the sport-utility market was tough as Kevlar. This year, watch it shiver in cold breezes that have little to do with overproduction. For as global-warming concerns heat up, environmental barbarians are crowding the gates, yelling lustily against gas-gulping, carbon dioxide-spewing, ozone-melting light trucks.
Now add recent outcries against the gross death and injury imbalance when, say, a 2,400-pound Geo Prizm gets T-boned by a 4,300-pound Infiniti QX4, and you have circumstances ripe for federal regulation and a certain subduing of suvees.
Looking further at the Tarot cards, we see electric vehicle sales shorting out in 1998. Popularity of the GM EV1 and now the Honda EV Plus already are down to dribbles, with the early novelty sales of the EV1 comprising more than two-thirds of the 12-month total.
Their range is scant, a whistle is the most exciting part of EV performance, costs are an expensive laugh, and a promised recharging infrastructure is barely visible. Only environmental disciples are buying, and their good example doesn’t seem to be weaning anybody from internal combustion.
However, this does not mean the nation has a death grip on smog pots. Watch for high interest in propulsion options, such as Honda’s ultra-low emission engines; incoming hybrids that will combine battery power with a small gasoline or diesel engine for when amps go pffft; and dramatic demonstrations of fuel cell technology.
* Ford Taurus. We continued to shrink from the new styling that overused ovoids, shows more drawing board excesses than creative discipline, and brings new meaning to car sickness. We loved the energetic, happy Honda Accord coupe, but predicted blah lines of the sedan version would do little to lessen the sales leadership of the Toyota Camry.
Chalk one up for us. Buyers voted with their checkbooks. At year’s end, with most showroom precincts reporting, Camry and Accord were the nation’s best-selling automobiles while veteran title-holder Taurus had slipped to third.
Watch for this gap to grow. With Asian economies imploding, Japanese and Korean car builders will redouble their export efforts. Doddering currencies will give Toyota, Honda and other Asian car builders more room to reduce prices. Now see our Big Three trying to compete against imported bargains.
* Oldsmobile Intrigue. We decided the name and advertising campaign were the strongest features of this mid-size built to bash Nissan Maxima. Replacing the Cutlass Supreme, it came up short on soul and even shorter on coachwork and powertrain options.
But chalk one up for the other side. Intrigue sales haven’t exactly bitten the ear off the competition, but they are running well alongside the Oldsmobile Eighty Eight and Achieva.
* Chevrolet Malibu. We liked this born-again and believe it to be the best mid-size from Chevrolet since the first Accord from Honda. In November, Malibu had closed to within a few units of the Cavalier as the best-selling car in the Chevy lineup.
* Nissan Altima. This sedan came to us as a less expensive, larger, longer, wider, smoother and quieter redesign of Nissan’s bestseller. But we didn’t think its styling and powertrain came far enough. Sliding sales have yet to match Nissan’s hopes for the Altima.
* Audi A6. We found almost nothing wrong with this car. Neither have judges at some of the better car contests.
* Subaru Forester. We applauded this daring shot at providing the look, space, security and mucky-stuff handling of four-wheel-drive in a very affordable, thoroughly capable all-wheel-drive vehicle. This sport-utility-van-wagon has become another sleeper on the national contest front.
Regrets of the year: Only abbreviated rides in the Chevrolet Corvette convertible, the Volvo Cross-County wagon, the Jaguar XJR, the Toyota Sienna van, and the Contour as modified by Ford’s Special Vehicles Team. We were impressed with the civility and effortless manual top of the Corvette; the all-wheel-drive and well-planted handling of the Volvo; the furious but silken pace of the Jaguar; the flexibility of the Sienna, whether serving family or loner; and the inexpensive, spunky performance of the tweaked-out Contour.
Ultimate pleasures of the year: driving the Porsche Boxster and the Ferrari 550 Maranello. The German car, although a $40,000 entry-level roadster, is a real Porsche, featuring all the engineering and handling qualities of the marque--plus the collectible looks of the immortal 550 Spyder. The Italian sports car delights with smooth yet ferocious power, peaceful looks and handling, and the traditional Ferrari majesty it maintains.
Eeriest experience of the year: making a pilgrimage to Paris to hear echoes of the French Open at Stade Roland Garros, and finding oneself driving among flowers choking the Pont de l’Alma tunnel two weeks after Princess Diana died in the world’s most sensational DUI.
There’s a remarkably mild entry to the two-lane tunnel: a gentle, almost imperceptible veering to the left. Then an easy straightening to the right, not much more than a fingertip adjustment of the steering wheel.
Nothing difficult. Not a problem. Unless, of course, you’re driving with a skinful at close to 140 mph and without buckling up.
Sad conclusion: Drive by those rules and you’ll get into trouble on a straight, deserted, post-midnight stretch of Interstate 10 between Indio and Desert Center.
