car japan

When Bob Lutz, GM’s chairman of North American Operations, held a "sketch-off" for a Pontiac concept vehicle, he said, "Keep it simple, pure, and beautiful and it will be easy to love." That call went out at the end of September and by mid-October, the Pontiac Solstice roadster was under development. The program—from the first sketch to the drivable vehicle—was executed in just under four months. The rear-wheel-drive roadster is powered by a 2.2-liter DOHC supercharged EcoTec four-cylinder engine generating up to 240 horsepower. The engine is mated to a Borg-Warner six-speed manual transmission, the same one used in the Corvette. The Solstice’s basic structure started life as a derivative of GM’s global small car architecture, with several mods for structure and balance. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to future product, Honda’s product planners and PR reps are typically more tight-lipped than the old East German Stasi. But the Honda crew couldn’t stop our spy photographers from snapping the hybrid version of the ninth-generation Honda Civic sedan, expected to go on sale at the end of next month.

As foretold by the on display at this year’s , the new Civic’s design will be an evolutionary take on the outgoing car’s. Read the rest of this entry »