New York leads the nation in many ways — fine dining, good theater, heart attacks had in taxis, probably. Usually, it doesn’t lead in car introductions. But this year’s New York International Auto Show, the 99th promo of new cars in the Big Apple, hosted more than a handful of vehicle debuts that charged the auto-journalist crowd and likely made organizers at Chicago, L.A., and Detroit a touch nervous. Along with the Nissan Z and Ford Taurus we brought you last week, the New York show unveiled the next Olds Aurora, the newest Infiniti I30, and a restyled Chevrolet Suburban, as well as refashioned models from Isuzu, Pontiac, Saab and others. Click on our NY Show Tech Report for a deeper dive into these models’ innards, and read off-road vet Sue Mead’s report on the quartet of New York Show trucks. And if you don’t want to miss a thing from the New York sheetmetal shindig, click on our New York Special Report table of contents for a complete list of all the stories.
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TOTAL ECLIPSE.Mitsubishi's Eclipse has been a perennial favorite among young and first-time new-car buyers. The 2000 Eclipse aims to continue to appeal to that audience with brash styling and sporty dynamics. A new platform shared with the new Galant provides the basis for Mitsubishi's latest coupe. Under the hood, a 2.4-liter 16-valve engine and a 3.0-liter 24-valve V-6 are available. They produce 155 and 205 horsepower, respectively. The V-6 replaces the turbocharged four-cylinder of the previous Eclipse. At this time, no four-wheel drive Eclipse has been announced. The Eclipse will continue to be produced by Mitsubishi in Normal, Illinois. A redesigned Eclipse Spyder should follow the Eclipse coupe into showrooms in about a year; shortly thereafter, an ultraperformance version of the Eclipse is being contemplated for production. Mitsubishi also showed the 2000 Montero Sport (read about it in our special NY Show Trucks report), which has a revised exterior appearance and a revised V-6 engine lineup. The four-cylinder Montero Sport is dropped for 2000. — NT
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SATURN GETS BIGGER SHOES. Another vehicle that should be no stranger to TCC readers is the Saturn L-Series. We've shown you numerous spy shots. The new midsize sedan and wagon were shown publicly here in New York for the first time. As previously reported, a 137-horsepower 2.2-liter four-cylinder and a 182-horsepower 3.0-liter V-6 power the new car. Automatic and manual transmissions are available in the sedan while the wagons will only be available with an automatic. Naturally, the new car is a Saturn through and through, with dent-resistant polymer body panels and styling that makes it immediately identifiable as a Saturn. The cars go on sale this summer and will be produced in Wilmington, Delaware. — NT
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LOVE AMERICAN STYLE FOR I30. What’s not to like about the latest Infiniti? With 37 more horsepower lurking under the hood, the 2000 I30 trips our hot wires. Refinements to the engine and exhaust system yielded the extra ponies under Infiniti's newest luxury sedan. Like the new Nissan Maxima from which the I30 is based, the I30 has all new sheetmetal and a new, more contemporary look. The new I30 looks more different from the new Maxima than the last duo did because the I30 was styled at Nissan's Japan studio, while the Maxima was done by Jerry Hirshberg's Nissan Design International in California. According to Nissan, refinements to the suspension system have yielded a better ride and more responsive handling. — NT
PORSCHE PREDICTS. Porsche’s groundbreaking new SUV/sports car will make its debut in 2002, revealed Fred Schwab, president of Porsche Cars North America. Designed and developed in cooperation with Volkswagen, the new vehicle is intended to deliver a Porsche-like ride both on- and off-road. It will be sold in slightly different versions by each of the two automakers, and Porsche is planning to sell between 20,000 and 25,000 a year. "But I think we’ll have capacity to build more, should the demand require," Schwab said. — PAE
VOLVO VAGON? Before there were minivans, the Volvo wagon was the ultimate "people carrier" for safety-conscious parents. These days, the Swedish automaker has lost a lot of once-loyal buyers who’re opting for hipper SUVs and more utilitarian minivans. But a Volvo counterattack could be coming, according to Hans-Loav Olsson, president of the automaker’s U.S. subsidiary. "You will not see a Volvo sport-utility vehicle or a Volvo van, but a Volvo ‘family vehicle.’" Precisely what does that mean? Industry insiders believe it will be a "hybrid," blending the best attributes of the traditional Volvo wagon with more modern wagon and SUV designs. Volvo was already working on such a product before the merger, Olsson has hinted, but there are reports that more than one new vehicle could be in the offing. That would require assistance from Ford, which might share with Volvo the underlying platform of such products as its Explorer or Windstar models. The Windstar would certainly fit the Volvo mold, being the first minivan ever to earn the government’s top crash ratings for both front and side impact. — PAE
GRINNING AT GM. "It’s hard to find anything to be pessimistic about," with U.S. car sales running far above expectations, said General Motors President G. Richard Wagoner. And the market should remain "in pretty good shape for the next couple of years." Actually, the strong market is a double-edged sword, for it will make it harder for GM to regain lost market share, especially in the truck segment, where it is short of capacity. Still, the new Suburban and Yukon models should help GM move toward its goal of "regaining truck leadership," Wagoner insisted. The keynote speaker at the annual breakfast kicking off the NY Auto Show, Wagoner hinted that GM has a range of "creative" new vehicles coming that will blend the best attributes of cars and trucks. But he also admitted the automaker might be stymied in its effort to build three new highly efficient assembly plants, code-named Project Yellowstone. UAW union leaders, worried about declining employment, are resisting the project. — PAE
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BIMMERS for Y2K. BMW pulled the wraps off its 2000 lineup at the New York International Auto Show. The newest addition to the lineup is the redesigned 3-Series coupe. BMW claims the coupe has a more athletic personality than the 3-Series sedan that hit the streets in the United States earlier this year. While the overall look of the car is similar to the sedan, BMW says almost every body panel is different. The 323Ci starts at $28,990 while the 328Ci begins at $33,990. A sport suspension is standard equipment. The renaissance of the 3-Series lineup for 2000 is complemented by the revised appearance of the Z3 's taillamps. They are now shaped to resemble those of the new 3-Series sedan and coupe. Other noteworthy changes to the Z3 include new wheel designs and revised color offerings. The company also announced that the M5 will retail for $69,400 and will go on sale in October. — NT
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ASTON POWERED BY INDIGO. Remember Ford's Indigo concept that toured the auto show circuit a few years ago? A V-12 engine that basically was the result of mating two Ford Taurus 3.0-liter Duratec V-6 engines powered it. In the concept car, the engine looked suspiciously production-ready. Well, that engine has found a home in the new Aston Martin DB7 Vantage. Beside the new 420-horsepower 6.0-liter V-12, the Vantage is notable for its revised front and rear fascias, new suspension tuning, and revised interior components. The newest Vantage is said to be capable of in excess of 180 mph and accelerating from 0-60 mph in 5.0 seconds. — NT
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REPORTING: TCC Team (PAE), Nick Twork (NT)
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