Yesterday, the Car Autance team assembled for another rousing Hooptie Happy Hour, our live chat show hosted on Twitter Spaces. It lasted a bit longer than an hour, and we were able to cram a wide range of topics into our discussion, with generous helpings of random ranting, raving, and hyperbole about Acura’s and Volkswagen’s new directions, old Saabs and Saturns, and platform sharing.
We started our chat with the Volkswagen ID.Buzz. At first, I wasn’t too keen on it, but I’ve come around. My colleagues generally like it, but we all agree that VW should’ve done it sooner. I mean, c’mon, the Wolfsburgers have been hinting at such a creation for a very long time.
Pivoting away from electric cab-over-looking stuff to cars that are going into production shortly, the new Acura Integra was next on the docket. Some of us dig the look, some don’t, but we all agree that it’s cool there’s a new car with options for a manual transmission, adaptive dampers, and a limited-slip differential. Also, doesn’t the NFT that Acura’s giving the first 500 Teggy buyers look like an early ’00s trance compilation cover?
From there, we engaged in a whirlwind of chatter, from interesting drive share fair to why the coveted Honda J35 V6 ended up in the Saturn Vue. Our reminiscing then bounced to the defunct Saab brand. Remember when old Saab turbos were a dime a dozen and one of the cooler cars in your high school’s parking lot? Well, at least if your high school looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch advertisement. Unrelated, but relevant to the discussion: The Saab 9-7X was the spiritual successor to the Jaguar F-Pace SVR, in my opinion.
Finally, what’s the deal with sick shared GM platforms? Our man Kevin Williams has an extensive knowledge of them all and reminded us all how friggin’ cool and underappreciated the Saturn Aura was. I’m daydreaming of swapping a manual gearbox into one as I type this.
The link to the recorded show can be found below, so give it a listen, and be sure to keep an eye out for our next Hooptie Happy Hour, which typically airs on Twitter Spaces on Thursday afternoons around 1:30 PM Pacific. Keep an eye on our Twitter, as well as YouTube for past and future episodes!
Come chat with the CB crew: https://t.co/2ZfshiJVQB
— Car Autance (@CarAutance) March 10, 2022
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