ON THE TABLE - JULY 3, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013 at 04:58PM HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Chevrolet. Editor-in-Chief's Note: The new "Strong" ad campaign for the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado has made its debut. Groundbreaking? Hardly, but pickup truck advertising is not the place to find groundbreaking (the exception of course is the work by Team Detroit on behalf of the Ford F-150 with Dennis Leary's voice over. It still stands out going on four years.). Powerful images of trucks doing stuff with real-looking people doing real stuff with them, it's as old a formula as it gets in automotive advertising. The new campaign for the Silverado is the famous "Like A Rock" campaign updated and repackaged in a contemporary wrapper - not that anyone will publicly admit it, of course. Predictable, formulaic, nicely shot and mildly compelling, it's nicely executed nonetheless. - PMD
(BMW Group)
The BMW i8 Roadster has won the North American Concept Car of the year Award in 2012 and this year, the Best Production Preview Vehicle. The Production Preview category recognizes those vehicles based on a model that has already been announced or planned for production. We attach zero significance to these awards, but we do, however, enjoy looking at the BMW i8.
(Ford)
A unique U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Edition 2014 Ford Mustang GT will be donated by Ford to be sold at the Gathering of Eagles charity event on Thursday, Aug. 1, during the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh 2013 - the World's Greatest Aviation Celebration. All proceeds from the car donation and sale will benefit the EAA Young Eagles program, which has provided free introductory flights to more than 1.6 million young people since 1992, helping inspire and motivate the next generation of leaders, aviators and innovators. Ford is the exclusive automotive sponsor of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, held July 29 through Aug. 4 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis. This very special Ford Mustang GT celebrates and commemorates the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the fastest, multi-jet flight demonstration team in the world. The Thunderbirds fly specialy painted F-16 Falcons, known for their glossy red, white and blue paint schemes. This one-of-a-kind car is VIN 0001. The design of the modified 2014 Mustang GT 5.0-liter glass-roof coupe exudes a creative connection to the Thunderbirds, showcasing a custom brilliant white paint with red and blue accents, as well as markings and logos tying it to the Thunderbirds’ F-16 Falcon aircraft. The unique treatment includes wide body modifications and a handcrafted and painted “belly pan” that emulates the F-16 Thunderbird appearance. TS Designs handcrafted the front and rear wide body elements, Creations n’ Chrome crafted the unique belly pan – plus applied the paint and markings – and Forgiato created custom 22-inch wheels to further differentiate this Mustang from anything else on the road. Unique interior details of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Edition Ford Mustang GT include a modified navigation screen, instrument cluster and rear seat-delete. The car’s Recaro® seats include embroidered Thunderbirds elements. Additional features include unique sill plates and puddle lamps that project the aircraft silhouette when the doors open. Ford Racing components complete the special Mustang with the addition of a Ford Racing supercharger, suspension handling pack and Brembo® brakes. Ford Design Manager Melvin Betancourt and Mustang Chief Nameplate Engineer Dave Pericak led the design and engineering teams that developed the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Edition Mustang GT. Our AE take? Nice job, ladies and gentlemen.
(Chevrolet)
Today (June 28th) marks 60th anniversary of the Corvette. The first Corvette went into production in Flint, Mich. on June 30, 1953. Corvette is the world’s longest-running, continuously produced passenger car. The longest-running vehicle of any type is the Chevrolet Suburban. Corvette made its debut as a concept vehicle at the General Motors Autorama in New York City on Jan. 17, 1953. It was such a success that a limited run of 300 production Corvettes began on June 30 of that year. All 1953 models were Polo White with a red interior and they were priced at $3,498. In 2006, the third 1953 Corvette produced sold for a record $1.06 million at auction. Corvette was exclusively available with an inline six-cylinder engine until 1955. That year, the optional V-8 engine was ordered by 90 percent of buyers. The six-cylinder was dropped in 1956. Corvette has been available exclusively with V-8 power since. Corvettes have been produced at three facilities: Flint, Mich. (1953); St. Louis, Mo., (1954-1981); and Bowling Green, Ky. (1981-2014).
(Ferrari North America)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: From the "You Just Can't Make This Shit Up" and "Too Damn Much Time On Their Hands, Apparently" Files, this is the press release - word for word - from Ferrari (complete with photo): "Ferrari’s employees will be talking to their colleagues more from today forward. To incentivize more efficient and direct communication within the company, the decision has been made to place much stricter limits on the number of emails being sent. Specifically, from now on, each Ferrari employee will only be able to send the same email to three people in-house. The injudicious sending of emails with dozens of recipients often on subjects with no relevance to most of the latter is one of the main causes of time wastage and inefficiency in the average working day in business. Ferrari has therefore decided to nip the problem in the bud by issuing a very clear and simple instruction to its employees: talk to each other more and write less." Uh, WTF??? What's next for Ferrari? A company-wide incentivized edict to reduce the number of self-important dweebs, malevolent twerps, corporate swindlers and Ricky Racers from buying their cars? On second thought... - PMD
