Earth Day 2013

For today's tree-hugging holiday, I've compiled a list of new cars, all of which are supposed to be 2013's Top 10 Best Cars for the Environment.

10. Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

9.   Toyota Avalon Hybrid

8.   Honda Fit EV

7.   VW Jetta Hybrid

6.   Ford C-Max Energi

5.   Toyota Prius Plug-in

4.   Chevy Volt

3.   Ford Focus Electric

2.   Tesla Model S

1.   Nissan Leaf

Now, see how bored you are after glancing through that? That's why I blog about interesting cars and other motoring related topics, not this sort of thing.

Happy Eco-mentalist Day.

Car Brand Slogans: A Review

Below is a listing of some slogans that were recently used by automotive companies, along with a little nugget of truth about each. Being in marketing, I study these kind of things, and I thought it'd be entertaining for you all to have a glimpse into the mind of a genius.

BMW: “BMW. The Ultimate Driving Machine.”
Audi: “Keeping ahead through technology.”
You have to enjoy the fact that your grammar check will grab you for both of these ads and tell you "nein, your sentence is nicht gut." These slogans are about the same: very assertive, very German, not bad, but not very memorable.

Mercedes-Benz: “Unlike any other.”
Mercedes-Benz is deeply involved in so many different things related to automotive manufacturing; one could really say that they are “unlike any other.” This one is alright.

Alfa Romeo: “Alfa Romeo. Beauty is not enough.”
This slogan is good because it is accurate, not ridiculous boasting or just making up nonsense like most slogans. Alfa really does make truly beautiful cars, so this works. I also love Alfa Romeo so I'm totally biased here.

Ford: “Built Ford Tough”
Effective. You have to admit, it works. My only problem with this is that Ford writes its ads as if their target is car-buying Neanderthals.

Dodge: “Dodge. Grab life by the horns.”
Not great. This ad slogan was written exclusively for high school football coaches.

Chevrolet: “Chevy: an American revolution.”
You can’t really point out a problem with this slogan, but then, you couldn’t repeat it to me two minutes from now either, could you?

Volkswagen: “Relieves gas pains.”
This is a great plan from VW’s marketers – have your customers associate your brand with flatulence.

Toyota: “The car in front is a Toyota.”
            “Toyota. Moving forward.”
When you read the old ad campaign, “The car in front is a Toyota”, you just think - if there is a Toyota in front of me, the accelerator is stuck. Then you read the new, slightly better slogan: “Toyota. Moving forward.” – you still think - of course its moving forward, it can’t stop either.

Saturn: “Saturn. Like always. Like never before.”
A part of this slogan is accurate; like always, your Saturn will be absolute rubbish. Like never before… no it will be embarrassing, like it always was.

(I have enlarged their logo image here so that you can marvel at this absolutely wonderful masterpiece artwork that is the Saturn logo.)

If you have a favorite slogan not seen here, or if I have offended your most beloved car maker in some way, post below in the comment box. I might enjoy reading your submissions.

A Brief Introduction & The Ford Taurus

So here's how its going to work.

I'm Preston. I enjoy things that have engines and wheels. I am going to blog about different cars, and nearly any and all things related to motoring. This is the beginning of it all. Enjoy my musings.

The Ford Taurus: Then and Now

This is my first car - 1998 Ford Taurus SE. A wonderful piece of American machinery, this Taurus and all others will always be sort of special to me, because this one has served me well in my young age. It was my portal to freedom.

some specs:

• 3.0L 12-valve V6 engine
• 145 horsepower at 5200rpm
• 170 ft-lbs of torque at 3250rpm
• 4 speed automatic

It might seem like this would be a fast car, but that V6 has to carry over 3 tons of senseless weight.

The older Taurus models, this model year in particular, was not a looker at all, and really, there is nothing special about them at all. Honestly, if the government were to distribute basic transportation to us all, this would be it.

it pains me to say this because I adore my Taurus, but...
1998 Ford Taurus -- bad car.

Without any clever transition, this is the 2013 Taurus. More appealing to the eye, no question, than the 1998 model, this new Taurus looks more like a Jaguar or an Aston Martin, and much less like basic transportation.

This car is much quicker than the older model, and it looks much better. I look at this car and I actually want to drive it.

In researching I found that, if you're feeling creative, you can create your own 2013 Taurus here.
http://bp3.ford.com/2013-Ford-Taurus?branding=1&lang=en#/Models/

If you're not feeling like doing creativity,
some specs:

• 3.5L 24-valve DOHC TiVCT V6 engine - standard
• 6-speed electronically controlled automatic overdrive - standard

There's plenty of other boring technical things like electronic assisted this-and-that. But without any of that, I'll just go ahead and say it for you: in comparison to the fish-faced 1998 Taurus, this car is so much better in every single way.

now I want one because...

2013 Ford Taurus -- good car.

*This entire post leaves out of the picture the new 2013 Taurus SHO, which I hear is actually quite nice not only on the road, but also on the track. If you would be willing to drop over 40,000 on a heavy 4-door with AWD, this is my recommendation.

If you have any thoughts, please comment. 
I'd love to hear from you. especially if you disagree with me.