Vintage Car

Little Red Corvette

Deemed as the bona fide backseat make out song of Prince's 1983 album titled 1999, Little Red Corvette combines Prince's sultry lyrics filled with innuendos with synth-saturated click track rhythms to make one flirty little number.

Although prior to this song, Prince was known for his blatantly sexual lyrics mixed with a raw and funkier sound, which resulted in most of his earlier recording not getting any radio play. This song was just obscure enough to not have offended anybody thus resulting in radio play.

In the song, Prince narrates a one-night stand with a beautiful but promiscuous woman, metaphorically named "Little Red Corvette," throughout the song he claims to enjoy the experience but urges her to slow down, find a love that is going to last before she destroys herself. The exact nature of the song is left to the imagination being that Prince is never quite clear as to whether he is talking about a car or some red hot minx. In addition to "Little Red Corvette," Prince uses several other automobile metaphors, including comparing their interlude to riding in a limousine.

It is rumored Prince got the idea for the song while he fell asleep in Lisa Coleman's Edsel or Mercury Montclair, depending on who you talk to, after an exhausting all-night recording session. Lisa Colman was Prince's keyboardist for both his 1999 album and Controversy albums and did backing vocals for Little Red Corvette. According to the rumor, the lyrics came to Prince in bits and pieces during that particular catnap and others that followed and eventually he was able to finish it without sleeping.

Little Red Corvette became one of Prince's best known songs and helped put his name on the music charts. This song was his biggest hit at the time, and the first to reach top ten status in the United States peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, which is the US music industry standard singles popularity chart issued by Billboard magazine. Little Red Corvette was one of his first singles to perform better on the pop chart then the R&B chart, due to the pop/rock format of the song.

The same Little Red Corvette inspired another musician, Stevie Nicks who got the idea for "Stand Back" after hearing Little Red Corvette. She heard Prince's song in her car, wrote "Stand Back" that night, later called Prince who came into the studio when they recorded the song to play keyboards.

Little Red Corvette is one of those songs that will forever stand the test of time. In 2001, Chevrolet put up billboards with a picture of a red 1963 Corvette Sting Ray that stated, "They don't write songs about Volvos." In 2003, Chevrolet used that statement in a commercial that aired for the first time during the Grammys. The ad showed old footage of The Beach Boys performing "My 409" followed by Don McLean singing "American Pie" ("drove my Chevy to the levee"), and then Prince performing "Little Red Corvette."

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Mercury Edsel

Financially Troubled Fords Glitter in Quality

Despite financial problems of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln, these three troubled Ford Motor Company brands, in a much anticipated survey released on Wednesday, exuded intense gains in automobile quality during the first three months of ownership. The brands Ford and Mercury rose from below-average to above while Lincoln moved from the 12th place to the third.

This California-based market research company J.D. Power and Associates survey got responses from 97,000 vehicle owners that answered through questionnaires.

For the second consecutive year, Porsche ranked 1st besting 35 brands studied. According to the survey, the brand had an average of less than one problem per vehicle. On the second place is Lexus again.

The study revealed the following Ford Motor Co. models with quality standouts: Ford Mustang, Fusion, Five Hundred, F-150 and E-Series van; Mercury Milan, Montego and Mountaineer; Lincoln Mark LT, Navigator, MKX and MKZ; the M-5 Miata from Ford's Mazda unit and the S80 from its Volvo unit. Garnering the 6th place is Ford’s Jaguar brand.

According to Tom Ivers, Power's Executive Director for Quality and Customer Satisfaction, the new products of Ford seemed to be beyond their previous-generation products.

But, once again, Ford's Land Rover unit ranked last. Overall, Mazda, maker of quality Mazda RX7 parts, was second to the last.

In this year’s survey, Detroit’s General Motors was knotted. Its Cadillac and Chevrolet divisions tremendously roll down into the below-average category. As a result, no GM brand ranked above average. Ivers said that mostly to blame were the flaws of the new-generation Cadillac Escalade ESV.

Janine Fruehan, GM spokeswoman, said that the survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates is important but it is not the only source of input that helps their company to exude quality innovations.

Nonetheless, some GM models were deemed by the study as quality standouts. These include the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Suburban and discontinued Silverado Classic, GMC Sierra and Yukon and the Hummer H2.

Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep brands of the soon-to-be sold Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler ranked near the bottom of the brand ranking. In a statement, the Chrysler Group noted that Power accounts for some of its models were reinvented from last year - the Jeep Grand Cherokee in particular.

Nonetheless, the survey showed that DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz brand improved from very below average last year to the fourth place this year after Honda. The standouts were the E-Class, SL Class and S-Class.

Ford Motor Company’s Land Rover Division said in a statement that even though it ranked last again, their cars have tremendously improved this year. They believe that their position in the overall ranking implies more efforts for their division.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation. Based on the world wide vehicle sales, it is the third largest automaker all over the world after leaders Toyota and General Motors.

Ford was the second-ranked automaker in the US with a 17.5 percent market share, after General Motors with 24.6 percent but ahead of Toyota with 15.4 percent and DaimlerChrysler with 14.4 percent. This was according to the 2006 records. In 2007, Ford was the seventh placer among different American-based companies in the Fortune 500 list. This was based on global revenues that amounted to $160.1 billion.

Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the auto company was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated in June 16, 1903. Its global brands include Lincoln and Mercury of the US, Jaguar and Land Rover of the UK, and Volvo of Sweden. Ford also owns a Mazda controlling interest amounting to one-third controlling.

Aside from producing quality products, Ford has been one of the ten largest corporations around the world in terms of revenue.

Members of the Ford Motor Company include Daimler, Edsel, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Merkur, and Volvo.

About the Author

Kraig Johanssen is a native of Connecticut and holds a degree in Software Engineering. He now works at a software development firm in Alabama. His love for writing and great interest on cars makes him a proficient contributing author to various automotive magazines.

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