Trucks have been symbol of the American way of life and an important part of the American automobile market for decades. Originally designed as reliable vehicles for hard-working men who needed to tow around a lot of equipment, pickup trucks were once some of the biggest money-makers for American manufacturers.  As different car designs came and went, trucks stayed. American manufacturers, Ford, GM, and Chrysler, used these trucks, as well as S.U.Vs to gain an advantage over foreign competitors. Those foreign companies could sell all the compact cars and sedans that they wanted, as long the American companies had control of the pickup truck and S.U.V market. By the late 1990s, trucks became more than just work vehicles. They became a sort-of fashion statement, loaded with luxury features including leather seats, loud stereos, and more room for passengers.

For awhile, these American car manufacturers had it made. Their pickup trucks and S.U.Vs were popular throughout the country. It seemed as if almost every family with children owned an S.U.V, and pickup truck drivers were becoming more widespread.

Then, as everyone knows, the economy began to decline and gas prices went up. Way up. Gas costs around $2.00 more per gallon now than it did 5 years ago, and that’s a problem if you’re driving a vehicle with a large gas tank that only gets 13 miles to the gallon. A big problem. No one wants to pay $80 every time they fill up, especially if one tank can’t get them very far. Also during this economic decline, people didn’t want to spend the money to buy new trucks with luxury features. The number of customers who own trucks because of their look rather than their function declined sharply. They want to save money, so they’re purchasing the smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. So today, trucks are only the reliable work vehicles that they were twenty years ago. In addition, families with children, are also choosing the smaller crossovers instead of the large S.U.Vs to save money at the pump.

This switch from pick up trucks and S.U.Vs to smaller, fuel efficient cars has led many American manufacturers to notice a large decline in sales and post losses in recent quarters. For example, Ford posted a $8.67 billion loss for the second quarter this year. As a result, these manufacturers need to focus more time and money on smaller, fuel efficient cars because that is what most of America wants right now. Yes, there will always be people who love their heavy-duty pickup trucks, but those people are not the majority of the population.

The automobile market is one of the largest consumer markets in the United States. Almost every family owns at least one car, and even with concerns of emissions and global warming, cars are still the most popular way to get around. No matter where you drive, you always seem to hit some bumper-to-bumper traffic. On the other hand, cars are not as widely used in China, a country of 1.3 billion people. That doesn’t mean that the auto market is small, though. In fact, the Chinese auto market is heating up now!

Personal car ownership is driving the million-vehicle-per-year growth in China’s auto industry. Today, seven out of eight new cars are bought by first-time car buyers. Economic growth and the corresponding boom in the auto industry in China– and in the private passenger car market in particular — has attracted more than 100 global and domestic vehicle manufacturers to compete on the Chinese stage. Nearly all of them — including General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC — plan to display their offerings, unveil new concepts and vie for consumers at Auto China 2008.

China’s growth is in stark contrast with what is happening in North America, which in 2007 experienced its worst sales in 15 years and where US automakers reported historic losses. In the last 10 years, China’s auto market has grown 500 percent. Experts at the Automotive News China Conference in Beijing forecast continuing annual increases of about 10 percent in the Chinese market for decades to come.

An interesting phenomena is that Japanese brand automobiles (Toyota, Honda, etc.) are taking the “leading roles” in both markets. The Chinese market has to face to some strong competitors from other Asian countries in order to win the market. Just like early Japanese and Korean manufacturers, Chinese companies have begun by focusing on the low end of the market, where profit margins are smaller.

With prices starting as low as $6,000, Chinese-made cars are attracting a growing number of Chinese motorists. Office workers are very keen to get their hands on their first car. The nippy Chery QQ is popular choice, and it comes in a range of bright neon colors. Labor is cheap, so the cars can be produced cheaply. Since Chinese car manufacturers have low prices as their main advantage, unfortunately the quality of their final product often suffers.

China is a huge market, which explains why domestic producers are preparing to serve their home market first before targeting global markets in earnest. Nanjing Automobile and Geely say they will build models for the foreign markets, but for now only a tiny number of Chinese-made cars are sold overseas. In 14 years, though, experts expect that there will be about 140 million cars on Chinese roads. That’s more than the United States has today!

Founded in 1925 the Chrysler Corporation quickly gained status among the car industry as being one the pioneers of advanced engineering. Then in 1928, Chrysler bought the Dodge franchise and grew to include the Plymouth and Desoto divisions. In 1930 Chrysler was the first car company to create a car that was built and designed to make the car aerodynamic. The new aerodynamic car was not a customer favorite and they sold many Plymouth and Dodge models which kept the company afloat during the years of the Depression. By the late 1940’s Chrysler had become the 2nd largest car manufacturer in the United States. In 1951, Chrysler Corporation announced the released of their new Hemi V8 engine which had 180 horsepower and was produced in order to compete with their competitor, Cadillac. In the late 1950’s Chrysler then introduced Torsion-Aire suspension, which created and smoother ride for the passengers and improved handling. There was a great demand for these new cars which in turn caused a rush in production and then produced many quality control problems for the company.

In the 1960 model year, the company introduced Unibody construction, which made Chrysler the only of the Big Three American Automakers to offer the majority of Unibody cars. Then Chrysler debut a new line called the Valiant, which did reasonably well and gained popularity over the decades. The Plymouth Barracuda then was released in 1964, two weeks before the release of the much anticipated Ford Mustang. The Ford Mustang greatly out sold the Plymouth Barracuda which was discontinued in 1974. In 1973 the Big Three car makers had to create engines that met the EPA emission standards, which Japanese engineers produced at a much quicker rate. On September 7, 1979 the Chrysler Corporation asked the United States government for $1.5 billion dollars of loan guarantees to stop the car company from filing bankruptcy. The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 was singed into law which helped the company stay out of bankruptcy. The US military also purchased thousands of Dodge pickup trucks which helped the struggling car maker. Furthermore, the invention of the mini-van helped Chrysler recover from its financial troubles.

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By the early 1980’s many of the loans were being repaid quickly to the US government because of the well selling K-car platform. In 1998 Chrysler was purchased by the Daimler-Benz which then created DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC. After the merger the stock price dropped drastically and gave the newly combined company more financial troubles. Concerns were being raised and The DaimlerChrysler Company decided to phase out the Plymouth model in 2001. In 2004 the car maker introduced the Chrysler 300, which used rear-wheel drive and a new Hemi V8 engine. DaimlerChrysler AG announced that they would be selling 81.1% of the company to Cerberus Capital Management on May 14, 2007. February 2008, Chrysler announced that it would be cutting down its production from 30 models to 15 models. Chrysler LLC is now the world’s 8th largest vehicle manufacturing group.

“When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?”

One American car company that has withstood the test of time is Cadillac. Over 100 years ago, the first Cadillac was introduced and since then has made a large impression on the car industry. These cars are known for their luxurious offerings and Cadillac’s mission for excellence. The company got its start in quite an unusual way though. Cadillac can actually thank its success to another American car company, Ford. In the early 1900’s, Ford Motor Company’s Detroit factory was at a standstill due to the fact that the owner, Henry Ford, was leaving the company. The financial bankers for the company, Lemuel Bowen and William Murphy, brought in Henry M. Leland to appraise all of the equipment that was inside the plant. Instead of selling the plant, Leland figured that the assets could turn into a goldmine and convinced the bankers to keep the factory. In 1902, the plant was reopened as Cadillac Automobile Company. The name comes from the French explorer and military commander, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who was the founder of Detroit. In 1909, General Motors bought Cadillac but still allowed Leland to run the company. However, in 1917 Leland left Cadillac and founded Lincoln Motor Company that was later bought by the Ford Motor Company. Cadillacs became the luxury division of General Motors.

The first Cadillac produced was finished in October of 1902, just a few months after the Cadillac factory was opened. It was known as the 10 hp Cadillac. The car was actually very similar to the 1903 model of the Ford Model A. The vehicle cost around $800 and sales were overwhelming. It looked to be a promising venture for Leland. One of Leland’s favorite cars, the Osceola was produced in 1905. After this, Cadillac began to sell to a higher market and added a four-cylinder vehicle that cost an astounding $2800. To put this into perspective, the average vehicle during these days was about $700. The improvements in quality continued from here. In 1907, Leland purchased a set of Swedish Johanssen gauges. These allowed him to make precise, identical parts for his vehicles which was almost unheard of at this time. This would mean that you could literally disassemble a few cars, put them back together using each other’s parts, and still end up with the same number of working vehicles. The car would be able to run just as well as it had with the original parts inside of it. His interchangeable parts won the company a British Dewar trophy in 1908.

The company can pride themselves as being the innovators of many first in the car industry. They were the first to offer a closed body as a standard feature. Cadillac also used the electric starter, developed by Charles Kettering, as standard equipment on their vehicles in 1912. This was much safer to operate than the classic hand cranks that were previously installed. In 1915, thermostats were put into the vehicles to regulate engine cooling and the V8 engine was introduced. Shatter resistant glass was installed and a service policy was introduced in 1926. The following year, the body was reinvented with the help of car designer, Harley Earl, to make the car look as luxurious as the parts inside. Earl designed the La Salle, which was produced until the early 1940’s. It was a small counterpart to some of Cadillac’s previous models. Earl was responsible for such designs as the tailfin and windshields that wrapped around the vehicle. These features were more prominent in later models of Cadillacs.

Cadillac offered the V8 engine in late 1914 to early 1915. However, there were many defects in it that the competition sprung at to notify Cadillac’s current and prospective customers. Yet Cadillac wasted no time in forming a rebuttal to their claims. They released an ad that was only run once known as the “Penalty of Leadership”, which gave sales a complete turnaround. The ad uses a poem from Theodore MacManus to describe how being a leader is a tough position to be in at times and that there is no success without some failures along the way. Cadillac wanted to base their company on honesty and trust, and this ad surely allowed customers to see that this company was not going to give up. In 1934, the V8 engine was reintroduced with more thought and precision put into its design. The company later went on to produce successful V12 and V16 engines.

Another problem for Cadillac occurred during the Great Depression. Sales for Cadillac were dwindling. On top of this, the company was charged with discrimination against its black customers. The president of Cadillac, Nicholas Dreystadt, met with the Board of Directors for General Motors and pleaded with them to allow him to come up with an advertising strategy that would specifically target black customers. He was given a little over a year to complete this but it was well worth the efforts. Sales for the company were up almost ten times the amount before the campaign. This saved the company from becoming extinct.

In August 1928, Cadillac introduced the first mesh manual transmission that prevented clashing before shifting. For this component, gears spun at the same speed due to the internal clutches. Before this Synchro-Mesh transmission was utilized, drivers had to constantly be thinking about how they were shifting to avoid the gears from grinding and crunching. This led to a much smoother ride in the vehicle. This also helped to develop the automatic transmission that was introduced in 1941 for GM in the Hydra-Matic.

Cadillac continued to create luxurious features in their vehicles which set them apart from others. The company popularized the hardtop vehicle, even though they did not invent it, with the Coupe de Ville in 1949. Power steering was then installed in GM models. In the 1950’s, the Dagmar bumpers were placed on the vehicles. The bumpers then began to lose their purpose when they were put higher on the cars. Black rubber tips were added later on. As Cadillac continued moving forward in the 1960’s, drivers kept safer with a fiber-optic indication system and seat belts were now standard equipment. Airbags were not added until the 1970’s.

The launch of the front-drive Fleetwood Eldorado occurred in 1967. This car was a simple yet luxury vehicle that came as a coupe. However, it seemed that the more the company attempted to downsize, the less power and quality the vehicles had. Cadillac began to see new problems in the late 1970’s during the fuel crisis. Companies were downsizing cars to accommodate the energy mandates. People wanted smaller, simpler cars to be able to afford the fuel to power them. The Eldorado, Seville, and Deville were downsized for years to come. But the customers were still not happy. With the downsizing of the vehicles, the prices were still sky high. It made no sense to purchase a Cadillac when you could buy a similar and stylish car with a cheaper price tag such as the Pontiac Grand Am. Each attempt to make the Cadillac fit the demand of the customers resulted in a car that looked just like the competition with a price that was much more expensive.

Again, the competition took great advantage of this for advertising purposes. Lincoln, which ironically was founded by the Leland, put out an ad in the mid 1980’s that made Lincoln greatly distinguished from others like Buick, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile. The tag line “Lincoln, What a Luxury Car Should Be” came from this ad. Basically, four different car owners are attempting to find their vehicle at the valet counter. The owners of the Buick, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile can not decipher whose car is whose because they all look so similar. The owner of the Lincoln finds their car with ease because of its distinct look. There was also the problem facing all American car makers that International cars seemed to be a better deal. You could receive excellent quality and style at comparable prices.

It seemed that Cadillac was moving away from the company that it once was. Instead of targeting the upper class, Cadillac attempted to please the middle class and it clearly was not working for them. However, in the early 1990’s Cadillac began to go back to its roots with the Seville STS. The Allante, which was a roadster, was also a popular car during this time. The impressive Northstar V8 engine was introduced a year later. It was a great step ahead for Cadillac because the power that this engine provided beat out the competition. This engine is still found in Cadillac vehicles today. OnStar communication system was installed as an option on all of the front-wheel drive models beginning in 1997. Customers would be able to receive emergency help or even have their doors unlocked. Massaging lumbar seats became an option on models such as the DeVille Concours and the Eldorado Touring Coupe.

In more recent years, the company now uses the “art and science” approach. This is where beauty meets science. It is important for Cadillac to make a great, luxurious vehicle while keeping up with the ever changing trends in design. Cadillac began this trend with the introduction of the CTS in 2001. The DeVille and Escalade were also a large part of this philosophy and were the best examples of what Cadillac was trying to do. The vehicles are sleek and modern, but incorporate the Cadillac mechanics. In 2000, the DeVille came equipped with Night Vision as well as a system that would help drivers to see what was behind them with backing up in reverse. Then in 2002, XM radios were factory installed in Sevilles and DeVilles. The new MagneRide system was also installed in the Seville to provide better control and handling. Later on the SRX and the XLR roadster were introduced.

In the past century, Cadillac has made a large number of innovations in the automobile industry. From the earliest cars such as the 1906 Model K to the newest such as the 2008 CTS, Cadillac has always prided itself as providing quality cars with luxury features. We have seen many models that have lasted decades, including the Eldorado, the DeVille, and the Seville. The company has endured a lot of speculation and many misses, but they must be doing something right if the company is still as successful today as it was with the introduction of the first Cadillac.

Ferrari has been an integral part of the racing and sports car industry since it was founded in 1947. The founder, Enzo Ferrari, was born in Modena Italy on February 18, 1898. Enzo began his career as a test and race driver for Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali, which was a small sports car maker, after being turned down by Fiat. In 1920 at the age of twenty one, Enzo was named the director of the racing division of Alfa Romeo until 1939. He formed Scuderia Ferrari, a racing team, in 1929 that dominated until 1933. He quit Alfa Romeo in 1939 after learning that Alfa Romeo was attempting to take over his team.

In 1940, Enzo Ferrari designed and produced a racing car called the Auto Avia Tipo 815, which used Fiat mechanics. This vehicle was not very successful. Eventually he began to see success when his friend, Colombo, built the Ferrari 60° V12 engine that was first used in the Ferrari 125S. The Ferrari workshop moved from Modena to Maranello in 1943 as a ball bearing plant. However, it was bombed during the World War and was rebuilt in 1946, where the first Ferrari was designed, built, and placed on the market in late 1947 to early 1948. This was known as the Tipo 166. In 1963, Enzo created Istituto Professionale per l’Industria e l’Artigianatoa, a training school for racing. Almost ten years later in 1972, he built the Fiorano test track for Ferrari automobiles that is located just outside of Ferrari’s Maranello plant.

Each Ferrari is adorned with the famous prancing horse symbol. Ferrari states that the original horse had been painted on a fighter plane of the Italian pilot, Francesco Baracca, who died in 1918. Ferrari won the first Savio circuit in 1923 and met Baracca’s father, Count Enrico Baracca and his mother, Countess Paolina. She told Ferrari that painting the prancing horse on his cars would “bring him luck”. The original horse was and still is black. Enzo chose yellow for the background color because it was the color of Modena, his home town. He put so much work and passion into his vehicles that it is interesting to note that he “maintained a famous distaste for his customers”. This is because he felt that people were not buying his cars for racing, which is what he intended them for. Ferrari cars became a symbol of prestige and wealth.

Between 1947 and 1988, Ferrari won more than 5000 races worldwide. In 1950, they won their first British Grand Prix. Argentine Froilan Gonzalez was the driver for this race. In 1952, Alberton Ascari won the World Championship for Ferrari. However, on August 14, 1988 Ferrari passed away but it unspecified how he died. The Ferrari name still lived on after Enzo’s death, but the cars are produced in limited quantities. It is also interesting to note that Ferrari’s are seldom advertised which just goes to show what kind of name the brand has made for itself. Ferrari has produced some extremely famous cars such as the 250 GT, 250 GTO, and the 275 GTB, which were all produced in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In 1970-1990, models like the 365 GTB Daytona, 308 GTS, Testarossa, and the 246 Dino were produced. Several of the cars were offered as either a Spider convertible or a Berlinetta coupe. To celebrate Ferrari’s fortieth anniversary, the F40 was made in 1988. Currently, Ferrari is owned by Fiat, who had become a 50/50 partner in 1969.

In more recent years, Ferrari has come out with the F2002 (produced in 2002) that made quite a mark in the racing industry. The car was such a successful racing vehicle that the FIA worried racing would become boring with the same car winning each year if they did not attempt to slow Ferrari down. The following year Ferrari did not win all of the titles but still made out very well in competition. In 2004 with the F2004, Ferrari was able to win all of their titles back again and dominate the racing circuit. In order to make the competition a little bit more fair, Ferrari stopped the development of their chassis to begin the next year’s model. This way, others could attempt to catch up to them.

The newest Ferrari’s have been designed using similar research as those in the racing division. The V8-engine coupes, such as the F430, show off the new technologies. These cars have even greater aerodynamics and power than before. The same car is also available in a Spider. The 430 Scuderia was designed with the help Michael Schumacher, who had years of experience in the F1 field. This car is very powerful and very light, due to the use of carbon fibers and aluminum floors. A couple of the other new models are the 599 GTB Fiorano and the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Ferrari has also created newer F1 models of the Berlinettas and the 575M Maranello.

Defining the term “Classic car” has been found to be quite difficult. Many people think that they understand what makes a Classic but really have no idea. A well known club, known as The Classic Car Club out of Illinois, lists their idea of Classic Cars. According to the club’s website, a classic car is “a fine or distinctive automobile, either American or foreign built, produced between 1925 and 1948…generally high-priced when new and was built in limited quantities. Other factors, including engine displacement, custom coachwork and luxury accessories, such as power brakes, power clutch, and ‘one shot’ or automatic lubrication systems, help determine whether a car is considered to be a Classic”. A Classic Car does not have many others like it around, placing it in high demand for perspective buyers. Most of these cars are said to have been on the expensive side when introduced to the market. Some that made the list were all Aston-Martins between 1927 and 1939, Cadillacs from 1925 to 1935, and all 1919 Bentleys. The car did not necessarily have to be the most popular car during its first run of production to make it a Classic either.

In a blog from autoblog.com, Randall Halcomb describes his interpretation of a Classic Car being “one that stops depreciating in value and either levels off or begins to appreciate over time”. He also says that value increases on these vehicles because there is demand for the vehicle when it is no longer produced. This would make it that a car produced during any year could be described as a Classic. As long as it is still in demand but no longer in production and can still retain its value a vehicle can be classified as a Classic. The cars mentioned on this site greatly differ from the last considering one of the cars that made this list was the last generation Toyota Supra, which was produced in 2002. Therefore, I would say that a Classic car is one that is still in demand, not in production, and can retain its value. It would also have to be built in limited quantity and have special features that make is different from others.

A current trend in collecting Classic cars is un-restored vehicles. This means that the car still has all original components and has gone through extremely minimal to no restorations. An article from Collectorcarnet.com says that by restoring a car, “you lose a good part of its [the car’s] history”, which is why these cars can be seen as such a collectible. The same site gives information on what is known as the Survivor certification. A car that receives this certification must be unaltered by more than fifty percent and would be able to be used as a template to restore a car of the same model. These cars have to pass a twenty mile road test and also be at least twenty years old. This gives a car higher value in today’s market. For example, Collectorcarnet.com discusses the story of a 1911 Oldsmobile Limited Touring, holding seven-passengers, that was auctioned in Pennsylvania. The car was one of the few surviving models of this car and the only one that was known to be in original conditions. It was auctioned off at a price of $1.65 million, while its altered counterparts would have been sold at a lesser value due to restorations.

Pricing can change drastically for a particular model car depending on the years and if it is classified as a Classic or not. It can be risky for someone to buy a Classic for this reason. The Cadillac Eldorado is an example of this. A 1953 model is currently worth $205,875 while a 1970 Eldorado can be bought for as little as $431. A 2000 Eldorado is worth about $9100. It is important to understand that certain features will add or decrease the selling price for these cars. CollectorCarMarket.com allows users to search their site in order to find the value of certain Classic cars. For each vehicle featured, the user can see how certain features on their car may increase or lessen the value, such as a having a sunroof or an automatic transmission instead of a manual transmission. Various websites offer assistance in providing buyers and sellers with quotes on how much a car should be worth as a Classic car.

Specialty insurance, though not required, can be purchased for your classic car on top of auto insurance. It can be found for a variety of antiques to custom cars to muscle cars that have been restored. The car must meet certain criteria to qualify. Beware before purchasing this type of insurance because many restrictions can apply, including having to keep the covered car in a garage and not being able to drive it on a daily basis. However, it may prove useful if anything happens to your vehicle.

Classic cars can be bought through auction or by owner. There are many auctions around but some of the larger known are RM Auctions, Inc. out of Ontario, Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions from Phoenix, Arizona, and Carlisle Auction Company from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. When purchasing a car from a personal owner, be careful. Sometimes the price may seem excellent but it is not always right. It is also crucial to make sure that the title is valid and attainable before taking the car into your hands. It may be wise to use an intermediary or an escrow company to ensure that the seller is not ripping you off. This way, the money is not immediately given to the seller and the buyer is given a period of time to inspect the vehicle and make sure that it is worth the purchase. If there is no response to the intermediary within this period, it is assumed that there are no problems and the money is then given to the seller. A smart move may be to have the vehicle inspected by a third party who can ensure that the car is everything that the seller has promised it to be. This may prevent you from wasting serious amounts of money.

It would be a good idea to understand the car’s provenance. This is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, the history of the ownership of an object or the records or documents authenticating such an object or of the history of its ownership. The authenticity, as well as ownership and racing history, is also a large part of the vehicle’s provenance. A buyer would want to make sure that if the seller states that the car is un-restored that it really has not been altered or that the car has not endured any damages that the owner is not aware of. If a car is rare and may not be worth much otherwise, knowing that the car is in mint condition could raise its worth with proof of your claims.

Concorso Italiano’s New Venue at the Pebble Beach Car Extravaganza in August.

Concorso Italiano has announced that they will be moving to the Marina California Airport for this year’s show. The site gives them opportunity to expand and introduce new features including the fashion show, commentary from owners and celebrities, music, beautiful cars, Riva yachts, and a broad array of merchants to fuel the Italiano passion.

For the first time they will also offer vintage aircraft and catered food and beverage that can be enjoyed with the beautiful California coastal backdrop of the Coastal range.