Some of you may remember last week when I "advised" my friend to go ahead and purchase a Citroen SM. Your collective reaction was swift and merciless. So much so that she didn't buy it. However, I got a very frenzied phone call from her yesterday. She was at a Honda dealer, they were all out of Fits. But there were two cars she liked and now she needed my advice. In the white corner, with just 1,000 miles on the clock is a 2008 4-banga, automatic Accord. Priced to move at $21,600. In the kinda-pewter, kinda-gunmetal corner is a 2006 Infiniti G35. Also a slushbox, but with a very healthy VQ V6. While it's cheaper than the accord (just $20,000) it has 50,000 miles on it. "Well," I began. "The accord is the more logical choice. It's essentially brand new. It'll get better mileage than the G and most likely last forever. The Infiniti's engine will last even longer than the Honda's (those VTEC headgaskets love to die) but you'll start getting Lucasian electrical gremlins at 100,000 miles and there is no question the AC, CV joints and windows will stop working by 150,000. No question." And then I paused. Could I in good faith really advise someone to buy an Accord — especially a slushy four-cylinder — instead of a RWD entry-level luxury/performance 3-Series competitor? No way in hell! "You know what though, the $1,600 you save on the Infiniti will cover the gas mileage difference. Also, Accords are one of the most stolen cars. You should get the G35." Bad?

First the Ranger gets a new lease on life and now the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor follows suit. According to a Ford-issued memorandum via its "Government Sales Manager", the loyal soldier that's financed Dearborn's D3-bodied crater is confirmed for production until 2011. According to the release (via Police Fleet Manager ) the "new" Interceptor gets standard power adjustable pedals and seat-mounted head airbags. Looks like Ford found a way around the curtain airbags, keeping bad guys locked away in the back seat with the cop's noggin still protected in a side impact or rollover. Besides getting the ancient Panther Platform to comply with the mandatory head protection requirements, maybe Mullaly and Co. actually believe in process improvement. Or not. Our own RobertSD knows the way Fordward is with a new global RWD platform now set for a 2012 release. For its sake, it better be a brick shithouse, cause its got some mighty big shoes to fill.

After squeezing all the history out of the SLR name (with the 722 and the Speedster, see the photochop from August 11) MB is set to revive another legendary, even mythical, nameplate: the Gullwing. While it may not have the same magic (and occasional widow-making proclivity) of the original, it runs the risk of being a little too high tech for its own good character. What I’ve done with this image, rather than design a futuristic – and fantasy – car, is to extrapolate heavily from the spy shots we’ve seen of the Gullwing test cars. That means ungainly bits and all, but then not every recent Benz has been a museum piece. The fascia of the test mule reminded me of the second-gen SL and inspired me to test out its application on the rendering, whereas the typical Benz side gills and door handles are all but guaranteed.

Thenewspaper.com reports that Aussie photo enforcement firm Redflex has announced record profits after camera-issued tickets jumped by 50 percent in the U.S. this year. In fact, $71m of Redflex's $88m annual revenue comes from the states where camera enforcement is taking off. In 2003, Redflex operated fewer than 200 cameras, a number that now stands at 1305 and will hit 1745 by the end of next year. Redflex is on top of the world, bragging there's no end in sight for growth in its business. Except that there is. Some five percent of Redflex cameras have been shut down by court rulings, and cameras are banned from several states. Furthermore, Redflex sold radar units to the state of Arizona which were not approved for use by the FCC, and faces civil penalties as a result. In the course of that investigation, Arizona's Secretary of State found that a Louisiana notary employed by Redflex had falsified certifications for her employers speed cameras. This comes on top of revelations that municipalities are manipulating yellow light times to increase camera revenue. Once again, government and business take whatever measures they deem necessary to extract maximum revenue for minimum effort. Your tax (and fine) dollars at work.

Government fleet purchases are a major factor in keeping the ethanol crazy-train rolling. Not to mention damning evidence of ethanol's inviability on the free market. But even local governments who hoped that cheap ethanol would reduce costs and support energy independence are beginning to realize that switching to corn juice just brings lower mileage and higher food prices. In fact, the Times Herald-Record reports that Orange County, NY actually did the math and found that the 25 percent reduction in efficiency with ethanol outweighed any benefits. And that's not even including the costs of installing a new pump and fuel tank. And keep in mind we're not talking about some business that is continuously hacking away at its bottom line. Governments are usually more than happy to spend a little extra on something like ethanol that will provide a "we're doing the right thing" PR buzz. Indeed, E85 has come as far as it has based largely on government fleet purchases made as political favors to the ethanol alliance. Now that local governments can no longer justify ethanol's shocking inefficiency, the party seems to be winding up. And not a moment too soon.

The Detroit automakers are trimming or eliminating their leasing programs due to plunging resale values and inflated residuals. In fact, in July leases accounted for only 19.7 percent of retail volume for the U.S. auto industry. However, leasing remains the way a lot of automakers use to put someone into an expensive car they really can't afford. And four of the most-commonly leased vehicles in the U.S. are BMWs (7 Series, Z4, 6 Series and X3). Bucking the current trend, sales and marketing VP at BMW Group Financial Services, Daniel DeChristopher, told BusinessWeek "we are still very committed to the leasing business." That's even though 70 percent of off-lease vehicles are returned to BMW Financial to be resold, usually as certified pre-owned cars. BMW is hedging its bet on leasing, though. They're also offering 0.9 percent APR loans during their "gotta unload these '08s before the '09s show up" sale. The top ten most commonly leased vehicles, and the percentage of them leased between January 1 and August 10 this year are:

BMW 7 Series – 85.3 percent
Saab 9-7x – 82.2 percent
Audi A6 – 74.1 percent
BMW Z4 – 70.7 percent
Mercedes E-class – 70 percent
Range Rover – 69.6 percent
BMW 6 Series – 68.6 percent
Audi A4/S4 – 68 percent
BMW X3 – 67.3 percent
Jaguar XJ – 65.8 percent

Montagues vs. Capulets. Crips vs. Bloods. ‘Vette vs. Porsche.  How do I plead?  Nolo contendere. While I technically qualify as an "auto journalist," I'm a lot more interested in the companies that build the cars than in the cars themselves.  I just don't have quite the same level of fire as some of my fellow writers, so it's pretty impossible for me to be much of a "car snob".  Beer is a different matter.

American automotive design creativity and imagination in Detroit died with the 1977 wrap-around rear-window Oldsmobile Toronado XSR Coupe , but it's alive and well in the Nevada desert. At the annual Burning Man gathering, mobile imaginations/hallucinations incarnated run amok and are celebrated. It's a fitting (if extreme) reaction to the ever-more predictable and imitative automotive styling rut of the times. GM Styling guru Harley Earl would have felt (and looked) right at home tooling around the sand flats in his gas-turbine powered Firebird dream-car .

Why doesn't GM just go ahead and admit they're selling HUMMER? In spite of accusations of media "speculation" and assertions they "have not negotiated with any parties" by HUMMER GM Martin Walsh, GM just keeps moving steadily towards the auction block. In a phone interview, General Motors Middle East Managing Director Terry Johnson told Reuters:  "There has been interest from various parties within the Gulf … there is a precedent in the cases of Aston Martin, Ferrari or Daimler and those kinds of solutions could be very realistic solutions." GM is getting their paperwork ducks in a row and "has initial expressions of interest from [two] potential buyers that it hopes to develop into formal sale talks." However, in keeping with the corporate party line, Johnson also stated that keeping HUMMER humming is still "a realistic option" and selling was not a "forgone conclusion."  The sun rising tomorrow isn't a "foregone conclusion" either, but the smart money is still on it happening.

It's official: Chrysler's in talks with everybody and nobody. As if finally realizing that the North American market is lost to it, Chrysler has been going after the much-touted growth markets of India and Russia. Not that there's much to talk about yet. "When we look at alliances in different regions, we have had discussions with multiple companies in Russia," says Chrysler's Tom LaSorda. "In India we have had discussions with many companies." Mr Lasorda also confirmed that the sky is indeed blue. When the talk turns to Fiat, LaSorda gets all bashful, like an eligible bachelor accused of lowering his standards. "Have they approached us? Yes," LaSorda tells Reuters . "At this stage there is no formal discussion going on, but there was an inquiry." And he's quick to point out that Fiat will get with anyone, asserting that "we are not the only ones." In India, Chrysler wants to sell Wranglers through Tata Motors, and it's expecting to announce a new Russian hookup by the end of the year. Between Nissan, Fiat and Tata, the Chrysler plan is beginning to look like rebadging foreign cars while building trucks for others to sell around the world. Then leasing cheap American manufacturing as the dollar continues to slide. Or being sold for scrap when they run out of time to sort it all out. We shall see.

Automotive News (sub) reports that Indian tractor firm Mahindra and Mahindra has delayed the US launch of its Appalachian pickup, built in Chennai, India. M&M's American distributor Global Vehicles was ready to start chasing its goal of 50k annual sales of the diesel four-banger light truck, when its CEO got a call from Mr Anand Mahindra himself. The message was simple: "My family's name is going onto this vehicle, and it's not going to fail." Mahindra is using the delay to log some 3.2m American miles on 25 trucks in hopes of fine-tuning it for the US market, with a particular eye on reliability. 324 dealers across the company have signed up to sell the Appalachian, but most have not yet built stores, so the delay could only help there as well. Oh, and there's one more thing… the diesel hasn't passed the EPA's new 50-state diesel standards. Global Vehicles and M&M swear on a stack of bibles that it will pass with flying colors, but with the price of diesel staying high, efficiency ratings will be crucial to the Appalachian's success. And since they've got the extra time, maybe they'll find some clever way to explain why an Indian truck has been named after a region of America. Maybe.

Since taking over as Chrysler's purchasing boss in January, John Campi has whipped the Cerburian dog into an appetite for hardball supplier tactics. And the pressure to hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats is coming from Cerberus, who have mandated a $1k per vehicle cost reduction within three years. Automotive News (sub) details Chrysler's nasty legal battles, from the shockingly crass Plastech debacle to (relatively) petty suits against giant firms like Magna and JCI. When asked about his law-firm-fueled approach, Campi talks a blunt party line. "I will work with every supplier I can in a collaborative fashion to help them become profitable and help us. "But we don't have the wherewithal to prop up a supplier simply to keep them running. I won't do it." And oil, steel and plastic price hikes be damned. Supplier lawyer Fred Smith of Warner Norcross & Judd characterizes Chrysler's negotiating style as "we don't care who is at fault, you will contribute; give us money if you want to maintain a parts relationship." Acknowledging that several suppliers have threatened to stop production over price negotiation, Campi has only tough talk for the malcontents."If a supplier wants to push us because of their fear, then they are violating the contract in place, and I will take the necessary action," he glowers. "And I say, I'm not going to let you shut down production. If you're serious about this, you have to live with the legal consequences." But, after showing off all the lawyers in his Rolodex, Campi seems to remember that Chrysler has to at least appear to care about its middle- to long-term, and pledges "equally shared benefits." Meaning there's plenty of nothing to go around.

When Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli was Chief Executive Despot at the Home Despot, he hung his monstrous paycheck on such gimmicky products as the Peter Arnell-inspired ergonomic fire extinguisher. now ensconced in Auburn Hills, Nardelli is banking on the RamBox storage option to move its all-new Ram in the teeth of a stiff anti-truck headwind. And that ain't working out so well. Despite Nardelli's and Co-President Jim Press's relentless "game changer" hype, the Ram Box is not good to go. Automotive News (sub) reports that Dodge has not priced the RamBox yet, but "dealers say they have heard discussions of an option price of $1,600 to $2,100." But the New Chrysler wants dealers to order the option without knowing what it will cost, a limb the dealers aren't eager to walk out on. "Until I've seen the RamBox and how it's priced, you're not going to be getting any orders from me," says one Dodge dealer. "I think the RamBox is going to be a big seller if it's priced reasonably. I don't want a bunch of trucks sitting on my lot without it. What the hell is the problem? Where's it at?" This is probably not the way Chrysler was hoping the RamBox would change the game. "We're trying to get a balance between volume and price," says Marc Seguin, senior manager for Ram marketing. "It's a tough thing to price. We're trying to understand how much volume we can sell." Meanwhile, the dealers are left fuming. "To launch the truck without the RamBox is just ridiculous," says another unhappy pusher-man.

Apparently Autobloggreen doesn't want their readers contaminated by our Tesla Deathwatch series. Chris writes "you owe me a forum for comments because just mentioning your 'Tesla deathwatch' in the comment section of Autoblog Green earned me an IP block for life! I guess nobody likes the truth….But you will have found that one out yourself by now I guess. Mine is the first comment. Note that I had included a link to your Tesla death watch but they edited it out…." Here's the link to the article on ABG . And Chris, here's your forum. Thanks for helping spread The Truth About Cars!

Jalopnik managed to stage the picture you see stuck in this post. It's a shot of a Shelby GT500KR, a Dodge Challenger SRT8 and a Chevy Camaro V6. That's right, all three of America's pony cars together somewhere in San Diego. Sure, some people are going to bark and holler that the big 2.8 are several years (decades?) late to the party, gas prices, global meltdown and all that. Personally, I don't care. I love RWD, V8 two-doors. Especially affordable ones.That's my story and I'm sticking to it, come hell or high water (or melted ice cap-powered tsunamis). Now, out of the three mallets in the above photo, I'm obviously taking the Shelby. The SRT8 is a fat pig and I'll pass on the V6 Camaro. But I've heard that the Challenger R/T with its six-speed is much more fun to drive, even though it's down on power. And I'm sure a Camaro with an LS3 engine and a 6-speed would be one hell of a machine. Of course, would either of the challengers to the Mustang's throne be able to come anywhere close to the mechanical perfection that is the Bullitt? I'm thinking no. You?