Let’s keep things in perspective. Delphi has been in bankruptcy since October 8, 2005. As in "we need protection from our creditors and a new way to do business or we’ll have to throw all our workers onto the streets." Since the former GM subsidiary filed for Chapter 11, the company has lost billions of dollars. To view Delphi’s deal with the UAW as a demonstration of the union’s ability to “accept reality” is like suggesting that a doctor looking at a patient with multiple bullet wounds should be praised for thinking a bit of surgery might be in order.

Unless you live under a highway, an empty box has no intrinsic value; it’s what’s inside that counts. The Dodge Grand Caravan we bought in 1992 was little more than a big dumb box on wheels. But by the time I got rid of it fifteen years later, I’d filled the Caravan with a lifetime of family memories.

Test driving a vehicle on India’s rugged roads requires a different set of priorities. Put it this way: after two weeks and over 4000kms in the ‘all-new' Mahindra & Mahindra Scorpio, no part of my body was crying out for chiropractic manipulation. This proves two things. First, the Scorpio is an extremely comfortable long-distance cruiser over tortured tarmac. And second, I'm not getting signs of early arthritis; I’ve just been driving the wrong car.

As a “victim” of the UK’s anti-speeding jihad, I’ve been watching their “safety camera” campaign with morbid fascination. Here you have a reasonably democratic government unleashing a mega-tsunami of electronic surveillance to curb a behavior practiced by the vast majority of its populace. The results have been staggering: millions of licenses imperiled or revoked, tens of millions in pounds in fines collected, no appreciable diminution of violations and no increase in road safety. And yet, the jihadists remain determined to carry on. So when speed camera opponents launched a “scrapcam” petition, I expected a groundswell of support. Silly me.

In 1959, William Lederer and Eugene Burdick wrote The Ugly American. The novel was celebrated by self-loathing intellectuals, who agreed with disdainful Europeans that Americans are far too stupid and arrogant to play any "useful" role in world politics. Yeah, well, screw that. If you're a latter day pistonhead willing to represent in the Eurozone, I suggest you do your bit to grace the Olde Worlde with American wit, intelligence, insight and humility. Buy your next ferrin' car via a European delivery program.

Late last week, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) and Delphi signed a tentative contract. Even though the two sides spent 21 months wrangling over the deal, Delphi's remaining UAW workers have only a few days to ratify the agreement. To make sure they do, the UAW has dispatched "national leaders" to perform the requisite "sales job" on Delphi's denizens. Once again, as always, the union expects their membership to do as they're told. Only this time it may not work.

You gotta love a truck division started by a guy named Max Grabowski. Hi! I'm Max Grabowski. I make trucks. What could be more American than that? Fast forward one hundred and six years and I’m face-to-face to face with a GMC SUV named after a diplomat with dubious powers. Go figure. And riddle me this Batman: why in the name of modern science is this four-wheeled Neanderthal still for sale at the tail end of the double-o's?

The poker game known as the United Auto Workers' (UAW) contract negotiations officially begins on July 23rd. To hear the main participants, the cards have already been dealt. Ford and GM claim they're bust, or about to go bust. They say there's only way they can get back in the game: the UAW has to share some of the chips they stole won from their tablemates. The UAW is saying yeah right sure. Shut up and play. And Chryslerberus just sits at the table, wearing dark shades, saying nothing. 

You can rigorously apply the tests described by previous installments of this series without encountering a single setback. However when it comes to buying a used car, it pays to assume one simple salient fact: you don’t know the complete truth. At least not yet. When it comes to pursuing the deeper truths about a used car, an experienced mechanic will inevitably become your greatest ally and advocate. For most consumers, finding a knowledgeable mechanic will be the most important step in the used car buying process.

The United States operates special courts to deal with taxes and bankruptcies. The issues are considered too complex and specialized for regular courts to adjudicate. So if the judiciary accommodates its own intellectual shortcomings, why can’t Congress do the same? The branch of the government with the lowest approval ratings (a whopping 25 percent according to this week’s Newsweek poll) spent this week contemplating an issue it does not, cannot fully comprehend: CAFE standards.