Once considered impervious to recession, some photo enforcement companies are showing signs of distress during the ongoing economic downturn. Long-struggling Nestor Traffic Systems has been the worst hit. On Wednesday, a Rhode Island superior court judge appointed Jonathan N. Savage, a partner with the Shechtman Halperin Savage law firm, to take charge of selling the failed company. Former members of Nestor’s inner circle have pointed fingers at the company’s leadership.

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For YSE (Your Shitty Economy) Car of the Week, we feature the first true competitor to the Porsche Boxster in the German Roadster Wars: the BMW M Roadster. When it was new (launched 1998), $42K bought you a 240 hp straight-six powered Palmetto pistol. The S54 engine, introduced in 01, provided an extra 75hp, but used examples netted an additional $8000-$10,000. Not any more! Prices for a pre-thrashed S54 Z3 M Roadster have sunk below the $20K mark. It survives as one of the last great driver’s cars. You know: the kind of vehicle that threatens to kill you should your nerve/skill/luck run out. Nav system, auto-HVAC, xenon lights, memory seats? Nope. The Z3 M Roadster put the Spartan in Spartanburg. But the two-door delivers plenty of raw driving feel, perfect for the smaller driver on a mountain road on a sunny day. Only 1600 S54 M Roadsters (and 690 M coupes) were produced, so off you go. [autotrader]

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 26 percent of those surveyed support the GM bailout. Yes, but 53 percent describe the bailout as a “bad idea,” and of that majority of respondents, 30 percent of those support a boycott. The idea of boycotting a government-owned GM was most popular among men and middle-income respondents. Also, 51 percent responded that they are “more likely” to purchase a Ford because the automaker has not received government funding. If popular sentiment is so set against GM and the bailout now, imagine what it will be like after a few years of government ownership. Especially if this anti-bailout attitude is affecting sales along the way. Fills one with hope, doesn’t it?

Let’s be clear: TTAC is not in the business of bashing EVs just for the hell of it; there are good reasons why battery-power is the gas foe’s great white hope. But this story is just too crazy. In BMW’s rush to launch its 450-unit MINI E test lease program, it has failed to secure Underwriter’s Laboratory approval for its high-voltage charging cord. As many as 300 of the 450 customers who’ll be getting Mini Es many not get their high-voltage charging cables for a month or so and will have to use sloooooowwwwww 110-volt trickle charging to replenish their car’s power pack when the battery runs down,” according to Edmunds. Which means instead of taking 4 hours to recharge the MINI E’s 150-mile-range batteries, users will have to wait 23 hours to fill up through a 110V cable. At an $850/month lease rate, that makes the MINI E the mother of all EV debacles. Approval for the charger will happen “within weeks,” say BMW. But as professional EV booster Chelsea Sexton puts it, “they are guaranteeing virgin customers a poor experience.” And ain’t that just the way it tends to go for virgins.

Mitsubishi has announced Japanese market pricing for its MiEV electric car, and it’s a staggering ¥4.38 million, or $45,660 according to Automotive News [sub]. And what does that buy you? 100 miles of lithium-ion powered range, 4 doors, a 14 hour charge time on 100-volt power (seven hours on 200 volts and 30 minutes on a high-output quick charger) and LED headlights. Unlike Subaru’s $40K+ Stella, however, the MiEV is headed stateside. Eventually. Hopefully the staggering price-point will have come down a bit by then.

But still can’t touch the domestics. An Edmunds press release (via Business Wire) reveals current incentive levels for the major automakers in the American market. According to Edmunds’ analysis, “premium sport cars had the highest average incentives, $6,865 per vehicle sold, followed by large SUVs at $4,267. Subcompact cars had the lowest average incentives per vehicle sold, $1,096, followed by compact cars at $2,117.”

Bloomberg reports that Argentina will loan $70 million to GM out of its $24 billion recently-nationalized social security fund. In return, GM has promised to use the money to complete the Brazil-based development of the forthcoming Chevy Viva. And according to Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez DeKirchner, “one of the conditions we demanded to provide this loan is that all the auto parts used in this project have to be locally made.” As we reported earlier, GM claims it will produce the Viva in the US. With no apparent guarantees about parts sourcing.

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GM’s Fritz Henderson is trying on a paler shade of transparency over at ye olde Fastlane blog. With results that defy this blogger’s adjective collection. When asked whether the “new GM” should continue to employ the thousand authors of GM’s failure, Henderson replied with self-serving equivocation. “If I was starting a new company, which we are in fact, I would start with a blend of people that have been involved in winning businesses and outstanding people that learn from their failures. At least for me personally, I have been involved in both.” Well, isn’t that convenient? OK, Henderson, “what do you think is the most important change that needs to be made in GM’s corporate culture?” Modesty prevents even us from posting Henderson’s reply before the jump.

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A TTAC reader writes:

So I’m down to considering three cars for my next purchase. As my soon-to-be commute is something like 7 minutes, I’m not overly concerned with putting an ape-load of miles on whatever I buy. My heart is focusing in on three cars: 1) pre-2006 Mazda Miata, 2) 2005 or so MINI (although I’m slightly considering a lease of a new one, just because I don’t intend on driving the wheels off of one), and 3) a 2006 Civic Si. I’ve driven three Miatas and while I desperately want to love this car, each test drive (two Mazdaspeeds and one LS) has left me disappointed. They are so very jittery and nervous. I have driven two MINI Cooper S and am head over heals as to how they felt driving them, but I’m truly concerned regarding reported reliability. The Civic Si would seem the best compromise in terms of performance and reliability. Head says Civic Si, heart is leading towards MINI (I have yet to drive the “base” Cooper. I don’t really need 168 HP for a five minute commute). What say the B&B?

According to Chrysler’s bankruptcy papers, the Viper business was offered for $10 million and only drew a single $5.5 million bid. In short, “no offers meeting the Company’s basic requirements for the sale of Viper assets were submitted.” But Rep. Darrel Issa [R-CA] doesn’t buy (so to speak) the non-sale. In a letter to Chrysler, Issa reveals that a Michigan-based investor group offered $35 million for Viper this year and was negotiating terms before Chrysler’s bankruptcy. According to the Freep, these unnamed investors even entered discussions with the state of Louisiana. Now Issa is asking Chrysler to disclose all of its documents relating to the Viper business. Feistily. “If it is the case that Fiat used its ‘hard-fought’ superior bargaining position to establish as a condition of the merger a requirement that Chrysler allow the Viper brand to disappear in order to reduce competition for Ferrari, this too must be presented to the court.” Competition? Ferrari? $35 million? It’s hard to decide what part of this story is least plausible.

Thanks to Michael Karesh at TrueDelta.com, we tend to take everything J.D. Powers’ mob puts out with a HUMMER-sized pinch of salt. Even so, anyone who thinks that New, Fiat-controlled Chrysler is going to reverse the zombie automaker’s rep for producing adulterated crap should consider taking a hit of today’s J.D. The company’s 2009 UK Vehicle Owners Satisfaction Study rates Fiat dead last. Below Chrysler. Talk about the blind leading the lame . . . .

The sale of Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy may run afoul of the government, Bloomberg reports. The Chinese government. After Hummer hit the wires on Tuesday, there were increasing rumors in Beijing that China’s central government is not particularly thrilled. The acquisition runs contrary to two of China’s declared goals.

Yi, China wants fuel efficient vehicles and not hydrocarbon hungry Hummers.

Er, China wants to desperately consolidate its more than 100 (nobody is really sure) automakers to a manageable number. The goal is to merge China’s 14 largest automakers into 10 by 2011, and let the others fade away. A new entry, and one that is supposedly owned by a mining baron is all they need.

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Not “a” Saturn. “The” Saturn car company. Yes, that’s right: ladies and gentlemen, Saturn has just left GM’s building. Bloomberg reports that the feel good GM division that had once seemingly overcome GM-itis, only to be sucked in by the Borg of GM’s divisional infighting, has finally achieved independence. The Penske Automotive Group has offered a bid in the low nine’s ($100 to $200 million) for a company that has gone through well over ten billion dollars and not a penny of profit. Was it all GM’s fault? Is the Saturn “no haggle”-friendly dealer formula still a winner in today’s heavily discounted world? There’s no telling. But there is a twist. Apparently the cars that may be used for this “different kind of company” will be Renault based and built . . . in South Korea. Who wants to bet that the PRC will also be in Saturn’s orbit within the next few years? Any takers?

I was 23. White upper-middle class suburban punk. A year back I had been majoring in toxicology and pharmacology at Emory. Hell, I figured I had only so much time to enjoy, and I was right. A year later, I found myself helping take public a company that would be inevitably intertwined with the 9/11 bombings. The COO used to say that if the applicant passed the mirror test they would hire them. The job? Aviation security. Which reminds me of how things are shaping up for Volvo at the moment.

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