Chevy Previews Bad-Ass New Malibu with Camaro Tail Lights

Chevrolet is set to release the all-new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu in a facebook presentation Monday April 18th - at the same time it bows at the Shanghai Auto Show.

And an early look shows that this car will be pretty bad-ass. For a Malibu.

In a teaser video on YouTube, Chevy shows off the car's lines (well, kind of) in a fanciful, spinning hologram. The first impression is of a sleeker profile, squintier headlamps, and nice creases along the sides. A detailed analysis will have to wait until we have more than a fuzzy, translucent image obscured by fake headlight glare to look at and critique.

But what truly stands out are what appear to be Camaro-like tail lights, which is stunning for a couple of reasons. First, because they look very nice here, and second, because they may tend to dilute the Camaro brand - unless this is going to be a universal style on future Chevys, which would be kind of bizarre.

Hyundai Hits Home Run with Hot 2011 Sonata

I am absolutely in love with the 2011 Hyundai Sonata. I love its creases, its curves, its luscious eyes ... I mean head lamps ... its gently sloping roofline, and its agreeable tail lights.

Seriously, what’s not to love about this drop-dead gorgeous car?

The sixth generation of the Sonata, Hyundai’s hot-selling mid-size sedan, this iteration is a natural evolution from what was never a really "ugly" vehicle (well, 1996 was "unique") into a truly beautiful one.

The Sonata benefits from what the designers at Hyundai call “fluidic sculpture.” Taking inspiration from nature – wind, water and wave – its creators sought something that evoked nature, from its beak (inspired by eagles and birds of prey) to its aforementioned creases, which, one spokesman says, one can trace with one’s finger all around the vehicle. Wow.

A third window gives the car a more spacious feeling inside, and keeps the roofline sloping ever more slickly. The seats inside have been lowered slightly to give more headroom.

The American-made Sonata is assembled in the company’s Alabama production facility.

It also comes in an equally charming coupe or hybrid versions. The hybrid, with uses lithium polymer battery technology, features a larger air intake grille that is nonetheless done tastefully, and makes that version look more “butch” than its two brothers.

In this video for the Australian version, the i45, a spokesman brings out some of that feeling and passion. (Do not be shocked. The steering in this video is on the RIGHT hand side - for Aussies. Not so in American version, the Sonata! It humorously comes right after he says that inside, “everything is where you expect it to be.”)

This design philosophy has made its way right through the entire Hyundai line for 2011 (and indeed, seems to have begun in 2010) and soon, we’ll take up a startling concept car from Hyundai that illustrates this style even more perfectly.

Video: 2012 Ferrari FF's Mountaintop Press Event

Ferrari hired the Italian Air Force to use one of its helicopters to airlift the magnificent 2012 Ferrari FF to a mountaintop for a press event.

2012 BMW 6 Series Coupe Unveiled

Ahead of its expected debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, BMW has unveiled its 6 Series Coupe.

It is unmistakably a BMW, with its distinctive design heritage, including the kidney-shaped grille, long, sweeping hood, athletic concave trunk and the Hofmeister kink in the rear side windows.

BMW calls it "athletic elegance" and they got that just right.

The car is 2.9 inches longer than its predecessor and has an almost 3 inch greater wheelbase. Meanwhile, the extra width of the new car – it is now 1.5 inches wider thanks to its increased track width – makes for an exceptionally powerful stance that emphasizes its impressive road holding abilities.

Of course most will focus on the bold, aggressive shark-like nose, which gives it a forward-surging prominence and, combined with the ultra-bright xenon lamps with "halo-like pupils," is as unmistakable a BMW as Audi's under-eye LEDs have become for that brand.

BMW's press office says the inspiration for the coupe's beautifully creased, swooping lines along the sides of the new 6 Coupe was "the natural movement of waves." They continue, "In the same way as water is parted by an object in flowing water, the car body’s shaping lines fan out from the BMW badge on the hood to both sides of the body."

The rear of the car is attractive as well. An integrated third light in the spoiler, squared dual exhaust pipes and attractive tail lamps make following the BMW a pleasure.

As one might expect, the tech in this new BMW is mind-boggling and far-reaching. From Adaptive LED Headlights, the BMW ConnectedDrive driver assistance system, rear-view camera, Surround View, Parking Assistant, BMW Night Vision with pedestrian recognition, Lane Departure Warning System and Lane Change Warning System and a heads-up display for the dash, there is no end of toys one can add on.

Overall, we can put the 6 Coupe (650i) in the "win" column for BMW. They've produced a beautiful, understated and refined machine.

2012 Acura TL Sports Modified "Chopper" Grille

At last month's Chicago Auto Show, the 2012 Acura TL took its official bow and we learned that the 'beak' it will sport will not be quite as prominent and perhaps not as controversial as the previous three years' front grille has been. We'll see if that's enough to quiet the critics and get more people into this otherwise beautifully designed car.

It was in 2009 that the TL and other Acura products took a turn for the bizarre with a re-styling of its front fascia that included a large chrome appendage that looked like a buck tooth or (even less charitably, perhaps) a guillotine. The 2011 model is below (photo from Acura.com)

Accentuating the mistake of a large, unfriendly "chopping" grille was the large wrap-around container in which it sat. It dominated the car and frankly, made it look quite scary, rather than the "imposing" feeling that was likely meant.

And that was likely bewildering to Acura enthusiasts, because previous grilles had been restrained, dignified and even handsome. That's what a luxury car should be, and with this experiment, it took Acura down the road well beyond the "making a statement" rest stop right into the scary forest where failed car models go to die, which would have been a shame for such a proud model as the TL.

But mistakes are made to be rectified. The 2012 car that bowed at the Chicago show didn't feature the same, hideous chopper, though the residue of the mistake remains, and should have been remedied a bit further while on the drawing board. (see below, official photo, from caranddriver.com)

This new grille adopts the current Acura RL's grille, which features a smaller "tooth" with three slats in an open faced chevron. Overall, it's far more pleasing. The RL is a more pricey model ($47k vs. $35k) and it was good of the company to offer this option to its lineup, since the entire lineup adopted the ungainly chopper grille.

Acura's website touts the 2012 TL's "sophisticated new styling." And as a video on the site draws attention to the grille design, including the addition of the black matte to the design. As Acura designer Jon Ikeda says in the video, "design on the TL ... is never ending." Indeed.

I love it when car companies take styling risks, but this was a mistake, and the ability to learn from mistakes and occasional over-reaches is admirable, and a three-year experiment probably was as short a trial as could have been expected (though cars like the Ford Taurus have died in that length of time.)

Acura TL is definitely a beautiful car. The rear is distinctive, especially its rear/trunk crease line and its lovely tail lamps and the curvature of its rear roof pillars which (somewhat evoking Cadillac) cradle the rear window. The interior looks plush, inviting and well put-together.

Let's hope people can see beyond the overly distinctive front end for one more year and give this model the chance it deserves.

Chrysler Comes up Short with the 200

It was easy to suspect something was wrong when, in the much-hyped 2011 Super Bowl ad for the (supposedly) brand new Chrysler 200, the car itself isn't the star, but the gutted remains of Detroit, which used to make cars. Or to be generous, used to make more of them.

The car is only hinted at behind a lot of shadows and smoke, and there's a good reason for that. It's a dud. It is far from the "luxury car" pretensions promised both in its Auto Show days and in the ad.

Note the beautiful vehicle to the right, on the bottom. That's the gorgeously wrought, curvaceous 200 America was promised in 2009. The dud on the top is what we got - a Sebring with a new grille and hood treatment. In fact, the Sebring had an arguably more beautiful grille and the creased hood brought to mind the sexy, though short-lived, Chrysler Crossfire.

The 200, by contrast, is dull, and when you first see one in the daylight, you may laugh out loud, as I did, in utter amusement that THIS is the famed "luxury car" in the famous ad.

Admittedly, few production cars will ever meet the expectations the concept raised. Though one must give Chrysler/Dodge some credit on that front, since it has brought to production more concepts than any other car maker (think: Neon, PT Cruiser, Pacifica, etc.) and sometimes, as in those examples, they even come close or exceed the concept.

Which makes it even sadder when this same car company fails so completely to "wow" after putting together such a great concept.

(As a footnote: Does anyone doubt that Hyundai would be able to translate the car in the bottom picture to market AS IS? After all, they put out the more curvaceous, gorgeous, above-expectations 2011 Sonata.)

Geneva Auto Show's Best Concepts

Car and Driver lists some of the Geneva Auto Show's hottest concept cars.

Of note is a VW Microbus concept which is apparently headed to production and will appeal mightily to Boomers in the US and Europe, the beautiful SAAB PhoeniX which brings to mind the gorgeous Peking-to-Paris concept from Spyker. (It's no wonder they are similar, since SAAB was acquired by the Dutch company last year.)

Audi's A3 concept is tougher-looking and more handsome than A6 photos that have been leaked recently, which shows that the "upside down bathtub" may yet die at the German automaker.

Alfa Romeo's 4C concept shows promise, though it's hard to see it being built and even harder to see Americans getting any.

The Ferrari FF speaks for itself. It's utterly gorgeous. We'll feature this in a future blog post.