AUTO RED BOOK REVIEW: SUBARU HYBRID TOURER CONCEPT

On The Cover Review: Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept

From a styling standpoint, the all-wheel-drive Subaru Hybrid Tourer is pure concept car.  Gigantic gull-wing doors and all white interiors don’t exactly lend themselves to the consumer market.  But as a show car, it got you over to the Subaru display at the 2010 North American International Auto Show.  It also showed that Subaru is jumping on the green bandwagon, with a fancy hybrid system.  It runs on a turbocharged, 2.0-liter Boxer gasoline engine.  Then there are two lithium-ion battery-powered electric motors; one for taking off from stoplights, and one to maintain cruising speed, that kick in to preserve dead dinosaurs.  There’s a good chance that we’ll see some version of this hybrid system on future road-faring Subarus, and we may even see a crossover of similar size and shape.  Chances are that when you see it, you won’t associate it with this concept vehicle, but sometimes cars like this are doing more than you initially recognize to shape the future of the vehicles we see every day.

AUTO RED BOOK REVIEW: MINI BEACHCOMBER CONCEPT

On The Cover Review: MINI Beachcomber Concept

When a MINI Cooper and a Jeep Wrangler have babies, they'll look like this.  If the bloated MINI styling, chunky tires, and door delete didn’t convey enough attitude for the MINI Beachcomber concept at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, maybe the fact that it was driven onto the stage by a guy in a giant shark’s head chewing on a tin can got the point across.  Between 1964 and 1993, MINI sold the Moke, which was a regular MINI Cooper chassis with a bare-bones, almost golf cart-like body.  The Moke sort of sets a precedent for the door-less MINI idea, but it could probably fit in the backseat of the Beachcomber.  If MINI comes out with anything bigger, they might have to change their name.  The Beachcomber may look radical, but it is probably very close to production.  Think about what it would look like if it had doors, if the roof wasn’t open, and if the machismo was toned down a bit.  That’s right—it’d be a run-of-the-mill crossover.  That’s not very hard to envision.  Of course, if you closed it all up like that, it would be hard to wear a giant shark’s head costume in there.  But most people don’t really need to do that very often anyway.

AUTO RED BOOK REVIEW: LEXUS LF-CH CONCEPT

On The Cover Review: Lexus LF-Ch Concept

The first thing you noticed about the Lexus LF-Ch concept when you laid eyes on it at the 2010 North American International Auto Show is that it had some really pretty paint.  Striking, rich, iridescent gold paint.  If you could get passed that, you may also notice a heavily sculptured little hatchback under there.  The LF-Ch concept actually first debuted at the Frankfurt Auto Show, which makes sense, because it was designed to be sold in Europe, not the U.S.  Most experts have concluded that it is to compete with the BMW 1-Series hatchback based on its size and style.  But being as it is a Toyota product, it is equipped with the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, similar to a Prius, but probably in the 147-hp version like the Lexus HS250h.  That’s not to say it couldn’t be powered by an all gasoline or diesel power plant, but then they’d have to take the “h” off the end of its name.  So why should we care about this car?  Well, recent laws have mandated that U.S. fuel economy standards must reach 35.5 miles-per-gallon by 2016.  Europe, already saddled with extra high fuel prices, is a hotbed for small cars.  There has been a trend lately of Euro-spec cars coming to the U.S.  So if this car takes off in Europe, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see some version of it reach our shores.

AUTO RED BOOK REVIEW: GMC GRANITE CONCEPT

On The Cover Review: GMC Granite Concept

In a world of Scion xB’s and Nissan Cubes, GMC steps forward with another small on the outside, big on the inside box-shaped concept.  To delve off on a tangent for a moment; a GMC Terrain has basically the same tasty innards as a Chevrolet Equinox, but the exterior design is completely different.  The bulldog blocky Granite may be a similar partner for the Chevy HHR, or maybe the upcoming Chevy Orlando.  Whatever the platform a production Granite could be based on, the looks are all GMC.  The main themes here are style and utility, and the Granite has plenty of both.  The interior dimensions are surprisingly copious, while the exterior conveys the chunky tough truck look that seems to be popular these days.  The Granite is powered by the same 138-hp, 1.4-liter turbocharged four that also appeared in the much smaller Aveo RS concept car, which was also unveiled at the 2010 North American International Auto Show.  The Granite looks like something that could make it to showrooms without some of the show car glitter in the future.  Especially when you look at how similar it is to the vehicles that are slated for production in other GM divisions.