Categories: News

Auto Body Gilroy News: 2-28-13

BMW X6 puts awkward form above practical function | CNET

by Antuan Goodwin

It’s hard to talk about the 2013 BMW X6 xDrive35i without first getting something off of my chest: I think that its SUV-coupe form is stupid. Now, I’m not talking BMW 5 Series GT levels of stupid — it doesn’t deserve that level of insult — but I simply can’t understand why anyone would walk onto a BMW lot and buy a large SUV that is based on the X5, but with less cargo space, when the X5 itself is sitting right next to it with a lower sticker price.

X6 form factor By giving the X6 its coupelike roofline — literally the only visible thing differentiating it from the X5 — BMW has also given the SUV poor visibility through the gun-slit rear window, which terminates about 4 feet off of the ground and nearly a foot ahead of the high rear bumper, making parking extremely difficult. The blind spots at the rear quarters are big enough to hide a beige 1998 Toyota Camry in — I know because I nearly rolled over one during a highway lane change despite not one, but two over-the-shoulder and mirror checks. If BMW insists on building a car with such heinous behind-the-driver visibility, the optional rear camera should be standard, but isn’t. And blind-spot monitoring isn’t even available as an option on the X6. However, a sonar-based parking-distance controller is standard, displaying … [Read more]

McLaren boss Sheriff ‘on leave’ | Autocar

McLaren Automotive’s managing director not expected to be on hand to unveil the new McLaren P1McLaren Automotive’s managing director Antony Sheriff is on extended leave from the company and is not expected to be at next week’s Geneva motor show to unveil the new McLaren P1.The reason for Sheriff being placed on gardening leave is still unclear, but he is understood to still be employed as McLaren Automotive’s managing director.McLaren Automotive’s chief operating officer Mike Flewitt is undertaking Sheriff’s duties while he is on leave. It is not clear if Sheriff will return to work for the company.US-born Sheriff joined McLaren from Fiat a decade ago to oversee the launch of McLaren’s road car division, and was the helm for the launch of the firm’s first two models, the MP4-12C and 12C Spider, as well as the presentation of the P1 concept car at the Paris motor show last year.

The Man Who Designed The Edsel Has Died | Jalopnik

by Travis Okulski

(While the Edsel was not a huge success, it spawned some of the most successful cars to ever come out of the Ford Motor Company. Daniel Strohl at Hemmings takes a look back at what was. – TO)

While success has many fathers… In the long run, the failure of the Edsel actually proved a blessing to Ford: Out of its ashes came the Ford Falcon and Mercury Comet, and the lessons learned helped Ford successfully launch the Mustang. Somebody still had to take the blame for Ford Motor Company suddenly becoming the butt of many jokes, however, and that somebody was Roy A. Brown, the Edsel’s chief designer, who died this past Sunday at the age of 96.

Born October 30, 1916, in Hamilton, Ontario, Brown attended the Detroit Art Academy. In 1937, at the age of 20, he graduated from the Academy and almost immediately went to work as a designer in Bill Mitchell’s recently formed Cadillac studio. According to Jim and Cheryl Farrell’s , He remained with GM for only a couple of years before leaving for an industrial design firm (and returned only briefly in 1941 to head up the Oldsmobile design studio), but made plenty of industry contacts while there. Among them was Gil Spear, with whom Brown worked on a design proposal for the never-built 1941 La Salle – a design proposal that included a narrow upright grille.

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