Detroit News scribe Scott Burgess offers a piercing glimpse into the obvious: the muscle car is dead. Burgess reckons "no one could have predicted the dramatic change in consumer tastes, high fuel prices and eco-politics when designers started penning those car's revivals." OK, well, anyway, Burgess isn't quite ready to pronounce the muscle car's TOD. "The Go-Fast gene in men and women will never disappear," he concludes. Frighteningly enough, Burgess' rant includes wistful quotes from GM players who talk about the move away from high horsepower vehicles as if the thought just occurred to them, with a similar lack of closure. "There's going to be a lot of internal pressure to move engineering resources to these other products," opines Tadge Juechter, GM's vehicle chief engineer for the Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac XLR. "That's going to really impact future muscle cars." Going to be? Going to? "The concept of the muscle car will probably evolve into a really fun-to-drive, stylish vehicle," predicts Troy Clarke, GM's president of North America. "As opposed to something that just breathes fire and has more cubic inches than the next guy." Probably? Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that the industry shills knows as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have high horsepower vehicles in their premium hoiking sights. Enjoy your Challenger while you can Scott.

[Interview with Scott Burgess about muscle cars below.] 

In his raucous yet rambling history of the American west, author Hampton Sides reveals the surprising fact that the Confederate Army didn't lose their Western campaign in glorious battle. According to Blood and Thunder, they lost their war in Apache Canyon, when a Union commander named John Milton Chivington stumbled upon his rival's supply train. Chivington's men rapelled down the canyon walls and overcame the camp's defenders. He then destroyed 80 wagons' worth of supplies and some 600 horses and mules. And that was that. It was only a matter of time before the largely Texan force limped home, starving, sick, beaten. Flash forward to Detroit. Experts say that Chrysler's Plastech debacle– a dispute which threatened to sink the entire company– is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. As many as two dozen key automotive suppliers could file for bankruptcy this year. Their demise is down to the domestics' belief that their competitive future depends on outsourcing parts-making to low-cost foreign countries. Maybe so. But only a fool abandons (or lightly guards) his vital supplies before securing a new supply. Think Detroit's ready for a U.S. supplier meltdown? Obviously not. More to the point, isn't there anyone in Detroit who knows how to fight?  

MSNBC reports that GM's placing its entire inventory of certified pre-owned (CPO) cars (from 3,900 dealers) on eBay. GM says its still working with eBay on developing the site. But don't expect any sort of direct, online transaction. If the eBay sub-site works along the same lines as Autotrader.com and Cars.com's versions, you'll have to contact the dealer through the website (which earns a referral fee). Will eBay offer any additional guarantees along the lines of the protections offered buyers of privately owned vehicles (e.g. free insurance and seller ratings)? Don't hold your breath…

The Dallas Morning News reports the Lone Star State is spending $100m to get gas-guzzling, smog-spewing old cars off the road in the metro DFW and Houston areas. The program, which began taking applications last December, provides vouchers to low-income families who have cars that are at least 10 years old. The vouchers can be used as a down payment on a new or late-model used car ($3K voucher) or up to one-year-old hybrid ($3.5K) at dealers who participate in the "Air Check Texas" program. It's a pretty popular program, as you can imagine. Freeman Toyota has sold 80 cars to voucher holders so far, and Lone Star Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep has 50 sales completed or pending, most of them used car sales. The program is expected to exhaust its funds for this fiscal year by summer, but there are already funds set aside for FY09. Justifiable environmental intervention or a greenwashed subsidy for local car dealers? We report, you kvetch.

First, a slew of spy shots spread around enthusiast web sites like the word "hope" at an Obama rally. Now Honda pulled the trigger and sent out the first official shot of the new TSX. And while this writer is usually one of the first to slate new cars when they deserve it (especially when they were solid the first time around), the TSX looks pretty good. That said, it certainly suffers from some of the mace-in-the-face effect, with squinty new headlights and a bigger gaping grill. But overall, it's easy to call this better looking than Acura's other recent efforts. There are three reasons to be especially excited about this car. First, it's available with Honda's new diesel engine. Second, I don't care what the TL and MDX sales numbers say, the TSX is the most authentic Acura since the Integra and Legend were prematurely aborted. Third, the past TSX was one of the better fun-to-dollar ratio autos extent. We've got to hope this one carries the enthusiast flag in the next gen. The Euro Accord (its nearly identical twin) bows at Geneva in a few weeks. We'll see the TSX for the first time at New York's Auto Show in late March.

TTAC has finally hit the big time: we now have a listing on Wikipedia. Right now it's pretty basic. But we trust the worldwide web will nurture our entry and develop it into a listing that befits our no-holds-barred brand. We'll also update the user stats as our reader base grows. Let us know what you think; if there's anything else we should cover in our wikidness. And while you're sharing on meta issues, what's your take on TTAC listing everything on the front page in chronological order– instead of placing the reviews front and center? There would be direct links to items on the right like we have now. But as new content is posted, it would appear at the top of the column on page one. The upside: you'll see everything when you connect to the site. The downside: items will scroll off the page much faster than they do now. And while we're gearing-up for photo galleries, we're worried about the effect on page views. But never mind US. It's all about YOU. Which format would you prefer: the way we are now, or the way it was in our now defunct "classic" view?

Man, we are so going to the National Automobile Dealers Association convention next year; you know, if they let us in. Where else would you hear Ford Prez Mark "Tool Time" Fields say "Mercury has a place in our brand portfolio" and then refuse to assure the brand's dealers that Ford won't kill it? In fact, the AP [via MLive] reports that "Ford executives" told "a group of dealers that "new Mercury products are coming." Such as…? A Mariner hybrid? A Mercury version of the Edge? [crickets chirping] Let's try that again. "When asked what he would tell dealers who fear the brand could be discontinued, Jim Farley, Ford's group vice president for marketing, said they should look at the new products." Such as…? [cue: tumbleweeds] "They wouldn't give us any definite answers," revealed Steve Downing, owner of a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Yuba City, Calif. "Obviously the future's with Lincoln." Too true Steve, but don't worry. As Fields says, it's all part of a "process." ""Any good business on a continuous basis looks at their portfolio. Any good business does that, not just automotive, and that's part of our process."

“It’s a New Day.” Unless you’re terminally ill or the guest of a terrorist cell, this observation won’t come as much of a surprise or, in itself, cause much delight. And yet that’s the tagline for the [now] combined Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands. In an explanatory TV ad, an animated child tells viewers that the American automaker will [now] listen to YOU and build cars the cars YOU want. The ad is an excellent example of what Adolph Hitler called The Big Lie: a falsehood so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". To wit: if any single automaker ISN’T building the cars YOU want, it’s Chrysler.

There are faster, more expensive cars than the Bugatti Veyron. But none have eclipsed its media profile. (Even my grandmother has heard of it.) Bugatti’s German owners must like the publicity. Why else would they tap the money pit brand to build an “ultimate saloon?” My rendering is not as slick as you might expect (or I’d hope): a four-door extracted from the roots of the Type 57SC Atlantic, mixed with the eclectic juices of the EB 110 to 218. As on the Veyron, the duotone paint cuts a little of the bulky overall appearance; in this case positioned to emphasize the car’s length. Touches of “Art Nouveau” connect with the brand’s origins of the brand while conforming to safety and environment protection regulations. I must say I am not very fond of this design, but I can also say the same for all the other modern EBs. Sometimes, rendering the truth hurts.

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]

It's the strangest form of worker buyout so far, Forbes reports that Ford sold off its driveshaft factory. And now they're offering 700 workers $140k if they stay with the plant under its new owner, Neapco. The money would be paid out over a two-year period– if the United Auto Works (UAW) agrees to the deal. The workers staying with Neapco will have to deal with a new labor contract between the UAW and the new owners; they'll most likely give-up whatever seniority they've amassed, and have a different (i.e. smaller) benefits package. Hence the "incentive." Ford is also considering offering the same deal to workers at an interior component factory they're in the process of selling to Johnson Controls.

The AP reports [via the Dallas Morning News] that Hugo Chavez has threatened to launch an “economic war” and cut off oil sales to the United States. “Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger,” the Venezuelan President intoned. Chavez is responding to Exxon Mobil’s attempts to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets, to compensate for the South American country’s nationalization of the multi-billion dollar Orinoco oil project. "The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us," Chavez promised. Meanwhile a British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12b of the assets of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Venezuela’s state-run oil company. The U.S. imports some 12 percent (1.23m barrels per day) of its oil from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Oil prices are expected to spike on the news.

In the recently released 'Kheel Plan' for New York City, professional arbitrator, environmentalist and social policy gadfly Theodore W Kheel explicitly, and repeatedly, refers to free public transit as the carrot, and congestion pricing as the stick. His free transit plan seeks to reduce traffic in the City's central business district by a third, thus shortening travel times both for those that do still drive, and for those taking the bus or subway. Lanes no longer needed for cars would be given over to bicycle commuting. Many of the plan's goals are worthy and the means may be effective in the short run. But Kheel ignores the possibility of a huge surge in public transport use, and City drivers' unwillingness to leave their carcoons. In any case, Kheel's financially liberated transit commuters would have to rely on "additional policing" to deal with the vandals and criminals currently deterred by fares. Good luck with that.

Jerry York doubts Chrysler will make it on its own. According to Reuters, the former Chrysler CFO and GM Board member reckons "Chrysler as a stand-alone company is not viable." York doesn't believe Chrysler will last another five to ten years as an independent automaker. Flashing back to comments he made last November, York also said he thought Cerberus would "go as far as they could in terms of fixing [Chrysler] up, but then ultimately recognize that the company would have to be merged with a foreign producer." Although Chrysler has yet to announce the ten plus models it will slice from its lineup, York thinks Jeep will emerge from the bloodletting with just the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. Coincidentally (or not), India's Economic Times reports Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is "reportedly in talks with Chrysler [to buy] its iconic Jeep brand." M&M would neither confirm nor deny the rumor, but the company began life as a Jeep licensee. And vice-chairman Anand Mahindra stated, "This is a great time to use Indian chutzpah, the strong PE ratio and rupee to buy American manufacturing assets." It's only a matter of time– and not much of it– before Cerberus begins its long-awaited strip 'n flip. 

The New York Times reports that AG Michael Mukasey is getting sued. Not for anything to do with waterboarding; for non-compliance with a 1992 law requiring that VINs of totaled cars be recorded in a National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. Despite that law being signed fifteen years ago, not all states participate, not all junkyards and insurance companies report as required, and unwitting consumers still end up with seriously wrecked cars that have been cosmetically rebuilt. Originally the DOT was supposed to protect unsuspecting folks just looking for a cheap ride, but it accomplished so little that Congress turned to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 1996. Now, three consumer groups are suing the DOJ. Some consumer advocates claim that insurance companies have impeded enforcement because they make a tidy profit selling salvage vehicles with no recorded crash history. Other advocates say the insurance industry has been cooperative. Yes, well, an alliance of state AGs sued State Farm for not reporting 30k titles, settling for $40m but no admission of guilt. [TTAC welcomes reader/architect Donal Fagan's first blog post]

The Tahoe Hybrid. From gas friendly to gas-free. FlexFuel. The plug-in electric – gas Chevy Volt. The [entirely theoretical] hydrogen fuel cell Cadillac Provoq. It's clear that General Motors has finally embraced a low-emissions, scarce fossil fuel future. Provided, that is, you're as gullible as a Barry Bonds supporter. While GM is pushing itself as the second coming of Al Gore, The General's CEO sent a very different message to the National Automobile Dealers Association in San Francisco. According to Yahoo! News, Rick Wagoner asked GM's immense network of dealers to aggressively oppose state-specific greenhouse gas legislation that exceeds the restrictions mandated by the U.S. Congress. While Wagoner's influence may be falling in Washington, his dealers still have a lot of pull at the state level. "Dealers are very effective in the political process because we don't have a plant in every state," Wagoner boasted. "We have dealers in every state." Wagoner's biggest fear: California and its copycat states' air quality rules will trump federal regs, as they already do in several areas (including diesel particulate standards). If the need for "50-state compliance" extends into CO2, "We're not going to be able to accomplish everything that we otherwise could," Wagoner noted, vying for TTAC's understatement of the year award.