I drink Espolon tequila. It's not a matter of taste, smoothness or snobbery. Veteran drinkers– like car buyers– know it's always better to buy top shelf hooch to minimize the inevitable after-effects. Get drunk on the cheap and you pay the price (the old "I have to get better so I can die" routine). By the same token, buy a Dodge Durango and it will burn all the way down to the pit of your automotive soul, leaving you with a hangover that will last years. Where's the fun in that?

Is the oil bubble about to burst? Oil prices have fallen below $100/barrel and my dad, who is an oil engineer for Occidental Petroleum, has said prices will probably level off again in the $65/barrel neighborhood. That's where the big oil companies are predicting prices will go during the next six months to a year, too. Whoever predicts when the big fall will happen can make a lot of money playing the market. Demand and supply have been stable for about 6 months. That means oil is trading on speculation only and when they run out of suckers to buy expensive oil, the price will drop to more reasonable levels.

KFOR reports nearly a year and half since the last Trascendavoy rolled off the assembly line, GM is finally unloading selling their Oklahoma City Assembly Plant. In what might be termed a mini government bail-out, Oklahoma County Commissioners are asking voters to approve a $25m bond to purchase the defunct plant. Oklahoma County has talked extensively with Tinker Air Force Base officials in the hopes Tinker will lease the gigantic space to expand the OKC Air Logistic Depot (an aircraft refurbishment center where KC-135 Tankers, B-2 Stealth Bombers, B-1's, and my own E-3 Sentry AWACS are stripped and rebuilt to fly again). Lets hope for my own safety, the Ghosts of GM Past have left the building so Tinker doesn't rebuild my jet to TrailBlazer levels of quality. Oklahoma County residents vote on the bond on May 13th.

Spring: the season of love, flowers and convertibles. As warmer weather approaches, car dealers put away the 4×4 SUV’s and pull the drop-tops from the back of the lots in the hopes of snagging passersby wanting a vehicle to celebrate the (global?) warming weather. Pontiac tempts buyers with the G6 GT Hardtop Convertible while Chrysler lures in the public with the newly-introduced Sebring Limited Hardtop Convertible. As the only American-branded hardtop convertibles, which one truly deserves your hard-earned income? Or should both be tossed into the bonfire of the vanities?

Rocking-up at the Oklahoma City International (?) Auto Show, I asked a GM spokesperson about the upcoming electric gas plug-in Chevrolet Volt. "We have been instructed to not discuss the Volt too much, but to steer people interested in it to the newly released hybrids because we want them to focus on those released products, and not on the concept that might not make it to production soon." After being steered towards said hybrids, I gathered quotes from a few Oklahomans. Tim W. from Edmond: "Are you F-ing nuts? I wouldn't pay that much for a Yukon!" Addison M. from Edmond (11 years old): "Mom, it looks ugly." (refering to the Yukon). Michelle S. from Moore: "The Acura looks better, feels better, and still gets better mileage" (Acura TSX v Saturn Aura Greenline). And Topper M. from Norman: "What the hell is a Volt?" Obviously, this wasn't a scientific sample. But it looks like GM PR has its work cut out promoting its eco-friendly cars with Mr and Ms Middle America.

Special edition vehicles should be exactly that. They should offer something exceptional enough to tempt you to dig deeper in your pocket and drive away in a vehicle that's, well, special. “Investment” and historical issues aside, the Mustang Shelby GT didn’t provide a look and feel that justified the massive amount of extra coin demanded by dealers. By the same token, The Bullitt Mustang succeeds. It’s truly a unique set of wheels.

The demise of the Camaro left the Air Force's U-2 Dragonlady pilots with a problem. The Camaros were used as chase vehicles for the take-offs and landings of the surveillance jet. One Camaro "sees" for the pilot (who literally can't see the runway), and another carries the removable wing landing gear that detach upon take-off. After years of hard abuse, the Camaros finally started to give up, and the USAF needed a very fast, stable platform to chase the jet down the runway. Corvettes were too expensive, and couldn't carry a wing strut. That left the Mustang GT, GTO, Charger R/T or something "ferrin" (other than the GTO). After several trials, they selected the GTO 6.0-liter as the quickest, most reliable chase car. If you're looking for a used GTO and can't find one, blame the Boys in Blue. The GTO of your dreams is probably chasing a U2 down a runway somewhere. No shit.

Jeremy Clarkson is wrong! Top Gear demonstrated the Toyota Hilux survives drowning, fire, a tree, a wrecking ball, and the destruction of a skyscraper. However, the one thing he didn't try was handing it over to the average American Airmen/Soldier. Just like the Nissan Urvan, the Hilux' manual transmission couldn't handle the abuse heaped on it by America's finest and ended up with stripped synchronizers and chipped gears. To rectify the situation, the USAF recently purchased a fleet of Chevrolet Silverado Z71 6.0-liter uber-trucks for several deployed locations, with automatic transmissions, and push-button four-wheel drive. I wonder how those would hold up to Jeremy Clarkson?

All things must come to an end. The United States Air Force (Frank's former and my current employer) is replacing the Nissan Urvans servicemen and women use for fun in the sand passenger transport. Apparently, not enough of today's troops know how to drive a manual; stick ignorant airmen were tearing-up the Urvan's transmissions. There were also reports that those who could handle the third pedal found them a bit too much fun and were engaging in unauthorized (is there any other kind?) hooliganism (not that I would have any first-hand experience in such activities), leading to a few, uh, "mishaps." The Hyundai Trajet has been deemed a cheaper, safer bet, as their V6 motors, front wheel-drive and automatic transmissions are more in-tune with "American tastes." Above all, it's a bit of a disappointment.

Let's get something out of the way right now: the Yukon Hybrid is over-priced. Our tester stickered at $56k. At that price point, GM's gas – electric SUV competes against BMW's enlarged X5, Audi's Q7 carcoon and Lexus' golf club friendly RX 400h (to name a few). Hybrid or no, the GMC Yukon's not exactly what you'd call an upmarket machine. If The General had taken the hit and offered the Yukon Hybrid for the same price or less than its gasoline equivalent, it would be a far more compelling proposition. But they didn't. So let's press on.

I'm piloting a vehicle with a mid-mounted engine coupled to a close ratio transmission. The steering feel transmitted through the chunky helm is sublime, matching Bimmers of yore. Wearing a maniacal grin, I [hypothetically] pitch my whip into a corner at an [allegedly] injudicious speed, listening to the engine, passengers and tires scream. As I clip the apex, I punch the throttle. The powerplant howls as the chassis adopts hooligan-induced oversteer. I saw at the wheel, maintaining a sideways slide. Audi RS4? Chevrolet Corvette? Nope. I'm driving a tall, skinny, eight-passenger Nissan Urvan.