Ahead of the LA Auto Show, which is coming up in a few weeks, Nissan has gone ahead and released images of the 370Z. This is phase 3 in a prolonged effort to give the car about a month of buzz before its official reveal (phase 1 was intentional spy shots and video, phase 2 being the Edmunds pretendo-leako). No specs from Nissan yet, though 330 horsepower or north is a good bet.

Second place sucks. Witness the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics’ squad in Beijing last summer. Pony tails drooped and tears streamed down their be-sparkled cheeks when gold medals were hung on the necks of the young (we swear they’re at least sixteen!) Chinese Olympic team. My heart goes out to Nissan, whose excellent 2009 Altima 2.5 sedan fell just short of the 2009 Mazda Mazda6 i Sport in this comparo.

After the initial media support for a potential GM-Chrysler hookup (e.g. Jalopnik.com’s Ray Wert), the bandwagon began to roll like a snowball down the proverbial mixed metaphor hill, and everybody soured on the deal. We even charted how individual commentators changed their positions and eventually “threw Chrysler to the Wolves.” In Monday’s New York Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin said that GM CEO Rick Wagoner’s continued employment is a “minor miracle.” But the commentatorati are still behind the curve re: the government’s rumored $10b “intervention” in the GM – Chrysler merger. In the main, they have’t even acknowledged that the bailout is happening. That, and the critical fact that it’s structurally designed to fail.

The fine folks at Quinn Automotive in Worcester, Massachusetts (that’s pronounced Woostuh) are offering a nearly new 1986 Renault Alliance Coupe 1.7 for a song – only $2500 (cough, cough, choke). For your money you get the finest in French engineering circa 1986, a 1.7 liter 8-valve engine, 78 raging horsepower routed to the front wheels, and a 3-speed automatic transmission. This particular example has only 39,322 miles on it, and it’ll look great parked next to your Chrysler Cobalt and HumJeep.

While TTAC has Tesla on a Death Watch, aspiring Chinese EV-automaker BYD is getting massive street cred in The People’s Republic. In case you’ve got something called a life, BYD stands for “Build Your Dreams.” Since late September, “BYD” also stands for “Buffet’s Yankee Dollars.” Omaha’s Oracle liked the company so much he wrote a check for $230m for a 9.89 percent stake. [NB: Buffet knows the tax consequences lurking in a CFC— and we’re not talking chlorofluorocarbons.] Based in Shenzen, BYD is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of rechargeable batteries for cell phones. According to The New York Times, “the company also has a fast-growing auto-making unit that accounts for nearly a third of its revenue and makes fuel-efficient compact and subcompact cars for the Chinese market.” They have some bitchin hybrid and plug-in cars in the works with specs that scare the BYDickens out of the competition– if they’re half true. OK, make the jump for today’s BYDispatches.

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Now that self-styled AutoExtremist has acknowledged that his hometown heroes have screwed the proverbial pooch, Peter DeLorenzo wants the left and right coast elites to know they can’t afford to let Motown take a dirt nap. Rant #469 (my favorite title so far) makes it clear that the American automobile industry IS Detroit, and Detroit IS America’s industrial pillar. “Free-market theorizing aside [ED: sure , why not?], we have long since passed the point of no return in this matter. If this country allows one of its key manufacturing pillars to slip into insolvency, it would set-off a dark chain of events that would reach into every sector of the economy and would not only devastate the states where Detroit has its manufacturing and parts facilities, but it would affect every state of the union too.” That means you, bub. To avoid this “looming economic disaster,” Sweet Pete thinks the GM – Chrysler merger’s kinda neat. “Even though I am absolutely convinced that the idea of GM acquiring Chrysler is absolutely fraught with opportunities for abject failure on a grand scale, the White House will make the decision that a managed dissolution of Chrysler over time under GM’s stewardship would be preferable than an immediate corporate blow-up.” Especially before a presidential election, eh? Having finished this adventure into realpolitik, DeLorenzo’s got a plan for America, Inc. Counter-attack!

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OK, that’s scary. While we fully expect Ford to be Detroit’s last man standing, those are the exact same words uttered by the man who’s been busy ramming GM into an iceberg– repeatedly. Well, at least FoMoCo CEO Alan Mulally acknowledged the competition. “People aren’t going to buy cars from bankrupt companies when they have great choices.” Big Al’s “stay the course” cry is a bit more credible than Red Ink Rick’s; Ford tanked-up up on cash before the excrement and air movement device collided. But October’s sales results, and Ford’s next financial quarter, are going to be super-brutto. Here’s Automotive News‘ [sub] nutshell analysis: “During the first half of 2008, Ford lost $8.6 billion, and analysts expect further losses in the third and fourth quarters. In May, Ford abandoned its plan to restore profits in 2009. Since 1995, the company has shed U.S. market share annually. This year, its sales have plunged 18 percent.” So what the new new way Fordward? We “absolutely stay on this plan and restructure to get back to profitability as quickly as we can in this changing world,” Big Al soothed. “And continue to invest in the new products for near- and longer-term growth and value creation. We’re just going to do whatever it takes to do that.” Given that the Euro-Fords are still a year out and GM’s just delayed all its product plans, simply not dying is about as good as it gets for The Blue Oval Boyz. And it may well be enough.

Well you kinda knew GM was pulling the plug on its cap ex (capital expenditure) when they announced the Chevrolet Cruze would be delayed a year (to 2013). The Cruze was supposed to be The General’s next big small thing. The great wheeled hope. The economy car that would put GM back in the non-SUV game. Fuhgeddaboutit. Or, as the Brits would say, GM’s dropped the other shoe. Automotive News [sub] reports that the cash-strapped American automaker is postponing “nearly all of its spending on product development in 2009 and 2010.” According to an unnamed source, “The 2009 stuff that’s too late to cancel is coming out, then everything else gets pushed out anywhere between three months and up to a year. It’s not just capital budget; it’s also engineering, design… everything that would cause money to flow out in 2009.” Except, of course, executive salaries. So what else is spared? The Camaro, the Hail Mary-shaped plug-in electric – gas Chevrolet Volt, the “restyled” Buick LaCrosse (whew!) and, maybe, just maybe, the Cadillac CTS Wagon (thank God!). And here’s the really scary part. “General Motors is taking drastic action to avoid running out of money sometime next year. With its product delays, GM hopes to save as much as $1.5 billion, said the source.” Just $1.5b? That’s only a month-and-a-half’s worth of GM’s current cash burn. Desperate days.

Yup, chalk-up another successful suckle on the federal teat, as Uncle Sam GM adds GMAC to the Commercial Paper Funding Facility. Reuters bears the glad tidings. “GMAC LLC, the auto and mortgage finance company, on Tuesday said it had been approved to use the commercial paper funding facility created earlier this month by the U.S. Federal Reserve with the aim of easing pressure on the corporate credit market.” Way-hey! Surprisingly (not), veteran GM spinmeister Gina Proia was a cagey as a canary on the deal’s specifics. For example, timing. “[GMAC] granted approval of its application ‘recently,’ Proia said.” And logistics. “Proia said GMAC would participate in the Fed’s borrowing window through its New Center Asset Trust (see: Bloomberg), a $10 billion asset-backed commercial paper facility. But she said GMAC would not discuss in a more detailed way how it planned to use the borrowing facility. ‘We are not discussing in any detail our participation in the Fed program,’ she said.” I agree! Why should the company benefitting from MY TAX MONEY tell me when, how, how much of it its hoovering? Hmmm. Something’s screwy here…

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So now we know where the press scarfed all those Maximum Bob bites™: the text of GM Car Czar Bob Lutz’ address to a confabulation of spinmeisters. MB starts off on exactly the wrong foot: the perception gap. It gets worse from there, obviously. Bob reiterates his theme of late: design rules. Apparently, it’s “the last great differentiator in the automotive business. Everybody has great powertrains and adheres to the same basic fuel economy and safety standards. Everybody has good, flexible, low hour-per-vehicle manufacturing. Everybody has efficient purchasing and uses the same suppliers. Everybody has roughly similar reliability and quality ratings.” Hang on; does that include me? ‘Cause I don’t think Bob and I share suppliers, if you know what I mean. And then Bob says PR is a crock of shit. “I’ve been a lifelong critic of corporate communications that don’t communicate, or are too sanitized. All large corporations are good at it, and General Motors is certainly no exception. In this case, communications, instead of being a weapon for putting out the truth, becomes simple risk avoidance. It focuses on making sure that no one says the wrong thing. And often, by focusing on not saying the wrong thing, you’re essentially saying nothing.” Sorry. What were you saying?

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I am SO fed up with all these automotive top ten lists. Yes, yes, I know: TTAC’s Ten Worst Autos list receives more “outside” attention than anything else we do. And for good reason: it’s got balls. And yes, we’re gearing-up for our annual mostly readers’ choice poll. But Jesus, can Forbes and Jalopnik and Autoblog and everyone else in the whole damn autoblogosphere PLEASE lay off the top ten lists? The obvious answer is no. No matter what I think of these self-appointed lists, they garner amazing page views. So, in the great TTAC spirit, I’d like to start offering the most absurd Top Ten Lists we can imagine. How about TTAC’s Ten Best Cupholders? Consider this a semi-collaborative effort. Email a jpeg photo of your choice for best cupholder to robert.farago@thetruthaboutcars.com with CUPHOLDER in the subject bar. Justin and I will arbitraily choose the ten best by Friday. This could be big! Or not.

One of the best hands in No Limit Texas Hold-em: pocket kings. Cowboys. It’s a real monster. However, it’s quite vulnerable to middling hands such as Ace-Six offsuit. So the thing to do is to raise– and raise big. That way, you charge your opponents to see a flop. However, if you raise big every time you have a good starting hand, your tactic will become quite obvious to everyone seated at your table. They’ll just fold because a large raise from you means aces or kings. Not a very profitable habit, long term. How to combat this? Variance. While two kings are vulnerable, they aren’t that vulnerable. Maybe 20 percent of the time you want to just check your monster and limp in. Here’s the problem: how do you know when 20 percent of the time is? Solution: a watch with a sweeping second hand. Huh? Jump.

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It was I who invented the name “Maximum Bob” for GM Car Czar Bob Lutz. That said, I also coined “Rabid Rick” for GM CEO Rick Wagoner; clearly, I should have stuck with the Buickman-perpetuated “Red Ink Rick.” John Horner, a charter member of out Best and Brightest and yeoman TTAC blogger, first mooted the moniker “American Leyland” for the federally-funded (one way or another, eventually) GM – Chrysler mash-up. But it’s a keeper. Or is it? Evan Newmark’s column over at The Wall Street Journal’s Mean Street proposes another way of characterizing the insanity to come: “GM = Government Motors.” While I’m not completely enamored by the new name, Newmark’s arguments are entirely seductive. In fact, it’s the best anti-GM bailout diatribe I’ve encountered, here or anywhere else– not that the topic is large enough to deserve a genre, yet. Anyway, I’ve excerpted some of the best bits below, and put it to you, our B&B: American Leyland or Government Motors?

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Buy It Now for $15,950 on eBay Motors. “Over $60,000 invested” in this four door roadster (doesn’t have a top). “1983 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit Roadster. $10K custom candy metal flake paint with flames and a full white interior with red piping. Just about anything that can be gold plated was.”