More pictures of the Hyundai i30 Fastback

This is coming out on sale in various countries around Europe right now.

A fastback version of the car sold here as the Elantra GT.

It reminds me of what Toyota used to do with the Corolla in the 80's. They used to have tons of versions of it. 

Sedan, fastback, 3 door hatchback,  wagon, lift back, coupe etc...

It seemed that no matter what style of cars you liked, there was a Corolla for you.  

Things have gotten so greedy, not many companies are trying to offer many variations anymore.

But Hyundai does. 

We have the Elantra sedan. While Europe has the i30 (Which is our Elantra GT)

They also have it as a wagon. And now this cool Fastback.

(The new Veloster could be considered the coupe version)

I think this is a really nice retro idea. 

Jaguar XE-L

This "L" version of the Jaguar XE adds a few inches to the rear seat. So the rear door is longer. (The white car above is the regular version)

And the transformation doesn't turn the compact Jag into a Frankenstein monster.

it still looks quite nice. Much nicer than the similarly sized XF. (Which looks like a Subaru)

 You can tell the back seat now has decent legroom. Just like it was supposed to in the first place.
And it also comes with a double glass roof .

I mentioned this before, but I still think they should bring this long version of the XE over here. (So far, this is only for the Chinese market)
To replace the banal/boring/non Jaguar looking XF.
The interior of the cheaper XE is also much nicer than the one in the XF.

2 versions of the XE plus that new XJ EV we will be seeing at the end of this year, should be plenty of sedans theses days. They are also planing a total of 3 SUVs.
I don't see the point of that ugly XF anymore....

New Lynk & Co hatchback coming up.

 As mentioned before, Lynk & Co is a new brand positioned under Volvo. From the same Chinese owner, Geely.
They have started sales of their SUV model, the 01. And showed a sedan concept called the 03.
So I guess the hatchback pictured above would be the 02(?)

They are planning sales in europe and the US. So of course, they would need a Golf class hatchback for the European market.
And the SUV will probably be the best seller here.

 Here the 03 sedan as a concept. the prototype above does look like it is a straight hatchback version of that car.

And here is the 01 SUV. Based off the same platform as the new Volvo XC40.

Lynk & Co is planing to sell their cars directly to consumers. No dealers.
With limited options. I guess similar to what Tesla has been doing.

Head over HERE for more info on the Lynk & Co company.



But most importantly, click HERE for all info on William Link. Co-creator of Mannix and Columbo. 

2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Interior

Looking pretty nice and stylish.
Except... For that stupid tablet sitting on top of the dash. Again.
At this point, it is a design choice. Since the Santa Fe isn't a bargain basement car. So this isn't done to cut cost.
It is just a super lazy design choice. Most other manufacturers now make at least an effort to integrate the screen into the dash design.
Even Mazda. Their screens are not totally integrated, but they just don't stick out like this one.

This cheapens the whole thing...

Head over HERE for more pix of that interior.
And HERE and THERE for teasers of the new Santa Fe.


And HERE for something completely different. 

2019 Ford Focus Interior

The picture on top is a prototype of the all new 2019 Ford Focus.

While the bottom one is the current 2018 Ford Fiesta sold in Europe (The one we are not getting here)

At first, they look exactly the same. 

But keep looking. They are actually different. The tablet/screen doesn't "sit" the same way on top of the dash. The vents. And especially that little extra triangular side window is specific to the new Fiesta.

Same thing again from this angle. They are almost exactly the same.

Has the interior design department become that lazy at Ford?
What is going on???
Can't they at least try to make these two interiors a little bit different??

Of course, it won't be such a problem in the US, since we are not getting the new Fiesta in the first place. So no-one will be able to tell.

Still. This is so weird.... And again, lazy...

2019 Hyundai Santa Fe

This looks really nice.
Of course, it is one of these super exaggerated designer illustrations.

Hyundai has already teased us with the real thing (HERE)
Still, I am looking forward to see the new Santa Fe.

2019 Chevrolet Malibu

The current Malibu is still a very nice looking car.
But since it's been a few years, I guess the mandatory "Mid-cycle refresh" is coming up.
It looks interesting. (Although I wonder if it will adopt the "everyone else does it" huge grille now.)

Looks like LED lights are showing up all over. Engines are already competitive (They offered 1.5 Liter and 2.0 Turbos way before the Accord did)
So there shouldn't be any change there.

The Malibu is still quite popular for GM. As they sold over 185 000 last year alone (228 000 the year before) Although that is less than the Ford Fusion. Which is not scheduled for a next generation in the US...

Head over HERE for all the pictures of that Malibu prototype driving around.

2019 Mercedes GLE

Mercedes is hard at work on the next generation GLE SUV.
And it really looks like it will basically be a crossover/SUB version of the E-Class.
Why not.

Looks like the dashboard will end up looking very similar. Except the vents look square instead of round. I guess this will be the main difference from now on between Mercedes sedans and there SUV versions.
They must make tons of money off that one platform. E-Class/sedan/coupe/convertible/wagon, CLE, GLE, AMG GT sedan etc...

Friday night at Bob's Big Boy

Fridays come and go. But the coolest (and weirdest) cars always come back to Burbank. Every Friday night.

How about some love for the Dodge Mirada...

 This is a car I had completely forgotten about.
(Like most people I guess)

I was only made from 1980 to 1984. It replaced the Dodge Magnum. So it was basically a second generation Magnum.
And just like the Magnum, it was a sister car to the more famous Chrysler Cordoba.
But unlike the Cordoba, it didn't get the great Ricardo Montalban as a pitchman...

I think this is one of the cleanest early 80's American car design around.
Look at the picture above. it still looks very clean today.

 Of course, being the early 80's , that had to have that stupid fake convertible looking vinyl top option. Which ruined the shape of the car...

Sure, these cars were actually nothing special. 3 speed automatics. An anemic slant 6 awn standard. Or 2 options V8s. With only 120HP or 185HP for the big 5.9 Liter.
And no Ricardo...

Still, for some reason, I think it would be a pretty cool ride today...

And here is a recent video of one!
Still looking pretty nice.

Giugiaro Envision concept

The great Giugiaro will be unveiling an all new Concept next month at the Geneva auto show.
Called the Envision.

All we know so far is that it will be an EV sedan. And just like most Giugiaro concepts, it will probably never see production...

2018 Mercedes A-Class

Just a few more pictures of the all new A-Class hatchback before it launches in just a few days.
We will not be getting the hatchback pictured here, but a sedan version of this. (As well as the CLA "4 door coupe")
So the interior pictured here should carry over to the sedan and CLA models.

As pictured HERE, the interior will be available with various trims. Not just the metallic finished shown in these pictures.

It does look like a huge improvement when compared to the current interiors. 

What could have been: Ford Mustang

Here are some pictures of various clay models for Mustang prototypes over the years.
I just think it's pretty interesting to see what designers were thinking about.
Some of them are fine, but many are actually pretty scary...

 Things start pretty nicely with this study from 1966. It already looks a bit like the bigger 1970 model.

 This is getting a little bit strange here. With a very 70's front end. That is not sporty looking at all.

And this one just looks like one of these Dean Jeffries cars from 1970's futuristic movies. 

Really weird for a production design. I guess they were told to "push the envelope" a bit...

 This looks very close to the infamous Mustang 2. Which came out a couple of years later.

 These 2 above are very 70's looking.  The one on top actually reminds me a bit of the 80's Dodge Mirada.

 This does look closer to the final Jack Telnak design for the all new 1979 design.

 That is a prototype for what ended up being the first generation Ford Probe.
A FWD car based on a Mazda platform. Which was renamed right before the launch .

 This second generation Probe clay model still has a Mustang logo. Which is weird.
Showing us that maybe Ford still wanted a FWD Mustang after the first Probe came out.
Weird...

 This is  just plain bad and almost scary...

 I had never seen this before.
It looks like a Probe-like design, with more Mustang cues on a RWD platform.

A "more gentle Mustang"....