TTAC's first annual Bob Lutz Award is given to the automotive executive who's made the most outrageous, politically incorrect or just plain dumb public pronouncements. When it came to providing us with that special blend of hubris, tunnel vision and cognitive dissonance; nobody does it better than Robert A "Bob" Lutz. And so, Maximum Bob gets the nod. Yes, there were other suits who made Lutz-worthy statements. But Maximum Bob scored extra points for volume and consistency. Hardly a day goes by that MB doesn't utter some bon mots that leave us shaking our heads. We proudly present a representative sample…

TTAC reviewer Paul Niedermeyer slated the new, heavier, less fuel efficient, gansta-riffic xB as "a blot on Toyota’s relatively unblemished copybook." The other models aren't setting the world on fire and face new competition, from within and without ToMoCo. No wonder, then, Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that Scion sales have dropped for 16 straight months. "Since August, monthly sales have declined from each previous month, even though dealers have had two redesigned models in their showrooms during that period." Product isn't the only problem. Taking a cue from The Big 2.8, Scion has over-dealered. "Scion had 856 dealers as of Jan 1, 2005. But as sales soared in 2005 and 2006, more dealers piled on, even if they weren't in hip, urban neighborhoods. Currently, 963 of 1,224 Toyota dealers carry the brand." ToMoCo says they mishandled the old to new model changeover. And never mind, anyway. "Sure, we'd like to see more customers," ToMoCo prez Lentz admits. "but we're still seeing the right customers. The tC's average customer is under 25 years old. The overall Scion customer is in his early 30s, and primarily he is new to the brand… As we hit spring, I think we'll see some good sales results." Even at Toyota, hopes springs eternal.

As opposed to… "Inactive Subaltern Status Quo Soldier?" Whatever you call Peter Arnell, Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that Chrysler's "Big Idea" consultant is prowling Auburn Hills, tweaking the American automaker's branding, product planning, customer relations and dealership coordination. (Arnell was the brains behind the hugely expensive Celin Dion – Chrysler Pacifica promotion; regarded as a total flop.) Reading between the lines, AN reckons Arnell may exacerbate Chrysler's long-standing tradition of internecine conflict. "Arnell's consulting services bring him into areas of the company that already have bosses, raising the spectre of possible turf wars and executive conflicts. Among the people and the areas to watch: Trevor Creed is Chrysler's chief designer; Deborah Meyer is chief marketing officer; Frank Klegon heads product development." Arnell– salary unknown– may have the edge on his erstwhile rivals. He worked with CEO Bob Nardelli over at Home Depot, where the dream team unleashed the caps lock ORANGE WORKS in the winter of '06. The range of chi-chi bespoke products (e.g. a martini shaker-shaped fire extinguisher) did nothing much for Home Depot's bottom line.

I’m sitting in an Alfa 147, about to fire her up. I cast my mind back to the Alfasud: a beautiful, mellifluous, affordable vehicle that introduced a generation of drivers to the joys of performance motoring. I remember summer evenings in an open Spider, a peerless pre-Miata combination of boulevardier and Lotus-like lane pilot; a car whose zingy note merged happily with the sound of estival insects. I also conjure-up a trip to France in a sonorous, serious, quick-steering Giulia, where I felt like a character in a Truffaut movie. So, will the 147 be another driver’s Alfa that rasps, bites and feels alive?

A report by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy warns that the ethanol industry's appetite for H20 may torpedo its future. As reported by The Economist, "a typical ethanol factory producing 50m gallons of biofuels a year needs about 500 gallons of water a minute." The mag cites opposition to plants in Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and in central Illinois based on proposed plants draining local aquifers. As we've reported before, Florida is amongst those states providing ethanol-justified subsidies to its corn growers. And yet… "OFFICIALS in Tampa, Florida, got a surprise recently when a local firm building the state's first ethanol-production factory put in a request for 400,000 gallons (1.5m litres) a day of city water. The request by US Envirofuels would make the facility one of the city's top ten water consumers overnight, and the company plans to double its size. Florida is suffering from a prolonged drought. Rivers and lakes are at record lows and residents wonder where the extra water will come from." While the ethanol industry has halved its H20 needs in the last ten years, 50 percent of a massive amount of water to turn corn into ethanol still ain't chicken feed. Literally. [thanks to starlightmica for the link]

The famously chauvinistic German monthly Auto, Motor & Sport (AM&S) recently gave the Toyota Land Cruiser 4.5 V8 the thumbs down. They called it uneconomical, expensive and declaimed the uncomfortable rear seats. The major (and headline-making) factor: AM&S says the Cruiser's brakes suck. More politely, they "perform miserably." To reach this conclusion, the Germans conducted ten braking tests. With cold brakes, the Land Cruiser needed 44 meters to come to a halt from 100 – 0 km/h. When the brakes were hot, the car needed an "alarming" 56 meters to come to a complete stop. Hang on, who carries out repeated high-speed panic stops with a 4X4, or an SUV? For its part, AM&S says there's no real reason why a SUV has to fail this test, since the Mercedes GL and G models fare way better (natch). In the past, many cars from Toyota and Lexus have performed poorly in the braking department in various Auto Motor & Sport tests. The Land Cruiser joins the Jeep Wrangler & Commander, Mitsubishi L200, Hummer H2 and Cadillac Escalade as the worst braking SUV's tested so far. Of course, a SUV that's used for lugging a trailer through the Rockies needs good brakes, but it seems likely that better testing criteria could be found for this task.

Audi is going to milk its diesel car win at the 24 hours of Le Mans (as opposed to Lee Marvin) by throwing high performance diesel engines in every concept car from Switzerland to Michigan. We Yanks saw the Audi R8 V12 TDI back in early January at the NAIAIAIAIAS in Detroit. For Geneva, the "brand of four rings" is making the Q7 SUV even more loco (as in locomotive) by fitting it with a ludicrous V12 up front. The 5.9-liter unit (they'll probably call it 6.0-liter since Audi has displacement OCD) makes 500 horsepower and could crush coal into diamonds with 737 ft.-lbs. of torque from a mere 1500 rpm on up (not far, but you can't have everything). The result is a sprint from 0 – 60 in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo-like 5.5 seconds. The oil burning Q7's mileage is a relatively amazing 20 mpg (compared to the Cayenne Turbo's 14 mpg). Will it be a nose heavy pig like the VW V10 TDI Toureg? Audi's press pack claim the engine has all manner of expensive exotic weight-saving materials; it is after all the first passenger car to go on sale with a V12 diesel. As for sale in the U.S., two words: exchange rates. Or: no deal. Regardless, the Q7 V12 TDI is so insane you can't help but like it. Just as long as you don't look at it. 

[Click here for the Pixamo gallery of Q7 V12 TDI gallery] 

Ex-Toyota and current Chrysler president Jim Press says every car his new employer makes— or will make once the automaker starts/finishes their long-promised model cull– will be a hybrid. Eventually. Meanwhile, Popular Mechanics claims the Prez' promise was "the first by a major auto executive that openly embraces hybrid technology as an across-the board sea change.” Nope. As we reported previously, Toyota executive vice president Kazuo Okamoto predicted Synergy Drive would become ToMoCo’s default drivetrain. Anyway, we've heard nothing about/from Chrysler's semi-independent "ENVI" hybrid development team since the Detroit Auto Show's awkward concept cars. And speaking of champagne dreams and caviar wishes, Press said Chrysler plans to build and sell as many Chrysler-branded products overseas as are currently sold in the U.S. (roughly 2.7m units). Again, no idea of what, when or where. Why? Because they like you.

Who is the most deserving of the first annual Bob Lutz Award? We're looking for the automotive executive who said the most outrageous, politically incorrect or just plain dumb thing. Since this is the first time for the award, we've allowed nominees from the past; next time we'll limit it to the past calendar year. Click on the link below to cast your vote. The nominees are listed in alphabetical order along with an example of why each was nominated. (Yes, I know I said I'd list all the quotes that got them nominated on the ballot, but when I did one nominee had said so many different things the ballot went off the screen.) Only one vote per customer, please. Voting will close at 6PM EST Sunday, so don't procrastinate.

Voting has closed. The results will be posted today. Thank you for your participation. 

Whether in print or in their private thoughts, most Peak Oil believers grapple with the immediate effects of oil scarcity. They picture a scenario based on history or speculative fiction, refining their expectations as the real future reveals itself and like Kafka's ape, looking for a way out. In today's Falls Church News-Press, Tom Whipple postulates that increasingly precious liquid fuels will be allocated to aircraft and ships. Since cellulosic biofuels and hydrogen are not ready for prime time, he expects that our already available electric power grid will be the most likely ground transport fuel for the immediate future. But in Peak Oil prognostication, all solutions reveal even deeper problems. Electric cars may serve in a limited capacity, but will we have enough resources to actually build them? Will any but the very rich be able to afford them?

Futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil is smart enough to have predicted the ascendancy of the Internet, the common availability of wireless (at a time when the great Bill Gates was busy hard-wiring his $40m mansion so that it could be "run by a computer") and the fall of the Soviet Union. Livescience.com reports that the inventor and futurist now predicts that solar power will be a viable crude oil alternative within the next five years. And then… "[Use] is doubling now every two years. Doubling every two years means multiplying by 1,000 in 20 years. At that rate we'll meet 100 percent of our energy needs in 20 years." Kurzweil  says you can thank nanotechnology, which will make solar panels light, inexpensive and more efficient. This could be a big deal. The sunlight falling on earth contains 10k times more energy than we use annually. If Kurzweil is right, we'll soon be energy-rich. (Rich, I tell you, rich!) Automotively speaking, a large source of cheap energy would immediately put zero emissions hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars back on the front burner. 

Maine is enduring one of its snowiest winters on record . This has the state’s lawmakers pondering a bill that would allow the use of retractable studded tires year-round, reports WMTW. Under current Maine law, studded snow tires must be removed by May 1st. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Bill Diamond, would allow tires that deploy studs when road conditions get bad, and retract them when conditions improve. Diamond says the tires meet federal motor vehicle safety standards. According to gizmag.com, “retractable-stud tires incorporate an air bladder that pushes the studs out from inside the tire when needed, and deflates so the studs retract into the tire when not needed. The tires are not entirely maintenance free- the bladder needs to be refilled with air after the studs have been deployed around 50 times.” No comment.

The Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon was God's gift to Perry Como fans, the last of the great all-American trucksters. It was also my gift to the family for last year's Christmas road trip. I figured I’d nix my penchant for narrow European wagons to forestall the cantankerous habits of our two darling creatures. They needed space. We needed space… and boy, did this car have space!