For whatever reason (to please Hannibal Lector fans?), Ford's product planners have decided to produce an upmarket version of the new Flex. Ford spokesman Mark Schirmer told the Detroit News that Ford "is actively pursuing a luxury crossover for Lincoln." By offering a new vehicle based on the so-not-a-minivan Flex, plus discontinuing the Mark LT pickup, The Blue Oval Boyz hope to "refocus the Lincoln brand and make it a serious contender again in the luxury space." The MOU812 is based on the whale baleen-snouted Lincoln MKT concept unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. It's now due to hit the streets in 2009, bolstering sales and destroying what little brand equity Lincoln may have left. Oh, and no word on a Mercury variant, despite FoMoCo's promises not to leave Jill Wagner high and dry.

Today's "internet-broken embargo" brings you pictures of Hyundai's new Genesis coupe. Genesis is also the name of Hyundai's new big RWD luxury sedan. While the coupe shares its name, it shares none of the sedan's handsome sheetmetal. I think it's scary, early 1990s ugly. The coupe will get a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a V6 (probably with ~300 horsepower); making it sound like it could be either a Mustang/Camaro competitor in the mid $20ks. Or it could attempt to do to the Infiniti G37 coupe what the Infiniti G37 coupe does to the BMW 335i. More for less. To make matters worse, the pictures come courtesy of forums at "New Tiburon," even though previous rumors were that the RWD Genesis coupe would be a separate model from an upcoming all-new FWD Tiburon. So, which is it? Affordable muscle car competing with the Mustang? Luxury sports coupe going head to head with BMW and Infiniti? A new Tiburon? And willthe coupe ever offer Hyundai's new 380 horsepower V8? Only time will tell. And by time, I mean four days, which is when this car is properly unveiled at the NY Auto Show.

Click here for a Pixamo gallery of the Genesis coupe 

The Dallas News reports that the Live Large, Think Big city is dealing with another consequences of red light cameras: they work. "We did not anticipate having such success so early with the number of people not running red lights," said Zaida Basora, Dallas' assistant director of public works and transportation. "If you have success in safety, you don't have a lot of success in revenue. The other side is the people will go back to what they were doing before without the cameras." Since installing the cameras, Dallas estimates gross revenue from red light cameras dropped from $14m to $4m. The kicker? Dallas signed a contract guaranteeing the system's operators $3800 per camera per month. Dallas is now planning on scaling back to just 100 cameras (that's $380k per month to the sys admin). Last month, Dallas faced accusations of race-biased camera placement. So is the shut down a financial issue or just an out for last month's problems? One wonders which cameras were switched off.. but it's probably both.

That's right, Nissan is "heavily" refreshing the Maxima that's been in service since 2004. And what are they doing with car made obsolete by the V6 Altima and Infiniti G35? Your guess is as good as mine. Torque steer is already an issue on the Maxima, so more power may not be welcome. At least now there are 4DSC stickers on the side windows. But is that any different than VW trying to channel the spirit of the original, lovable Rabbit into the new one with a chrome rabbit logo on the trunk? The only thing we know is that we'll know on Wednesday the 19th. Autoblog claims it's "completely redesigned" but if you look at the teaser pics, there seems to still be funk in the trunk (lid) like the current car. So will it be what we all want, a light fun car in keeping with the original 4DSC? I'm guessing no, it'll be fat and sorta fun and not have much space in the market, like the current Maxima.

In an op ed entitled "Driving Miss Chloe," New York Times scribe Caitlin Flanagan argues that the drop in teenage drivers reflects over-protective parents. Seemingly oblivious to journalistic scandals involving fictional composites, Flanagan invents a teenage girl named Chloe and castigates her for riding with Mom in a Toyota Sienna– instead of learning how to drive. "When I was in high school in the 1970s, we had a name for teenagers like Chloe: losers… In my day, we did whatever was necessary to get out on a Saturday night: we climbed out of windows; we jumped on the back of motorcycles; God help us, we hitchhiked. We needed, on the most basic and physical level, to be out in the dangerous night, with one another, away from our parents and the safety of home. It was no way to live, and some of us didn’t. But it was a drive so elemental and essential that there seemed no way to deny it." In a nod to reality, Flanagan mentions the enormous cost of insuring a teen driver– and then dismisses it in her relentless assault on today's teens' lack of gumption. "Learn to drive? Why would they want to do that?" she concludes. Offer coherent analysis of teen driving trends? Why would Flanagan do that?

The Times pits a BMW 520d with Efficient Dynamics against a Toyota Prius to see which one gets better mileage. After a bit of Hollywood hybrid-bashing, the Times sets the stage for their battle of the fuel misers (meisters?). "To find out [which one gets better mileage] we set a challenge: to drive a Prius [and BMW 320d] to Geneva using motorways and town driving. The direct route is 460 miles but we drove almost 100 miles further to give the Prius the advantage of running in urban conditions where its petrol-electric drivetrain comes into its own." Strangely, the article doesn't follow the headline writer's "take no prisoners" style– "Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d." In fact, the authors don't pronounce a winner. But the chart at the bottom tells the tale. BMW 520d: 10.84 gallons (50.3mpg); Toyota Prius: 11.34 gallons (48.1mpg).   

Media-wise, the new Pontiac G8 is a hit. Obviously. The Aussie four door conforms to the pistonhead paradigm: a powerful, rear-wheel-drive sports sedan. According to the jobbing journos flown to a first-class California hotel to test the new machine on local roads, the G8 GT isn't aesthetically offensive, goes like stink and handles well. While hooning hacks are celebrating the return of the [imported] American muscle car, they seem to have forgotten the fact that the muscle car is dead. As is Pontiac. And, by extension, GM.

Rising U.S. gas prices and the American mortgage meltdown has hit sales of new vehicles hard. In terms of the product mix, a lot of ink has been expended on the rapid, ongoing transition from gas-guzzling SUVs to more miserly models– a change that's hurt the truck-heavy domestics particularly hard. There's been something of a presumption that luxury and near-luxury brands are safe from the tumbleweeds blowing through mass market showrooms. Marketing Daily reveals that it ain't necessarily so. "Recent years represented a boom-time for American investors and the luxury marketers that filled their homes with Lexus SUVs, Rolex timepieces and Coach handbags. Now, the net worth of even wealthy Americans is dipping as real estate prices slump and stock portfolios sag. And, as investment banks and government economists begin beating the drums of recession, even high-net-worth households are cutting back." Is this the right time for Mercedes to launch their AMG sub-brand, or VW to go upmarket? Hell no. And one has to wonder if [presumed] declining sales at Lincoln (the main cause for optimism at Ford), Land Rover (whose sale is already in jeopardy), Jaguar (mega-dittos) and Cadillac (whose CTS is the poster child for GM hopes of a product led turnaround) will stress the automakers to the point of no return. Watch this space. 

I've made no secret of my enthusiasm for the imminent arrival of the Aussie-sourced, rear wheel-drive Pontiac G8. Today, GM announced that they're importing the donor Holden's Ute variant as a Pontiac. Just like European Alfisti voting to christen what's now called the MI.To, you can help choose the new ute's new name (let's hope Pontiac doesn't follow Alfa's lead and ignore the result). Our spies tell us "Chevy El Camino" is not an option. And then there's the G8 GXP. To inject a little excitement into what was once called GM's excitement division, Pontiac is car is shoving the 6.2-liter V8 out of the Corvette under the G8's hood. Unfortunately, the boffins detuned the mill to 402 horsepower (from 430). Fortunately, they provided power-crazed pistonheads with a third pedal. Although prices haven't been announced, the 362-horse G8 tops out at $32,000. The GXP version can't be over 40 large. We'll have real photos of both cars from the NY Auto Show this coming week.

[Click here for Pontiac G8 Sport Truck Pixamo gallery. Click here for G8 GXP]   

I still have a crush on the Mazda RX-8. I've always found it daring, innovative and meaningful. The opposite four-doors layout looks very cool, offers reasonable practical and doesn't mess-up the coupe silhouette. I've wondered why no other manufacturer has adopted that solution. The MINI Clubman is a start, but there's still no other 2+2 doors coupe available. Although initially very innovative and exciting, the RX-8's design is starting to get a visible layer dust (the recent face-lift didn't help much). I tried to picture a fresh zoom-zoomed RX-8. The later Mazda concept cars have a very futurist look; they seem to be quite far from a production vehicle. However, some of the exotic organic lines of the Nagare, Ryuga or Taiki could be grafted on the next Mazda coupe. I think the original game of the first RX-8 was the essence of its success and Mazda should try to maintain that.

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]

For some people, climbing into a car, starting it on the first try and driving off with reasonable confidence in actually arriving somewhere is as sacrilegious as getting communion wafers out of a vending machine. These zealots (let’s call them Tinkerers) regard motoring as a religious experience filled with arcane ritual, unfathomable mystery and fervent prayer (or at least frequent blasphemy). To members of The Church of The British Sports Car, there are few better altars than the MGB upon which to sacrifice one’s time and money. But perhaps MGB ownership is not so much automotive-hair-shirt-wearing as it is Guy Fawkes emulation: brilliant plan, ‘orrible execution.

Yesterday we discussed snow vehicles, so let's go for some contrast. I mean, it's mid-March and already the sun is shining. (Come April, I'll stop wearing socks until November.) Sure kids get murdered picking lemons off my old tree, but I love Los Angeles. I was having a beer with my neighbor last night and he mentioned that he had seen a yellow-nosed green Se7en parked on some studio lot. My pulse sped up. I know I talk about Se7ens with as much passion (and as often) as Farago mentions his Boxster S, but why on earth not? It's my opinion that if you boil the notion of "car" down to its marrow, you get a Se7en. A totally pure automobile. Of course, this weekend's question is concerned with the best summer vehicle. And it's hot in the summer, so I'll need AC. And Boxster's have AC, don't they? Real and/or aspirational, what's your fave summer steed?

Rocking-up at the Oklahoma City International (?) Auto Show, I asked a GM spokesperson about the upcoming electric gas plug-in Chevrolet Volt. "We have been instructed to not discuss the Volt too much, but to steer people interested in it to the newly released hybrids because we want them to focus on those released products, and not on the concept that might not make it to production soon." After being steered towards said hybrids, I gathered quotes from a few Oklahomans. Tim W. from Edmond: "Are you F-ing nuts? I wouldn't pay that much for a Yukon!" Addison M. from Edmond (11 years old): "Mom, it looks ugly." (refering to the Yukon). Michelle S. from Moore: "The Acura looks better, feels better, and still gets better mileage" (Acura TSX v Saturn Aura Greenline). And Topper M. from Norman: "What the hell is a Volt?" Obviously, this wasn't a scientific sample. But it looks like GM PR has its work cut out promoting its eco-friendly cars with Mr and Ms Middle America.

C/Net reports that Zap, failed smart importer and provider of the TTAC one-star Xebra electric vehicle, has big plans. Again. Still. Two years ago, Zap was trash talking about a luxury, all-electric SUV called the Zap-X. It was due, uh, now. Anyway, forget about that, for now (Zap says later, Dude). Zap is now busy hyping the three-wheeled Alias, supposedly set for production in 2009. Following the Tesla template for over-promising and under-delivering, Zap says the $30k Alias will top-out at 100mph and travel 150 miles on a single charge (or less, obviously). The Alias will "likely" come with a hybrid range extender: a small gas motor that can power the car or charge the battery. And just in case that doesn't sound totally Tesla-like, "Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group [the same carmaker responsible for the execrable Xebra], through a joint venture called Detroit Electric, will then follow up with an economy car, roughly coming out in 2010 or 2011, then a four-seater sedan similar in size and price to a Honda Civic. Subsequently, it will come out with a four-seater sedan that will compete in the Audi class." As if.

Bloomberg reports that workers at Toyota's Cambridge assembly plant (Corolla, Matrix) will vote on whether or not to join The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). Organizer Ian Morland says the union filed the necessary paperwork with Ontario's Ministry of Labor to mandate a vote by 3100 of the plant's 5,059 employees next Thursday. Morland says 40 percent of the required survey cards favored union representation. "The support we're seeing is overwhelming." IAM Canadian General Vice President Dave Ritchie's statement on the union's official website must send chills down ToMoCo suits' spines: "We welcome the opportunity to act as the representatives for the Toyota Canada assembly plant workers, in order to ensure that fairness and equity will always be a part of their daily lives in the work place." Saying that, members of Toyota's workforce at their Freemont, California NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc) are UAW members.