NOVEMBER 11, 2020

(BMW images)
This is what BMW says: "A vision is turning into reality, as the BMW Vision iNEXT becomes the BMW iX. With time still to go before its expected U.S. market launch in the early 2022 and with the series development phase ongoing, BMW is providing a first look ahead at the future BMW iX. The BMW iX is the first model based on a new, modular, scalable architecture on which the future of the BMW Group will be built. Conceived from the outset as purely electric mobility, the iX sees BMW redefining the successful Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) concept. The BMW iX has been created to provide something beyond just mobility – an exhilarating driving experience combined with a sense of well being for both drivers and passengers all the while enjoying the journey with safety, security, and a new form of luxury in the process." Editor-In-Chief's Note: I have been in and around this business for a very long time. And I can deduce when a product is so far off of the mark that it will be sales-proof the moment it hits dealer showrooms. This is one of those times. This rolling monument to tedium is an example of design hubris the likes of which we haven't seen since the Edsel. This mobile atrocity sends the convincing message that BMW is fully intent on becoming an also-ran car company going forward. Irrelevant and offensive are not exactly the words marketing campaigns are based on. What a frickin' joke. -PMD

(Acura)
The 2021 Acura NSX will debut a new color: Long Beach Blue Pearl. The new color salutes the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Now available for order, the 2021 NSX carries a starting MSRP of $157,500, excluding delivery fees, with first customer deliveries to begin in early 2021. The new Long Beach Blue Pearl continues a longstanding tradition of NSX colors named after famous race tracks and corners. Each Acura NSX is handcrafted at the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio. The 2021 NSX is powered by an advanced Sport Hybrid SH-AWD® power unit consisting of a bespoke twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine, 9-speed dual clutch transmission (9DCT) and three electric motors. 

(Hyundai images)
Hyundai has unveiled its 2022 Tucson SUV. It is, according to Hyundai PR minions, better in every way and able to leap over other lesser crossovers in a single bound, or something like that. The all-new Tucson design is derived from a series of Hyundai Design Center concepts "expressing its evolving Sensuous Sportiness global design identity." (They keep beating this drum but we don't see it. Sensuous Sportiness? The word "sportiness" is an ugly, uninspired excuse that needs to be purged from all automotive PR lexicons at once. Please. We're begging you.) The Hyundai PR minions go on to say that the new Tucson "appeals to those who actively embrace the integration of technologies with their lifestyle; these open-minded consumers willingly embrace new technologies as way to immediately integrate and enhance their lives. All-wheel drive capabilities are an example of technology facilitating their active lifestyles that often includes inclement weather, adverse terrain and active outdoor adventures." We assume it will also get you to the store when asked, but one never knows. Tucson gasoline and hybrid models will hit the U.S. market in the spring of 2021, with plug-in models available next summer. The new 2022 Tucson ICE models will be produced at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) and Ulsan, Korea.

(Porsche Design images)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: It's no secret that Design is my favorite part of this business. I have been privy to many previews of future designs over the years, but never for Porsche. Calling it their "Unseen" series, Porsche has decided to reveal some of its most compelling concepts from its design center's secret archives, including these six hypercars never before seen by the public. The first image (above) is of the Porsche 906 "Living Legend" from 2015 (a hard model in scale, 1:1). Using the iconic 906 racing car from the 60s as its inspiration. -PMD
The basic idea of the Porsche Vision 918 RS from 2019 (also a hard model in scale, 1:1) was an evolutionary design for the 918 Spyder. 
Another hard model in scale 1:1 is the Porsche 920 from 2019. The design brief revolved around the idea of how to go about combining the formal language of Porsche's road sports cars with the functional design of a prototype racing car. The result? An extreme hypercar with an aerodynamically optimized body and a central cockpit that blurs the boundaries between racing track and road.
Based on the Porsche 99X Electric, the Porsche design team developed a hard model in scale 1:1 of a radically light, fully-electric single-seater racing car for private racers called the Porsche Vison E. 
Porsche won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times with its radical 919 Hybrid. Using the dominating LMP1 racing car as a starting point, Michael Mauer and his team developed the Porsche 919 Street in 2017 as a clay model in scale 1:1. It was proposed as a special series of machines for private racing drivers.
The Porsche 917 Living Legend (a clay model in scale 1:1, from 2013) was conceived as a tribute to the Porsche 917 KH driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood that won the first overall victory for Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970. When Porsche returned to the LMP1 class in 2013, the team in Weissach developed a modern interpretation of the winning car of yesteryear, resplendent in the red and white livery of Porsche Salzburg. The Porsche 918 Spyder served as the technical inspiration. "In the super sports cars from Porsche, you always have the feeling of practically sitting on the road between the high wheel arches," says Michael Mauer. "We wanted to emphasize this even further." Editor-In-Chief's Note: This is my personal favorite. -PMD

A “GET OFF MY LAWN, YOU DAMNED KIDS!" MOMENT...

By Tom Pease

Beverly Hills. One of the things I like to do in my spare time is look at the old cars for sale online and think which one I would like to buy. Of course I know that modern cars are better, stronger, faster, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but older cars have their charms, including (usually) simplicity, workability, and if it's old enough, not having to have it smogged. And although in reality getting my vintage Belchfire 3000 up on jack stands and actually doing an oil change would happen right after I won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, it's nice to know I could.

So, looking at modern cars through the filter of those dim, dead days where Mercedes gave you manual drivers seat adjustments and mirror (because, you know, you're sitting there) here are a five things I think we could do without.

1. Configurable Digital Dashboards. I would bet that 99.9% of people scroll through the choices, pick one, and then never touch it again. Nobody cares whether the battery is at 14 volts or the temp is at 195F, they just need to know whether that's a good thing. Bar graphs, people. Stirling Moss managed to soldier through the Mille Miglia without being able to reconfigure his tach into a bar graph with light effects and vroom sounds piped in. You should too.
2. Vroom Vroom sounds piped in. You bought a car with an engine that sounds like a Cuisinart. Cope.
3. Configurable Ambient Lighting. While I admit that I am momentarily amused by welcoming puddle lights, theater-style dimming, and the Twilight Sentinel Cadillac has had since about 1957, I really don't see a pressing need to be able to shift the footwell lighting from cobalt to cyan. And those light-up grill logos are just this generation's version of Opera Lamps.
4. Redundant Rear Seat controls. Okay, maybe you moonlight for Uber. Maybe you've decided that in your position you need a driver, don't want the ostentation of a limo, but still don't want to have to ask Sneaves to turn up the AC or change the radio to “All Things Considered.” Maybe you are in possession of one of the four kids not of voting age yet who do not have an iPad or other device hermetically attached to their person. In that case you may need rear seat climate and entertainment controls. You also need a minivan. No matter how often or how hard you tell yourself otherwise.
5. Giant Wheels and Tires. Especially on an SUV. The fashion (and that is what it is) for giant wheels with pancake aspect-ratio tires is one that I would like to see end. I know that for some 195/55's are the vehicular equivalent of wearing duck boots with a tuxedo, but for those of us who live places where there are potholes (i.e., planet earth) that extra little bit of rubber and air between our expensive rims and the road can mean the difference between a bump and a costly replacement. On an off-roader it's like climbing Annapurna in a tutu and Louboutin pumps.
6. BONUS ROUND! Paying more for getting less. Paying a premium for getting a “sport” version of a car, deleting the radio, the door-pulls, the carpeting, and the HVAC while making you climb out to put the top up using old sail-cloth and discarded Lincoln Logs makes about as much sense to me as paying the gas station to actually suck the gas out of your tank. Yes, Porsche, I am looking at you.

Of course, all of this is only my opinion, which you are free to disagree with, or add to the list as you wish. If you regularly change the color of your puddle lighting, or having little Johnnie and Janie able to fight over the rear-seat heaters keeps you sane on the drive to the mall, then more power to you.

You still need a minivan. So there.

AE Song of the Week:

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on

Stacy, can I come over after school? (after school)
We can hang around by the pool (hang by the pool)
Did your mom get back from her business trip? (business trip)
Is she there, or is she trying to give me the slip? (give me the slip)

You know, I'm not the little boy that I used to be
I'm all grown up now, baby can't you see

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want and I've waited for so long
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacy's mom

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on

Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn)
Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on)
I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (way she stared)
And the way she said, "you missed a spot over there" (a spot over there)

And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want, and I've waited so long
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong
But I'm in love with Stacy's mom

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want and I've waited for so long
Stacy can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong
I'm in love with (Stacy's mom oh oh)
I'm in love with (Stacy's mom oh oh)
Stacy can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong, but
I'm in love with (Stacy's mom oh oh)

"Stacy's Mom" - Fountains of Wayne from the album 'Welcome Interstate Managers" (2003)*. Written by Adam Schlesinger, Christopher B. Collingwood. Watch the video here.

*Fountains of Wayne were founded by Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, who met as freshmen at Williams College in Massachusetts. The pair were later joined by guitarist, Jody Porter and drummer, Brian Young. The band were initially called Are You My Mother? and Woolly Mammoth, before finally settling on Fountains of Wayne - a name they obtained from a garden store in Wayne, New Jersey. The group was signed to Atlantic Records in 1996 and released their self-titled debut album that same year. This song tells the story of a kid who has developed a huge crush on his friend's super-hot mom. Adam Schlesinger, songwriter and bassist for Fountains of Wayne, revealed in our interview that the track was actually inspired by a friend who was, curiously, attracted to Adam's grandmother: "Well, one of my best friends told me that he thought my grandmother was really hot, that added a little bit to the song. That's a true story. And my grandmother was pretty hot." Schlesinger told us he had Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" in the back of his mind when he penned "Stacy's Mom": "It was a contrast of that story against a track that sounded like '80s new wave, like The Cars or something." The Cars' influence is obvious - just compare the intro of their track, "Just What I Needed," to the intro of "Stacy's Mom" to hear for yourself. This song was a commercial success and reached #1 on iTunes' Most Downloaded Songs chart. In 2004, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Pop Performance. Adam Schlesinger told us "Stacy's Mom" "is definitely the biggest of my own band stuff." Schlesinger added to Bullz-Eye.com that he does not think Fountains of Wayne will achieve the same level of success they did with "Stacy's Mom" ever again: "I think 'Stacy's Mom' was a fluke thing where it was the right song and the right video, and you kind of had the novelty factor, and all that stuff. And you can't really make that happen again." Actress and model, Rachel Hunter, portrayed Stacy's mom in the song's official video, which was directed by Chris Applebaum. Parts of the video bear a striking resemblance to the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. At one point in the movie, a character named Brad is in a bathroom fantasizing about his sister's friend and the friend walks in on him. His sister's name, coincidentally, is Stacy. (Knowledge courtesy of songfacts.com)