Look who’s back! -2020 Ford Bronco

Back again…  Ford Bronco’s back… tell a friend.
(Sung to the tune of ‘Real Slim Shady.’ Just showing my age here.)

I know, the news has already taken twitter and other social media by storm. I should have written this last week, but you know me. I like to take my time. Like good coffee you need a bit of extra time for ideas to percolate.

I have to say it’s pretty awesome that both the Ford Bronco and the Chevy Blazer are going to be making a comeback by 2020. They’re two iconic US vehicle that have been gone for far too long. I bet this is how people felt about the Volkswagen Beetle’s return for the 1998 model year.

Arbitrary shots of the prototype.

Such a great shot of the 2020 Ford Bronco! source 

Look at that suspension. source

What? You’re telling me those are just outdoor shots and there’s nothing there? Yeah, you’re right. That’s because there aren’t any photos of the upcoming Ford Bronco at this point in time. All we’ve got is this teaser.

Oh, nostalgia. I always thought the Bronco had a great logo. source

The concrete information we know is:

• The new Bronco is one of four (possibly five) new utility vehicles that Ford is adding to it’s line up.
• We’ve got the same logo as it was last used in 1996 on the F-150 based vehicle.
  There was also the Bronco II (my family had these) based on the Ford Ranger. FYI, the Ranger is also making a comeback in 2019.

Yep,  two facts. That’s all we actually know. Not really much, is it? It’s all very hush-hush.

There’s been chatter about how the Bronco is going to be Ford’s rival to the Jeep Wrangler JL, and I suppose it will be. As they fill the same space in their respective line-ups. But I really think that the revival of the name is more to do with how well it will do on  the nostalgia factor alone. 30 somethings and older are going to have a lot of memories involving the Bronco and people just LOVE to own the cars from their childhoods. Just look how amazingly well the Dodge Challenger and Volkswagen New Beetle have done. I would bet the Bronco scored really well with focus groups too.

What I want to know is:

• How many doors will it have?
  2 is iconic look for the Bronco, but are more people wanting a 4-door? Would it still be a Bronco is it has 4 doors and you don’t have to awkwardly climb in to get to the back seat?
• What body style is it going to have?
  Please don’t make it a cross-over, Ford. We’re begging you.
  (Luckily, Ford has mentioned that the Bronco and the Ranger will share a platform, so we’ll have to see.)
• What kind of engine will be going into it?
  I know we all want a little bit of power to make off-roading fun.
• Is it going to be available in 4-wheel drive or an all-wheel drive?
  I certainly hope so. It won’t be a Bronco without it.
• What kind of mileage is it going to have?
  I remember my family’s Bronco IIs were pretty dismal…

I know, I know I really should also write about the Chevy Blazer, I did mention it. But truth be told? We were always a Ford family…  I’ll leave that to another blogger to cover.

UPDATE: As The Speed Trap mentioned in the comments below, Dana, the longtime supplier of Jeep stick axles, is going to supply solid axles in the front and rear for the Bronco. At least, according to Automotive News who cited an investor presentation from Dana. Thanks for the tip The Speed Trap!

 

 

 

Giving the Boot the boot

If you’re like me your first introduction to the car clamp, aka ‘The Boot’ was on a TV show or movie. The Simpson’s episode ‘the City of New York vs Homer Simpson’ springs to mind.

Homer being upset over all the parking fines and the boot.

To see one in action you had to be from a more urban area and I was stuck out in the suburbs. Well, this specific parking punishment may be heading towards the end of its usefulness. At least, if Barnacle Parking has their way. Meet the Barnacle. And I don’t mean Barney from How I Met Your Mother.

Left: Yes, this is the Barnacle parking enforcement device. Right: Not Barney Stinson

Last summer a new parking enforcement product entered the scene. The Barnacle is a relatively lightweight, plastic device that is attached to the vehicle’s windshield using commercial grade suction cups. You ask, ‘Wouldn’t the driver easily remove this device?’ Nope. There’s an integrated pump that provides 100’s of pounds of force to secure the Barnacle to the windshield. It even has a built-in anti-tamper alarm and a GPS to detect if someone is either attempting to move the vehicle or illegally remove the device. Pretty slick.

Barnacle Parking created their device because they saw a need for a new parking enforcement device that was efficient, user friendly and lightweight. One that would make the entire process of parking enforcement easier for all parties involved: the administration, enforcement personnel and the violator.

With the Barancle, gone are the days of waiting around for someone to come and remove the boot at their convenience. All you have to do is pay your fine over the phone and they’ll give you a code to punch in that will release the device. You’ll then have to drop the Barnacle at a specified drop point, but that’s easily done.

The man in this photo looks too pleased with himself. Shouldn’t he look more annoyed?

Will the Barnacle be making its debut in a city near you? Well, it’s currently undergoing a trial period in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “We wanted to see how the Barnacle held up in a variety of environments, and Fort Lauderdale’s heat and humidity made it a perfect test market,” company president Kevin Dougherty told City Lab.

Depending on how things go, will your city ditch the Boot and switch to the Barnacle? Only time will tell.

Barnacle photos courtesy of Barnacle Parking.

Detroit Auto Show: Concepts

I’m sure I’m not the only person who was a bit…underwhelmed by the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I can say that this certainly wasn’t it. I mean, one of my favorite things about auto shows is seeing all of the concept cars. You’ve certainly seen my posts about them. Here, and Here.

But Detroit’s? Well, there wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary unless you count the Rinspeed Oasis, which reminds me of a very tiny train engine. It’s a two-seater, car sharing vehicle that has both a self-driving and manual mode.

One of the quirkiest things about it is the tiny garden area on the dashboard. I’m not sure that’s an accessory I would really want myself. During the day you would get a small oxygen boost at least.

Not sure how likely this is to making it into production but the ideas behind it are worth more attention. It’s not exactly an eye catching vehicle though. I suppose it’s on par with the Smart cars. I wasn’t ever terribly impressed with those. A truck looks like it could take one out.

Not a whole lot to say about the Acura Precision, it’s got strong flowing lines AND it looks like it’s happy to see me! Look at that smile.

It really is a good looking car. I wouldn’t mind driving one. Or you know, you could give it to me as a gift…

And have you seen headlights like these?

Now the car I most like the look of is the Nissan Vmotion 2.0 concept. In a lot of its pictures the paint job looks like quicksilver (mercury). (I accidentally broke an old school thermometer once, the mercury went everywhere and it looked a lot like this paint.)

I like the sharp lines on the body panels and how the windshield sweeps back. Whoa, hold on. The doors. I hate when they put suicide rear doors with  a normal front doors. It just looks so wrong to me.

I know, I know. It’s not exactly new. Lincoln Continentals back in the day had doors just like these. And the typical style is ‘boring.’ But hey, why screw with something that works really well? Suicide doors always make me worry a bit since you can’t really see cars coming up from behind. Then again, that’s why they’re called suicide doors.

Here’s hoping the next auto show has a few more interesting concepts out there.

Thanks to: AutoExpress, Car and Driver, Top Honda Cars, AutoBlog, and Carbuzz for the images.

3D printing shifts into high gear

(I’ve been sick this last week, so my apologies for not posting. I’ve got a chest infection and I’m on antibiotics, but I’m doing a lot better now that I’m not trying to cough up a lung!)

Now I’m a little late to be writing about this one, but have you seen the Divergent Blade, the 3D printed super car? Sure it’s a lot smaller than most supercars, from what I can tell it’s only got a driver’s seat and no passengers will fit. But it can go from 0-60 in 2.2 seconds and it’s got 700 horsepower under its hood. If that’s not a super car, I don’t know what is.

You’ve got to love an automaker who has the confidence to paint their car pink. This isn’t a typical, bubblegum or Barbie pink. It’s more of a metallic red-purple and it’s so reflective I can almost see myself from here. I do think a lot of people would simply call it pink. Most guys would probably prefer it in the silver, as seen below. It does look amazing in the pink though. Maybe in a green or an orange instead?

With 3-D printing becoming cheaper and cheaper, the typical American household can afford to own their very own 3-D printer if they wanted. On the low end of the spectrum they run a bit under $400. I’m not sure how many useful items you could print from it, but you could own one.  You just have to have the knowledge to use the thing or to create designs or schematics for it.

Just think about it. There will be a time in the future when you could print and build your own car! Whether or not you’d want to is a whole other story. Bear in mind that 3D printed auto parts are becoming more and more run of the mill right now. Did you know that Rolls Royce uses more than 10,000 3D printed parts in the Phantom alone? Volkswagen is well known as an early adopter of 3D printed auto parts, better known as additive manufacturing technologies. They’ve been using these technologies for over 25 years. link.

And scientists are doing and working towards some amazing things with 3-D printing, including printing human tissue. They aren’t able to create complex organs like a heart or a kidney, but that is where they are headed. I wonder which would take less time to 3D print, a heart or a carburetor? Then again, the heart would be all one piece and a carburetor isn’t.

And back around to Divergent. They debuted a 3D printed motorcycle at the LA Autoshow last November. They call it, the Dagger. Same semi-futuristic design as the Blade, it looks straight out of iRobot or even a video game. But I haven’t seen any engine details or it’s speed. Do you think Divergent is into bladed hand weapons for the product names? What’s next, maybe a Kris, Katar or Cestus, maybe?

Distracted Driving Guidelines: Too Much or Too Little Oversight?

I saw the other day that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released new, proposed, guidelines designed to combat distracted driving accidents and deaths. Just how do they plan on doing this? They want your cell phone to know when it’s in a moving vehicle and for it to pair (where a portable device is linked to a vehicle’s infotainment system) with your car and to have a ‘Driver Mode’ (a simplified user interface) that would be active while you’re driving.

Now neither of these things sounds like a bad thing. My last car had Blue Connect, and I could make and answer calls through my car rather than having to hunt for my phone when it rang. Basically, it ‘paired’ with my car (when I remembered to turn the Bluetooth on), it even called it that. And I know that trying to make a call on my smart phone when I’m driving can be a pain, so a simplified user interface could be useful.

If you stop and think about it, though… Your phone could make all apps and games off limits while your phone is in a moving vehicle. Texting will definitely not be available. But just how will your phone know you’re in the car, and whether or not you’re actually driving?

 

Screen grab from Pokemon Go.

Well, they could use your smartphone’s accelerometer and use it to decide if you should be in ‘Driver Mode’ or not, but that would affect your passengers as well. Not to mention how annoying it would be to anyone on public transportation. The app Pokemon Go has done just that, if you’re moving above a certain speed a message pops up stopping the game to make sure you aren’t driving until you press the ‘I’m a passenger’ button. You can see it to the left.

 

 

I suppose we are lucky that the NHTSA knows that what they are proposing could really annoy the general public as this is a part of their proposal:

NHTSA has learned that technologies to detect whether a driver or passenger is using a device have been developed but are currently being refined such that they can reliably detect whether the device user is the driver or a passenger and are not overly annoying and impractical.

So, until they come up with better technology/apps, they’ll have to fall back on the actual users activating ‘Driver Mode’ themselves. Considering how often I remembered to activate my Bluetooth when I was driving, I can bet that only a specific group of drivers would actually do it.

Have you reached Carvana?

In Japan, they say you can buy just about anything from a vending machine. Now I haven’t had a chance to visit myself, but it does seem more or less true. There were some…interesting results in my google search when I looked into it.

Vending machine are everywhere in Japan and they sell just about anything!

You’re probably wondering why I even brought up vending machines. Well, I saw today that a company called Carvana opened up a second (yes, you read that right), a second car vending machine in Houston this week. When did this become a thing? I can’t remember reading about the first one opening up down in Nashville and I certainly don’t remember their catchy Superbowl ad or their hashtag #thatdidntsuck. Though, #thatdidntsuck does kind of ring some bells now that I think about it.

The  original Nashville Carvana vending machine.

Since I hadn’t heard of them, I spent a bit of time today looking into what the company is. Of course it’s a portmanteau of ‘car’ and ‘nirvana’, but what kind of company are they that they have vehicle vending machines?

Turns out they are an online car seller. They do show the guy in the commercial buying a car in his kimono. And to top it all off I only saw good things about them. They have 9 ‘home’ locations that if you live within 100 miles of them you can get free delivery, directly to your house. I mean, seriously what could be easier? I just realized this is starting to sound a little bit like a sales pitch. Sorry about that. I’m just amazed by the car vending machines.

And the vending machines? They are actually really innovative and the buildings themselves are made of glass so you can see the vehicles inside, just like the ones you’d find at your grocery store. It looks like the center is hollow and that’s how the cars get taken out of the building. It’s a slick system actually and it looks amazing. There are some Youtube videos out there by people who bought their cars with them so you can see it in action.

The newest car vending machine in Houston. 8 stories tall!

I have to say my favorite part of the whole thing is they send you a large coin to use at the location to get your car. It’s a proper vending machine experience, though you don’t get to turn a crank or anything. So minus a few points for that.

The actual Carvana vending machine, where you insert your Carvana coin.

It’s definitely an innovative way to buy a car, and they’ve got me interested. I’ll have to look into some accessories for the next time I buy a new car. What do you think about this? Is it the way of the future, buying your car online and not at a dealership?

Reflections on the future: Car mirrors

I’ve written about advancements in cars before when I wrote several posts about futuristic concept cars from the BMW Group. However, today I want to talk about something that will be changing on cars in the nearer future. But don’t fear, this is not yet another article about self-driving cars. Instead I’ll be reflecting on the future of car mirrors.

Car mirrors- soon to be extinct?

 

These are a small, but significant part of any car (and bikes, trucks etc.) that often gets overlooked. However, with recent advancements in technology car mirrors will be replaced all together. Instead car manufacturers will be likely be equipping their new models with cameras.  Already Japan will be allowing the use of these cameras.

And they’re right to do so. Cameras hold some advantages over mirrors. For one, they make the car more aerodynamic. And with

side camera’s, gone are the days that your mirrors get knocked off or stolen. The images from the cameras would be shown together on a display inside the car, so drivers will also have a

BMW i8 without mirrors

better overview of their surroundings in one place. Already some manufacturers are working on this. BMW has the i8 concept where they also added a camera below the rear windshield to give a full picture of what’s outside the car.

Drivers will probably need some time to get used to this new concept of car camera mirrors. Not only will we need to change our driving habits – looking at a display instead of looking at each mirror in turn. But we will also need to get used to cars being just that bit slimmer than we are used to. Even non-drivers will have to adjust to this new sight. But cars will be just this bit safer again because of it.

And if you want to make your car safer today, you might want to install a pet barrier.