Category: Auto News

Articles about the auto industry.

2011’s 10 Most Disappointing Cars

CNNMoney Reports:

What were they thinking?

By Alex Taylor III, senior-editor-at-large

BMW’S top U.S. sales executive says he is disappointed in the 5-series GT, Automotive News reports. “The disappointment I have is that I thought a lot of our 5-series station wagon customers would go with the GT,” Jim O’Donnell says. “In point of fact, that is not happening. We have lost those customers to the competition — mainly to Mercedes-Benz.

With its ungainly lift back and high load floor, the 5-series GT produced a lot of comments along the lines of “What were they thinking?” when it was introduced two years ago, but now it is official: Even BMW makes mistakes.

Designing and engineering new models is part art, part science: a billion-dollar bet on what the car buying public will want for years into the future. The deepest pitfalls come in trying to head off in a new direction, like a convertible minivan or an SUV with a coupe body. Despite all the market research, focus groups, and educated guesses, car companies can get it wrong. The design fails to catch hold, the market doesn’t develop, competition proves stronger than expected. Bottom line: They blew it.

Herewith, ten of the biggest mistakes currently on the market — plus two lulus from years past. Read More

Most Famous Names in the Car Industry

If you were going to come up with a list of the most famous people in the car industry in the last 50 years, you would probably include names like Lee Iacocca, Richard Petty, A.J. Foyt, Dale Earnhardt, Don Garlits, Andy Granatelli, Mario Andretti, or Wally Parks. But the two men in this picture definitely deserve to be included in that group.

Carroll Shelby with his good friend Parnelli Jones.
Carroll Shelby with his good friend Parnelli Jones.

Parnelli Jones was just one of those names I knew when I was a kid in the 60’s. Maybe it was because in 1963 he won the Indy 500. Throughout the late 50’s and 60’s, Parnelli won races in all kinds of racing. He won 15 races in the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series. He won the USAC Sprint Car Championship 3 times. He was the USAC stock car champion in 1964. He had 25 midget car feature wins in occasional races between 1960 and 1967. Later in his career, Parnelli started Off-Road racing, winning the Mexican 1000 twice, as well as the Mint 500 and the Baja 500.

Carroll Shelby is best know for the cars he developed like the Shelby Cobra, Shelby GT500 and even the Dodge Viper. Many do not realize the he began his career as a pilot and a race car driver. Carroll served as a flight instructor and test pilot for the Army Air Corps in World War II. He was the Sports Illustrated’s driver of the year in 1956 and 1957. He went to Europe in 1958 and 1959 and raced in the Formula One Series. In 1959, Carroll driving an Aston Martin, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He retired the following year and started a race car driving school and the now famous Shelby American Company. He teamed with Lee Iacocca at Ford to produce high performance Mustangs and then later Iacocca asked Shelby to join him at Chrysler to help develop the Dodge Viper. He is still going strong, can be seen regularly at car events, and his cars are more popular than ever.

For more information on Carroll Shelby, go to his company website: http://www.shelbyamerican.com/.

Shelby American keeps making better Mustangs.

The 2012 Shelby GT500 Super Snake will be available with an upgrade kit enabling it to produce 800 horsepower. Photo Courtesy of Shelby American, Inc.
The 2012 Shelby GT500 Super Snake will be available with an upgrade kit enabling it to produce 800 horsepower. Photo Courtesy of Shelby American, Inc.

Here is a great little article about the 2012 Shelby GT500 Super Snake by Peter Valdes-Dapena at CNNMoney.com. It seems like every year they get faster and better looking.

Follow Peter on Twitter: @PeterDrives

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — An 800-horsepower version of the Ford Mustang will be unveiled at the New York Auto Show later this month.

The 2012 Shelby GT500 Super Snake will be built by Shelby American Inc., a Las Vegas-based performance car company. Shelby works with Ford Motor Co. (F, Fortune 500) to create various high-performance versions of the iconic Mustang.

While the base Super Snake will produce a mere 750 horsepower, those who feel the need for more power will be able to add an optional upgrade package that will provide 50 more. Shelby provides no warranty on the engine and transmission, in either case.

The base version of the outgoing 2011 Super Snake produces 630 horsepower, although no-warranty option packages have been available in recent months to push horsepower in those cars up to as much as 800, as well.

The 2012 Super Snake will be legal to drive on public roads on all 50 states, the carmaker promised, and it will cost less than $100,000.

Prices for the 2011 Super Snake start about $80,000 in total, including the separate purchase of a car from Ford — a factory-produced Shelby GT500 — and the necessary modifications.

“Shelby American has a rich history at the New York International Auto Show,” said John Luft, president of Shelby American. in an announcement. “The very first Shelby car was introduced there in 1962, as well as the 1968 and 2008 Shelby GT500KR and the 2006 Shelby Hertz GT-H.”

The original partnership between Ford and Shelby American founder Carroll Shelby, one that resulted in Mustang-based performance cars that can be worth millions of dollars today, ended in 1969. Ford and Shelby entered into a new agreement in 2003 that has produced a new line of Shelby Mustangs, some built by Ford Motor Co. and others built at the Shelby American factory.

For more information on Shelby American go to: www.shelbyautos.com.