If you missed owning one the first time around…

January 24th, 2008 — Cars

 

It’s a brand new 2008 VW BUS!

As a 60 year old guy who is getting back “into” cars after years of use em and abuse em I must tell you guys I really like the looks of this new VW Bus. My immediate thought is that this is going to be much more powerful than the original version. Duh. As you might remember the VW Microbus was almost dangerous to drive on the highway. To make matters worse it had a high center of gravity. But look at the picture above. A lower center of gravity while maintaining the hint of yesterday. Wow now this is cool. The almost confirmed rumor is that it will be made for the US market in Ontario, Canada and will be availble sometime this year. Another report indicates that it may make an appearance at the upcoming Chicago Auto Show. -EDITOR

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Easy Riders r us…

January 17th, 2008 — Baby Booomer

Special to Baby Boomer Makeovers

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    • Jeremy Roberts | January 18, 2008

    WHILE twentysomethings swarm the inner cities on motor scooters, baby boomers have flocked to the countryside, adopting the laidback cruiser-style bike and driving last year’s motorcycle sales to a record high.

     

Scooter

    Holly Arkinstall in the Melbourne CBD on her Vespa, which she says is great for parking. Picture: David Geraghty

    According to figures released yesterday, sales of Harley Davidson-style cruisers to the over-40 set now rival motor scooters.

    While the motor scooter market tanked at about 14,271 last year, down 1 per cent, sales of cruisers rose 27 per cent to 13,196, becoming the leading road bike variety and underpinning the record year. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries revealed that 129,966 motorcycles and scooters were sold last year, a rise of 10,760.

    This is a 9 per cent increase on the previous record, set in 2006, and mirrored the record performance of car and truck sales last year.

    Inner-city worker Holly Arkinstall, 23, said rising fuel prices and a lack of parking in inner Melbourne made her Vespa indispensable. “You can pretty much park wherever you like,” she said. “And petrol prices will hit $2 a litre this year - which is a pretty big thing for a lot of people.”

    Ms Arkinstall said she needed to fill her scooter’s 10L tank only once a fortnight.

    But the new star of the motorcycle market was the cruiser.

    FCAI motorcycle manager Ray Newland said cruisers were mostly being bought by baby boomers looking for a fun weekend and holiday diversion. “It is the people in the 40-plus bracket who have the disposable income - their kids have left home and they have taken early retirement,” Mr Newland said. “They are taking weekend rides down the Great Ocean Road in Victoria or up into the hills in Adelaide.”

    Overall growth in road bikes was 18 per cent last year, with sales reaching 45,510.

    Ride captain of the Motorcycle Riders Association of South Australia Jock Rogan said most of the club’s new members were over 40 and looking to change their lifestyle.

    “They are a more mature set - grey nomads looking at motorcycles and trailers rather than the camper van,” he said.

    Honda was the top-selling road bike brand, with 10,014 sold. Next were Harley Davidson with 7134 and Suzuki with 7080.

    Motorcycle Council of NSW chairman Guy Stanford called on state and federal governments to make rider safety a priority.

     

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Not yer granddiddys caddy…

January 16th, 2008 — Cars

Special to Baby Boomer Makeovers   Article published Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Cars change to accommodate aging boomers

Photo

Knobs on Cadillac SRX’s console are larger for an easier grip and fading eyesight. ( THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON ) 

 

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By JENNY MOUNTBLADE BUSINESS WRITER

DETROIT - The ideal car for an aging baby boomer may well be a crossover. 
The automakers are trying to reinvent the proportions of a car for an increasing segment of drivers and passengers, said Pat Schiavone, design director for trucks, sport utility vehicles, and crossovers for Ford Motor Co. 
Through placement of seats near the point on the body where a leg joins a hip, drivers and passengers beginning to experience creaky knees and balky backs can get in crossovers without stooping, as they often must in a standard passenger car, or climbing, as required in full-size trucks and sport-utility vehicles. 
And getting out requires neither pull-up-like effort nor a long hop to the ground. 
Larger door handles are requested by people attending AARP conferences, and larger numbers and letters for dashboard gauges have been requested, said Stuart Norris and Andrew Smith of General Motors Corp.’s design center. 
Also being made larger on GM products are knobs to control the headlights as well as switches to operate power windows. 
The vehicles, a cross between a car and a sport-utility vehicle, are a growing segment. Among the more than 50 concept and production vehicles making their debuts at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which opens to the public Saturday, are crossovers from Ford, GM, Toyota Motor Corp., and Chrysler LLC. 
Also on view among the more than 700 vehicles at the media previews to the show are crossovers that have proven to be strong sellers for all the major automakers in the U.S. market. Among them are the RX300 from Toyota’s luxury Lexus division; the Edge from Ford; and the Acadia from GM’s GMC. 
Ford has been in the forefront of design for the aging through the use of its “Third Age” suit worn by young designers. The suit simulates mobility and vision problems so they can better understand problems of older drivers. 
Crossovers resemble youthful sport utility vehicles closely enough to still be considered hip by a huge demographic group refusing to think of itself as old, Mr. Schiavone said. 
A boomer himself, he said he considers his craft a “black art” - neither all design nor all science, but a meeting of the two. Needs of a generation whose oldest members are turning 61 are “extremely important in the work we’re doing,” he said. He keeps in mind his generation and those of their frail parents. 
Mr. Smith and Mr. Norris said they are working to make the sophisticated electronic equipment, such as navigation systems, easier to operate, with simpler controls such as touch-screen technology. 
Ready to go but awaiting an automaker buyer is a touch-icon system from the automotive division of Johnson Controls, of Plymouth, Mich. Designed to be applied on the molding at the top of the windshield, it is a two-inch-high horizontal strip of pictures of interior features such as radio, lights, and hands-free cell phone, all to be activated by the press of a finger. 
Contact Jenny Mount at: jmount@theblade.com or 419-724-6060.    

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