Eddie Alterman

2011 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible – First Drive Review

The Italian antidote to the German same-olds.

We’d like to be able to tell you that the new Maserati GranTurismo convertible is great with the top up or down, but we can only confirm the former. Our test drive, originating in Rome, coincided with the heaviest snowstorm that city has seen since 1986. We sat in our hotel, looking out at the flakes accumulating on the Fiat Cinquecentos and Smart Fortwos that crammed themselves onto both sides of the black-pavered streets like impacted molars. Maserati’s PR chief paced nervously. He knows the destruction journalists are capable of in dry weather, and there was no way he was letting us out in his $139,700 droptops on Pirelli summer tires in that kind of meteorological dandruff.

Keep Reading: 2011 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible – First Drive Review

Eddie Alterman: Affordable Cars are About to Get a Lot Safer – Column

Continental’s bid to confound Darwinism relies on piggybacking new tech onto existing platforms.

In November, I had dinner with the head of Continental AG’s global chassis and safety business, Dr. Ralf Cramer, and its NAFTA Region CEO, Samir Salman. These gents represent the component side of the conglomerate best known for its tires, and they came with a question they spent a couple of hours answering: Why is state-of-the-art safety available only to people rich enough to buy high-end luxury cars?

Cramer and Salman produced a chart listing the safety features of the top-20 “Cash for Clunkers” purchases. None of them had adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, blind-spot warning, driver monitoring, or night vision, and a few of them didn’t have stability control (though it’s mandated for 2012). Continental asserts that these technologies, along with airbags and seatbelt use, are responsible for driving traffic deaths down to current lows.

Keep Reading: Eddie Alterman: Affordable Cars are About to Get a Lot Safer – Column

Caught on the Freeway: 2011 Dodge Charger

I saw this Dodge Charger mule on I-696 today and managed to get a few snaps on the ol’ iPhone. Only the roofline was without cladding, but a few elements were visible through the mesh and offered a slightly better, first-hand look than our last round of Charger spy shots. The grille retains its mild arch at the top and cross-hairs theme. Rounded rectangles, open on one side, are the form the new LED taillights take—the front indicators are also LED but the headlights weren’t on so I couldn’t tell if those were also diodes.

Overall proportions remain the same, with a long wheelbase and tall waistline. The contours of said waistline weren’t visible but we’re expecting to see some retro cues taken from the late-’60s Charger. The rear quarter window was again curiously blacked-out, but we predict glass will replace the chunky black plastic molding of the current car.

From what we know about powertrains, base models will use Chrysler’s new 280-hp Pentastar V-6, with the R/T retaining some form of Hemi V-8, likely the current 368-hp 5.7-liter. And we’re still holding out hope for another SRT variant.

Author: Eddie Alterman

2011 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible – First Drive Review

Eddie Alterman: Affordable Cars are About to Get a Lot Safer – Column

Caught on the Freeway: 2011 Dodge Charger