Auto blog

Toyota tops Consumer Reports best, worst used car values

We often mock Toyota for building boring, soulless cars, but a new study by Consumer Reports suggests that regardless of whether that's true, the company has some of the best used cars on the market. In its report on used cars from 2004-2013, the Japanese automaker had 11 vehicles among its brands on the list - more than any other automaker.
CR breaks the list down by cost and vehicle size, and Toyota has at least one entry at every price point and in nearly every segment. To score a recommendation, a vehicle had to perform well in the magazine's initial tests and score above-average reliability results. It also tried to only suggest cars with electronic stability control. Of the 28 recommended vehicles, Honda/Acura had the second most mentions at six, and Ford, Hyundai and Subaru managed two each.
The Detroit brands also made it to the list, but not in a positive way. Consumer Reports compiled a list of 22 vehicles it wouldn't recommend because "they have multiple years of much-worse-than-average overall reliability." General Motors had the most unrecommended models on the list at six, but Chrysler and Ford weren't far behind, with five cars each from their brands not making the grade. The full list of recommendations is available on CR's website.

Ram helps power Chrysler to 11% gain in May

Increasing consumer demand for Ram pickup trucks and big SUVs has helped to boost May sales for Chrysler. Ram sales were up a total of 24 percent year-over-year for the month of May. In addition, Dodge sales increased by 23 percent in May, with the standout Durango clocking a 24-percent year-over-year improvement (with an updated 2014 model in the wings, incentives are thick on the ground for 2013 inventory). Fiat and Jeep were up only a modest one percent, however, and Chrysler brand sales were down by two percent against last year's figures.
Chrysler is quite pleased overall with brand performance, saying that this May marks the company's strongest in the past six years. It was also the 38th consecutive month showing year-over-year sales gains.
Eight of the automaker's vehicles set sales records for May, as well: Jeep Wrangler and Compass, Dodge Avenger and Challenger, Fiat 500, Chrysler 200 and Ram pickups. Scroll down to read more detail in Chrysler's press release.

This 1958 Chrysler Imperial Ultra 7 Pointer 1 is Japan's Batmobile

It might be sacrilegious to admit among some auto enthusiasts, but there's more to driving than performance and speed. Sometimes it can be a matter of love, as it is for Yasushi Shiroi, who has spent the last 21 years building a faithful replica of a car from a '60s Japanese sci-fi show.
Shiroi's car is the star of the latest video from The Aficionauto and it's truly a labor of love. This machine, which is sort of like a Japanese Batmobile, is based on a 1958 Chrysler Imperial and is designed to recreate a car called the Pointer 1 from the series Ultra 7. The latter was apparently hugely popular when it ran in Japan in 1967 and 1968, and told the story a seven-member team that fought off aliens attacking Earth. While the car in the series never actually ran, Shiroi wanted one that would.
The Pointer 1 has been in constant development since Shiroi has owned it. All of the body modifications have been done in steel, but mechanically, it remains something of a mess. This replica might be slow - and to many people, ugly - but it has brought its owner about as much happiness as a car can, and that's something worth celebrating. Scroll down to check it out.