on the move

Monday, August 22, 2011 For Advertising Information Contact Your Local Cars.Com On-The-Move Sales Team at 599-2329

Ethanol blend raises ire of classic car buffs, manufacturers

DETROIT — The presence of ethanol — an alcohol addi-tive made from corn — in gasoline is hardly noticed by consumers.

“Most likely, you’re get-ting ethanol everywhere you drive in the country,” gener-ally with 10 percent added ethanol, said Kirk McCauley, a spokesman for the Service Station Dealers Association of America.

Federal regulators leave it to the states to decide whether pumps must be labeled disclosing that they dispense fuel blended with E10. About a dozen states don’t require ethanol label-

ing on gas pumps.Classic car buffs say 10

percent ethanol already in widespread use hurts their vehicles. But the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency says it’s safe.

Periodically, when an old car breaks down or a chain saw or boat motor self-destructs, the owner blames ethanol-blended gasoline.

Trade groups for the eth-anol industry and corn pro-ducers vigorously dispute such complaints, saying eth-anol is safe for any new car and that, for older cars, parts can be adapted and fuel addi-tives used during storage as safeguards.

The makers of engines and

other parts side with clas-sic-car owners and their mechanics.

“You can have people keeping a collector car in the garage, taking very good care of it, but the ethanol in there is corroding the vehi-cle,” said Stuart Gosswein, senior director of federal government affairs for the Specialty Equipment Market Association, which repre-sents manufacturers of rac-ing and custom auto parts.

This year, the E PA approved allowing even more ethanol — a 15 percent mix. That proposal upset automak-ers and small-engine com-panies, who said that at 15 percent ethanol even newer

cars and newer small engines would be damaged.

“We’re basing our con-cerns on the cars that are on the road today,” and on the corrosive effect that 15 per-cent-ethanol fuel could have on fuel pumps, fuel tanks, hoses and emissions parts, said Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group that includes the Detroit Three automak-ers and other manufacturers, including Toyota and Volk-swagen. The alliance, along with other trade groups, sued the EPA in January to stop the introduction of E15.

Small-engine manufac-turers are concerned about

the effects on boat motors, chain saws and lawn mow-ers. Despite the lawsuit, the EPA approved the sale of E15, with labels, for vehi-cles made in model year 2001 and later.

That’s drawing cheers from the American Coalition for Ethanol, a Washington-based trade association of ethanol producers and corn growers, who say ethanol is perfectly safe for cars and small engines sold today, and say it’s boosting the econo-my by adding jobs in corn-growing states.

Foes of ethanol worry that E15 will become the norm in time and they won’t be able to tell when they are buy-

ing it.“The answer is not to stop

this 15 percent ethanol, it’s to get all of the ethanol out of gasoline,” said classic-car mechanic Ed Syrocki, owner of EMS Classic Car Care in Warren, Mich.

Officials at the Renewable Fuels Association, represent-ing the ethanol industry, said ethanol fuels can be safely used in old cars if owners adapt the fuel systems with new parts.

Association spokesman Matt Hartwig said the cost would “be minor in compari-son to what (owners) would be willing to spend on the exterior of the car, for exam-ple.”

By Bill LaitnerDetroit Free Press

Fiat hopes Gucci version will boost US 500 salesDETROIT — Fiat will introduce

a Gucci version of its stylish 500 mini car in the United States later this year.

The black special edition of the car features glossy paint, chrome detailing and a leather interior with white accents. It has the Italian fash-ion label’s interlocking “GG” inscrip-tion on the headrests and wheels, and Gucci’s signature green-and-red stripe along the body side, the seat belt and seat backs.

It will be introduced Sept. 8 at the start of New York Fashion Week but won’t hit showrooms until Decem-ber.

It’s an effort to boost sales of the car, which have been slow since its U.S. debut in March.

Fiat has sold about 11,500 of the mini cars in the United States and Canada, well short of its 50,000 goal for the year.

Fiat has been slowly opening U.S. dealerships. It now has about 100 nationwide and says it expects high-er sales through the rest of the year. The company plans to have a total of 130 dealers nationwide, mainly in larger metro areas.

Fiat stock was trading down by as much as 6 percent, at $6.99, on the Milan Stock Exchange on specula-tion that it would not meet the 500’s sales targets in North America.

The Gucci 500 unites two of Ita-ly’s most emblematic brands: the Fiat automaker and the historic Gucci leather goods and fashion label.

The Gucci version of the car was the brandchild of Lapo Elkann, an heir of the Fiat-founding Agnelli family, who persuaded Frida Gian-nini, Gucci’s creative director, to col-laborate on the project over lunch in Rome.

The Gucci version was launched

in Europe earlier this year to coin-cide with the 150th anniversary of Italian unification and the 90th anniversary of Gucci’s founding in Rome.

The 2012 Fiat 500, a three-door hatchback with rounded styling that evokes the original 500 from 1957, is Fiat’s first vehicle in the U.S. since it pulled out of the market in 1983 because of rust problems and other quality issues.

Fiat said it will announce the price of the Gucci edition closer to its U.S. debut. The 500 starts at $15,500 in the United States. A Gucci convert-ible version also will be offered.

Fiat now owns 53.5 percent of U.S. automaker Chrysler Group LLC and is looking to combine the companies. Fiat CEO Sergio Mar-chionne was given management control and a 20 percent stake in Chrysler after it left bankruptcy protection in 2009.

The Associated Press

Fiat Spa/the aSSociated preSS

The Fiat 500 special edition by Gucci features a leather interior with white accents. It has the Italian fashion label’s interlocking “GG” on the headrests and wheels, and Gucci’s signature green-and-red stripe along the body side, the seat belt and seat backs.

/ Monday, August 22, 2011 Tallahassee Democrat / OnTheMOve

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OnTheMOve / Tallahassee Democrat Monday, August 22, 2011 /

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Louis Chevrolet: The man behind the Chevrolet nameLike its famous bowtie

badge, Chevrolet’s past and present intersect at several ironic points.

The car company that has come to stand for icon-ic Americana was founded by a European.

The disagreement that drove Louis Chevrolet from what would later become General Motors — over the role of production and pow-er in Chevrolet cars — is at the heart of GM’s corporate strategy today.

And the manufacturer that epitomized 1950s car bling, late 20th-Century engine-growlers and unsafe cars now produces a lineup of fuel-effi-cient, safe cars, including a hit electric vehicle.

Chevrolet was co-found-ed by an already-famous French-speaking Swiss racecar driver and engi-neer named Louis Chevro-let on Nov. 3, 1911, in Flint, Mich. His partner was ex-

and soon-to-be-again Gen-eral Motors chief William Crapo Durant, who wanted to trade on the famous rac-er’s name.

The first product? The 6-cylinder luxury model called the Classic Six, one of only four Chevrolets that Chevrolet-the-man would design for the com-pany (along with the Baby Grand, the Royal Mail and the L Light Six).

Initially a bicycle rac-er, Chevrolet, who briefly worked for Fiat (current owner of GM competitor Chrysler) in 1905, started racing cars that year, set-ting a world record of 68 mph in his first-ever auto-mobile race, the Three Miles in New York.

At that same time, he built his first racer, which enabled him to add 51 mph to his record, and earned him the nickname “the daredevil Frenchman.” He went on to race for Buick, which is how he met Durant, but Chevrolet

abandoned that life when his youngest brother died follow-ing a race accident.

In 1914, Chevrolet left the eponymous company after arguing with Durant about what the company’s future should be. Durant wanted to make inexpensive cars and lots of them a la Hen-ry Ford; Chevrolet insisted they focus on “high-powered speed cars” and elite, expen-sive autos.

Chevrolet went on to start other car companies, which ultimately fell apart, and then worked as a simple mechanic. He died, still smarting from big losses incurred during the Depres-sion, in 1963.

Durant, the man who drove Chevrolet away, was himself gone from GM by 1920.

Decades later, the then-Detroit based GM would blend the dichotomous approaches by producing both low-cost cars as well as more high-end automobiles,

like the Corvette.But Durant’s position crys-

tallized in 1915 with the Model 490, named for its $490 price, $5 cheaper than the top-selling Ford Mod-el T. That started a rivalry between the two companies that has stretched into the 21st century. Chevy outsold its Dearborn opponent for the first time in 1927 and held the position for two years.

In 1917, Chevy formally became a division of GM.

Now, 94 years later, Chevy is still GM’s largest global

brand, selling an estimated 4 million vehicles a year in more than 130 countries.

With that, it entered a period of much growth and innovation in the auto industry. Chevy’s contribu-tions included the world’s first SUV (a station wagon called a Suburban Carryall) and the va-va-vaoom of fins and chrome that dominated the 1950s with icons like the Bel Air.

Corvette’s debut in 1953 — and a revamped version two years later with the soon-to-be

iconic V8 engine — was per-haps a nod back to Louis Chev-rolet’s previously dismissed vision for the company.

Chevy’s place in the pan-theon of all-American autos was solidified with the small Corvair in 1960, the Cor-vette Stingray in 1963 and the Camaro in 1967, as pony cars joined their muscled siblings.

The Corvair was a bump in the road, too. Ralph Nad-er demonized it in his 1965 book “Unsafe at Any Speed,” which prompted the national car-safety movement.

In 2005, Chevrolet was relaunched in Europe, a jump aided by GM’s 2001 acqui-sition of Daewoo Motors, which was well entrenched on that continent. The com-pany made inroads there when it built a manufactur-ing plant in 1924.

Now, as Chevrolet cele-brates its 100th birthday, it is getting a jolt of electric-ity, with the extended-range electric Volt.

By Zlati MeyerDetroit Free Press

Howling noise is a sign of gears that may be wornQ: I own a rear-wheel-

drive 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4-liter engine. I recently had both rear axle seals and bear-ings replaced. At the same time I had the mechanic check U-joints, shocks, etc. The noise from the fail-ing bearings is gone, but now I have a loud “howl” that gets louder the more I accelerate. If I take my foot off the accelerator, the sound is gone. As soon as I accelerate, the sound returns. It is barely notice-able at speeds less than 35 mph, but the howl gets increasingly louder as the speed increases.

I returned to the mechanic the same day I picked up the Jeep. We went on a road test and I

was given a story about gears in the differential and that despite the noise everything was mechani-cally sound. Even though the sound was not pres-ent before the seals and bearings were replaced, the only option given was a very expensive replace-ment. Can you suggest a fix? This howling is giving me a headache!

A: Your mechanic is probably correct. You’re hearing a howl generated by worn parts in the dif-ferential, likely the ring and pinion gears. The only “quick fix” might be to check the level of gear oil in the differential — maybe enough leaked out from the worn seals that it needs topping up. Bet-ter yet, drain and refill the

differential with synthetic GL-5 gear oil. While 80W-90 gear oil is standard, for heavy-duty use like towing you can use 75w-140, which may help quite the noise significantly.

If this doesn’t quiet things down enough for you, you might be able find a used differential carri-er assembly in a salvage yard.

Q: I’m 74 and have been working on cars all my life, and I can’t figure this one out. I have a 1999 Jeep

Cherokee with the 4-liter engine and 150,000 miles. The other day a ripple in the concrete highway caused a major vibration in the front end. I pulled over to check, then drove home. Later, when I tried to start the car, nothing happened. The battery was destroyed by the shak-ing. I replaced the hori-zontal steering damper, and everything is fixed — except the oil pressure is now pegged at 80 pounds per square inch instead of 40. Is this a plugged relief valve?

A: I doubt that the high oil-pressure reading is mechanical; it’s more like-ly a problem with the oil pressure sender/switch or gauge. On this engine the sender/switch, just above

the oil filter, is integrated into the powertrain control module (PCM). Unplug, check, clean and reconnect the connector on the oil pressure sender/switch. If this doesn’t help, try a new sender/switch.

Q: I have a 2002 F-150 with the 4.6-liter engine, and it has 194,000 miles. My air conditioning works great when the car is mov-ing, but when you let it idle for a few minutes, the com-pressor kicks off and it blows warm air. As it con-tinues to idle, the compres-sor kicks on and off and you get cool air for a few minutes then warm again. As soon as you start mov-ing again, it blows cool air constantly. Any ideas?

A: Have the refriger-

ant level and pressure checked. The system may just be low on R-134a. You can buy a do-it-yourself can of refrigerant and oil with a dispensing hose and small pressure gauge. Hook this up to the low-pressure side of the sys-tem and see if the pres-sure is above about 25 psi when the compressor is engaged. If not, add refrig-erant until the pressure is in the normal zone — gen-erally 25 to 35 psi with the compressor engaged.

After that many years and miles, a slight loss of refrigerant is normal. Top-ping up the system may keep you cool for at least the rest of this summer. And don’t forget to clean bugs, leaves and debris from the front of the A/C condenser and radiator.

By Paul BrandMinneapolis Star Tribune

Chevrolet was co-founded by an already famous French-speaking Swiss racecar driver and engineer named Louis Chevrolet on Nov. 3, 1911, in Flint. His partner was ex- and soon-to-be-again General Motors chief William Crapo Durant, who wanted to trade on the famous racer’s name.

The only “quick fix” might be to check the level of gear oil in the dif-ferential.

OnTheMOve / Tallahassee Democrat Monday, August 22, 2011 /

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OnTheMOve / Tallahassee Democrat Monday, August 22, 2011 / Page 7


Carmakers use perks to set their luxury autos apart from others

LOS ANGELES — Luxu-ry auto makers are laying on the perks to distinguish their brand from their com-petitors.

Nissan said its upscale Infiniti division will offer a free concierge service for buyers of its vehicles.

The Infiniti Personal Assis-tant will give owners unlim-ited 24-hour access to a live team of professional assis-tants who can provide driv-

ing directions, weather fore-casts, dining suggestions and reservations, travel arrange-ments and sports scores through the car’s Bluetooth system or even away from the vehicle by phone.

The service is good for four years to one registered driver of the vehicle and is not transferable. Service for a second driver is $199 at the time of the car’s pur-chase.

O t h e r c a r m a k e r s , including BMW and Cadil-

lac, charge for similar services.

But concierge services aren’t the only enticements manufacturers are offering to attract buyers.

BMW includes four years of maintenance with the pur-chase of its vehicles.

Equus, a luxury sedan from Hyundai, comes with an iPad instead of an own-

er’s manual and a concierge service for maintenance. An Equus technician will come to the owner’s house or office when the vehicle needs service, pick up the

car and drop off a loaner car. Hyundai then brings the serviced vehicle back to the owner.

“The brands tend to offer things based on their strengths,” said Dan Hall, an analyst at AutoPacific Inc., an industry consulting firm in Tustin, Calif. “Lexus doesn’t offer years of main-tenance because they are known for being reliable. But BMW is known as Break My Wallet, so they had to do something.”

By Jerry HirschLos Angeles Times

Smaller RVs with better fuel economy are hotYou may have to look

harder to see those convoys of motor homes headed for vacation spots this fall. The RVs are getting smaller.

While sales of traditional motor homes have grown at a respectable 6.2 percent rate for the first six months of the year, two smaller classes encompassing large van con-versions have grown nearly twice as fast, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Associa-tion reports.

“The era of bigger-is-bet-ter and more ostentatious” is

over, declares RVIA Presi-dent Richard Coon. Now, “the trend is toned down quite a bit.”

Blame the economy and gas prices, but also retirees who have decided they don’t need rolling McMansions for status in otherwise hard times.

“Fuel prices are driving it, but this is a cultural shift,” says Bob Wheeler, CEO of Airstream, which converts delivery-van-style Mercedes-Benz Sprinters into low-key motor homes. “There’s a shift away from conspicu-ous consumption.”

Though these units are priced upwards of $125,000, Wheeler says they typically don’t have the fancy paint and graphics of larger units.

“No flashy paint job,” he says. Rather, it’s “understated ele-gance” — and up to 18 miles a gallon from the modest diesel engine, triple the gas mileage

of some big gasoline-powered motor homes.

Even in the bigger vehi-cle classes, some RVers are downsizing. RV-maker Fleetwood says many buy-ers of more traditional motor homes, who formerly would have opted for 36-footers or bigger, today are buy-ing its 28- to 32-foot Storm line, which starts at about $92,000, says Lenny Razo, eastern regional sales direc-tor.

Those RVs are being fitted with more space-maximiz-ing features, such as bunks that drop from the ceiling.

Many buyers “are getting older, and they don’t need as much” space, Razo says.

Winnebago, too, has intro-duced more lower-priced motor homes and fuel-saving diesels. “In the last couple of years, people are wanting value products, not necessar-ily all the bells and whistles like in 2004,” says spokes-woman Sheila Davis.

Smaller motor homes also can be more versatile, such as serving as a base camp for little leaguers at games, as well as a home away from home on vaca-tion, she says.

By Chris WoodyardUSA TODAY

Used-car prices are soaring, slowing depreciation LOS ANGELES — Nor-

mally, the value of a new car plunges as it’s driven out of the dealership by its new owner.

But slumping auto sales and leases in recent years have changed that axiom by creating a shortage of late model year used cars, according to auto price

information company Kel-ley Blue Book.

For 1- to 3 -year-old used vehicles, the average

price has increased from $15,000 in 2008 to more than $23,000 in 2011, an annual average increase of near-

ly 16 percent, Kelley ana-lysts said.

They expect used car pricing to remain strong

because it will take sev-eral years of strong new- car sales to replenish the shortage of used vehicles that is pushing prices up now.

“While depreciation typi-cally affects a vehicle’s val-ue most in the first two years of ownership, it will not be as pronounced as it would have been a few years ago when the used-car supply

was still very high,” said Alec Gutierrez, manager of vehicle valuation for Kelley Blue Book.

“Consumers who plan to sell or trade in a used car soon will likely see their vehicle hold its value well. Alternatively, shoppers in the market for a used car will continue to pay more, making it difficult to buy at a discount,” he said.


“While depreciation typically affects a vehicle’s value most in the first two years of ownership, it will not be as pronounced as it would have been a few years ago when the used-car supply was still very high.”AleC GutierrezKelley Blue Book, manager of vehicle valuation

Though these units are priced upwards of $125,000, Wheeler says they typically don’t have the fancy paint and graph-ics of larger units. “No flashy paint job,” he says. Rather, it’s “understated ele-gance” — and up to 18 miles a gallon from the modest diesel engine, triple the gas mileage of some big gasoline-powered motor homes.

The Infiniti Personal Assistant will give owners unlimited 24-hour access to a live team of professional assistants who can provide driving directions, weather forecasts, dining sug-gestions and reservations, travel arrangements and sports scores through the car’s Bluetooth system or even away from the vehicle by phone.


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Charging stations move electric cars out of cityCharging stations that can

fill the batteries of an electric car in 30 minutes or less are moving from the city to the country.

A $2-million federal stimu-lus grant will finance 22 fast-charging stations in small-er cities in the northwestern corner of the state, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced Thursday. After they are installed next year, electric car owners will be able to go on vacation to the coast or the mountains and home again without having to stop over-night to charge up.

This comes on top of plans to build fast-charging stations along Interstate 5 in Oregon and Washington by the end of this year.

“Electric cars are often seen as city vehicles,” said Kristen Helsel, vice president of EV solutions for AeroVironment Inc., the Monrovia, Calif., com-pany that is building the charg-ing stations. “What this does is it extends the range so you can go from one corridor to anoth-er. It completely changes how EVs can be used.”

Oregon is the first state to get this kind of grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, said spokesman Bill Adams.

The state’s history of sup-porting green initiatives like the bottle deposit bill and open access to beaches has put it at the forefront of embracing elec-tric vehicles, said Art James, innovative partnerships project director for Oregon’s Transpor-tation Department.

The governor’s office has also made a strong commit-ment to electric cars.

In 2008, then-Gov. Ted Kulon-goski signed a deal with Nis-san North America to launch the all-electric Leaf in Ore-gon, and most of the country’s major electric vehicle manu-facturers have visited Oregon to talk about introducing their vehicles.

So far, there are only two fast-chargers in the state, both in Portland. Eight more are slated to go online by the end of October along Interstate 5

between Eugene and the Cali-fornia border.

The stations are gathering key data on how people use their electric cars, and hun-dreds more stations that can charge a car in a few hours are also planned.

Level 1 car chargers use 110 volts, like a regular home out-let, and it can take an entire night to charge a vehicle. Lev-el 2 uses 240 volts, like a home dryer or range, and can charge a car in three or four hours. But Level 3, which uses 480 volts, makes en route charging feasi-ble by boosting a Nissan Leaf’s 45-kilowatt battery from a 20 percent charge to 80 percent

in less than 30 minutes.This new group of fast-charg-

ing stations will cover an area radiating from Portland and stretching 80 miles to the north-west, 50 miles to the east, and 120 miles south. Stations will be no more than 50 miles apart, well within the 70- to 100-mile range of the Leaf.

Each station will be at a place offering restrooms and a con-venience store.

They will be able to handle only one car at a time, but with just an estimated 800 electric cars of various stripes spread among Oregon’s nearly 4 mil-lion residents, the prospect for lines is small for now.

Analysts expect the num-ber of electric vehicles to grow quickly as the charging infra-structure expands, making the technology more convenient.

Pat Davis, who heads the vehicle technologies program for the U.S. Department of Energy, said automakers’ cur-rent plans for ramping up elec-tric vehicle production puts the nation on track to top Presi-dent Barack Obama’s goal of 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

“It’s clear that by 2025, to meet the new fuel (efficiency) requirements, that we are going to see more electrification than we have now,” Davis said. “That

is going to take the form of everything from micro-hybrids to full hybridization plug-ins to electric drive. But they will not be the only thing on the road. You will probably see more natural gas vehicles than you have today, and vehicles with downsized engines and lighter vehicles than today.”

Justin Denley and his wife traded in a four-wheel-drive pickup truck and bought a Leaf this year to cut their spending on gasoline. He mostly uses it to commute about 4 miles to his job as an information technolo-gy specialist at a Medford, Ore., credit union, but he recently piled the family in for the 125-

mile drive to the coast to show the car off to relatives.

To make what is a three-hour trip in a conventional car, they had to stop overnight at an RV park, where they slept in a tent while the car charged over-night.

Denley said he can’t wait for the fast-charging stations to go online along Interstate 5 this fall.

“That’s a key thing that has to happen for most people who want to adopt this technology,” he said. “Range anxiety (the fear of getting stranded) is a real thing.

“People want to be able to go farther.”

By Jeff BarnardThe Associated Press

Don Ryan/The associaTeD PRess

A Nissan Leaf is plugged into a charging station during the dedication of Electric Avenue on the Portland State University campus in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday. One block of a street running through the campus features seven EV charging stations from six manufacturers, including a quick-charge sta-tion where students and visitors can plug in electric cars, bicycles, trucks and motorcycles.


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Convertible sales slip as car buyers opt for more glassLOS ANGELES — Auto

buyers are trading the open air for high-tech glass.

Ford Motor Co. reported that sales of vehicles with “vista” or “panoramic” roofs are soaring.

About half the buyers of its Explorer and Edge sport-utility vehicles and about a third of its Flex upright station wagon buyers are purchasing the option — essentially a long, sweep-ing sunroof or two skylight-like panels. The glass roof upgrade can cost as much as $1,600.

Meanwhile, sales of convert ible cars are lagging behind the rest of the market, auto informa-tion firm R.L. Polk & Co. reported.

Sales of convertible cars have typically accounted for 1.8 percent to 2 percent of the auto market. But now

they are running at 1.2 per-cent to 1.4 percent, accord-ing to Polk.

The Chevrolet Camaro has been the top-selling con-vertible through May of this year, accounting for 7,530 car registrations, accord-ing to Polk. The Ford Mus-tang is second, with convert-

ible sales of 6,645. After that there’s a big drop.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class convertible had sales of 3,446, followed by the BMW 328 convertible with 2,867 cars sold.

Sales of 2011 Ford Explor-ers equipped with the vista roof reached almost 25,000 during that time period.

The convertible numbers could improve if the econ-omy picks up, said Mark Pauze, a Polk consultant.

“Currently there is a real focus in the market on fuel-efficient, economical and practical vehicles — not a recipe for a convertible revival,” Pauze said.

But it may be that con-sumers are turning to more practical vehicles and find-ing that the panoramic roof is a good compromise.

Ford thinks it knows why people are opting for the vis-ta roofs.

“We are seeing more buildings utilizing glass structures because letting natural light in is a popular architectural trend,” said Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s man-ager of global trends.

“This trend has crossed over to the automotive indus-try, and Ford’s vista roofs open the car to more sun-light, which keeps drivers energized and gives the luxu-

rious feel customers desire,” she said.

The Ford vista roof is made up of two panels. The first can be opened like a standard sun roof, and the second, which sits farther back in the vehicle, is sta-tionary.

Although drivers will nev-er feel that convertible exhil-aration and the rush of wind in their hair driving along in a large SUV, the panoramic roofs do have some advan-tages — you won’t get hot, sweaty or sunburned.

Ford’s panoramic glass filters the sun’s heat-generat-ing infrared rays and burn-causing ultraviolet rays.


The Chevrolet Camaro has been the top-selling convertible through May of this year, accounting for 7,530 car registrations, according to Polk. The Ford Mustang is second, with convert-ible sales of 6,645. After that there’s a big drop.

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