White Roof Radio #263

Great show guys. A few comments…..

GM’s most successful production electric car of all time was the short lived 1990′s EV-1. Those were distributed on a lease basis only by select Saturn dealerships in California and Arizona. It was a pretty damn good car for its time, fairly reliable, very fast, solid handling and not too shabby looks by GM’s design standards of the time. Unfortunately GM pulled the plug on it circa 1997 and sent the vast majority of the to the crushers with only a few surviving samples in the hands of universities, museums and such.

To me the upcoming Volt is a good effort for the now struggling automaker, but to me the EV-1 still manages to put it to shame. Anyone wishing to learn a bit more about the GM EV-1 I recommend buying/renting “Who Killed the Electric Car” available in DVD.

In regards to the Chevy Malibu, I don’t think it is a bad looking car. If I had to have a fairly solid and decent looking family hauler, I would not mind it at all. The front end definitely needs some work, but the car is hands down much better looking than any Honda-Toyota even Nissan offering in the same class. The previous Malibu, that was ugly! The hatchback version (Malibu Maxx) was an eye sore (However the SS version in jet black and 18″ rims toned down some of the ugliness of the car and was a looker in its own way) but talk about rear passenger legroom. It had as much legroom as a BMW 7 series. Really comfortable in the back and the hatch added a ton of cargo room. Rear passengers also were treated to a full body roof width glass “Skyroof” which came standard on every Maxx.

Sadly, both of these positives have been lost in the new Malibu. A hatchback Maxx model is no longer offered and the rear seat feels very cramped (narrower body and lower roof line) than in the previous Malibu Maxx.

And lastly, why would I buy a JCW factory car? Well I think for many reasons (In no particular order):

1) The badge (JCW doesn’t have the panache of say a BMW M car but the badge lets everyone else now that this is a “special” car. 2) The pedigree and history behind JCW. Cars tweaked in the aftermarket may have more power for a fraction of the cost of the JCW but they carry a stigma of lower resale values, possible abuse and lack the pedigree of a factory developed and built performance version. 3) A full factory JCW car has the potential to command higher resale values and perhaps even collectible status in the distant future. 4) The mechanical refinement and the peace of mind that every component was duly tested for thousands of miles and its is backed by MINI warranties. 5) The power :)

Do I need a JCW MINI for the type of driving I do? Not a chance. To me a “basic” Cooper S is more car that I will ever need for street driving with enough power on tap to get me in trouble.

I don’t autocross and I don’t track my cars so yes, the car will be wasted in that sense, but heck if I had one, I would still enjoy it even if it is used for milk runs :)

Also since I am a very OEM oriented person, a JCW factory car is a very tempting proposition. Will all due respect to the aftermarket community, I don’t like to fit my car with non-MINI parts. It may sound ridiculous, but that’s me. They may be better, cheaper, you name it but I just prefer to have the real thing under my hood.

I still think a basic Cooper S is the best bang for the buck and the best of both worlds.