Jim Miller over at The Flint Journal wants to dispel all those safety concerns surrounding hydrogen fuel cells. No, not the worry that your car will Hindenberg or that your hands will freeze and shatter into a million pieces during refueling. He's talking about giant vapor clouds over big cities and/or dripping water causing roads to freeze in winter. After dispelling these not-so-common misconceptions, Miller shows his inner Andy Rooney: "For every alternative fuel proposed, there are people looking for problems." (Hey that's us!) "Ethanol? It'll lead to higher food prices, and delivery is a problem. It takes a lot of fuel to produce it. Hydrogen? It costs money to produce, and there's no delivery system. Electricity? Batteries are expensive, recycling them is a problem, and most electrics have a short range. Enough already." Actually, not. Miller rags on gasoline ("Those supertankers aren't solar-powered") and finishes by chiding petrochemical recidivists. "Just remember, using oil is not the perfect answer either." True dat.

Time has published a list of The 50 Worst Cars of All Time. While their rundown contains some deserving nominees– the 1956 Renault Dauphine, 1975 Trabant and 1982 Cadillac Cimmaron– it's poisoned by political correctness. The eds condemn the 1909 Model T because it "conferred to Americans the notion of automobility as something akin to natural law, a right endowed by our Creator [and] a century later, the consequences of putting every living soul on gas-powered wheels are piling up, from the air over our cities to the sand under our soldiers' boots." The '95 Ford Explorer is guilty of "setting this country on the spiral of vehicular obesity that we are still contending with today." The Hummer H2 was a "spiteful reactionary riposte to notions that, you know, maybe we all shouldn't be driving tanks that get 10 miles per gallon." And then are boneheaded choices, like the Chevrolet Corvair (same old Ralph Nader pap) and the Chevette (despite the author's statement "if there is a Chevette fan club, let it begin with me."). If Time wanted to show some real stones they'd run a list of the Ten Worst Automobiles Today. Oh wait; that's our job. Look for it next month. 

At the tail end of the last century, the European built, Eurozone-only Volkswagen Polo was the "Mercedes of small cars.” While the Golf/Rabbits MKIII and MKIV suffered from iffy quality, the smaller, staid Polo was known for being reliably unbreakable. Then, something happened. Just as Mercedes' quality nosedived, the VW Polo lost its rep for bullet-proof build. Since 2005 quality has (reportedly) markedly improved, which has put the car back on the list of frugal consumers looking to buy something “classically VW." But is it ready for a U.S. debut?

There may be trouble ahead for Australian car makers who don’t offer diesel-powered large cars. According to GoAuto, a Roy Morgan Research survey indicates that some 38.2 percent of current large car owners say they’ll “seriously consider” a diesel model for their next car. If all 38.2 percent of these large car owners purchase oil burners, GoAuto figures “Ford, Holden, Toyota and Mitsubishi could stand to lose more than 100,000 sales combined a year.” GM’s Holden division begs to differ. After pointing out how a diesel-powered car typically commands a price premium in excess of $1K, mouthpiece John Lindsay goes for the financial jugular. “They are interesting statistics, but I think there is a follow-up question that needs to be asked – how much are they prepared to pay for it?” With unleaded gas in Melbourne averaging AU$1.27 per liter, some Australians might consider Lindsay’s comments to be a bit shonky.

"I just got a new wing mirror for my Skoda." "Sounds like a fair trade." And it's true: I remembered the joke; I didn't surf the web for it. Although these days, one wonders why you'd want to remember anything. Everything's on the web. OK, a lot of the information is inaccurate; as our resident rivet counters remind me whenever car info gleaned from the meta minds at Wikipedia proves to be erroneous. But it is a brave new world, where you can find facts (and pseudo-facts) on the most obscure aspects of motoring with just a few taps on the old plastic keys. Although Toyota's hired a guy to scan the blogs, I'm sure the big bosses throughout autodom don't get it. Their egos are too fragile to answer a question "I have no friggin' idea. Let's Google it." Why else would GM Car Czar Bob Lutz– a man who can remember the warm glow of vacumn tube radios– try to name all VW's brands, when it was clear he had no idea? By now, it should be OK to not know stuff. Lyndon Johnson knew the score when he proclaimed "A decision is only as good as the information its based on." Add in the old saw "A bad decision is better than no decision" and you have a recipe for executive success. And I'm looking at that picture of the Optima and deciding to get back to the real work of this site before the weekend closes in. Aloha.

The House that Henry Built was close to ruin when Junior Bill fell on his sword to bounce Boeing’s best to The Blue Oval. One year later, BusinessWeek (BW) gives FoMoCo CEO Alan Mulally an A-. And yet the reaper’s blade still hangs over Dearborn. And Mulally still toils to prove that his first year’s effort was worth $133.55 per minute (based on a 60 hour work week). Meanwhile, surveying the lay of the land post-Mulally, we reckon BW’s senior correspondent had more than sweetened tumbâk in his hookah when he penned this report card.

Autoblog has blogged the blogger that blogwatches the blogosphere for other bloggers blogging about Toyota. Actually, Autoblog blogged the Brandweek article about the blogger that blogwatches the blogos… oh, never mind. The point is that Toyota actually has a "corporate manager of consumer-generated media" named Bruce Ertmann, whose job is to read and report on what's being said about Toyota's products on a variety of enthusiast and product-oriented blogs. Amazingly, the list of the blogs he monitors on a regular basis doesn't include TTAC. If you want to offer any suggestions for (ahem!) a blog he may want to monitor because it tells the truth about cars, you can email Toyota's corporate communications office at toyota_corp_comm@toyota.com. So now I've blogged Autoblog blogging the blogger that blogwatches the blogosphere for other bloggers blogging about Toyota. Somebody stop me!

Reuters reports that Norway is banning manufacturers from advertising a car's green credentials. As far Norways's Department of Truth (a.k.a. Consumer Ombudsman) is concerned, "cars cannot do anything good for the environment except less damage than others." By that, state censor Bente Oeverli means that certain cars can be less harmful than others, but they're ALL bad for the planet. But don't try and claim your car is less harmful than the other guys, 'cause that's banned too. "If someone says their car is more 'green' or 'environmentally friendly' than others then they would have to be able to document it in every aspect from production, to emissions, to energy use, to recycling," she said. "In practice that can't be done." Meanwhile, in the UK, Volvo was told not to repeat a claim that the C30 car was "designed with the utmost respect for the environment in mind." Now that we can understand. Respect in mind? Tsk tsk. 

First the New Beetle. Then the new MINI. Now the new Trabant. Yep, you read that right. Reuters reports that the plastic-bodied, smoke-spewing, two-stroke, two-cylinder rolling testimonial to everything that was wrong with communist East Germany is ready to stage a comeback. Or at least, that's what Herpa, a Bavarian company that manufactures miniature vehicles, is hoping. The company bought the rights to the name with visions of building an updated version of the car with a modern powertrain– possibly even a version with a BMW engine(!). They're planning an initial run of 5k Trabis, once they find someone to build them. The only question we have is… why? Perhaps one of our German readers can enlighten us.

Imagine GM CEO Rick Wagoner in his RenCen bunker in the middle of August. Reports from the front indicate his North American division faces a third straight month of lowered sales. As the architect of a turnaround plan with no publicly defined goals (including a return to profitability), Wagoner’s given himself plenty of wiggle room. But a bad August– in the face of production cutbacks and a rapidly declining market– would finally trigger Wall Street’s alarm clock. So what does he do? He cheats. 

God knows I've been fired from enough jobs to know the relief and exaltation that accompanies summary dismissal. Of course, my current status as a middle-aged, twice-married father of four has put a bit of edge into that concept. But I can certainly recommend getting fired to any young man and woman who isn't staring at the business end of $1.2m worth of private school tuition. As for quitting, well, that's even better. Cocaine has nothing on the high you get from knowing you never have to set foot in that m-effing workplace again as long as you live. That said, I know there must be readers who love their jobs; sensitive souls who would be devastated if they got the old  heave-ho or "had" to leave. Get over it. It's one of those Shiva deals: creation depends on destruction. If you get too comfortable in a job you're not creating personal growth, Dude. I offer these words of wisdom to Mr. LaSorda, who should unfurl that 24K parachute and jump. From what I know about The Big 2.8, from what I can see heading their way, now's a great time to tell Nardelli to take his North American Sales, International Sales, Global Marketing, Product Strategy and Service and Parts and shove it. The only Chrysler you need Tommy boy is a vintage machine sitting in your humidity-controlled garage.

Chryslerberus is just full of surprises. First they unexpectedly demoted replaced Tom LaSorda with Robert Nardelli as CEO. Now Bloomberg reports that Jim Press, former President of Toyota Motors in North America is joining the dark side the Cerberus team as Chrysler's Vice Chairman and President. Press, the first non-Japanese to head TMNA, will "be responsible for North American Sales, International Sales, Global Marketing, Product Strategy, and Service and Parts for Chrysler LLC." Tom LaSorda, who is also Vice Chairman and President, will be responsible for "Manufacturing, Procurement and Supply, Employee Relations and Global Business Development and Alliances." It looks like they may have about one President too many. We hope LaSorda has his golden parachute strapped on nice and tight. 

Our series on really obvious safety tips continues courtesy of H.E.A.T (Help Eliminate Auto Thefts). The Michigan-based, insurance company-funded organization wants you to know that fall is car theft season. In fact, October is "the second-highest month for auto-related crimes" (how months get high is anyone's guess). What's more, "thieves prefer the beginning and end of the school week, Monday and Friday, as favorite days to steal vehicles [and] favor vehicles that are black, gray and white." Sorry, I know, that's new information. Let's get to the good stuff: how to protect your cherished whip from clever car thieves. H.E.A.T. recommends you close your windows all the way, keep your valuables out of sight, never leave your vehicle running and unattended (a gentle jog with a friend is OK), install an alarm with a "visible flasher" (invisible flashers are useless), etch your VIN number on your windows (dealers love this) and install a hidden kill switch (to confound those pesky valet parkers). I'll start the bidding with: never park next to a vehicle resting on breeze blocks. 

Alfred J DiMora is one of the most "colorful" characters in the custom car world. In other words, the larger-than-life entrepreneur's ambitions have hit the skids more than once. In terms of cars, we're thinking of the 3000 lbs., three-speed, fiberglass-bodied (with MG doors) Excaliber-esque pastiche known as the Sceptre. Back when jeans had bells, DiMora's company built just fifteen of 500 planned cars before going belly-up. Since '06, the indefatigable DiMora is aiming a LOT higher. He's looking to build "the world's first $2 million production automobile." To that end, DiMora has hired (though not paid) Detroit's Advanced Technology & Design to perform the patternless casting needed to create the Natalia SLS 2's V16 "Volcano" engine components. Yup, DiMora's dreamed-up a 14-liter, 1200 horsepower powerplant for his baby "that gets excellent mileage." In case you were wondering about DiMora Motorcars' ultimate ambitions, their motto is "Let us drive your dreams." Just so. 

[podcast with Advanced Technology & Design Prez Clifford Sands below] 

Reuters reports that a team of Australian TV comedians drove a three car motorcade (complete with motorcycle outriders) straight through three security checkpoints in the center of Sydney. The Gateway to Australia is currently hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group forum, where 21 world leaders are gathering amidst what was thought to be tight security. Embarrassed police reacted with a predictable combination of derision and misplaced anger. "Whilst I enjoy like everyone else a good laugh, this isn't funny" local police Superintendent Dave Owens told reporters. "I'm very angry that such a stunt like this could be pulled." Well, that's what you get when you deploy decoy motorcades to confuse terrorists. Anyway, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer claimed the stunt proved the security arrangements worked. "They presumably were … aiming to humiliate a lot of well-known people. The point is they were in any case arrested." Uh, I think the point is that the security arrangements were a dismal failure. The fake Osama Bin laden drove within meters of the hotel where President Bush will be staying; close enough to destroy the building with one– never mind three- car bombs.