10 posts tagged “jy&a media”

According to Mashable, people must upgrade their Wordpress installations as an attack is under way. I believe we only have a couple of sites that would be potentially at risk: Lucire has already been sorted, but the Your Wellington blog is still processing in the background as I type.
   People say how easy this automatic upgrading is, but I have found it very difficult. I have done several of these upgrades now, and this is all I see:

Wordpress upgrading

I started Tweeting in 2007, and earlier this year, decided that Lucire needed a Twitter account.

Lucire Twitter page

Fashion Quarterly Twitter page

Since Triangle TV closed in Wellington, I have not been able to watch al-Jazeera as often as I used to. As I was asked to be on the July 31 edition of Listening Post, commenting on Kim Jong-Il and the media, I thought it would be worth sharing with more of you, especially if you are equally hampered by access to the news network. (Apologies to my Vox neighbourhood who will see two entries to the same video.) I think this marks my fifth or sixth appearance—I seem to have lost count.

When I think about it, these cars propelled Japan to lofty heights. Never mind where they are now, and I realize some of the cars they bearing these names were boring econoboxes. From Autocade.

Honda Civic. 1972–9 (prod. unknown). 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-door sedan, 5-door wagon. F/F, 1169, 1237, 1488 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC). World-beating small car, developed in record two years. Named denoted car’s relevance to citizens and cities. Revolutionary in its day, when hatchbacks were largely unknown. Initially 680 kg weight; 2200 mm wheelbase. Styling based around trapezoidal form. Independent strut suspension all-round, setting template for future Honda models and ensuring excellent handling. Answered demand among Japan’s growing, affluent middle class for more sophisticated cars, exported just as fuel crisis hit in 1973. Two-door saloon first in July 1972; three-door hatch in September. Automatic and CVCC in 1973; four-door at end of year with 2280 mm wheelbase. Twin-carb Civic RS in 1974 along with commercial van and station wagon (also longer wheelbase). Minor facelift in 1977. Some rust issues, though this never affected Honda’s reputation in the way it did with Alfa Romeo and Lancia this decade.

Toyota Corolla (E10). 1966–70 (prod. 1,170,000 approx.). 2- and 4-door sedan, 2-door coupé, 3-door wagon. F/R, 1077, 1166 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). The car that kicked it off. Toyota spotted room for a small car as the Japanese middle class grew. Very conventional, drum brakes initially, front discs later. Perhaps established the idea for the Corolla line that basic motoring sells—it need not be the latest technology—but how that appealed to a global market. Aimed at export, toward a ‘general user’. Some creature comforts such as cigarette lighter, reclining seats, two-speed wipers. Four-door and wagon added May 1967. Coupé, from April 1968, sold as Sprinter in some markets—Sprinter line had not split from Corolla line at this point. Larger engine from 1970.

Honda Accord. 1976–81 (prod. unknown). 3- and 4-door sedan. F/F, 1602, 1751 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC). Honda ups the game with well engineered and attractive mid-sized car (compact by US standards). Dynamically excellent compared with others of the era (Renault 18, Ford Taunus II) and established Honda as a company that could do more than tiny hatchbacks such as the Civic. Well specified in typical Japanese fashion. Some rustproofing issues.

Some 2010 models have made it into Autocade, because of the US practice of saying its 2009-launched cars are a year newer than they really are. (Whatever happened to the half-model years there?) It’s by no means comprehensive—the newly launched 2010 Cadillac SRX is not there, for instance—but a couple are.
   My rule for Autocade is that the years given for US-built models follow US conventions (and models built elsewhere use the calendar year, as is usually their practice). Hence, there are these three.
   The Buick LaCrosse entry below might cause a problem if Shanghai production is confirmed to commence in 2009, but since the US is the first market to build and receive the car, we will probably stick with the American convention and cite the first year as 2010. The Ford Fusion does date from 2006, but last year I decided to update the photograph to the 2010 model—the motive was that I did not want all current cars to have an image from the beginning of the model run. Finally, the 2010 Ford Mustang causes no problems in terms of indexing or imagery at this point.
   The only real problem is that it is impossible to note any driving impressions for models about to be launched—the Nissan Maxima (A35), Lotus Evora, Dodge Journey, Daewoo Lacetti (J300) and Mazda 6 (2009–) fall into this category.

Buick LaCrosse (Epsilon II). 2010 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 2994, 3564 cm³ (V6 DOHC). LaCrosse unified as a single model again, with American and Chinese designers working together on styling, and GM Europe on engineering. Moved to Epsilon II platform shared with Cadillac CTS (2008–). Styling has silhouette not unlike that of Opel Insignia; ‘sweep-spear’ feature on side sees waistline dip and rise suddenly forward of the rear door handle. Portholes on hood. The 1973 Riviera cited as one inspiration; Invicta show car clearly the other. Nothing that novel under the svelte skin, but tipped to be a staple seller for Buick on both sides of the Pacific.

Ford Fusion (CD338). 2006 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, F/A, 2261, 2501 cm³ petrol, 2501 cm³ petrol–electric hybrid (4 cyl. DOHC), 2967, 3496 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Basically a new-generation Ford Telstar: Mazda Atenza platform, replacing Ford Mondeo Mk III (CD132) in most of Latin America (except Argentina) and providing Ford North America with a successor to Contour. Less advanced than comparable Mondeo (CD345), but conveniently and more cheaply put together in México. Attractive design, probably best of Ford’s mid-decade US sedans. Four-wheel-drive models a bit weighty, need good use of accelerator to get decent performance. Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ essentially the same car with better equipment. Facelift for 2010 model year shown at end of 2008, with more aggressive front end, new 2·5-litre four and hybrid, and Cyclone 3·5 V6.

Ford Mustang (S197). 2010 to date (prod. unknown). 2-door coupé, 2-door convertible. F/R, 4009 cm³ (V6 OHC), 4601 cm³ (V8 OHC). Carryover platform complete with live rear axle, but new sheetmetal to make Mustang appear more aggressive and compact. V8 has a power boost to 315 bhp. Styling by George Saridakis now inspired by 1970 model with shades of an earlier Mustang show car by ItalDesign. Interior quality improved.

Another milestone reached at Autocade as we begin 2009. The 700th car is:

Volkswagen Passat (B6). 2005 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door saloon, 5-door estate. F/F, F/A, 1390, 1598, 1798, 1984 cm³ petrol, 1968 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC), 1595 cm³ petrol, 1896 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC), 3198, 3597 cm³ (V6 DOHC). More grown-up styling and even better quality for B6 Passat, now on stretched Golf platform. Rear legroom a bit cramped, though succeeds on most other respects. Spawned four-door coupé model, covered separately; long-wheelbase model called Volkswagen Magotan.

Thanks to Peter here on Vox, who offered to help me with hacking PHP and MediaWiki on Autocade after we exchanged some comments on the blogosphere, I am very happy to announce that the home page now has a random car entry along with a selection of 15 random articles and a summary of the latest additions to the site (which I had been editing manually). Pete went beyond the call of duty here and I have been totally amazed like a child in a toy store, clicking ‘Refresh’ to see what the computer will pick as the next random entry to appear. And while he is too modest to note this himself, he did spend quite some time refining the code, for which I am very, very grateful.

Autocade with featured car

It’s good to have the server running more speedily, thanks to the Rackspace guys. From Autocade, some of the cars you might have forgotten, sometimes for good reason. Pity, I always liked the look of that SEAT Sport; and the CityRover is an interesting could-have-been if MG Rover had only priced the base model under £5,000.

CityRover (RD110). 2003–5 (prod. approx. 6,000 sold to 2004). 5-door saloon. F/F, 1405 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC). Badge-engineered Tata Indica (1998–) with 14 in wheels (up from Indian model’s 13 in) and revised grille, though no sheetmetal changes. Ride height lowered 20 mm. Not formally a Rover—an Indian-made base model seemed a stretch too far for the brand that had already been downgraded to adorn Metros. Even Rover badge on CityRover appeared different—as with no-marque Metros in the late 1980s. Base model without electric windows; generally dated against European competition. Rover botched the launch, pricing the vehicles far too high, making them uncompetitive—it was generally regarded that the price was £2,000 more than what it should have been. Price drop eventually, with £900 cut and standard equipment upgrade in 2005. Mk II models built but never officially launched, arriving one month after May 2005 collapse of MG Rover.

Beijing BJ750. 1973–5; 1988 (prod. 93). 4-door sedan. F/R, 2445, 2465 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). Unclear information on mid-sized sedan dating from mid-1970s from behind the Bamboo Curtain; some sources indicate production continued to end of 1970s and beginning of 1980s, updated with features such as extra turn signals in 1980. Years given (1973–5 and 1988) from Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile, which indicates short production was due to Red Chinese government preferring the manufacture of the Shanghai automobile over the BJ750. BJ751 was a Wankel-engined model, two examples made for evaluation and existing around 1980. The 1988 revival (BJ752) featured larger Beijing Jeep Cherokee engine, prod. 3.

Daihatsu Charmant (E20). 1974–81 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon. F/R, 1166, 1290, 1407, 1588 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). Toyota Corolla (E20)-based car from Daihatsu, with particularly long life by Japanese standards. Upgraded to 1·3- and 1·6-litre engines, later shared with E70 Corolla, in 1978. Short-lived wagon model. More upscale than Corolla, though dynamically nothing remarkable.

SEAT 1200 Sport/SEAT 1430 Sport. 1975–80 (prod. unknown). 2-door coupé. F/F, 1197, 1438 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). SEAT coupé based on 127 platform but 124 engines, characterized by blackened front end, earning it the nickname bocanegra in Spain. Larger-engined model from 1977. Attractive, contemporary 1970s’ design, though not very successful and not directly replaced.

It’s still in beta stage but fellow car nuts might want to check it out: Zak, Timothy?

www.autocade.net

   The idea is to build on the work of the late automotive writer, Michael Sedgwick, and to have more professionalism than one might find at Wikipedia. We do need some input on Japanese and American models.