Back in the day, if you needed to *ahem* "borrow" a bit of gas from a neighbor, you stuck a rubber hose down the filler neck, sucked on it until you got a mouthful of gas, spat out the gas and siphoned whatever you needed into whatever container you had. Now that gas is on its way to $4/gallon, gas thefts are becoming more common. But what's an enterprising thief to do with locking gas caps or fuel doors? 9News out of Denver reports scrotes are drilling holes in the gas tanks to siphon out the liquid gold. They're targeting SUVs and other vehicles with a lot of ground clearance (and usually, huge gas tanks), leaving behind about $500 in damages above the cost of the gas they steal. Denver police are recommending owners put their cars inside garages if possible. And if not possible, the owners may want to take out additional fire insurance; it's only a matter of time before one of these mental midgets starts a fire and burns the vehicle (and possibly themselves) to the ground.

According to KHOU, police in Colleyville have printed up "Stop Thief!" signs to battle car thieves. The signs, designed to hang from a cars' rear view mirror, tell would-be thieves there are no "valuables, money, computers, purses or briefcases in this vehicle." (Ah, but are there?) Chief Tommy Ingram admits the signs won't actually discourage thieves; they'll remind drivers to hide their valuables. KHOU also reports that back in Washington D.C., Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is urging Congress to allow Mexican trucks to continue driving into the U.S., 'cause halting the trucks would hurt agribusiness. (Opponents fear U.S. job losses and safety issues.) And good news if you're a Texas car dealer. The state's Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program (VRARAVRP) is a hit! The Star-Telegram reports that The North Central Texas Council of Governments, which administers the program locally, is adding extra phone lines and personnel to deal with the flood of interest since the state kicked-in additional money (up to $3500 towards a new car). Texas taxes hard at work.

Define huge. And can we have a time frame please? According to CNNMoney, "JP Morgan analyst Eric Selle estimates GM will spend $1.8 billion if the strike lasts a month, based largely on hourly wage costs, according to a research report earlier this month." So that's besides the damage inflicted by the drying-up of dealer orders (GM books vehicles as sold when they leave the factory). Meanwhile, the United Workers (UAW) and American Axle (AA) are both toughening their positions. According to Automotive News [sub], the parts maker is threatening to further downsize its U.S. operations– two New York plants are due to close– if its UAW workers don't take a wage and benefit cut. UAW Prez Big Ron Gettelfinger went on radio to give AA a tongue lashing for dictating rather than negotiating terms. So far, the strike has idled 29 GM factories. For their part, GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said the company "isn't commenting on the potential financial impact or on any analyst estimates." You know, other than Wagoner's assessment that it's no biggie.

With my parents flying to Florida for a few days, I started calling around to see if I could get them something better than the 1-cylinder Sebring they enjoyed (in the sense of hated) on their last vacation. Hertz was out of Shelby Mustangs but … Avis has Corvettes? That's right, they've added America's first sports car to the fleet in the usual "hot rental car" locations: Los Angeles, Arizona, Las Vegas and south Florida. Can you imagine the abuse these 430-horsepower rental cars are going to take? Even at $165/day, they're not going to preclude hoons from renting them– although I really think all levels of insurance should be mandatory for Avis' sake. From a business standpoint, this still isn't a terrible idea. With increasing numbers of people getting out of their fun cars and getting into fuel-sipping snorefests, why not take a vacation from their eco-responsibility too? Besides, Corvette sales were down 25 percent last month. Fleet sales ought to help staunch the wound.

BorgWarner has announced [via Yahoo! News] that it is doubling its production capacity with a new facility in Arnstadt, Germany. In the past four years, they've put together about a million "DualTronic" dual clutch, paddle-shifterrific trannies. To meet the demand, the Borg are hiring 150 workers for their German plant and spending some $40m for an additional 50k square feet. Not only is it nice to see some growth in this time of automotive post-shower shrinkage, but as the owner of one such transmission (and a car to go around it), this writer can't help but be smug. Ford, Nissan, and BMW have recently added or will be adding the Borgwarner's DualTonic boxes. Which only leaves one question: what's with BorgWarner's antipathy to the space bar?

A few days back we asked "Does God Hate Chrysler?" We're beginning to think that was more than just a rhetorical question. Regardless of your theological beliefs, it's obvious Chrysler has pissed off someone on a higher plain of existence. Hot on the heels of broken equipment, bankrupt suppliers and assembly plant fires, a "mechanical problem" forced Chrysler to shut down their main office in Windsor, Ontario. Mlive doesn't identify the culprit, but they revealed that the utility company has cut off the building's water and power. Chrysler hasn't said how long it'll be before their Canadian HQ is back in operation. Farago thinks there may be a terrorist/disgruntled employee lurking behind the scenes. I'm thinking Bob Nardelli needs to hire an exorcist.

If you're looking for the U.K.'s most fanatical speed enforcement acolytes, head on down to Wales. (Or not.) The country has been waging a jihad against speeders for over a decade, including fleets of unmarked, speed camera-equipped vans (a.k.a. Talivans) parked on highway overpasses, around corners, etc. Now that the heddlu (police) have alienated hundreds of thousands of drivers both old and young, they've decided to launch a charm offensive– of sorts. At the taxpayer's expense, they've pimped out a van for "youth education." Pistonheads reports the cunning plan: "The idea is to infiltrate cruises and car park gatherings, and when the young drivers come over to have a look at the van – which is fitted with a pumping sound system – they are hit with information on how to stop being a nuisance." One wonders about local residents' take on noise nuisance, and how glad the Max Power crowd is to see Officer Plod, no matter how fly his whip.

Special edition vehicles should be exactly that. They should offer something exceptional enough to tempt you to dig deeper in your pocket and drive away in a vehicle that's, well, special. “Investment” and historical issues aside, the Mustang Shelby GT didn’t provide a look and feel that justified the massive amount of extra coin demanded by dealers. By the same token, The Bullitt Mustang succeeds. It’s truly a unique set of wheels.

At the moment, electronically enhanced night vision is only available on the BMW 5-, 6- and 7-Series and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. Our spies tell us that Bimmer's Night Vision option ($2200) is a drug on the market. Merc's Night View Assist would be similarly unloved if it weren't part of a $6190 options package. WardsAuto.com reports that the gizmologists supplying same say their second gen systems will bring the technology to the masses. In fact, Autoliov confidently predicts that sales of their proprietary technology will soar from today's 20k to 2013's 1m units per year. Autoliv's prognostication is based on a J.D. Power & Associates customer survey re: new-vehicle features. Night vision ranked fourth on buyers' wish list– and dropped to 18th when the price was disclosed. Yes, well, the new system is better than the old (surprise). "With the hardware looking for heads, arms and legs and the software evaluating data for false warnings from light poles and tree stumps, [Autoliv MD Stuart] Klapper says drivers typically will get a four-second warning on the night-vision monitor of any living thing in the vehicle’s path." At what speed? As the average vehicle requires about three to four seconds to stop from 60mph (at best), no matter how you parse it, the system is not ideal for Knight Rider wannabes. Just sayin'…

Zoops! Those of you with long memories may remember how I cooed and gushed over the Pontiac Solstice GXP's essentially perfect 2.0-liter turbo mill. That's the same motor in the Saturn Sky Redline, the Cobalt SS and the HHR SS. But you'll also recall I asked, "How can Pontiac get so much right (looks, engine) and, at the same time, get so much wrong (everything else)?" According to the Detroit Free Press, I'm even more right than I thought I was. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating 40 reports that drivers have to press down too hard on the brake pedals. Allegedly, all the complaints originated in parking lots and driveways when starting the car. Twenty thousand Solstii and Skys are being examined. I don't remember this happening during my time with the car, though I do remember the GXP's driveline trying to eat itself. GM is offering the NHTSA full cooperation.

At a press breakfast this morning, GM CEO Rick Wagoner dismissed Bob Lutz' comment that "global warming is a crock of shit." "The comments weren't coming out of our company," said Wagoner [via Detroit News]. "The data is pretty clear that the temperature on the earth is rising. There's all sort of debates as to why but we've clearly come down on the side it makes sense for us to put our business in a position where we can participate proactively in reducing the amount of (carbon dioxide) emissions." At the same time, Wagoners said the General would keep fighting to prevent California and 16 other states from eventually getting to impose their own strict tailpipe emissions standards. Such standards could force passenger cars to average 43.7 mpg by 2016. "I don't think it's the right thing for the country,"  Wagoner said. Wagoner went on to blame the gas – electric plug-in Volt's development "issues" on the fact that the United States "is way behind, way behind" in battery technology. That's right folks, GM blames the feds. What a crock.

Cerberus Capital Management has been building a name for itself by buying high-risk automotive assets like Chrysler and GMAC. Obviously Steve Feinberg's boys don't listen to analysts who say that Cerberus is already overexposed; the private equity fund is looking at sinking money into yet another troubled automotive enterprise. Forbe's reports that Dura Automotive, a supplier of door and seat systems and other automotive components is looking for loans to exit Chapter 11. A Dura spokesperson reveals that "Cerberus Capital Management's Ableco Finance LLC, [is] among the potential sources of Chapter 11 exit loans that are talking to the company." Dura needs a $150m first-lien term loan and an $80m second-lien loan to implement the Chapter 11 plan it filed Friday. This is Dura's second shot at exiting Chapter 11, having already failed to secure a larger loan package in December. Cerberus gave the company a $170m loan in January to defer foreclosure, meaning it may have no choice but to shell out the $230m Dura needs in order to protect its already considerable investment in the company. Preview of coming attractions?

The American Family Association has announced the end of its two and a half year long boycott of FoMoCo. OneNewsNow.com, which is owned by the AFA, brings glad tidings of the boycotts success in keeping Ford a good, old fashioned, bigoted company. Ford no longer gives cash incentives to homosexual groups based on the purchase of a vehicle, it has ceased to make corporate donations to homosexual organizations that engage in political or social campaigns promoting civil unions or homosexual marriage, it has stopped giving cash and vehicle donations or endorsements to homosexual social activities such as Homosexual Pride parades, and it no longer buys ads on homosexual web sites and homosexual media outlets. The AFA credits the 780,000 who signed the "Boycott Ford" petition with bringing about a change in Fords corporate philosophy. "During the time the boycott was going on, Ford averaged a drop of eight percent in sales each month," says AFA founder Don Wildmon. "Was the boycott entirely responsible for that?  No, but it did play a significant role." Forbes quotes Ford sources as saying  the automaker had "decreased overall charitable spending and advertising in recent years because of financial losses" and "its principles haven't changed and that it is committed to treating everyone fairly."  

According to The New York Times, San Franciscans have been shocked (shocked I tell you) by vicious assaults "related to finding places to park, including an attack in which a young man was killed trying to defend a spot he had found." Victims (other than the English language) include SF parking control officers (PCO). The don't call them meter maids say the public abuse is insoportable.For example, a motorist [allegedly] punched a parking control officer straight through the window of his Geo Metro. "Just driving down the street, you get yelled at," claims Lawanna Preston. The staff director for the union representing the PCOs says her co-workers "can't even eat lunch with that uniform on, because people approach them and curse at them." Blogger John Van Horn reports that paranoia strikes deep in the heart of the city. "I've noticed lately watching some of the citation writers; they don't get very far away from their vehicles. They want to be able to get away." Rather than mounting some kind of charm offensive, SF officials are looking at mounting cameras on parking officers' vehicles to catch and prosecute anyone who dares challenge the PCO's authority commits an assault.

No, not those guys. I'm talking about people who don't talk about cars. Apparently, there are a lot of them. In fact, my wife and I went out to dinner with a couple who had no desire to talk about cars at all. Which is fair enough. As a journalist, I enjoy talking to people about their work and interests. But no, that wasn't good enough. He had a question: "How in the world can you talk about cars all day? You drive them, write about it, and then what?" I tried to explain that cars touch on all aspects of life: physics, chemistry, high finance, psychology, law, philosophy, computers, etc. I told him about TTAC's Best and Brightest: our computerized conclave of experts drawn to the site from all walks of life. Enthusiasts who bring a huge range of disciplines to bear on all things automotive. My dinner companion nodded sagely, considering all that I'd said. "So do you think I should trade my Mercedes for an Infiniti?" Like politics, all car talk is local.