Vulgarians at the Gate: The Revenge of the Super Utes
05.11.2012
Luxury SUVs: They're vulgar, they're pricey and they're selling like hotcakes.
Lost in the Land of Lincoln
04.25.2012
“My wife and I are looking for a non-descript automobile from a deeply damaged luxury brand, preferably based on an obsolete Mazda6 platform. What can you do for us?”
So You Want to Buy an Old Car? (I Know I Do)
04.04.2012
Being too busy to write the book, The Sixteen Essential Habits of Old Car Whoredom, I offer here as many tips for buying old cars. Don’t bother sending me your thanks...checks and wire transfers will do nicely.
The Lost Art of Backing Up
03.12.2012
Remember when you had to turn around to look behind you? Thanks in good measure to the jacked-up behemoths that began to roam the land en masse in the ‘Nineties, it’s become a largely futile practice.
The Long-Term Fallout from Short-Term Thinking
02.22.2012
There’s a reason continual growth is so elusive -- it’s an evolutionary non-starter. Everything must come to an end. So why do car companies continue to chase the impossible dream of eternal earnings ecstasy?
On the Joys and Dangers of Being Swedish
01.27.2012
Volvos were once thought to be safe, long-lasting and fuel efficient. What happened?
The Dodge Dart Rides Again
01.16.2012
Hey, Tom and Ray, are you sitting down? Maybe you better. I've just returned from the Detroit Auto Show where I caught a glimpse of the first real progeny of the Fiat-Chrysler marriage.
Christmastime for the Telecommunications Industry
12.27.2011
Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Clause. Just ask the telecoms of the world who are rejoicing in the surprise overruling of the NTSB's recommendation to ban the use of cell phones in cars by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The Compleat Guide to the Electric Car Movies of Chris Paine
12.07.2011
Who killed the electric car? Chris Paine's 2006 documentary of the same name made the case that General Motors had more than a little something to do with it. In his latest film, The Revenge of the Electric Car, Paine depicts the most recent chapters in today's modern EV saga.
Leaving the Leaf: When Anxiety Becomes Anger
11.16.2011
What's the biggest problem with electric cars? As any blow-dried TV anchorman or ordinarily intelligent house cat can tell you, it's lack of range. Because once you run out of juice, there's literally no going back.
Still Fond of Honda, But Someone Please Call the Bullpen
10.13.2011
Man, Honda has had a tough year. The Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami limited production and choked supply of its redesigned Civic, just when the company needed a hit new model. And then, adding insult to all that earthquake injury, the new Civic finally arrived only to be met by an extraordinarily lukewarm reception.
A Short History of the Modern Van
09.02.2011
To think that the surrender monkeys of France are driving around in vans superior to that of my van-driving brethren here in America burns my deep-fried, artificially flavored, apple pie pride. Of course, we have no one to blame but American industry. Van technology on this side of the pond has been stifled by an all-too-obvious, gentleman’s non-compete agreement.
The Sorcerer’s Failed Apprentice
08.04.2011
Guess who's getting on a Pittsburgh-bound plane to both root for his beloved Pirates, and pick up a Ford Anglia for a 400 mile drive home to New York? By the time you read this, I may well have broken down a dozen times or more in what may be one of the slowest, least capable cars known to man.
You Shouldn't Trust Your Car to the Men Who Wore the Star
07.29.2011
If you're the sort of person who stopped filling up at BP stations after the Gulf Horizon disaster, here's hoping you're not shopping for gasoline at Chevron, owner of Texaco, instead. The companies' behavior in Ecuador over the last 37 years, and in the nearly 20-year lawsuit brought against T...
Big Oil Meets Big Corn in Battle of Titan Hypocrites
06.30.2011
Comrade Motavalli has it right -- corn ethanol is not the way forward, especially when it's made by the big corn-glomerates; grown on big, corporate farms, knee deep in petrochemical fertilizers and genetically modified seeds. And he is correct, too, in pointing out that ethanol doesn't need to be made from corn.
