See, this guy in Lexington, KY died of cancer around 1962, and he left a Maserati to his only remaining relative, an uncle in his ’80’s living in Louisville. Uncle hadn’t driven a stick shift in 30 years but had just bought a new Cadillac, so he goes back to the dealer and says, “Get rid of this thing for me, willya?” The Cadillac salesmen looks at the Maserati, they look at each other, and one of them says, “Hey, I bet Dr. Dean would be interested.” And that’s how my father picked up a Maserati 3500GT for about two grand.

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Always be suspicious of peace announcements coming from Munich. Oh, wait… make that Stuttgart. I mean Großaspach. Anyway, AMG’s boss has been wondering where all the hydrocarbons have gone (long time passing). Volker Mornhinweg tells Autocar that “the horsepower war is over.” Luckily, it turns out that there are more ways to massively inflate a Mercedes price tag than just dialing up the horsepower. The new emphasis for AMG’s tuning efforts: weight saving, engine optimisation and alternative technologies. For example the new E63 AMG ( with “only” 550hp) will offer an optional, efficiency-improving manual wet-clutch gearbox. That’s the unit first seen on the SL63. Woo. Hoo. AMG also hints that smaller diesel, hybrid and four-cylinder models could be in the cards. But don’t call it eco-appeasement; the move may be more about finding some branding lebensraum. Daimler’s anschluss with Aston Martin, the emergence of AMG’s Black series and the persistence of Maybach are simply pushing AMG’s mainstream offerings in a less power-crazed (and carbon-intensive) direction.

One of our Best and Brightest has received a bit of mail recently… “My GM Card has collected $777 towards a new GM of my choice. They sent me a snail mail volunteering to up it to $2000, no questions asked. And here’s the kicker: “Valid in conjunction with all other rebates and offers.” (I’d scan and email it to you, but my scanner has taken a dump.) Sweet, but I wish they go ahead and knock 75% off the price of a new truck, as opposed to this 50% bullshit. Then, I’d place it under ‘definite maybe, but forget about it because the economy sucks’ status.”

Money’s too tight to mention. But Rick Brown, president of GM Asia Pacific, mentioned it to Automotive News [AN, sub]. “We won’t be participating [in the you can call it the Tokyo Auto Show]. If you really look at the business conditions that we are in right now, where we really have to make a bang out of every buck we spend, it’s simply a business decision.” AN reckons a presence at the Tokyo show cost $2m. No wonder Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper says Ford and Chrysler also “missed” last year’s deadline to register for the show. That’s the price of one year’s G4 lease! As we reported yesterday, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association is hemming and hawing about whether or not to cancel the event until 2011. Previous media speculation centered on whether one of Japan’s “Big Three” (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) would withdraw and kill the event. Now, with the Americans out of play, it’s only a matter of time. Who’s next to go? New York? Barcelona? Watch this space.

Questions are being raised about the reliability of speed cameras in extreme weather conditions as temperatures drop across the globe. Parts of Minnesota, for example, saw lows of -37 degrees Fahrenheit while residents of some areas in North Dakota and Maine braved -8 degree temperatures. A Dutch lawyer is now using a recent cold snap in Amsterdam as the basis for a legal challenge, arguing that any ticket issued outside of the certified temperature range is invalid. In exploring the issue, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf cited Dutch Meetinstituut (NMi) Senior Product Manager. David Stam explained that fixed speed cameras have sensors that turn off sensitive electronic components when temperatures become too hot or too cold. Stam’s contention is confirmed by a 2007 incident in Finnish Lapland where speed cameras were literally frozen in place, unable to issue citations, as temperatures reached -25 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the frigid climate, officials had not installed heating units in the devices. Nevertheless, NMi, which relies on government contracts, quickly distanced itself from De Telegraaf’s account the next and said it tests equipment in all conditions.

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*  Light vehicle sales tumbled 18% in 2008, to 13.2 million units from 16.1 million in 2007, with the selling rate deteriorating significantly in the second half of the year, finishing with a barely-breathing 10.3 million SAAR in Q4.

* Sadly, it looks like 2009 will be even worse than 2008. Our latest forecast for 2009 US light vehicle sales is a shade under 12.0 million units, which is down from our earlier forecast of 13.0 million, and down another 9% versus 13.2 million in 2008.

* North American light vehicle production in this scenario should be in the range of 10.6 million units, down about 13% vs. 12.2 million in 2008, reflecting the sequential decline in sales, as well as an oversupply of vehicles remaining on dealer lots at year end. The year-to-year drop in production should be even more pronounced for the Big 3 (about 19%).

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TTAC commentator Kurt B writes: “I’ve been a long-time Mazda owner; I’m on Mazda number six. But I’ve finally hit the wall. The center stack is too wide in my current Mazda 3 and the seat doesn’t slide back far enough, which forces me to tilt my right foot to the right slightly while driving. Now that I’m approaching 40 (I suppose that’s the reason) I’m starting to get wicked hip and joint pain and a sore knee on drives over an hour, which are, unfortunately, too frequent these days. I also own a Mazda 6 wagon which is slightly better but not perfect. Headroom is another issue to be considered as I’m 6’4″. The Mazdas have no problem there.” So, assume that Kurt B wants the same car only better. What would that be?

Fact: high school reunions make their attendees change their long-standing beliefs about their former classmates. Consider the quiet girl nobody noticed who turned into a beautiful woman when nobody was looking. That’s my first reaction to meeting the Toyota Camry SE on a fast sweeper. And while the inner-teenager never forgot the person from yesteryear, do Pistonheads need to give the rarely mentioned, often overlooked Camry SE another chance? Or do some things never change?

20 years. When most folks ask me how long the average car should last, that’s what I tell them. It’s actually not true though. The real answer these days is a lifetime. In fact, I’ve seen cars at the auctions that were literally passed on from one generation to the next. They hit all sides of the American, Japanese, and European palette. Older Volvo 240’s and Toyota Camry’s are truly numerous. But Subaru SVX’s, Suzuki Samurai’s and even old-school Buick Roadmasters have been there in the automotive flesh as well. In fact, I’ve even seen some of the most unreliable vehicles in recent history (Excels, Chevettes, Kadetts) crawl through the 20+ year old finish line in good running order. What makes the real difference? Read on.

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Sorry, it’s a bit infrequent for a few weeks while I’m in Europe hunting the elusive Euro: An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. WAS is being filed from Berlin – when I’m in Berlin.

Take one for the team, Japan style: Department heads at Toyota are asking colleagues in management positions to buy new Toyota cars by the end of the fiscal year to boost the company’s sluggish sales, the Nikkei (sub) says. “The rare request is the result of a voluntary effort among a group of about 2,200 departmental chiefs and other managers. Employees are under no obligation to buy a car, and no specific models appear to have been singled out.” Hitori wa minna no tame, minna wa hitori no tame. Or: one for all, all for one, as they say in Japan.

Daihatsu may have to cut back: Toyota’s Daihatsu may do “a reorganization of its production structure if sales do not recover by March,” the Nikkei (sub) reports. Daihatus’s minicars had been relatively unscathed by the weak sales. Now they begin hurting too.

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Chrysler has been – some say desperately – seeking to “sell key assets” for a while. The Nikkei (sub) now says that Chryler might be getting close. The usual “unnamed people with knowledge of the discussions” whispered that Chrysler is talking to Nissan-Renault and the Canadian auto supplier Magna. The topics of the discussion are the Jeep brand and Chrysler’s Belvidere plant. The Jeep brand would go to Renault-Nissan, Magna would take the plant.

The parties aren’t strangers.

Chrysler had announced an alliance with Nissan last April.

As for Magna, the interest probably stems from Magna’s subsidiary Magna Steyr, which is creating more and more auto contract manufacture business. Magna Steyr has produced the Chrysler Voyager from 2002 to 2007, and currently produces the Chrysler 300C, the Jeep Commander and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Magna was one of the bidders for Chrysler when it was sold by Daimler in 2007.

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The Wall Street Journal carries the surprising news that General Motors management might be starting to edge closer to reality: “Speaking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Rick Wagoner, GM’s chairman and chief executive, said the company wants to avoid a Chapter 11 filing, but also said its viability is ‘not 100%’ certain at this point.” Rick backing away from the position that GM hasn’t even thought about C11 is news. “The Treasury Department has said GM must have a plan by March to become ‘viable’ and have ‘positive net value.'” Nobody actually expects GM to have worked out details with bondholders or the UAW before the March  deadline. The March deadline was chosen by the current administration as a way to act tough while kicking the can over to the new team, and everyone involved knows it. The UAW says it isn’t clear what is being asked of it and hasn’t started negotiations. Meanwhile, regarding the bondholder negotiations; “GM Chief Operating Officer Frederick ‘Fritz; Henderson suggested Monday that it could be some time before substantive discussions can be held.” So, nothing is really happening with the UAW or the bondholders yet. How about pulling the plug on dead brands? 

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I admire Henrik Fisker’s adaptability. When he realized that the high end market didn’t want reskinned German cars, he put his business plans int he greenwasher and emerged with cash-in-hand. Fisker decided he wanted to build a beautiful, powerful hybrid car– and that’s just what he wants to build. The Karma is quite an achievement, in terms of design, technology, and convincing someone to give Fisker millions of dollars. But then there’s the sanctimonious EcoBabble™. One of our Best and Brightest emailed me an excerpt from the brochure today, and the bits about the interior trim, well, judge for yourself. “Wood trim is recovered from trees found in America’s wilds: Fallen Trees™ that have succumbed to age; Rescued Trees™ burned in forest fires; and Sunken Trees™ lying on lake bottoms.” “Recylable EcoGlass™, made from naturally occurring sand…” “The EcoSport™ series incorporates hand-wrapped premium leather processed using a 100 percent sustainable Happy Cow™ manufacturing strategy…” If a tree falls in the forest, but no one trademarks it…