Automotive paint supplier PPG says the color of tomorrow's car is blue. According to Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of color styling, "It's one of those colors that complements vehicle shapes... It's a globally acceptable color. It doesn't have any bad connotations." The company studies trends in fashion, interior design, and consumer products to predict the tastes of fickle consumers. PPG isn't the only company predicting more blue sheetmetal on our roads and highways. An April report by chemicals giant DuPont also predicted a resurgence in the color, adding it was influenced by ecological concepts such as the sky and water. Consumers in 2008 apparently haven't caught on to the new "blue" trend yet. So far, 20 percent of the cars sold this year have been silver ("A neutral color that works on just about any car," says Harrington). White is second (18 percent), followed by black (17 percent) and red (13 percent). Although blue may be the new green, most consumers will still stick with black, white, and silver -- core colors that are always offered on nearly every vehicle.
The Italians are great at making two kinds of automobiles: supercars and super-minis. Cars like the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and the Fiat 500 are at the top of their game, but they're at complete opposite ends of the market. In between lies the bulk of the market, like mid-size hatchbacks, family sedans and sport-utes. The Fiat Group – which controls nearly the entire Italian automotive industry – is trying hard to break out of its shell and into everyone else's with cars like the new Fiat Bravo, Maserati Quattroporte and this, the new Iveco Campagnola. Okay, granted the Campagnola is not targeted towards mainstream buyers. But for a hard-core off-roader (or military procurement officer), Fiat's truck subsidiary Iveco is now offering an alternative to the Land Rover Defender or Jeep Wrangler, only with some decidedly retro, premium touches. We brought you initial details on the Giugiaro-styled Campagnola just a few days ago, but now Iveco has released a whole new batch of high-resolution images and full details for your perusal. In brief, the Campagnola is based on the Massif, which Iveco launched just this past March, and is is powered by a 16-valve 3.0-liter four-cylinder diesel with variable-geometry turbocharger driving 176 horsepower through a locking differential and six-speed manual to all four wheels. It's available only in green or beige, with matching steel rims and a fully outfitted cabin.
It looks like the Fiat Group isn't quite done with reviving old nameplates for new models just yet, as its Iveco truck division has launched a new Campagnola. The original Fiat Campagnola – Italian for "country girl" – was a Jeep-style truck made between 1951 through 1988, by which time some 40,000 examples had been produced and deployed around the world. It even served as the basis for the Popemobile until replaced by a Mercedes G-wagen. The new vehicle, which will wear the Iveco badge, unlike the original Fiat (accept in South America), is based on the Iveco Massif truck and rivals the likes of the Land Rover Defender 90, HUMMER H1 and Jeep JT concept for authentic paramilitary appeal. The minimalist bodywork, believe it or not, was designed by ItalDesign-Giugiaro, together with Fiat's own Centro Stile. It will only be offered in a three-door, four-seat body style with a 3.0-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel producing 176 hp and 295 lb.-ft. of torque driving through a six-speed gearbox and a selectable four-wheel-drive system. Customers can order one in any color as long as it's white or sage green, and the fist 499 will be specially-badged "Opening Edition" models. The new Campagnola will be built in Spain by Fiat's partner Santana and sold at a price of €29,800.
Father's Day in Beverly Hills can only mean one thing to car lovers: The annual Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance. As its name implies, the concours is held right along that world-famous shoppers' paradise that is Rodeo Drive, right in the shadow of the "Pretty Woman" hotel. This year's theme was "Haute Wheels: Celebrating Car Couture," which might have made a few people at Mattel cringe, but was intended to evoke memories of the original Parisian Concours where high fashion was on display along with the beautifully crafted custom coachwork. Estimates say 30,000 people were on hand braving the heat, doing some window shopping, and catching glimpses of celebrities like Larry King who simply mingled with the crowd and became just another car guy on Sunday. The Rodeo Drive Concours is always a special show because of its location, the cars almost feel secondary to the setting, but car fans weren't disappointed, either.
Approximately 100 cars were on display, running the gamut from hot rods to Veyrons, Fords to Ferraris, and motorcycles to Maseratis. Personal highlights were a rare 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America, gorgeous original Stutz Bearcat, a 21-window VW Microbus complete with matching trailer, a coveted 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, a wild Dubonnet Hispano Xenia custom and a beautiful green Delahaye 135S we happened to spot on the drive into the event. It wasn't too smart to be sporting those Celtic colors in LA right now, but the driver and car made it in safely. Other notable entries included one of six or seven (depending on who you ask) Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes, what is believed to be the only modern Marcos in the U.S., a gorgeous Zagato-bodied Maserati that was once found behind a wall hidden from plunderers, a 1933 Duesenberg Model J Tourster that was too popular to photograph whole, the Porsche Design boat, Cizeta, F40, Veyron.
Barbecuing can be such exhausting work. Surely there's an easier way. A group of Iranian inventors looked at how we cook and how we drive and how we dump so much heat out the back of our cars. Putting them all together, they came up with the Exhaust Burger concept.
Before you start complaining about the taste of carbon monoxide and the cancer risks of automotive air pollution, look closely at the design. The exhaust merely heats the upper element of the device, cooking your burger much like a Foreman Grill.
Of course, unlike the Foreman, there's nowhere for the grease to go, no easy way to check on the status of your food, and the Exhaust Burger only cooks one patty at a time. Oh, and the EB is still only a concept that was entered into Designboom's competition.
We'd sure like to try it out, though, especially if fitted to the back of a bio-diesel running on used grease from McDonald's. Instead of asthma-inducing fumes, we'd be spewing the hunger-inspiring smells of french fries and hamburgers.
