Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Thursday, June 12.
Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson will be remembered for his incredible influence on 20th-century rock and roll, but in the automotive world his legacy will live on with his many songs that helped define American car culture.
Chevrolet, Ford, Honda and other car brands all played roles in Wilson's music, as Richard Truett wrote in this tribute. It wasn't just 1932 Fords — "Little Deuce Coupe," or powerful Chevrolet engines — "409" – that Wilson and the Beach Boys wrote and sang about. It was Jaguar XKEs and Corvettes in the Jan & Dean classic "Deadman's Curve," the story says.
Truett also mentions Wilson's 1964 song about a 50cc motor scooter that had Americans singing the name of a little-known Japanese company when "Little Honda" debuted on the Beach Boys' "All Summer Long" album. The song was covered the same summer by a one-hit group called The Hondells.
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Honda, in a statement, said it joined Americans in mourning a musical genius who helped immortalize the Japanese automaker's place in American culture.
Our story also offers details about Wilson's cars. His first car was a 1957 Chevrolet Impala. A 1979 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Rolls Royce Phantom, 1990 Corvette ZR1 and Ferrari 488 GTB were among the avid collector's cars, Truett wrote.
Following up on our coverage of supplier Marelli's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, the troubled company's court petition listed its largest unsecured creditors. Since the company is a major supplier to Stellantis and Nissan Motor Co., it's not a huge surprise that it owes Stellantis $454 million and Nissan $313 million. That adds up to about $767 million.
Speaking of Stellantis, Chairman John Elkann called on the European Union to approve rules that would allow automakers to again build inexpensive small cars in a profitable way. As recently as 2019, one million cars that cost less than €15,000 ($17,400) were sold in Europe, but now that figure is only about 100,000, Elkann said at the 2025 Automotive News Europe Congress in Turin, Italy.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
