To mark the unveiling of Range Rover Evoque at the Paris Auto Show, the company took a trendy approach. They worked with a group of noted Parisian artists to create four temporary street installations.

Unveiled September 28 at the beginning of Paris Fashion Week, the street art is placed at iconic locations around the city including the Pompidou Centre and the Palais de Tokyo. The focus – luxury, design, sustainability and technology—is everything that the new Evoque… well evokes.

JCDC, the artist responsible for the wire-framed car shown above, “My representation of luxury references grace, intimacy and protection. This is a concept frequently related to the pleasures of enveloping oneself in a garment and my work with bespoke and couture fashion. Similar to luxury clothing, this installation reflects a graceful protection.”

“We want to make Google the third half of your brain.”

Sergey Brin, Google’s Co-founder

The other part of my brain is in other places..

“Juke is a segment buster — it’s something between a sports coupe and a crossover.”

That wasn’t all Nissan marketing speak. The mid-sized five-passenger Juke is a member of the fourth largest small crossover segment—- an arena that combines urban practicality with style. To wit, the Juke is expected to be cross-shopped with Mazda3, Mini Cooper, Toyota Matrix, Scion tC and Suzuki SX4.

And the name JUKE? In keeping with the sporty appeal of the brand, as explained, Juke is a take-off on movement—the fake-out in football, dodging obstacles and Juke box. Sounds rather like something out of “Mad Men.”

But the look is certainly not 60’s. In fact, it crosses between cartoon, euro-cool, new age and edgy. At 162” long (6” shorter than the Versa) with 17” alloy wheels, a low, wide stance and wheels pushed out to the corners, the Juke looks different than any Nissan we’ve ever witnessed.

That could be a good thing. Features, including boomerang shaped tail lights that mimic the Nissan 370 and “crocodile headlamps” (like the reptile’s head peering out of the water) and an interior console designed like a motorcycle, give this car some serious street cred.

“For the instrument panel, what designers had in mind was an athletic figure with a wetsuit,” remarked Drongowski. “The Juke has a rally car kind of look; we were trying to put a very expressive face on it. The center console is a motorcycle driven design.”

Take note—the red interior of the manually driven Juke was over the top cool!

Positioned for the 18-34 year-old male who makes $45,000 plus, Nissan is gearing the Juke towards guys who are into sports, women and gaming. After all, Nissan is a proud sponsor of the NFL, where on kick-off day, they plan to let loose a slew of advertising.

“So, this is a boy toy?” I queried.

“When we were product planning, we worked with the team to pick out a person or amalgam that exemplifies the vehicle. This person was a 20-something guy,” Drongowski explained.

But truly I think the Juke could play on either team. The cheeky vehicle was full of personality, buzzing with road noise, fun to drive and highly intuitive. The design? It drew motorcycle guys decked out in leather to beehive around me… and the car!

And the driving experience? Dynamo. A 1.6-liter direct injection gasoline turbo aluminum-alloy 4-cylinder (from Nissan’s alliance with Renault) puts out 188 hp, 177 lb-ft torque with a noteworthy mpg of 27 city/32 hwy. A 6-speed manual transmission in FWD is available.

“Nissan is about expressive design, a passionate driving experience and friendly technology,” noted Drongowski.

I asked, “Is this design too far from what your customer expects a Nissan to look like?”

Drongowski replied, “In an ideal world people would check out a car when it rolls down the road and remark…’WHAT is that?’ And then they’d say, ‘Oh yes, that’s a Nissan!’”

The tab? The numbers for the Juke are very satisfying. Juke S starts under $19K, with an added moon roof the Juke SV starts at $20,260 and the Juke SL pumps it up with leather-appointed seats and a navigation system for $22,550.

Just throw in some caviar and I’m there!

Saratoga Springs Wine & Food Fall Ferrari Festival, a celebration of Italy’s wine, food and automobiles, takes place September 10-12. The three day event will feature a design symposium hosted by Andrea Zagato, who heads up the iconic Italian coachbuilder, founded by his grandfather Ugo Zagato in 1919.

The featured Ferrari 575 GT Zagato Coupe, the final of six designed and constructed to for individual owners.

The Ferrari which has echoes of the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT, is outfitted in blue and ivory finish with details including the trademark Zagato ‘double bubble’ roof, air intake and engine exhaust vents on the front fenders.

OK, there was one glitch—a 1 ½ hour traffic jam in Pennsylvania due to traffic construction on a Sunday night no less! But otherwise, smooth sailing.

So, a driving vacation? Yes, it helps to have a gorgeous 7-passenger 2010 Buick Enclave SUV accessorized with a navigation/ entertainment system and a back-up camera. Bottom line– a well-equipped, sizeable (if you have a posse) and safe car is a must.

We had room to spare. Instead of the ubiquitous carry-ons we could pile in lots of bags—including food for the road. No starving on an airplane for my crew. There was entertainment in both the front and back seats. My kids watched a movie with wireless headsets while we listened to satellite radio upfront. And yes, the Buick also had OnStar just in case we wanted to find out about traffic (they couldn’t help us) or alternate routes (they gave us turn-by-turn instructions).

And when we got to our vacation spot, we had our car with us. No waiting in lines for a rental at the airport.

So, on to the Enclave. Buick’s first luxury crossover, makes a very classy statement. On the outside, 19” wheels, cool blue Xenon headlamps that give off a less intense light than halogen and enough chrome to let you know that this is indeed a Buick. On the inside– brushed chrome, warm woods, seamed leather seats, and a double sliding glass sunroof.

As far as get-up, the 3.6 V-6 engine with 288 hp, has plenty of passing power with a class-leading 17city/24 hwy miles per gallon. The 4-wheel independent suspension translates to a grounded feel on corners and a smooth, quiet ride even in the third row.

Off the highway, the Enclave is easy to maneuver even in small parking lots.

The final word from my test-driving family? They want to take another road trip… in the Buick Enclave.

www.hollywrite.com

hollywrite.com

The news is that 2011 Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC models are featuring brand specific smartphone apps that connect with OnStar technology.

The gig is that owners can activate all of the functions available on a traditional vehicle key fob – remote start, horn and lights and door lock/unlock –from their smart phones.

Some examples of how this might work. Say that you just checked in at an airport and remembered that you forgot to lock your car. No problem. The mobile app technology allows you to log in, enter a custom PIN and send a remote lock signal to your vehicle.

Or you and the family are at a baseball game on a sweltering summer day. While taking that long hot walk through the parking lot, you can activate the air-conditioning with your iPhone (Droid or Blackberry etc.) for cool wheels when you arrive.

In addition, the apps– along with OnStar—can provide diagnostic info including fuel tank level and range, remaining oil life, current and recommended tire pressure and lifetime average miles per gallon.

And if OnStar subscribers need assistance with something else, they can one-touch dial (on the smartphone) trained advisors available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And yes…I’m sure there’s that app to help find your car in a parking lot. One that will make it wink at you!

www.hollywrite.com

I’ve been reporting so much on EV (Electric Vehicles) and hybrids, I thought it was time to inject a bit of motorcycle copy. Think about it– small footprint, low on gas, energy efficient and easy to park.

Not that I ride one (yet) but I thought that the 2011 Harley-Davidson SuperLow deserved a look. What we’re talking about is a bike built for comfort –one that could work for newbies (including women like me). To note–super shocks, a deep bucket solo seat that provides easy leg reach — allowing riders to put their feet squarely on the ground when the bike is at rest. The new handlebar is shaped to provide a natural arm position. And the 4.5 gallon low- gas tank has a range 236 miles, based on fuel economy estimates of 45 mpg city, 60 mpg highway. The starting price? $7,999 for the black version.

For a 360 degree view check out harley-davidson.com

www.hollywrite.com

The wildly popular Velib, Paris’ rental system for bicycles, is expanding. But, I’m not talking about two-wheelers. The city plans to launch the world’s largest electric car access scheme in September of next year.

The program, Autolib ( auto liberty), has the goal of cutting down on car ownership, traffic and pollution.

With the Veil system, people can access banks of bicycles in their neighborhood, leave a deposit, register at a computer terminal — and ride away. The bikes can be left at posts throughout the city.

Autolib will work in a similar way, except the cars will be stored in parking garages as well as on the street. The benefit? The price will be significantly less than the estimated $7,000 a year it costs to keep a private car in Paris.

Paris is not a stranger to sustainability. Since 2001, traffic in the city has dropped nearly 25 percent because of improved public transport and limitations on automobiles.

“The success of the program is going to depend on a number of different factors,” says Bill Moore, publisher of EV World, an online magazine about electric vehicles.
Moore notes that by offering a fleet of all electric cars, the city of Paris is making a major move that could provide a model for the rest of the world — as long as the plan avoids the obvious pitfalls.

The downside

His concern is that Autolib could suffer the kind of theft and vandalism that plagued Velib. Nearly 8,000 of the original 20,000 bikes in the program were stolen or ended up hung from lampposts or thrown into the river Seine.
City officials say the electric vehicles will be much harder to damage or steal than the Velib bikes. Then again, burning cars in France is a common sport. Every weekend, hundreds of automobiles are burned by unhappy youths in cities across the country.

The upshot

Autolib could kick off a worldwide model for time-sharing electric cars.
Officials say there will be about 1,000 battery-recharging stations around the city, with a fleet of 3,000 electric cars planned for the start of the program.

source: NPR

Start your car with your smartphone?

That’s the story from Directed Electronics, the company behind Viper SmartStart for smartphones (that includes iPhones, BlackBerry and Androids). The basic premise—turn your smartphone into a key fob.

And there’s more… When the Viper SmartStart hardware is installed on the user’s vehicle (along with a compatible Viper remote start or security system) users can control their car from ‘virtually anywhere’ with their smartphone. They can also start their engine with the push of a button, pre-warm their car in the winter or pre-cool it in the summer. Depending on the installation, users can also lock and unlock the doors, pop the trunk, arm their security system and get an alert on their smartphone if their alarm is triggered.

For a free download visit: www.viper.com/