The Geneva Auto Show always reminds me of one of my prize items of late sixties memorabilia: the 1969 Automobil Revue catalog that was always issued in conjunction with the Geneva show. Here are a few scans from some of the ads, which show another glaring reason for the collapse of the USSR: their car ads. If these two sexy guys posturing in front of the “new” Moskvich don’t quite turn your crank, I assure you, the Russians knew how to make straight sexy ads too: (Read More…)

When GM’s new 1973 cars, especially the all-new  “mid-sized” cars were introduced, my friend Paul Brown, an artist and fellow Bill Mitchell aficionado and I trotted down to Iowa City’s various dealers to experience them in the flesh. We found them to be somewhat over the top, and struggled to understand what Bill and his associates were thinking, or what someone had put in the Advanced Styling studio water coolers. Inspired by the the GM psychedelia, we loaded up on brochures, and went home and got out scissors and paste, and decided that we could “improve” on their imaginings. I wrote about it here before, but after writing yesterday’s CC on the Collonade Malibu, I realized that I still had some of our work (I tend to keep things). I’ve been a little shy about sharing them, but what the hell; it was a long time ago. (Read More…)

We’ve seen photos of the refreshed BMW 3-Series coupe and convertible, but shots of the sedan have proven somewhat more elusive. Luckily TTAC has eyes everywhere. Commenter dinu01 spied this updated 3-Series testing near Toronto. “Both front and rear emblems are taped,” he reports. “The driver did not want to be photographed and went between 150-160 km/h.” Have a spy shot of your own? Share it with our contact form, and we’ll share it with TTAC’s readers.

Mitsubishi’s ASX represents the brand’s move towards on-road crossovers, a move inspired by research showing that buyers of its Outlander big brother cross-shopped D-segment sedans rather than midsized SUV/CUVs. The C-segment ASX will be called the RVR in Japan and the Outlander Sport in the US market. And though the ASX’s front-end is allegedly inspired by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry F2 fighter, it looks remarkably similar to BMW’s recently-launched C-segment crossover, the X1. Which kind of makes sense, considering the F2 is actually just a modified F-16. Imitation is the most commercially viable form of flattery.

Boxy cars are a divisive subject: bring up the Mk. 1 Scion xB, and people will either swoon with desire or faint with disgust. The Heuliez Mia looks to wade into the middle of this controversial segment, offering a huge amount of space in a weird, box-like form. With only a 80km-100km range at the starting price of €18,000, the Mia’s electric drivetrain will doubtless self-select out the anti-cubists, limiting its appeal to fans of the impractically practical. In dense urban centers, however, there will always be an audience for small-but-spacious people movers. But can the Heuliez compete with Asia’s proud tradition of automotive cubism?

Do you like the Fiat 500, but worry that it has too much room and not enough flamboyance? Luckily the nuts at Rinspeed agree with your quixotic tastes. Others might have a harder time “C-ing” the point of this concept.

Longtime auto observers know there’s a fine line between a clean, subtle design and a boring car. What might come as a surprise is that Subaru is the brand currently exploring the liminal zone between nice and narcoleptic. After all, when was the last time Subaru design was accused of understated elegance bordering on the hopelessly anodyne? But Subaru is already abandoning its rough-and-ready, quirkily-styled roots for Audi-junior positioning, and this Hybrid Tourer Concept captures those aspirations brilliantly. Too bad Subaru’s most pressing design challenge is improving its plastic-fantastic interiors.

If Peugeot’s “Five by Peugeot” concept is Jaguar-inspired, this SR-1 concept clearly takes its cues from Old Blighty’s other famous sportscar builder, Aston Martin. Have the Anglophiles taken over at Peugeot, or is this just a jab at Renault, which is required by the terms of its state-ownership stake to not produce cars that are inspired by the designs of non-French marques? Though we’d like to think of this as proof of the superiority of private ownership, chances are Peugeot’s designers just like Aston’s styling. God knows it’s hard to blame them.

The Audi A1 is huge in the sense that it is the main test case for the hypothesis that luxury brands can get folks to pay premium prices for a subcompact car not named MINI. And it had better work, because those European emissions standards are murder. Next up: Mercedes and BMW-branded FWD subcompacts, scheduled to hit the Auto Show tour over the next several years.