When I was a kid, the family car was American. Not just American, but GM– thanks to a lemony Ford Falcon my mother owned in the 60s. My Dad, however, was a fan of foreign metal. So my sister and I got stuffed into the horrendous backseats of a Renault 8, a Honda Civic CVCC and a Datsun 280Z 2+2. Once we hit soccer practice age, those were dumped in favor of a never-ending string of Pontiacs, Buicks and Chevrolets. We never bought German cars (Nazi associations). Actually, more acurately, my mother would never let my father buy a German car. I didn't even know my old man liked German cars until one day, when I was 13 or so, I dragged him to a Porsche/BMW dealer. He sat in a BMW M5 for a good 30 minutes, just day dreaming. On the flip side, people often tell me they'll never buy an American car. Ever. What's your stance on buying American?

For every cloud there's a silver lining, or so goes the expression. Well, we learned earlier that GM managed to lose itself $3.25 billion in the first three months of the year. Oops. One upside: they're used to it. The other: the born-again Chevrolet Malibu seems to be doing what no domestic sedan has been able to do since Robocop's Taurus. Yes, the new 'Bu's pilfer sales from the Japanese marques. J.D. Power reports [via the lads at Motor Authority] that (nearly) 20 percent of the cars traded-in for new Malibus are foreign nameplates. That's up from 12.5 percent. And the Bu buyers weren't just trading in their Kias and Hyundais, either. Toyondissans accounted for 9.7 percent of the cars used as partial down payments for the Americanized Opel. [NB: What they didn't say is that almost 60 percent of the trades were GM products.] End of the beginning? Beginning of the end? Regardless, more like the Malibu seems to be the only path worth taking.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Just kidding, it's the worst of times. I can't even turn on the TV for fear of seeing anything having to do with the election. And gas prices have and are going up and up; I've paid $4.10 a gallon for the past two weeks. But presumptive Republican nominee John McCain (presuming he lives long enough) has a solution. Suspend the Federal gas tax for the summer. That's 18.4 cents per gallon to you and me. Not so fast says Barry Hussein Obama. That's a smoke and mirrors election year tactic that will, "save consumers little and do nothing to curtail oil consumption and imports." In comes Hillrod off the top turnbuckle. Mrs. Clinton says that Mr. Obama is "out of touch with ordinary Americans who are struggling to meet their mortgages and gas up their cars and trucks." Anyone else LOVE when multi-millionaires accuse other multi-millionaires of being out of touch? OK, so you might be expecting a spot of analysis. All I can tel you is this: my girlfriend is driving around in my WRX this week because her car is a death trap and I have some $100,000+  fun toy press car that you'll hear about later. Anyhow, she was bemoaning the fact my car requires premium fuel. I explained to her that the 20 cent premium over regular works out to less than $2 a tank. And the Federal gas tax is less than that. You catch my drift?

There's a rich tradition of cinematic misinterpretations where the automobile is concerned. Some of the classics include Tom Cruise downshifting to win the race in Days of Thunder. Or in Back to the Future where the entire plot revolves around a DeLoreon getting to 88 mph under its own power. As Garfield would say, "Fat chance." Our own Frank Williams just caught an excellent one, "A few weeks ago on CSI Miami, they tracked down a hit and run driver by the impression of a partial license plate in the victim's briefcase (stamped there by the impact) and the diesel fuel the vehicle leaked. When they tracked down the vehicle, it was a Dodge Charger and they CSI guys still referred to it as a diesel." Not in Miami, Mr. Caruso. You seen any good ones?

After spending a few days in Nissan's Cube, I was reminded of Orange County's Mar Vista housing tract. Built in the 1940s by designer Gregory Ain, the development deployed basic shapes (squares and rectangles) to give the suburban spread a high degree of architectural sophistication. Of course, people considered these "flat roof" houses a commie plot (so to speak); builders only erected 52 of the planned 100 homes. The Nissan Cube sells for $11k in Japan. In the same way as Mar Vista, the Cube offers a whole lot of chic for a little bit of green.  

Our favorite climate change-denying British windbag is up to his old tricks. Recently, Jezza was out in Los Angeles where he was handed the keys to a Callaway Corvette C6. He and a friend took it to Orange County and the El Toro Airbase (where the NBC version of Top Gear is being shot) and then back up to the City of Angels. His verdict? "I absolutely bloody loved it." With 616 horsepower on tap, we're not surprised. But we're not writing this here blog because of hyper Vette. No, we're telling you about Clarkson's review because of this: "When it comes to motoring, the English language makes more sense in Albania than it does in Alabama. Almost every word in the Americans' automotive lexicon is different from ours, so when we talk about motorways, pavements, bonnets, boots, roofs, bumper bars, petrol, coupés, saloons, people carriers, cubic centimetres and corners, they have no idea what we're on about." Hey, he's taking the Mickey! That said, not only do we know what cubic centimeters are, he spelled it wrong. There's lots more piss and vinegar where that came from.

< Nearly every time I turn in a review I get Farago hounding me that it's not manic and passionate as the RS4 review I wrote way back when. "But Bob," I argue "The [whatever] isn't as inspiring as the thunderous Audi." When I was over at Jalopnik, I got a chance to drive the then new Lexus IS-F for a week. And I loved it. Brash, powerful, stealthy and quite a capable corner carver, the IS-F is to Lexus as drunken orgies are to the Martha Stuart brand. But, the question I kept asking (both rhetorically and to other journalist buddies as we stood on the paddock at Laguna Seca) was, "How does the IS-F compare to the RS4?" Well friends, Web Rides TV has the answer, and I can't say I disagree.

I drive a station wagon and I'm proud. Still, there's two too many doors for my liking. I want the tailgate for loading and unloading precious cargo, but I really don't care about those getting in and out of the back. Casue I'm a jerk. I would of course just go and buy a shooting brake, but parts for Reliant Scimitars, BMW Z3 Coupes and Alfa Romeo Breras are getting harder and harder to come by. Last week we heard reports of a Mercedes-Benz CLK shooting brake and earlier today Little Eddie Niedermeyer shared with us the joy that will (one day) be the BMW 3-Series Shooting Brake . But, as Yoda would say, there is another. Yup, Motor Authority is also showing off pictures of Audi's A3 Sportback. In the pictures, the A3 Sportback looks like a squared off Golf Rabbit. However I did catch a prototype running around Los Angeles not too long ago and am happy to report it looks much better in the flesh. More muscular, chunkier, sportier — looks-wise, everything one would want in a 3-door wagon. Plus, with an available 265 hp motor, DSG and AWD, you know it's going to go like stink, too.

Everyday it seems more and more manufacturers are turning to DSG-style solutions for cog-swapping. Just yesterday Farago reported that Porsche is finally getting into the dual-clutch game (and seeing as how they pioneered the technology back in the day, why not?) But, why? Automatic transmissions make most of the people happy most of the time. However, if "performance" is the second, third or even fourth metric you consider when purchasing a car, slushboxes suck. By giving the people the means to shift for themselves, a bit of that suckage is mitigated. Up until the semi-widespread adoption of dual-clutch systems, manumatics have always been a major let down. Clutchless manuals have been even worse (I'm looking at you, Maserati). Both Farago and Berkowitz have been unrepentant in their love of Volkswagen's DSG solution, yet I still think it pales in comparison to a stick and a clutch. It's fast, sure, but where's the feel? Where's the art? Plus, I didn't spend years perfecting heel-and-toe downshifts for nothing, did I? Anyhow, what do you think?

One of the fastest rising stars in the auto-journo biz, Matt Hardigree, got a chance to pilot the not-quite-yet-on-our-shores Suzuki Swift around Jake and Elwood's old stomping ground, Joliet, Illinois. His take? This is not your junior high science teacher's crap-box Geo Metro. As you are well aware, and as Hardigree points out, American streets will soon be filled with Ford Fiestas and Mazda2s (and hopefully Fiat 500s!). Therefore Suzuki would be wise to bring their competitive world car over here and cash in on our rapidly rising gas prices. Mr. Hardigree got his grubby mitts on the slushbox Swift, which coupled with a 100 (or so) horsepower 1.5-liter mill, wasn't exactly noteworthy on the straights. But he did like it "batting around corners." Seeing as how the Swift weighs in at just 2,400 pounds, I'll go ahead and predict that the manny-tranny version would be quite a sweet little package. Especially if they ditch the rear drums for disks when it finally comes our way.

If you know me, you know I like Suzuki's SX4. A lot. In fact I'm making my girlfriend cross shop the SX4 for when her dying Focus finally gives up the ghost. But what about me? No, I wouldn't buy an SX4 because I'm a leadfoot. But what if Suzuki and Road Race Motorsports got together and slapped a turbo kit on the SX4, boosting power from 143 hp to 221 hp and torque from 136 lb-ft to 208 lb-ft? Where do I sign up? We're talking about the new SX4t Concept (the "t" stands for Turbo) and along with much more grunt they're throwing in sport springs, 17" Rota wheels, a carbon fiber hood and a decidedly oddball-looking paint job. They also yanked off the roof rack. Inside you get drilled pedals, sports seats and a proper wheel. For anyone tsk-tsking the fact that a WRX wagon has more power than this amped-up tuner, please remember that the WRX tips the scales at 3,252 lbs, whereas the SX4 is just 2,800 lbs. Expect the kit to add $5,400 to the SX4's price, bringing the total to $21,000. That's still less than a MazdaSpeed3 and you get standard AWD. Once again, where do I sign up?

When launched, the Infiniti Q45 was infinitely more desirable than Lexus's stuffy LS400. Unfortunately, Lexus had already eclipsed Mercedes as the brand Black Sea immigrants asked for by name, and BMWs remained the must-have nouveau riche accessory. Although today's M45 is best-in-class, BMW 5-Series' still runs the schoolyard. Meanwhile, Infiniti (and everybody else) is striving to wrest control of the all-important, profit-laden next class down. So how does Infiniti's AWD 3-Series fighter stack-up?

Normally with these here QOTDs I propose a question, rattle off some personal anecdotes and then ask for your opinion. Not today. No friends, today we are going to turn your attention to central France and a turbodiesel Renault Vel Satis. The driver was on the Autoroute with the cruise set to about 80 mph. He passed a truck. Suddenly and allegedly, the car accelerated on it's own to 120 mph. The driver claims he tried to stop the car, but was unable to do so. He called the police and explained his predicament. The coppers cleared the freeway in front of the Vel Satis and tracked it for an hour until it just stopped. After a thorough investigation Renault is calling shenanigans (the driver can always override the cruise control system) and suing the driver for libel. So, like, you?

I've just realized something: I know more about the black-clad, heavily disguised Ferrari mule than I do about GM's Lambda platform. Motor Authority is reporting a bunch of new, presumptive info about what the test-mule may or may not actually be. So I'm thinking we should just get every rumor on the table front and center. Right? Right. Rumor 1: It's the new Dino. Yes friends, Ferrari is reviving their budget brand and you're looking at it. Except they're not and therefore it's not. Rumor 2: It will slot in below the F430. Ah yes, a Dino in everything but name. And the name would be Ferrari and it would go head to head with the Porsche GT3s and Aston Martin V8s of the world. Plus, how can you beat the Ferrari badge? Looks like this rumor's false, too. Rumor 3: It's a new 2+2, similar in zeitgeist to the old Mondial, featuring a folding hard top, a 500+ hp direct injected 4.7-liter V8 and (of course) a dual-clutch gearbox. Ferrari will call it the California GT. We have no idea if Rumor 3 is more accurate than the others, but currently there exists less evidence to refute it. And just for fun, I'd like to float another one. Rumor 4: The black-clad mule is actually a revival of the Ferrari Breadvan. First of all, who wouldn't want to pay homage to what's possibly the greatest Ferrari of them all? Remember, the Breadvan was built by none other than Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini after he and the 250 GTO team were booted out by Enzo's wife during the famed Palace Revolt. Starting with a 250 GT SWB, Bizzarrini brought the Breadvan up to GTO specs (who better?) but then lightened it. The Breadvan was leading all Ferrari GTOs at the 1962 LeMans when it was forced out by mechanical failure. Second, just look at the shape. This mule is totally a shooting brake. Isn't it?

Oh dear. Looks like Florida, the wang-shaped state, passed a transportation bill through the Senate with an amendment imposing a $60 fine on truck owners who choose to dangle Truck Nutz (AKA Bullz Ballz, Truck Balls, Bulls Balls) from their trailer hitches. Talk about your tax dollars at work. My opinion on this is pretty cut and dried — what could matter less? Seriously, you want me to believe that a bunch of adults tasked with running one of the most populous and prosperous states in the Union are worried about plastic reproductions of bull testicles? Look, hanging Truck Nutz off your F-150 is stupid. Taking away someone's right to hang said Nutz is even stupider. Remember, if you outlaw Truck Nutz, then only outlaws will have Truck Nutz. And one more thing — this is taking place in Tallahassee, the only state capital that has a drive through liquor store next to a drive through porn shop three blocks down the street. What does that have to do with Truck Nutz? Nothing, but I'm just saying. Yeah, so, you?