What a Waste....

     Sorry for the lack of updates my friendly followers but my real job that I do outside of this blog has required more of my free time lately. Time for which I do NOT get paid but since that subject is really best left for another forum I won't elaborate. Those followers that have known me for a while are aware (albeit vaguely I'm sure) of what I do for a living outside of this blog. For those who don't I work in the fast paced & not very glamorous world of automotive advertising. For security reasons I can only share what we do in a nutshell but I cannot share how it is we get it done. Basically the best way to describe it is this. Have you ever seen a car commercial on TV or opened up a new car brochure  where it shows some car parked on a cliff way out in what seems like the middle of nowhere & thought to yourself "Gee I wonder how they got that car up there on that cliff like that?" Well...that's where we come in. 
     The car prep & transportation logistics industry, where the car's the star & we the keeper of the keys. The company I work for provides a wide variety of car prep services to several major automotive manufacturers & their respective advertising agencies of which none shall be mentioned here. The automotive clientele we service keep a fleet of 300 + vehicles allotted & used solely for advertising purposes. This is where I come in. I manage the "picture car" fleets currently stored at our east & west coast facilities. I'm required to know what every car is being used for, who has it, & for how long on a 24/7 basis. Once a manufacturer has significantly redesigned or restyled one of their model lines the current vehicle representing that model line is rendered useless because too much has changed cosmetically for it to be shot & advertised as the latest product sold by that particular manufacturer. Now comes what most people consider the unbelievable part. Once a vehicle has been deemed as being no longer product correct photographically speaking it is slated for disposal & usually replaced with the newest model. In other words...IT GOES TO THE CRUSHER! Yes you read that right they get crushed! Again, I cannot reveal anything more than that because believe it or not this part of the industry has security protocols set forth by my clients that I'm legally obligated to abide by. Here are a few shots of the before, during & after life that a picture car might lead...
Enjoy (& try not to cry you might short out your keyboard)

Upon Initial receipt of a brand new vehicle from the factory or port facility, it gets photographed & entered into a web based fleet management database system & then is ready for whatever future photography projects it will be needed for.

 Setting camera & lighting position during a typical "location shoot".

 Shooting a "sunrise shot"...no further explanation needed here...right?

 Another typical "location shot" probably for the product brochure

4 cars on their way to meet their maker....a moment of silence please...

 The final crushing process....YOWZA is this thing ominous in person!

CCCCCRRRRRUUUNNNCCHHH!

 Almost done.....OUCH That was my exhaust you bastard!

What's left of our washed up picture car star!

Dig That Shag Carpeting Man...

     Ahhh yes most of us remember cars with vinyl bench seats that stuck to our legs on hot summer days, the thick shag carpeting at our feet, AM radios which only seemed to get the same two stations KFI and/or KFWB, & lets not forget when Mr. Roarke taught us all about the rich & luxurious feel of fine Corinthian Leather!
     Today's posting is a look back at some god awful interiors from a funky & far out era. Now I know the whole "retro" design theme has made its way onto the outside of a few of today's cars, but I really hope designers don't start thinking about incorporating this into the interiors as well because what you'll see below is not so groovy in my opinion...

Biarritz Tufted Button Style Leather

Cartier Leather w/ Accent Straps

 Plaid Cloth / Vinyl

 Gucci Vinyl w/ Signature Stripe

Barcelona Knit Cloth

Dual Comfort Deveraux Cloth / Leather

Saxony & Whittier Cloth

Knit Cloth / Vinyl

Boca Raton Cloth / Vinyl

Now I would REALLY consider you a TRUE car enthusiast if you knew what cars these came in! Anyone care to guess? Stay tuned for more of these to come...

ROAD TESTS.....2011 Nissan Cube & 2012 Nissan Maxima

     We pull 2 Nissan's from the EverythingCarz garage today; the 2011 Cube and 2012 Maxima. I just returned from an overnight road trip from LA to Mammoth Lakes in both vehicles and can honestly say the Cube is NOT a long distance vehicle by ANY means whatsoever but the Maxima absolutely is! 

Cube SL

     First, we'll start with the Cube. The vehicle tested here, a brand new 2011 SL with only 35 miles on the clock came equipped with the Preferred Package plus a few other optional accessory items. While I personally like the Cube's quirky overall design I still think anyone over 30 looks kind of funny behind the wheel. The 120 horsepower 4-cylinder moves this 2800 pound toaster along at a decent pace or at least it WOULD move it along if the loud & whiny hamsters operating the CVT didn't sap the life out of it. If you don't care at all about the new car you're shopping for coming with a navigation, or thumping bass from its subwoofer, or starting with a key instead of a push button, then you owe it to yourself to test drive both the 6-speed manual and CVT equipped Cube's. I guarantee, depending on your particular situation of course, that you'll go for the manual. On the positive side, the Cube is very easy to park, has a user friendly optional navigation, and gets great gas mileage but is best used as an around the town commuter car for the 20-something crowd.

     Pricing begins at about $15,750 including destination charge for the "S", & tops out at roughly $21,350 including destination charge for the "SL" w/ Preferred pkg and a few other optional accessory items.

     EPA estimates fuel mileage to be 27 MPG city and 31 MPG hwy. I averaged 29 MPG combined on my trip to Mammoth based on an average speed of 75mph and using the A/C for about half the trip 

+

• Rockford Fosgate Audio
• Idiot Proof Navigation
• Pretty Good Visibility

_

• ONE front seat armrest for the driver only....WTF?
• Underpowered
• Bulldog face...STUPID!
• Cardboard Seats
  
  

TEST VEHICLE:

2011 Nissan Cube SL     $21,350

Pearl White
Light Gray Cloth

120 hp 4-cylinder
Front Wheel Drive
16” Alloy Wheels

Automatic Headlamps

Automatic Temp Control

Preferred Package ($1700)

Rear Cargo Organizer ($180)

Roof Spoiler ($360)

          Maxima SV Premium

     Now, the Maxima. The vehicle tested here, a brand new 2012 SV Premium trim level with only 7 miles on the clock came equipped with the Tech Premium Package plus a few other optional accessory items. Having once owned a 1984 Maxima, I have always been a fan of this car. Nissan has always labeled this car their "4-door Sports Car" and rightly so. It's sporty, roomy, comfortable, serves up plenty of horsepower & torque whenever needed, & I think today's version has got a certain sex appeal about it.

     During the aforementioned Mammoth trip, I found the phone, navigation, and ipod/audio controls all very easy to set-up/use and all were within easy reach allowing me to continue to focus on the road ahead without distraction. The seats & visibility were excellent & my god again with the heated steering wheel feature! I just cannot stress to my readers enough on how much I love this feature! Mammoth was a crisp 34 degrees on the morning we headed out of town & my hands felt great!

     What are the Maxima's downsides? First & foremost (and this applies to ALL Infiniti & upper level Nissan models) the ability to turn off the damn weather alert bitch that comes on EVERY TIME the car is started! OMG is this feature annoying...BUT...not NEARLY annoying as trying to find out how to turn it off within the Nissan/Infiniti rotary dial control pad. Not a deal breaker overall but man do they need to either get rid of this function or at least make it more readily accessible for turning off. Other than that, I think Nissan should work on stepping up the fit/finish and quality of materials when asking $41,000 for this mid-sizer.

 

     Pricing begins at about $32,850 including destination charge for the "S", & tops out at roughly $41,000 including destination charge for the "SV" Tech Premium.
     EPA estimates fuel mileage to be 19 MPG city and 26 MPG hwy. I got 24 MPG up to Mammoth & 29 MPG on the way back based on an average speed of 75mph and using the A/C for about half the trip 

+

• Power & Handling
• Excellent Navigation & BOSE stereo
• Heated Steering Wheel & Panoramic Sunroof
• Impressive fuel mileage
• Trunk Space 

_

• How do you turn off that weather alert bitch?!
• Infiniti G pricing
• Coarse CVT
  
  

TEST VEHICLE:

2012 Nissan Maxima SV Premium     $41,000

Brilliant Silver
Charcoal Leather

290 hp V6
Front Wheel Drive

18” Alloy Wheels

Automatic Headlamps
Fog Lamps

Dual Zone Automatic Temp Control

9-speaker BOSE Audio

Panoramic Moonroof

Power Rear Sunshade

Heated/Cooled Driver Seat
Heated Passenger Seat

Rear View Monitor

Heated Power Tilt/Telescopic Steering Wheel

Heated Turn Signal Mirrors

Xenon Headlamps

Tech Premium Package ($1850)

Carpeted Floor & Trunk Mats ($200)

NEW YORK...NEW YORK!!

To really get the full effect of this posting title you have to imagine Bette Midler or some other famous actress/singer really belting it out! But...I digress. As I've stated in previous postings on this blog, the NY auto show is always good for a couple of tasty vehicle premiers & the unveiling's this year made me start to think about possibly registering to attend next years event. 

Take a look...

FORD 

Explorer Sport

RAM 

1500

SRT

Viper

CHEVROLET 

Traverse

ACURA 

RLX

HYUNDAI 

Santa Fe

INFINITI 

LE Concept

LEXUS 

ES

TOYOTA 

Avalon

SUBARU 

XV Crosstrek

BMW 

6-Series Gran Coupe

 M6

MERCEDES-BENZ 

SL

 GLK

 GL

NYAS EARLY REVEALS

The 2012 New York Auto Show private press unveiling days officially start in a few hours east coast time. However, these 2013 beauties leaked out a tad early as a bit of a teaser.
Not bad so far I have to say. Take a look...

BUICK 

Enclave

CHEVROLET 

Impala

LINCOLN 

MKZ

NISSAN 

Altima

TOYOTA 

Venza

BMW 

X1

PORSCHE 

Cayenne Diesel

FISKER 

Atlantic Concept