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Tag Archives: Buick
Chicago 2012: The Picks of The Show
In case you’re wondering, yes, I do have some favorites amongst what I have experienced at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show.
I am certain that this would turn into another Five Favorites article where I bold the names of five specific automobiles; go into a brief explanation why they’re significant and so forth. No. There were many vehicles I spend time checking out inside and out that only four stood out amongst the multitude in the North and South Halls of McCormick Place. Continue reading
Five Favorites for a Pigskin Party
If this was any other year, I’d be happy to celebrate my birthday on Super Bowl Sunday.
Not this year, I’m afraid. It is not because the Minnesota Vikings went into complete retrograde. Just my interest in the National Football League waned severely this year, thanks to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the constant frustration with the state of cultural relations with most major professional sports leagues.
Frankly, I could care less who is playing in this year’s Super Bowl. If it is your team that will be on the field inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis – good luck!
Still, football was one of sports for the longest time. I recalled some memories from the game – in attendance, of course. In some cases, they involved automobiles.
On this special Super Bowl/birthday edition of Five Favorites, let me log back into time to see what crazy automobile-related events transpired around the pigskin and the 100-yard field. Continue reading
Detroit 2012: Quandaries from Afar
It was tough picking just nine from a plethora of debuts from the North American International Auto Show. Detroit yielded plenty of excitement, tempered with some criticism. I, for one, had my share of concerns and quandaries.
It was also tough to stay balanced here. Continue reading
Posted in Auto Show Coverage, Automotive Industry
Tagged Acura, Buick, Ford, GM, Honda, Lincoln
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Which Ones Sold How Many in 2011?
The annual sales figures are in! I could recount which vehicles were the best sellers in the nation, but I’d rather concentrate on how last year’s main vehicle review subjects fared in 2011. Also, I try to analyze how each vehicle could fare in the coming year.
Continue reading
Five (+2) Favorite Vehicles of 2011
I get asked questions. I’ll bet you know which ones I get asked the most.
On some level, Victory & Reseda provides some form of consumer information for the weary automobile shopper. At least I try to advise the interested car buyer whether a specific vehicle reviewed on here is worth cutting a check or not. It is not the main reason why I do this site, but it is something that is a byproduct of the work I put into this spot on the interwebs.
Yet, I am still asked which vehicle I would buy if I had the money right now to do so. The answer is a trick one. If I had a definitive vehicle I’d buy, this site would be almost meaningless. There would be a bias lurking in every word I post here. I try to avoid such things.
However, a particular vehicle could be influential on some level when I’m examining a competitor or, rather, something else from the same manufacturer. There would be one vehicle that stood out amongst the rest to say “that is the best vehicle I drove this year!”
Is there such a thing? If there were such a vehicle, would I have my integrity and objectivity threatened if I popped out an answer assuredly?
Over the past seven years, I had to dig deep as to which vehicles were amongst the best ever covered by me, whether you’d call it Victory & Reseda, MotorGeek or Lavender. This year alone had its highlights – a lot of them.
This certainly calls for a year-end Five Favorites post based on the best seven (yes, seven!) automobiles I’ve driven this year. There is a twist – let’s try automotive experiences with these vehicles. For all the vehicles I’ve driven, there were some moments. Which ones stood out the most? Continue reading
Posted in Five Favorites
Tagged Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Fiat, GM.Cadillac, Lexus, Saab, Toyota
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Five Storied Drives
The holiday season is a time for family. It is also peak travel season for any of us who seek family anywhere humanly possible. The roads are jammed with vehicles full of people and the presents they’ll give to one another. The lyric is right when they describe this as “the most wonderful time of the year.”
When families gather around, they’re on the road involved in an epic drive to their destination. Or, they’re sitting down for a story or two. Of course, I am reminded that things have changed since I was a kid. Television and video games have replaced stories of Santa, the birth of Jesus and the oil lamp at the temple in Jerusalem. Forza 4 and Gran Turismo 5 yield to no religious tradition or fable of a magical chubby bearded fella in a red velour suit.
So, let me tell you some stories… Continue reading
Posted in Automobile Writing, Five Favorites, Travel Writing, Vehicle of The Year Award
Tagged Buick, California, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, Iowa, Mazda, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin
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WWRD? It Begins
Remember “Toonces The Driving Cat?”
You have to admit that was one of Saturday Night Live‘s most brilliant ideas during the Phil Hartman era. The concept of having a cat that drove the family car even with Victoria Jackson and Steve Martin in it was something else.
You know who else loves to drive? Me! Yet, compared to Toonces, I avoid any cliff as humanly possible.
The point here is a new fun and interactive way to develop crowd-sourced content towards further engagement for V&R. I call it “WWRD?” Translation: What Would Randy Drive?
How this works is simple. Via V&R‘s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, I will ask the question for WWRD? submissions. The submissions are compiled and delivered with 3-5 vehicles as called out by YOU.
On your end, just give me a vehicle – any car, truck, SUV/crossover, van of any make, model and year. What I do is compile what I know of said vehicle and give you an answer why or why not I would drive it. I’ll also explain why. Continue reading
VOTY 2011: The Winner Is…
The road to the Vehicle of the Year was not one to tread these days.
Now in its fifth year, the criterion for a winner gets tougher with more things to scrutinize and take notes on. It is not as easy to give the award away.
To be the VOTY, a vehicle has to be pretty darn good. There’s no room for mediocrity when looking at vehicle quality, performance, ease of use, comfort, driving dynamics and overall efficiency. They also have to have a story behind them worth telling. Not to mention, a public say as to which one is worthy of the award.
The 27 vehicles nominated came from 16 brands that stretched from compact sedans all the way to heavy-duty pickups. These vehicles were assembled in seven different countries, mostly in the NAFTA zone. Under the hood were regular internal combustion engines either fueled by regular petrol, premium grade petrol or ultra-low sulfur diesel. Some had electric motors attached to them. One particular nominee had its electric motor be the primary mover of a vehicle.
Overall, the scoring was indeed tough. It actually came down to the voting itself to declare a winner. Continue reading
Five Favorite….Captive Imports?
Captive imports…and why did they exist anyway?
At a time when the call was to tune down the horsepower and prepare for an oil crisis, a recession and a never ending war overseas, domestic automakers figured it was high time to build another round of compact cars. By going smaller, there were two routes to take: Build them domestically or import them from a global partner somewhere. Three out of the four North American automakers chose the latter.
Chrysler had been selling Simcas and Sunbeams alongside Barracudas and Imperials through the 1960s. Simca and Sunbeam were a part of growing European operation for the Pentastar. In turn, Chrysler looked high and low to match the incoming compacts from General Motors, Ford and American Motors. They went across both the Atlantic and Pacific for their answers. Ford sold some European products at their dealerships in the past – the Cortina was the most popular and the Capri was a mainstay at Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. GM sold Opels at Buick dealers, but would soon play the captive import game as early as 1976.
You could also stretch the captive import involvement to AMC – that is if you include the subcompact Metropolitan that was jointly developed between Nash and Austin. They actually sold Metropolitans with the Hudson badge for a bit. At one time, Mitsubishi imported the Hyundai Excel for some of its dealers in the USA. Continue reading
Five Favorites from Auto Show Seasons Past
Next year will mark ten years since I covered my first auto show. No, seriously…
It is a momentous occasion since working press at an auto show has evolved from covering what’s new on the scene as a place
Yet, sometime within the last month or so, someone on Twitter called press days at an auto show as sort of a “circle jerk.” I get his frustration, as covering the industry certainly has changed over time. Traditional media has been threatened by the likes of myself…and we’re being threatened by outlets that can distill the news even quicker.
Still, there is room at the table for all of us – and we’re networking with each other all the time. In fact, the industry and the press are interconnected in ways unimaginable when it was strictly the traditional media covering the industry.
In retort to that Tweet that called auto show press days a “circle jerk,” I still believe that we need a day to meet with our industry counterparts, enjoy the excitement of vehicle launches and provide varying perspectives on the industry back to you – the readership.
Since the first major USA show is coming up at the Los Angeles Convention Center; this actually calls for a Five Faves post! This posting revolves a single question: What five vehicles made my auto show press coverage experience worth the effort?
That would mean logging back top the 2002 Chicago Auto Show – the one I covered with Midwest Ursine/Tillery Publications along with current Windy City Banner publisher Tom Wray.
I did come up with five vehicles over the past ten years. Here they are… Continue reading
Posted in Auto Show Coverage, Automobile Writing, Automotive Industry, Five Favorites
Tagged BMW, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, MINI, SRT
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