Now here’s a much better idea, a Prius convertible .

Unlike a lot of gearheads, I don’t hold a grudge against the Toyota Prius. It’s a little bland and utilitarian for my tastes, but I do like the idea of using less gas, and the few times I’ve poked under the hood or driven them, the engineering is quite interesting. Overall though, they’re like Corollas with a geeky drivetrain.

I think that one of the main problems with a lot of the new, greener cars that are out there (and a lot of green efforts for this or that problem) is how they are marketed. They’re sold to you with a strange sense of approbation and duty, they way your mother or 2nd grade teacher would get you to ingest some God-awful medicine because “it’s good for you.” Now how many cars are you going to sell that way? Sure, maybe to hair-shirts like Ed Begley et al, but if you really want to change things (like lessen green house gasses for example), you’re going to have to come up with a better pitch than, “you can’t have any meat if ya don’t eat your pudding.”

So that’s why I like this Prius convertible: it makes a bland and utilitarian car much more fun.

This one was done as a one off by a Prius Chat forum member to the tune of $46K.

True, that’s a lot, but hey, it’s their money, so who am I to quibble … now, if Toyota were to start doing this, and making a hybrid that is more performance oriented, I bet they’d sell.

There’s more photos after the jump.

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Recently, my brother moved from the Big Apple back to Pittsburgh for a new job. Since he would walk, take the subway, or catch a cab if he needed to go anywhere, he never needed a vehicle in Manhattan. However, the sprawling suburbs of the Steel City have not been blessed with an adequate public transportation system. So he is in the market for a new car.

The ideal car for him would be something small, four-door, and frugal on gas, but at the same time, fun to drive. There are plenty of vehicles that fit this niche, but after some initial searching and brand preferences, he narrowed it down to three choices: the 2008 Mazda3s Touring, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, and the 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS. Each car was similarly equipped, with power everything, manual transmission, sunroof, upgraded stereo, sport-appearance packages, etc.

As my family’s resident car guru, I was invited along as a second opinion and to make sure he knew what to look for and how to feel each vehicle. So, I thought I would do a little comparison of each vehicle for you all to enjoy.

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Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are still having problems selling their cars, trucks and minivans. The Big 3 continue to increase their unsold inventory that are parked outside their dealerships and manufacturing plants. That’s nothing new though. Anyone who watches television or reads the newspaper knows all about the struggling car market in the States.

But what happens when Toyota, the top-selling foreign car company in North America, has been facing the same problem over the past several months?

According to a Wall Street Journal ad printed today, Toyota’s sales numbers were down 10% last month, and have been down seven out of the last nine months. Toyota’s sales have not dropped as far as Chrysler, Ford or GM (19 percent for Chrysler and GM, 14 percent for Ford). However, this news has certainly risen some eyebrows in terms of the how this will affect our already shaky financial situation.

Maybe this is nothing, just a small blimp on the horizon. Maybe it’s the fact that the cocky car company from the Far East is no better selling vehicles than the Americans can. Or could this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and the financial apocalypse has now begun?

Only thing we can right now is watch and hope for the best. Continue Reading…

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, and although the hammer hasn’t fallen yet, the big cheeses back at the home office in Japan have announced that they’ve at least raised the hammer over Toyota’s F1 racing division.

Just to bring you all up to date, Toyota’s F1 racing program is huge, easily dwarfing the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Renault.

And not just in terms of scale (last I heard, Toyota’s Cologne Germany based HQ has a staff of approximately 700), but the yearly budget is simply staggering: in excess of 360 million.

That’s a million dollars per day.

And what does Toyota have to show for this investment that would make a defense department blush?

Essentially nothing.

Sure, sure, they’ve gotten Jarno Trulli & Ralf Schumacher on to the podium a few times, but when you’re investing that kind of money, getting the bronze just won’t cut it.

For a million a day, the big suits back in the board room want one thing, complete domination of the opposition.

Of course, when “the opposition” is the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Honda and Renault, steered by guys like Brawn and Dennis and Briatore, complete domination isn’t an easy thing to achieve.

So, the bottom line has become, the bottom line:

Toyota F1 has two years to start showing results (i.e. winning), or that’s it.

Oh, and unless you NASCAR fans are feeling left out, don’t worry, there’s a blow aimed your way too.

We recently got back from the 2007 Chicago Auto Show. While a lot of the bigger auto sites already have some posts reviewing the cars, little old me is still sifting through and editing the hundreds of pictures and notes. You should expect to see many more posts regarding some of the awesome cars displayed and revealed. In the mean time, here is an overview of the show in general.

Altogether the show was a great experience this year. While it lacked in some of the “wow-factor” of previous years, there were some very interesting unveilings this year, as well as some very cool concept cars you have to see.

Audi showed us the gorgeous R8 pre-production model, which should be released to it’s first customers in the second quarter of this year. Boasting 420 horsepower from a high-RPM V8, the R8 should run 0-62 mph in 4.6 seconds with the help of a Launch Control feature and R-tronic sequential gearshifting.

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On Saturday I posted another update on some of the cool cars that are going to be at the Chicago Auto Show, but there are so many, I can’t help but post again. Here are a few more of the cars that are going to be there in a couple days:

Mazda Ryuga

The Ryuga expands on the “emotion of motion” concept that debuted with the Nagare, and you can see the elements of flow captured in the car’s sheetmetal. The sweeping lines on the doors, for instance, were inspired by the raked pebbles in a Japanese dry garden. The wheels, as well, feature spokes that twist near the hub, as if the torque of the car’s imaginary flex-fuel engine has twisted them. Finally, the color of the Ryuga is meant to evoke flowing lava, with tones and hue that vary from yellow to blue to red depending on the light.

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