Let’s say you’re driving down South Dakota Highway 50 and you’ve GOT to fill-up on E85. Obviously, you don't REALLY have to; any car that can run on E85 can run on “normal” gasoline. (And run farther too, but that's another story.) So let's just imagine it's a patriotic “our boys don’t have to die defending corn fields” thing. Or maybe a "I heart Federal Subsidies" deal. So, how do you know where to get a tankful of corn juice? Tom-Tom Go? Phone a friend? Not to worry! The South Dakota’s legislature is here to help! According to KXMC.com, the Mount Rushmore State just enacted legislation that requires state officials to list E85 availability on interstate highway signs. Hang on; “State officials say the bill is premature because South Dakota is in a regional compact of states that are planning a system of uniform signs for renewable fuels.” So they're doing this twice? Anyway, no word yet on how much either boondoggle’s going to cost. But we ALL know who’s going to pay for it…

Car and Driver fired me. Editor Csabe Csere sat down in my kitchen and said he had to "let me go.” The magazine could no longer afford my services. No surprise there. Car and Driver had become a pale shadow of its former self. Like Detroit’s carmakers, Csere and his team had refused to recognize reality. The internet had arrived, the game changed, they didn’t. The magazine got thinner and thinner, making my paycheck seem fatter and fatter. I was sorry to see it go (the paycheck). But what the Hell. Here we are. Now what?

In recent years, General Motors has had something of a change of heart regarding hybrids. In 2004, “Car Czar” Bob Lutz dismissed hybrid cars as “impractical” and “a fad.” By 2007, Saturn gained a Green Line off-shoot dedicated exclusively to selling such endeavors. While GM doesn’t separate out sales stats for Saturn’s sub-brand, suffice it to say sales suck. This bodes badly for Saturn’s newest green machine: the 2008 Aura Green Line. Does the hybrid version of last year’s North American Car of the Year deserve a chance?

Attention residents of The Green Mountain State! Has your legislature got a deal for you! In return for your vital organs, you could drive free for the rest of your life! While a lot of states have organ donor boxes on their driver's licenses (which we at TTAC encourage you to tick), Vermont wants to sweeten the pot. So the pols have ponied-up a bill that would waive the cost of the driver's license fee for anyone agreeing to part with their parts once they depart. The Burlington Free Press does the math. By participating in the program in your mid-30's, you could save up to $400, provided you live to your late 70's. Of course, finding any organs still fit to be transplanted in a 78-year old donor isn't their problem. That's why the transplant surgeons get paid the big bucks. [thanks to Gord Mack for the link]

I don't really have a lot of sympathy for people who say "If only I'd held on to my Barracuda" or suchlike. Maintaining a car– keeping it taxed, insured and running for decades– is a time-consuming and expensive business. Besides, for every car we once owned that's now worth a fortune, we owned many more than are still worth bupkis. "If only I'd held onto my Ford Pinto station wagon." I don't think so. Anyway, Hagerty Insurance wants to brand that whole "collector car of the future" deal. They've released their "Hagerty Hot List," selected by none other than McKeel Hagerty, CEO of, well, you know. Frank reckons the Crown Vic fits the bill. My money's on the Chrysler 300C SRT8 (not literally of course). What motor do you think you should stash for cash? Here's Hagerty's take.

1. Cadillac XLR-V Roadster
2. Lotus Exige S
3. Audi S5
4. Mustang Shelby GT 500 KR
5. Chevrolet Corvette Z06
6. Smart
7. Subaru Impreza WRX STi
8. Honda S2000 CR
9. Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky
10. Dodge Charger Super Bee

BusinessWeek describes the experience: When you arrive at the dealership, you're checked in at the gate. You're escorted into the showroom, where you're greeted by name. Gentle tunes waft from a baby grand piano in the corner. In the service department, you find leather couches, coffee, snacks and internet access. When your new car is delivered, it's wrapped in a red ribbon and presented in a ceremony with friends and family present. Rolls? Bentley? Maybach? Nope. Toyota. In China, the Toyota Camry is a high-end car, and the dealerships treat customers accordingly. The salesmen don't pressure the customers because that'll make them think there's something wrong with the car, and they're available to take care of customers' needs 24/7. The down side? Even the top salesmen make only about $14 commission per car, and that's only if they manage to sell extras like GPS and backup sensors; otherwise they clear about $7. Perhaps they could make a bit more money running seminars on how to treat customers like customers instead of victims for their American counterparts. 

"If everything goes well in the rest of the world, we can take a couple hits in the U.S. and still be okay." Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman of Global Product Development. [via TTAC]. "Those emerging markets can't carry GM. We've got to get the job done in all markets." Fritz Henderson, GM Chief Financial Officer [via Automotive News, sub]. Given GM Car Czar maximum Bob Lutz' reputation for "shooting from the hip" (a.k.a. making shit up as he goes along), I'm going with Fritz' analysis. Oh wait, "Henderson also said the U.S. economy in general is faring better than the financial markets. He said he doesn't think the nation is in a recession, thanks to strength in certain sectors of the economy, such as exports." Holy Cruising Down Denial Batman! If anyone is in a recession– you know, other than the housing market– it's the U.S. automobile industry. On the other hand, Fritz also told the assembled car hacks "In terms of what we have to do — profits, cash flow, market cap — we're not the world's largest automaker." So he's down with that. But– "That's what I'm spending 100 percent of my time trying to figure out." Hmmm. Maybe it has something to do with, I dunno, product, or, I'm guessing here, branding. Anyway, if it's not a recession, what is it? Downturn? Market correction? Help Fritz out here guys; what euphemism should he use? 

U.K. car mag Autocar has published snaps of the new "baby" Rolls Royce, codenamed RR4. Autocar reckons "the new car will adopt the Phantom’s design language (reference the car’s thick C-pillar and suicide rear doors). However, it’s also significantly lower and shorter than a Phantom, has a shorter bonnet, and a much less upright grille, than its bigger sibling." Rolls-Royce sure needs something to get it out of the doldrums. Launched in 2003, BMW's $333,350 Phantom was a flop. After announcing a "ceiling" of 10k units, Rolls sold just 3703 units in four years. Meanwhile, the VW Phaeton-based Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur are still da bomb. Bentley sold 10,014 units last year (3990 units in NA alone). RR4 aims to put Roller back in the game, albeit eventually, and above Bentley. The baby Roller will arrive in showrooms "at the end of the decade" and sticker for around £175,000 ($347,456). Where that leaves the Phantom is anyone's guess.

According to Albany’s Times Union, the New York State Thruway Authority failed to collect some $4.5m in unpaid tolls from persistent E-ZPass scofflaws using highway I90. Thruway Executive Director Michael Fleischer defended his agency. "We have been working very cooperatively to get a contractor on board to collect the small fraction of the tolls that go unpaid." That has state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's auditors questioning the authority's "management culture." Maybe it's got something to do with the Authority's proposed toll hikes for 2008, 2009 and 2010. The auditors get the connection: "Toll increases should not be a substitute for sound management practices." Meanwhile, in the tiny town of Halfmoon, officials are deciding how to deal with a large puddle at an intersection, which sometimes causes motorists to travel into the path of oncoming traffic; good thing they’ve scheduled a defensive driving class for February 16th. And in Guilderland, we learn that snow plowing a cul-de-sac is “quite a science.” And now you know the news.

Some people think TTAC has been/is being overly critical of the Tesla Roadster, particularly when it comes to their claims for driving range and recharge time. We're not the only ones expressing concern. Autobloggreen's ace scribe Sam Abuelsamid reports their experience with the range while test driving the roadster:

Driven sedately, the Tesla Roadster very likely could achieve somewhere around 220 miles or more. Perhaps even as much 250 miles in city driving with lots of regenerative braking. The problem is that this little demon doesn't really want to be driven in that manner… [Based on the readings on the charge indicator gauge] the range with the driving I did [is] somewhere between 105 and 120 miles…. According to some of the print magazine reviews, they got significantly less. Autoweek only managed 93 miles… For now, drivers of the Roadster will have to choose, exceptional performance or exceptional range, but probably not both.

So there you have it. It's a sports car you can drive like a sports car for about 100 miles, or a sports car you can drive like a Prius for about 200 miles. Either way, it's a sports car that no one will be driving until after March 17. That is, if they can get it to the airport on time.

Correction:  Under the headline "Tesla Roadster Misses Production Date," TTAC stated that the date when the first production Tesla Roadster was scheduled to be released to a customer had changed to March 26. Our report was based on information posted on another site. Darryl Siry from Tesla contacted us and insisted that the production date has not changed; it's still March 17. We look forward to seeing a California-registered, fully-functional Tesla Roadster in a private customer's hands on that date. As stated previously, if so, we will discontinue the Tesla Birth Watch.