Volkswagen Sharpens Its Axe
Honestly, I’m not entirely opposed to this plan. Returning to the rich interior materials of the B5 Passat and preventing major mistakes like the ID.4’s infotainment system from entering production sounds like an ideal situation. Volkswagen Group should still be churning out plenty of electric cars, so market positioning should remain roughly the same. Still, slicing 60 percent of combustion model range by the end of the decade leaves VAG fans with some uncomfortable questions: Will the Mk. 8 GTI be the last GTI as we know it? How many fast Audis will be left? What repercussions will this have for the used market? I’m afraid that only time will tell.
Impractical Yoke-ers
I know that Toyota crossovers aren’t exactly bastions of steering feel, but speed-dependent steering ratios always feel a bit screwy. Just ask anyone who’s driven a specced-up Infiniti Q50 or Q60. Hopefully customers will have the option of choosing or puff-puff-passing on the RZ’s yoke as the production version debuts on 4/20. I wish I was making this up. Still, the rest of the interior actually looks really nice and the near-production model shown in December sports a fairly handsome design. I have fairly high hopes for the RZ, electric crossovers generally tend to be really good everyday transportation and the new Lexus infotainment system fixes the most loathed part of the brand’s interiors.
My Neck, Maybach
Concave faces and serious visual heft fill out this Maybach’s arches perfectly and add an old-school AMG-inspired twist. The tan continues on the inside, with Nappa leather adorning just about every surface and tan accents on metallic trim bits, in the infotainment system and in the digital gauge cluster. It’s exceptionally rare for a manufacturer to re-work parts of the user experience for special edition models, but it really does fit here. After all, Virgil was one of the most iconic designers of the 21st century, from founding Off-White to becoming Artistic Director of menswear at Louis Vuitton. Capping off this special edition is a serialized console plaque, a set of bespoke leather pillows, a special car cover, a carabiner and a 1:18 scale model of the car. Limited to 150 units, this designer-spec V12 über-limo certainly won’t be cheap. Figure a starting price well north of $200,000. Hey Siri, remind me in 15 years to search Copart for Virgil Abloh Maybachs.
We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Charging Network
In addition to falling short on charging network needs, the government is also taking its sweet time ramping up its light-duty zero-emission vehicle acquisition plans. The General Services Administration (GSA) was able to blag some 2021 Chevrolet Bolts at around $10,000 under market pricing, but only 1,854 new ZEVs have been ordered for federal use since the GSA’s last report. Not exactly rapid and assured action, yeah? Especially considering the federal goal of 100 percent of federal light-duty vehicle fleet purchases to be ZEVs by 2027. While Joe Biden’s $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill definitely has the funding to support this, the feds better hurry up on using that cash to its full potential.
The Flush
Whelp, time to drop the lid on this edition of The Morning Dump. While the Mercedes-Maybach S 680 by Virgil Abloh definitely isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, designer editions of cars have a long and illustrious history. Models like the Bill Blass Designer Edition Lincoln Continental Mark V, the Gucci edition Fiat 500 and the Lamborghini Murcielago Versace Edition blended high-fashion with high-octane for the few who dared to order them. If you could get any carmaker and any brand to collaborate on a limited edition, what would your ideal end result be? I certainly wouldn’t mind a Jägermeister Edition 718 GT4 RS for a touch of racing heritage. Top photo credit: Volkswagen Be perfect for a Ram Tradesman level “fancy work truck.” Yoke steering wheels are bad! Stop it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ9qsXu34SM Just picture the money shot in the commercial with the Ram 1500 driving alongside galloping Clydesdales when the driver raises his can of Bud in a respectful salute, chugs it, then chucks it out the window before accelerating away in a cloud of dust and gravel. Of course, every Limited edition Bud truck would have some special red paint and a case of Bud in each side of the Ram box. (One side regular and the other side But light.) I’ll see myself out. I thought that the Varvatos 300 was cool marketing idea at the time, for a bunch of reasons, that most probably never made the connection. However, I think there’s always room for cross-branding onto cars. Maybe a Tom Ford Ford? Please tell that there are plans to rename this feature. I have no problems with scatalogical humor, but this is leaving streaks on the bottom of the bowl. However, I’m hoping what we will see (when appropriate) is some sensible articles and discussions around policy, which is different than politics. Torch already has his personal mission in relation to autonomy (my brief take of his position is “better/stricter regulation until technology can reliably meet the promises”), but it might include things like public transportation, EV Charging points, taxation or incentives that distort markets (e.g. The Chicken Tax, but there are many others around the world, like the fuel excise in Australia) and so forth. We can’t pretend that our interest in cars and transport, old, current and future is decoupled from the political sphere, but fundamentally I don’t care which side in which country implements what, as long as it is good policy, which I’m still happy to see discussed and debated using reason and evidence. https://mediacloud.carbuyer.co.uk/image/private/s–_X6MCcBd–/f_auto,t_content-image-full-desktop@1/v1579654329/carbuyer/2019/09/08_28.jpg And yes, it’s rather good
