^© Aston Martin - European Concept Cars

"The Aston Martin AM V8 concept is quite nice, but it is woefully lacking in drama. Seen from the back, it recalls the decade-old Nissan 300 ZX coupes (admittedly some of the best-looking cars ever to come from Japan). The bland taillights are intended to serve all Aston Martins for years to come, but despite being bespoke pieces, they tend to look like carryover parts from parent Ford. The front is a little stumpy, the hood basically too short for the length of the upper body, and the grille verges on being too big for the car, although not as badly overstated as the Zagato coupes introduced at Pebble Beach in 2002.

Presumably the AM V8 will be built looking pretty much like the show car. Ian Callum, who did the initial design, now runs Jaguar design. Henrik Fisker, who took the project over and altered it, has been sent to California to rescue Lincoln and Mercury. The car is certainly desirable, and if priced to really compete with the Porsche 911, it could have a brilliant future. Which is not bad for a design that is itself not brilliant, only nice." Robert Cumberford
. . . . .

^© General Motors - Sports Utility Vehicle – Utility or useless?

The Hummer H2 is currently the most radical evocation of the sports utility vehicle. It is the direct descendant of the HUMVEE military vehicle that was one of the most common sights on TV during and after the invasion of Iraq. But this is a HUMVEE that General Motors has downsized and softened to make it saleable to the general public. The process has been very successful; the H2 is one of the few cars on the American market that didn’t need massive incentives to sell it in the uncertain conditions of 2003. But the military heritage, although direct, is unimportant – this is a vehicle more likely to be seen driving to the baseball park than the battleground.
. . . . .

^© DaimlerChrysler - Sports Utility Vehicle – Utility or useless?

As peace returned, Willys tried to fit the Jeep – which was still a name that needed to be surrounded by inverted commas – into civilian clothes. The obvious application for its go-anywhere abilities was the countryside, and in the America of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, any car with out-of-town pretensions had to have the timber-framed station wagon look. It worked for Chrysler and Ford, so Willys applied it to the Jeep.
. . . . .

^© Ford Motor Co. - US Industry – Coming to terms with reality

Bill Ford led the parade that celebrated Ford’s centenary through Dearborn at the wheel of an F150 pickup, his company’s most important product. From the F1 of 1948 to the 2004 F150, Ford’s truck line has been transformed from a utilitarian tool to a ‘lifestyle symbol’. The F150 is probably the biggest lifebelt Ford has had in the stormy financial times of recent years. For some time now it has been the biggest-selling vehicle in the USA, and tight cost-control, coupled with simple construction techniques, makes it more profitable than any car.
. . . . .

^© General Motors - US Concept Cars

"As a statement of intent – to take Cadillac into the realm of the world’s best cars – the Sixteen is magnificent. As a practical automobile, it is so far over the top as to be faintly ridiculous. The 13.6-liter engine is big and shiny and is said to produce 1000 horsepower, despite being a two-valve pushrod design, but is that much fuel-sucking power really a virtue today? The car is handsome, but extremely conservative, advancing car design not one millimeter. Compare its Pininfarina-like classicism to the flamboyant Cadillacs of 1959 with their incredibly complex surfaces perfectly realized in large-scale production, and you must wonder whether General Motors has yet understood what it must do to make people want its cars again…" Robert Cumberford
. . . . .

^© General Motors - US Concept Cars

"The Chevrolet Super Sport concept was also shown at the Detroit show but off in a rather dimly lit area. A pity, because this five-door coupé-like family car really makes a beautiful statement. At first glance one might think retro, but on examination the form and especially the bulbous fenders and rear light treatment are much like a modern Corvette. The short overhangs and sports car-like front end design make for an exciting future for everyday driving if this concept is followed up into production." Tom Tjaarda
. . . . .

Floyd Clymer ^© Courtesy of Road & Track magazine

On a visit to the Nürburgring, Clymer posed with a Mercedes-Benz 300 for Kurt Wörner’s camera.