41 posts tagged “france”

This probably means very little to others, but I thought it was interesting to see some of the fall 2009 US TV shows being advertised on the Lucire site. A couple of years ago, we had Ugly Betty and other shows being pushed heavily on our site; this time around, it’s Eastwick, Cougar Town and Californication, which are a little more adult:

The fall 2009 shows are starting

   But this movie promo was the real treat among our ads:

Coco before Chanel advertising at Lucire site

Talk about a good media buy there. I’d say it’s one of the best matched ones we’ve had in a while.

One more remake. French Law & Order: Criminal Intent, or Paris Enquêtes Criminelles. I didn’t even want to watch the original sans Alicia Witt.

I put in a few oddball cars on Autocade today. The following, all with French brand names, are either market failures, or vehicles that are strange to my eyes. At one point, there was a great push to have car model names consistent throughout the globe; now it matters less if a Chevy based on the Astra is called a Vectra in Brazil, or, for that matter, if a type 206 Peugeot is called the 207 there. The Renault Avantime, meanwhile, showed that doing niche vehicles did not always pay off.

Citroën Bijou. 1959–64 (prod. 207). 2-door coupé. F/F, 425 cm³ (2 cyl. OHV). Coupé version of 2CV for British market, with more conservative styling designed to appeal to UK consumers. Parts’ bin used, with single-spoke steering wheel, and rear window from DS Safari. Heavier than 2CV and considered expensive; 425 cm³ was underpowered, developing 12 bhp.

Peugeot 207/Peugeot 206+. 2008 to date (prod. unknown). 3-, 4- and 5-door saloon, 5-door estate. F/F, 1360 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC), 1587 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Facelifted 206, as Peugeot of Brazil claimed it would be too costly and impractical to launch the European model there. Sold in Brazil and neighbouring markets, but exported as 207 Compact to those countries where European 207 was also sold. Four-door saloon called 207 Passion; faux off-road SW estate gained extra Escapade model name, as had 206 in Brazil. No major improvements on 206—better thought of as a mid-term facelift. Criticized around launch in Brazilian press for being a revised, rather than all-new, model. Launched in France in 2009 as a budget model, built at Mulhouse, and bearing 206+ nameplate.

Renault Avantime. 2001–3 (prod. 8,557). 2-door coupé. F/F, 1998 cm³ petrol, 2188 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC), 2946 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Odd marriage of MPV silhouette and two-door hardtop coupé configuration, developed to use Matra facilities in Romorantin. Built using composite panels, as with earlier Matras and original Renault Éspace. Huge doors, making it less practical in smaller car parks. A fast cruiser with an excellent view out; but too bulky to be a real coupé. Considered a flagship, but flopped; production ceased two years after launch.

I have to admit I did get stumped once when watching Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? when the question was on the different levels of sky, something I never learned about at school. And when I learned that the kids on the show swotted up prior, I lost interest in it: if I swotted, I could beat their sorry asses.
   But every now and then, I impress myself. I knew when Herbert Hoover was the US president, for example, and the contestant didn’t (nor did the kid). Occasionally it’s not hard to impress yourself, when you have contestants like these (found on Snowy’s blog):

Jen mentioned that she attended a concert where ‘Gotta Get Away’ was performed. Since she was born in a different decade to me, I am pretty sure she does not mean this:

[Cross-posted from Lucire] Renault has launched a campaign for the Laguna 3 with former Manchester United football player Eric Cantona, using humour and targeting the internet as well as conventional media.
   Called Le rencontre (The Encounter), the commercial is irreverent but manages to show the Laguna in a quality light. (Continued at Lucire.)

Here are some executive cars that you might not have come across—or you may have, but not often. A few entries on Autocade. I was going to say how none of them are German, but some of you might argue the first one is—sort of.

Daewoo Prince. 1991–7 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/R, 1796, 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC), 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Development of earlier Opel Commodore C-based Royale (GM V-car), but with some new sheetmetal. Prince, like Royale, had ideas above its station and was marketed as a large, luxury car in Korea. Dated at this point but considered a top model for Daewoo (below the similar Royal Salon and Brougham), until it began developing models of its own.

Daewoo Arcadia. 1993–2000 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 3206 cm³ (V6 OHC). Daewoo flagship was in fact a rebadged Honda Legend (1990–6), but not as popular as Hyundai rival. Very refined, as Honda originally anticipated an upmarket move with this generation of Legend. Not directly replaced.

Fiat Argenta. 1981–6 (prod. unknown). 4-door saloon. F/R, 1585, 1995 cm³ petrol (4 cyl. DOHC), 2445 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC). Rebodied 132 marketed as all-new car but evidently not. Narrow, 1960s thinking in car that was first released as 132 in the early 1970s. Adequate at best though equipment levels not bad for the era. Facelift for 1984 saw corporate five-bar grille, and addition of supercharged VX and turbodiesel models.

Renault Vel Satis. 2002 to date (prod. unknown). 5-door saloon. F/F, 1998 cm³ petrol, 1995, 2188 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC), 2958 cm³ diesel, 3498 cm³ petrol (V6 DOHC). Unable to confront BMW 5er-Reihe and German executive saloons, Renault went on an original path with Vel Satis. Show car from late 1990s was sleek and modern; production car upright. High seating position, apeing Espace minivan in some respects. Not as capable as Germans, but sold on unusual design. Poor ride, handling, with automatic gearbox leaving something to be desired. Same platform as Laguna II and Espace IV. Facelift shown April 2005, with no RHD models from then.

[Cross-posted from Lucire] Here’s footage from L’Oréal Paris about its latest TVC, starring Elizabeth Banks. More videos and additional links at Lucire.