When I was deposed for my divorce, the other side’s lawyer wanted to know, for some unimaginable legal purpose, how many times my then and soon to be disposed-of wife rode with me on my 90 mph offshore raceboat.

“Once.”

“And why was that?”

“It mussed up her hair.”

At which point my lawyer, who also knew her way around her husband’s much more powerful supercat raceboats, chirped in and said:

“It can get worse. Sometimes, the wind is known to rip your clothes off.”

The court reporter guffawed, then hit her keys with extra energy. The other side’s straight-laced lawyer blushed and moved on to other lines of questioning.

That little episode crossed my mind when I opened the email from Porsche which announced the impending (March 3 2012) availability of the topless models of the 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera S in the new 911 design. (Read More…)

Here’s a car that, were it to roll onto the grounds of any Billetproof show, would cause a vast wave of inked-up Lemmy Kilmister and Tura Satana lookalikes to drop to their knees in captive-bolt-to-the-dome-grade stunned worship. But that almost certainly won’t happen, because this fine example of how-they-done-it-way-back-then backyard customization is Crusher bound! (Read More…)

Opel workers and managers are deeply worried: It’s not just cuts that are coming. GM is sending a team of feared slashers. Says the Wall Street Journal:

“Vice Chairman Steve Girsky, GM’s second-highest-ranking executive, will become chairman of the Opel supervisory board. Tim Lee, president of GM’s international operations, and financial chief Daniel Ammann also will join the Opel board, the company said.”

Supposedly, GM was surprised and appalled that the European business hit GM’s bottom line with an operative loss of $292 million in the third quarter, despite increased sales. I am not surprised at all. I have always warned that restructuring Opel and cutting jobs is an expensive exercise. And those costs were mostly delayed into the third quarter.

Now Girsky and his team of handpicked hatchet men are coming. (Read More…)

Never let it be said that the General has lost its touch for whimsy. Other manufacturers may simply introduce a new mid-sized sedan… but where’s the fun in that? Far better to build both the old car and the new car at the same time, sell them side-by-side, and make sure customers can only buy the new one in a highly-specialized trim level. That way, all that pesky new-car fever is thoroughly dissipated and the public has completely lost interest by the time the mainstream models are available.

Without further ado, then, here’s your 2013 Malibu, available solely in “eAssist” form for the first half of 2012.

(Read More…)

Over the last couple of weeks you had the pleasure to travel to China, the USA in 1975, South Korea and Sweden and this week we are coming back to our very doorstep, Canada.

Yes. Canada. If this is too much for you to bear, I understand and this is why I’ve prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, and I can tell you it is extraordinarily good, so click away!

At first sight, the best-selling models in Canada are very similar to those in the US…

But in fact they are not…

(Read More…)

Last Monday, we regaled you out with stories of Toyota coming to grips with the “new peak oil,” and other topics related to the growing gap (or lack thereof?) between global production and consumption oil. This week I’m feeling a little less apocalyptic, and little bit more indulgent. And really, why not celebrate those precious hydrocarbons while they’re still cheap and plentiful? This Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series may burn ’em by the bushel, but it sure sounds good doing it. And though cars like the forthcoming 650 HP Shelby Mustang GT500 prove that performance is still alive in the 21st Century, high-revving, large-displacement, naturally-aspirated V8s like the AMG Black’s are going to be facing special challenges under future emissions standards. Which makes its gargling, chortling music all the sweeter to my ears…

With today’s official confirmation that Fiat’s US market brand boss, Laura Soave, has been replaced by Timothy Kuniskis, there’s more than a little attention being paid to the Fiat 500’s stateside sales and marketing. Which is something of a curious state of affairs; after all, when the 500 was introduced to Europe, it was quite well-received by the press and public. In hopes of tracking down some kind of explanation for this discrepancy, I hit Youtube looking for ads introducing the Fiat 500 to European markets. The first spot I found can be seen above, and it encapsulates how I feel the 500 probably should have been introduced to the US: with one simple, smart, timeless ad. Instead we got a flurry of disjointed, uncoordinated efforts, with Jennifer Lopez eventually dominating the Cinquecento‘s image almost by default. Could this explain why the 500’s US sales have disappointed?
(Read More…)

“Hey Brendan,” runs the e-mail from our illustrious ed., Ed, “I was wondering if you wanted to take on the most challenging story I’m currently facing: making the new Honda CR-V interesting.” Fat chance. “Don’t get taken in by the free bacon!” Wait, what now? Free bacon? I’M THERE.

As the world struggles to come to grips with economic uncertainty, Bertel has been reporting that Japanese automakers are abandoning their homeland for lower-cost production centers overseas. Now, with economic turmoil shifting to Europe, it seems that Fiat could possibly be preparing for a pullback from Italy. Two basic factors are driving Fiat towards reconsidering its global manufacturing footprint: first, its struggles in the European market where margins are slim and dropping, second, its battles with Italian unions. Though Marchionne’s latest comments are ambiguous at best, some see these factors pushing the Italian automaker away from the market that gave it birth.
(Read More…)

After an early downturn in sales, it appeared that Fiat might be distancing its 500 from the Jennifer Lopez-dominated image that hasn’t been panning out so well. With the debut of the 500 Abarth at the LA Auto Show, the ad shown above kept the sex-factor high, but focused far more on the male market. Perhaps sensing a shift in direction, Bloomberg asked Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne last week if the brand’s boss Laura Soave would be keeping her job despite the weak sales. Still undecided, Marchionne replied in the affirmative

For the time being.

That was last Wednesday. Over the weekend, something seems to have changed…
(Read More…)

When I wrote an article about the “Mosler Raptor GTR” last week, I certainly wasn’t expecting to start the proverbial tempest in the teapot… but that is exactly what happened. One week later, there have been threats of lawsuits, endless phone calls, multiple “do not forward” e-mails arriving from several players in the situation, and what amounted to an outright request that TTAC abandon its editorial integrity to serve the interests of one individual.

Now, thanks to Matt Hardigree, Ray Wert, and the staff at Jalopnik, we know (some of) the rest of the story…

(Read More…)

With a tough negotiating session with its traditional employers now complete, the United Auto Workers are turning their focus back to the year’s primary goal: organizing the transplant factories. 2011 was supposed to be the year in which the UAW took down “at least one” foreign-owned auto plant, with the union’s boss even going as far as to say

If we don’t organize the transnationals, I don’t think there is a long-term future for the UAW

But as we found, the UAW is not welcome in the South, where most of the transplant factories are found. And with Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and VW all rejecting the UAW’s advances in some form or another, the union’s options are fairly limited. So instead of taking on the factories directly, the UAW is bringing back a questionable tactic from the days when it was misleadingly bashing Toyota for “abandoning” the NUMMI factory: they are taking the fight to dealerships.

(Read More…)

That interview with Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is a treasure-trove of information. It also gives an insight into Volkswagen’s strategy with rambunctious Suzuki: It will be a Sitzkrieg.  Volkswagen seems to be intent on waiting things out until Osamu Suzuki passes away.

Winterkorn will be at the Tokyo Motor Show. Someone with a perverse bent made Volkswagen (booths EP06 through EP10) close neighbors of Suzuki (EP12). Only Mitsubishi (EP11) keeps the brawling couple at distance. But Winterkorn doesn’t have Osamu Suzuki on his dance card:

“A meeting is not planned. Should we run into each other, then we can talk about everything. There is one exception: Our 19.9 percent share is not for sale.”

Asked how Winterkorn intends to settle the matter, he answers: (Read More…)

Matt writes:

Hello,

I own an 06′ Hyundai Elantra GLS hatchback and tire wear on the front left tire has been much worse than the other three, despite rotating the tires. The outside of the front left tire is worn down so that it is smooth and now I can see a secondary layer of rubber being exposed. At first I thought maybe there was something wrong with the alignment but I took it to three places, one wanted to charge me a $90 “diagnostic” fee so I walked and the other two couldn’t find anything wrong. One place mentioned that since I had directional tires I couldn’t really get a proper rotation and thats probably what’s causing the wear.

(Read More…)

Private citizens can arrest other motorists suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), the Louisiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. A three-judge panel considered the case of Tracy L. Common who was stopped in Westwego by Gretna Police Detective Brian Rico at 9pm on December 31, 2006. Rico was off-duty and outside his jurisdiction.

That night, Rico saw Common’s Chevy S-10 pickup truck swerving on the road and felt the driver was seriously impaired. He activated the lights on his unmarked car and conducted a stop without waiting for the local police to arrive. When Common hopped out of the car, Rico conducted a pat-down search which turned up 50 pills and $1100 in cash. A later search of his car by local police uncovered $2000 and some marijuana.

Though Rico was a police officer, the court assumed he was acting as an ordinary citizen, citing the 2008 appellate case Louisiana v. Lavergne which upheld a DUI traffic stop performed by a volunteer firefighter from Texas.

(Read More…)