Looking Back: September 2006

September features our first car show coverage of the season, but we didn’t even get to see the Eiffel Tower. Gas prices wane and there are a lot of new cars.

Acura and Honda unleash all-new versions of the MDX and CR-V, a new Civic Si sedan and an updated TL, all on the same day. They’re probably the type of company that likes to pull the Band-Aid right off, too. 

Those Dr. Z ads get put on permanent hiatus. The Ask Dr. Z website doesn’t have an answer for why no one liked the good doctor after all.

GM answers Ford’s June move of increasing warranties with a major improvement: Now GM vehicles get a 10-year warranty. Take that Ford and your tiny five- and six-year terms. Pshaw. Plus, GM has flying cars.

President Clinton goes green.

Car window stickers will get crash-test results added to them by September 2007. Nope, no joke here.

We list some of the cars that won’t return in the year 2007, but we didn’t know at the time that Scion was going to replace the xA and update the xB in 2007.

People start to buy the new Lincoln Zephyr, thus starting positive word of mouth about the car. Word-of-mouth recipients who go to the dealer to test-drive a Zephyr for themselves are greeted by the Lincoln MKZ. Luckily, Ford has a better plan to help the rest of its lineup.

We get our first glimpse of the new 2007 Hyundai Tiburon. Life continues as normal.

California keeps banning things, this time talking on cell phones while driving. Maybe Californians should get one of those Caller ID watches.

Remember that wild gas price spike we saw in August? It’s over.

The Dodge Avenger concept – clearly an American-styled sedan if ever we saw one – debuts at the Paris Motor Show, of course.

Was it the Ford Five Hundred or the Aston Martin V8 Vantage that got Ray Liotta’s new TV show “Smith” canceled?

We see first-hand that the new Lexus LS 460 really can park itself.

Audi reveals the super-sexy R8 supercar in Paris. Dave can’t wait to get his hands on one. That won’t happen for a few months. Then we wrap up Paris Motor Show coverage without ever leaving our desks.

Looking Back: June 2006
Looking Back: July 2006
Looking Back: August 2006