Q. Will general media articles ever stop referring to the British Aston Martin sports car as the brand featured in the James Bond thrillers? — E.R. (via Internet) 

A. I doubt it because of the widespread ignorance of the general American media about cars in general and Aston Martin in particular, which actually began operations in 1922. However,  Aston Martin initially became fairly well known to American car buffs in the early 1950s, although it began to mildly penetrate the U.S. sports pages with its victory in the famous Le Mans 24-hour race in France in 1959. The Bond movies of the early 1960s brought the car to widespread U.S. attention. Aston Martin recently revealed an aggressive price range for its coming stock-market listing here. The company is valued at up to $6.7 billion. 



Q. The late 1950s Chevrolets seem to be the most popular widely available classic American car. Why is that? — D.M. (via Internet)

A. Because they were very popular to begin with, have enticing styling, can be had with good power and it’s easy to get affordable parts for them. Many don’t realize that the very classic 1955, 1956 and 1957 Chevrolets had the same basic body.The 1958 Chevy was longer, lower and wider. Then came the restyled 1959 model with its ”bat-wing” tail. 



Q. I just want to drive and don’t want a car with all sorts of gadgets that let me make hotel reservations, etc. — J.A. (via Internet)

A. Be prepared for more such “gadgets.” For example, General Motors has become the first major automaker that lets drivers order takeout from Applebee’s, pay for gas at a nearly station and make hotel reservations via Priceline.com from the vehicle’s tech screen display. Safety advocates worry that all this will lead to more distracted driving, while others say these safety helps won’t be a problem when self-driving cars arrive in large numbers—if they ever do. 



Q. Will Tesla with its electric cars and SUVs have more problems selling them with increased competition from larger established automakers? — E.N. (via Internet)

A. It looks that way. Tesla has a good name but needs more volume. For instance, Jaguar has its new I-Pace sport-utility vehicle (SUV), Audi has revealed the production version of its electric SUV called the e-tron, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz has unveiled an electric SUV called the EQC and BMW plans an electric version of its X3 SUV. And American automakers certainly aren’t sitting on their hands when it comes to offering electric vehicles. 

Q. Will Ferrari ever offer an SUV. Other prestigious exotic automakers are offering them. — P.S. (via Internet)

A. Ferrari has said it will never offer an SUV, although prestigious super-exotic Lamborghini and Bentley offer SUVs. Ferrari is in business to make money like every other automaker. So it has alluded to the introduction of a larger, taller model similar to an SUV. However, don’t expect Ferrari to refer to the model as an “SUV.” Legendary high-performance sports car image, you know.



Q.  Where will major improvements in electric cars come from? — R.B. (via Internet)

A.  They will come not from automakers but from battery suppliers such as Samsung and LlG Chem. The goal? Figuring out how to increase power for a given cost.



Q. Cars already have advanced safety features such as automatic braking, lane-keeping aids and adaptive cruise control. Has it been determined how much extra safety these features have provided? — C.N. (via Internet)
 
A. Not that I’ve seen. A McKinsey & Co. study estimates that 70 percent of car shoppers know about such features but only one-third of them try them out on a test drive. Why not? Researchers say mostly because many salespeople would rather focus on selling more cars than spending time explaining safety technology to customers.




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