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Ryan BinghamOCCUPATION:

Torrington MayorWHAT I DRIVE: Ford Pinto

YEAR: 1971

CYLINDERS: 4

COMMUTE TIME: 7 minutes

ABOUT MY CAR: I love my Pinto. Ive

had it since high school and have some

great memories. It does break down

sometimes, but thats just part of being a

classic car owner and, make no mistake,

the Pinto is a classic.

MY DREAM CAR: The Delorean from

the Back to the Future movies, or any

car with gull-wing doors. Either that

or the General Lee from the Dukes of

Hazzard.

What I Drive

Modern Classics

MustangFastback Mach 1

OWNED BY: Joey motormanDiFrancesco, Torrington

YEAR: 1972

MAKE: Ford

ABOUT THE CAR: The Ford MustangMach 1 was a performance model of theFord Mustang that Ford produced begin-ning in 1969. The original production runof the Mach 1 ended in 1979 becausethe Mustang II coupe was being phasedout in favor of newer Mustangs on theFox body platform. The Mach 1 returnedin 2003 as a high performance version ofthe Mustang. The Mach 1 was discontin-ued again after the 2004 model year asthe SN-95 platform was replaced by thenewer S197 platform for the 2005 modelyear. The name mach 1 as used by

Ford was originally introduced in 1959 ona concept Levacar originally shown inthe Ford Rotunda. This concept vehicleutilized a cushion of air as propulsion ona circular dais. This concept vehicle wasorange and white.

PRODUCTION: 1974-1978

BODY STYLE: 2-door coupe

ENGINE: 2.8L V6; 302 cu in (4.9 L) V8

TRANSMISSION: 4-speed manual

EverythingAutoSATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2010

By DAN STRUMPFand YURI KAGEYAMAAP Business Writers

TOKYO Toyota is testingll its sport utility vehicles toeassure buyers of their safetyfter Consumer Reports warnedlarge Lexus SUV is susceptible

o rolling over.The testing covers the entire

ineup of Toyota and LexusUVs, including popular modelsuch as the RAV4, the 4Runnernd the Highlander, said Toyota

pokesman Brian Lyons. Theutomaker will be testing theehicles stability control andims to replicate the Consumereports test that first uncov-red the problem, he said. Heas unaware how long the testsould take.

Toyota is also suspendingroduction of the Lexus SUV

the GX 460 which is builtn Tahara, Japan, for 12 daystarting Friday. The move fol-ows suspension of the vehiclesales earlier this week. Toyotaas yet to decide whether itill recall the vehicle, a hefty

even-seat SUV sold mainly inorth America but also in theiddle East, Russia and some

ther nations. The actions reflectnew urgency at Toyota Motororp. to deal with safety prob-

ems. The automaker in recentonths has been plagued by

ecalls and accusations that itesponded too slowly to safetyapses.

Earlier this week, Consumereports gave the GX 460 a rare

Dont Buy rating becausets rear slid out too far duringharp turns designed to test theehicles handling. That puts theack end at risk of hitting a curbnd rolling over. Toyota says itoes not know whats causinghe problem, but was workingo address it so that the influen-ial magazine, which many shop-ers rely on to choose new cars,ould retest the vehicle and

ive it a satisfactory rating.I do think Toyota is respond-

ng very quickly, said Rebeccaindland, automotive analystt consulting firm IHS-Globalnsight. I think the differences that this situation has been

ade very public.On Thursday night, Ford

otor Co. Executive Chairmanill Ford Jr. said his company

s reviewing the handling of itsUVs in response to the Lexusests, a standard practicehenever another car com-any has a problem. Althoughord is happy with its SUVerformance, Wed like to findut what the issue is with (theexus SUV) and then doubleheck to make sure we dontave the same issue, he said

fter a speech at the Society ofutomotive Engineers Worldongress in Detroit. A small-volume SUV that

aunched in late December,oyota has sold just 4,787 GX60s in the U.S. this year. Thatepresents about 10 percent ofales for Lexus and just 1 per-ent Toyotas overall U.S. sales.till, Toyota ordered dealers totop selling the model in Northmerica on Tuesday.

By COLLEEN BARRYAP Business Writer

TURIN, Italy The worlds still waiting to see what kindf auto design emerges fromhe alliance of Italys Fiat and.S. Chrysler. One thing is clear:

heres a lot of Italian flair to drawn, in the person of Fiats designhief Lorenzo Ramaciotti.

Ramaciotti helped design verything from the high-enderrari Enzo to the economicaleugeot 407 during his careert independent styling houseininfarina. Expect some sur-rises ahead.

Italian design cant be repet-tive. It must be a design that is aittle surprising, with something

nnovative from one model tohe next, said Ramaciotti in annterview in his modest officet Fiats Centro Stile, decoratedith logos of the six Fiat brandshose style he commands.

How much of that Italian

flair will seep into the Chryslersdesigns is still being workedout, nearly a year after Fiat tooka controlling stake in the UnitedStates third-largest automaker.Chrysler has its own designoperation, but Ramaciotti wouldbe key partner in any coopera-tion.

In the Ramaciotti world, carsarent mere vessels of transport but an expression of an idea.Fiat is fun and friendly, simplesolutions. Alfa Romeo is fast,sporty, attention-grabbing.

If you have a car that takesyou from point A to point B, whynot have it be nice? If you arecapable, why not? Ramaciottiasks.

Lancia, which is beingtwinned with the Chryslerbrand, will be the harbingerof Italian design: Good taste,

proportionality, all the elementsthat we are recognized for, hesaid. By we, he meant Italian

design, not Fiat.Italian automobile design

was for many years the beaconfor the world. Now it has beenweakened. Why? Because weexported our design culture,Ramaciotti said. First to Japan,where Italians designed a lot ofcars in the 1970s. Then in Korea,for Daewoo and Hyundai, andnow China.

Ramaciottis first move atFiat was to bring all of Fiatsbrands, except the extremelyexpensive Ferrari, under oneroof. No longer designing carshimself, Ramaciotti overseesthe the process keeping thecreative staff on deadline atFiats sprawling 20,000-square-meter (215,280 sq. feet) designcenter at the Mirafiori plant inTurin.

Ramaciotti has a broad portfolio, six brands under oneroof: the flagship Fiat brand,sporty Alfa Romeo, up-market

Lancia, luxury Maserati, amped-up Abarth and sturdy Fiat lightcommercial vehicles. The twocompanies will share platformsand the first Fiat to return to theU.S. market the Cinquecento,or 500 is being rolled out laterthis year, with a few tweaksaimed at American tastes.

The car will look the sameon the outside as the originalcompact retro-chic three-doorhatchback that has charmedEuropeans. But the Americanmarket required some adjust-ments: wider seats, cupholders,arm rests, automatic transmis-sions, and larger license plateholders. Fiat is offering colors,like sand, that are more suitedto American tastes than, say,the Italian green-white-and-red striped paint job sold inEurope.

The general flavor of thecar has remained very muchItalian, Ramaciotti said.

Fiat design focuses on Italian innovation

AP

Wednesday, Feb. 17 file photo of an Alfa Romeo MiTo car displayed a

the Fiat Style Center in Turin, Italy. The world is still waiting to see whakind of auto design emerges from the alliance of Italys Fiat and U.S.Chrysler. One thing is clear: theres a lot of Italian flair to draw on, inthe person of Fiats design chief Lorenzo Ramaciotti. Ramaciotti helpeddesign everything from the high-end Ferrari Enzo to the economicalPeugeot 407 during his career at independent styling house Pininfarina.Expect some surprises ahead.

Toyotatestingall SUVs

By DEE-ANN DURBINAP Auto Writer

DETROIT Ford Motor Co. saysits 2011 Ford Explorer will have acontrol system that lets drivers selecthow much traction they want basedon road conditions.

Using a dial in the center of theconsole, drivers can select one offour modes: Normal roads, muddy or

rutted roads, snowy roads or sand.The SUV then adjusts the engine,transmission, brakes, wheel rotationspeed and other systems.

If a driver sets the dial to snow, forexample, the Explorer will engagetraction control, use more brakingand slow down the wheels. In sand, itwill do the opposite, since the wheelsneed to keep spinning.

The new system will come stan-dard on all four-wheel-drive modelsof the 2011 Explorer, which goes onsale at the end of this year.

Drivers were confused by the cur-rent Explorers Control Trac system,which allowed them to switch tohigh or low traction or stay in auto-matic, said Jim Holland, the 2011Explorers chief engineer. The newsystem replaces Control Trac and

brings together some functions thatwere previously separate. In the cur-rent Explorer, for example, driverswho wanted to go over sand couldturn off their antilock brakes for abetter ride, but most didnt knowthat. The new system does that auto-matically.

A similar system is already avail-able in two Land Rovers, the LR2 andLR4, said Holland. Ford helped devel-op the system before it sold Land

Rover to Tata Motors Ltd. in 2008. Hesaid other manufacturers are work-ing on similar traction controls.

Holland said Explorer driversdont leave the road very often, butwhen they do, they dont want toadjust a lot of buttons.

People ... want an SUV to have the

capability to go off road, but becausethey dont do it a lot, they dont knowhow, Holland told The AssociatedPress in a recent interview. We justwant them to feel capable.

The switch will have all the optionson one side so drivers dont have totwist their wrists very far to changemodes. A screen in the instrumentcluster will show which mode driv-ers are in.

In the middle of the dial, there

will be a button to start a hill descentsystem, which applies the brakesand controls the engine. That sys-tem, borrowed from Fords F-Series

pickup, also is new to the Explorer.Ford hasnt revealed fuel econo-

my numbers for the 2011 Explorer,but has said that a four-wheel-drive

model with a V-6 engine will have atleast 25 percent better fuel econo-my than the 2010 version. The newsystem is smaller and has lightergears, Holland said, making the SUVmore efficient. Its also built on acar instead of a truck frame, whichimproves fuel economy.

Around half of Explorer buyersnow get the four-wheel-drive version,although demand varies by region,said Holland.

BASE PRICE: $22,290 for base4X2 SE with manual transmission andshort bed; $23,090 for 4X2 SE manualand long bed; $23,340 for 4X2 SE auto-matic and short bed; $24,140 for 4X2SE automatic and long bed; $24,990for 4X4 SE manual and short bed;$25,790 for 4X4 SE manual and long

bed; $26,040 for 4X4 SE automaticand short bed; $26,840 for 4X4 SEautomatic and long bed.

AS TESTED: $28,640.

TYPE: Front-engine, four-wheeldrive, five-passenger, mid-size pickuptruck.

ENGINE: 4-liter, double overheadcam V-6.

MILEAGE: 14 mpg (city), 19 mpg

(highway).TOP SPEED: NA.

LENGTH: 219.4 inches.

WHEELBASE: 125.9 inches.

CURB WEIGHT: 4,569 pounds.

BUILT AT: Smyrna, Tenn.

OPTIONS: Value truck package(includes keyless entry, cruise con-trol, carpeted floor mats, Class IVtow hitch receiver, power door locks,

windows and outside mirrors, alarmsystem) $1,000.

DESTINATION CHARGE: $800.

AP

This image release by Nissan shows the 2010 Nissan Frontier. Not too big and not too small, the mid-size Frontier with four doorsand seats for five has good room for passengers in front and back seats.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

2010 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab 4X4 SE

New traction control in 2011 Explorer

AP

In this undated photo provided by the Ford Motor Co., a new traction control dial forall types of driving conditions, is shown. Ford will install the dial control on the 2011