Everyone knows that when you travel to say, China, and someone offers you an amazing deal on a Swiss watch, you might not be getting the genuine article. Buy a discount Ferrari in Italy though, and you can safely assume you are getting the real deal, right? Wrong. The International Herald Tribune reports that Italy's financial police (?) have broken a ring of Ferrari counterfeiters who had built 14 fake 360 Modenas using, get this, "mostly Pontiacs as their base, but also Mercedes and Toyota." While visions of the notorious "Fiero-rrari" body kits are probably racing through your head, these fakes actually were fairly well done (if equally targeted at the chest-rug sporting crowd). Authorities say that seven of the faux-rraris were sold to people who knew the cars were fake, and simply wanted to impress the neighbors. Said neighbors were sadly unavailable for comment as to the full glory of a late-model Ferrari with the exhaust note of 20-year old Pontiac V6.

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.

Back in the day, Toyota used local businessmen to find dealers and deal with local politics. ToMoCo eventually bought its distributors, save Southeast Toyota in Florida and Gulf States Toyota in Houstonm (who still control prices, model mix and availability in 10 states). In the '90s, Southeast shelled-out more than $100m to dealers who claimed the distributor was forcing them out of business. CNNMoney reports that Gulf States is now under the gun for "improperly encouraging" executives from a large dealer group to leave their company and buy a lucrative dealership in Dallas. Toyota continues to defend its distributors, claiming they "bring a culture of innovation, responsiveness and agility." What's more, consumer prices "are the same" or "even more competitive" than prices in regions where there are no distributors. If there's anyone who can give your perspective on dealing with a Toyota distributor, please contact us.

Do you know how many Matrices Toyota sold in the United States last year? That's not a rhetorical question; I have no idea. Toyota rolls the number into Corolla sales. No surprise there. The Matrix shares its underpinnings with the Corolla– and the Pontiac Vibe (same car, different wrapper). Even if the Matrix accounts for a fraction of Corolla sales, a fraction of a lot is a lot. And so, just as Toyota is bringing out the new Corolla, they’re unleashing the sequel to the Matrix. Let’s call it The Matrix: Rebloated.

Much to the sorrow of Jeremy Clarkson, the English automobile manufacturing industry is limited to small firms producing limited volume, home grown sports cars. Firms like Caterham, Noble, Morgan (wood you in a car?), Ariel and [the Emperor's new] Bristol. Caterham continues to make the 40-year-old 7 roadster– a great summer Sunday car (for the South of France). And Ariel Atom roadster is a kick in the proverbial pants. Which just became a big ass boot. Both Caterham and Atom are now offering their maniacal machines with a eight cylinder engine: a 2.4-liter V8, supercharging its way to a staggering 500 horsepower, breaching the mythical 1000 bhp/ton ratio. (Caterham plans to offer a naturally-aspirated 380 horsepower model, and it's a safe bet Ariel would do the same if you asked nicely and paid them generously.) Caterham's claims the front-engined RS V8 will teleport customers to sixty in under three seconds. That'll do pig, that'll do.

In a previous Wild Ass Rumor of the Day, we asked "GM wouldn't be stupid enough to try to pay all [Delphi's bankruptcy] debt, would they?" It was meant to be a rhetorical question. Dow Jones reports [via CNNMoney ] that The General is "exploring alternatives" that include "providing an additional significant portion of Delphi's exit financing" in their annual report filed yesterday. The filing also said they're willing to reduce their share of the cash distribution they could receive in the bankruptcy settlement and "and accept an equivalent amount of debt in the form of a first-lien note." The amount of this particular portion of GM's cash conflagration is not known. But it doesn't matter whether The General shells out more cash or goes deeper in debt– neither alternative bodes well for the GMs financial health or stability.

Here's the official statement, contradicting part of our story on Chrysler's post-Daimler accounts: "Several media outlets have erroneously reported a loss of approximately $2.7 billion by Chrysler between August 4 and September 30, 2007. In fact, from an operating earnings standpoint, Chrysler was profitable during this time period. Also, Chrysler lost significantly less than what was reported during the course of the full-year. We believe any differences are attributable due to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) versus International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting rules. These differences include pension accounting for the UAW settlement and restructuring and purchases accounting." So, can we have a look at those books then, Mr. Private Equity Firms Don't Need to File Public Accounts? Thought not. 

Some 175 member of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union employed by the TRW auto supply plant in east Windsor (Ontario) downed tools at three am last night and walked off the job, protesting wages and benefits. The Detroit News reports that Chrysler's Windsor minivan plant– which depends on TRW for its minivans' suspension frames– shut down three hours later. "Talks have broken off," announced CAW Local 444 President Ken Lewenza. "We're digging in our heels for a long one." CAW bargaining rep Mike Renaud told The Windsor Star he's got no regrets. ""It's a major blow to our community, and we're fully cognizant of that. And we remain willing to bargain at any given moment. But we have to have fair wages and benefits here for people," he said. Renaud described the average TRW $11.25 per hour salary as a "poverty level wage." CAW member Ryan Kelly, who works in shipping, said amen to that. "I made more working at Tim Horton's — it's a joke." Surprisingly (or not), this is the first time the TRW workers have attempted to reach a collective agreement with management. But not the first– nor the last– time Chrysler has been whacked by supplier disruptions. 

UPDATE: Chrysler currently maintains an inventory of 45,700 minivan: a 57-day supply of Chrysler Town & Countrys and a 77-day supply of Dodge Caravans. 

Thought I'd put the dimenstion in the header, in case you thought Maserati was green lighting this sexiest of all wagons (and yes I know the Sultan of Brunei has some bizarre examples of the breed). No, it's not the work of TTAC's house photochopper; the Five Door Maser comes to you via Italian coachbuilders Studio Torino and Studio M. Classic Driver reports that an "unnamed Middle Eastern businessman" commissioned designer Alfredo Stolas to build this beast, but I bet the 1/4 scale mock-up is just a come-on to lure a customer (especially as the article ends with a full press release flourish). Anyway, color me lured. And I love this description of the origin of the quaint term shooting brake: "The tradition of the bespoke shooting brake originated in the early years of the 20th Century, when wealthy British hunters wanted to enjoy travelling in a sporting vehicle while pursuing their game. British and Italian coachbuilders in particular have, over the decades, been asked to adapt coupés, saloons or even sportscars to accommodate the needs of the hunter in a stylish, elegant fashion." Talk about a killer station wagon…

I live in a town of around 8,000 people. Yesterday afternoon, I happened to be driving to the gym at the same time as middle school let out. Some shop teacher stopped traffic while four dozen hulking Bluebirds (company owned by Cerberus BTW) poured out of the school's driveway, each of them carrying perhaps FIVE KIDS. The noise and pollution and tsuris was the equivalent of a thousand-plane raid on Hamburg. Meanwhile, the same thing was happening at the high school and elementary school. Our town must put 150 dieseling buses out onto the road every afternoon, assuring that no tyke will have to spend more than 15 minutes en route. To say nothing of the traffic backup behind each yellow monster while they disgorge their cute little backpackers. I'm the treasurer of our local volunteer ambulance corps. I'm always amused by how municipal-supplier vendors work everything out to round numbers. "You want some EMS unifoms? How's $10k sound?" "You want a fleet of school buses to pick up your kids? That'll be $10m a year." (If you want to get rich quick, contract with municipalities: nobody gives a shit what you charge.) I'm going to take this up with the school board, but the spectacle of this Eighth Air Force-size fleet of big yellow smoke-spewers thundering north, south, east and west just stunned me.