Are the dual agonies of maxed-out credit cards and another twelve weeks of winter giving you a New Year's hangover that's lasting longer than a Maybach's wheelbase? With the Los Angeles and Detroit auto shows sandwiched within the next two weeks, car zealots can shake off those post-holiday blues with relative ease.
But before I lose you to dreams of future cars that you won't be able to drive for years--if ever, let's not forget 2004.
It started with the Toyota Prius being named North American Car of the Year in January. It ended with the U.S. National Highway Safety Administration reporting that Ford is recalling every Escape and Tribute SUV ever sold to fix the rear liftgate from popping open in a crash if left unlocked. (Brings a new meaning to the term "Escape hatch", doesn't it?).
Most definitely a year of ups and downs in the North American car scene.
Amid the plethora of toplofty year-end "reviews", questionable "best of" lists, and PR influenced "Crossover of the Year" page filler, here's my six Most Overrated and half-dozen Most Underrated automotive world bits for the past twelve moths. (Should take your mind off that Vince Carter Raptor's jersey your Aunt Margaret got you for Christmas):
Most Overrated #6 - Chrysler Crossfire
It's hard to get excited about a car that is based on a platform from 1998--especially when that platform was never competitive with contemporary Boxsters or Z4s in the first place. At least you got the trick folding hardtop with the ol' SLK.
Despite zero percent financing, rebates, and a decontented model that slips under $40k, the thin layer of Chrysler icing that's spread over this stale Mercedes cake doesn't seem to be whetting enough sports car buyer's appetites. As of mid-December there was a 286-day supply of Miss-, er, Crossfires waiting at a Chrysler dealer near you.
Most Underrated #6 - Ford Five Hundred
If you read the initial criticisms from the buff book writers who are currently looking through Chrysler 300C-tinted glasses, you would think Ford simply reskinned a Fairmont, stuck a Five Hundred badge on the trunk, and pushed it out the door. Let's get some perspective.
First off, save the admittedly tepid Duratec powerplant, this is a Volvo S80--with all the latest safety technologies that go along with it--at half the price. Put against a more plebian competitor, like say, a Chevy Impala, and all of a sudden, the Five Hundred doesn't look so weak. The Ford's interior is way roomier, with more logical controls and features such as adjustable pedals and available AWD.
The perfect "old man's car", right? Well, yeah. And with the expected doubling of folks over 55 years of age in North America in the next 15 years, maybe limiting the horsepower on the cars they drive isn't such a bad idea.
Most Overrated #5 - Chrysler
Look, I like the HEMI-powered Chrysler 300C sedan and Magnum sports wagon as much as the next gasoline-blooded car zealot. But I also have a long memory. Long enough to know that these car's predecessors (the Intrepid, Concorde, LHS, 300M) may have been multiple trophy collectors when new (remember "cab forward" styling?), but whose reliability and durability became questionable and were left to languish by cash-poor Chrysler from a development standpoint.
Chrysler is still dependent on the scraps that sugar daddy Mercedes throws its way. After these admittedly excellent cars, the Chrysler lineup is pretty thin with just-new (and highly rebated) Pacificas, Durangos, and Crossfires getting thicker on dealer lots by the day including two (Dodge Neon and Stratus) of the Top 10 Cars With the Worst Residual Value for 2005.
But before I lose you to dreams of future cars that you won't be able to drive for years--if ever, let's not forget 2004.
It started with the Toyota Prius being named North American Car of the Year in January. It ended with the U.S. National Highway Safety Administration reporting that Ford is recalling every Escape and Tribute SUV ever sold to fix the rear liftgate from popping open in a crash if left unlocked. (Brings a new meaning to the term "Escape hatch", doesn't it?).
Most definitely a year of ups and downs in the North American car scene.
Amid the plethora of toplofty year-end "reviews", questionable "best of" lists, and PR influenced "Crossover of the Year" page filler, here's my six Most Overrated and half-dozen Most Underrated automotive world bits for the past twelve moths. (Should take your mind off that Vince Carter Raptor's jersey your Aunt Margaret got you for Christmas):
Most Overrated #6 - Chrysler Crossfire
It's hard to get excited about a car that is based on a platform from 1998--especially when that platform was never competitive with contemporary Boxsters or Z4s in the first place. At least you got the trick folding hardtop with the ol' SLK.
Despite zero percent financing, rebates, and a decontented model that slips under $40k, the thin layer of Chrysler icing that's spread over this stale Mercedes cake doesn't seem to be whetting enough sports car buyer's appetites. As of mid-December there was a 286-day supply of Miss-, er, Crossfires waiting at a Chrysler dealer near you.
Most Underrated #6 - Ford Five Hundred
If you read the initial criticisms from the buff book writers who are currently looking through Chrysler 300C-tinted glasses, you would think Ford simply reskinned a Fairmont, stuck a Five Hundred badge on the trunk, and pushed it out the door. Let's get some perspective.
First off, save the admittedly tepid Duratec powerplant, this is a Volvo S80--with all the latest safety technologies that go along with it--at half the price. Put against a more plebian competitor, like say, a Chevy Impala, and all of a sudden, the Five Hundred doesn't look so weak. The Ford's interior is way roomier, with more logical controls and features such as adjustable pedals and available AWD.
The perfect "old man's car", right? Well, yeah. And with the expected doubling of folks over 55 years of age in North America in the next 15 years, maybe limiting the horsepower on the cars they drive isn't such a bad idea.
Most Overrated #5 - Chrysler
Look, I like the HEMI-powered Chrysler 300C sedan and Magnum sports wagon as much as the next gasoline-blooded car zealot. But I also have a long memory. Long enough to know that these car's predecessors (the Intrepid, Concorde, LHS, 300M) may have been multiple trophy collectors when new (remember "cab forward" styling?), but whose reliability and durability became questionable and were left to languish by cash-poor Chrysler from a development standpoint.
Chrysler is still dependent on the scraps that sugar daddy Mercedes throws its way. After these admittedly excellent cars, the Chrysler lineup is pretty thin with just-new (and highly rebated) Pacificas, Durangos, and Crossfires getting thicker on dealer lots by the day including two (Dodge Neon and Stratus) of the Top 10 Cars With the Worst Residual Value for 2005.