Some of you may have noticed that it is no longer possible to add HTML code to comments. If you ask now “What is HTML code?” then nothing is lost for you. If, on hearing this, you are inclined to write “<strong>WTF!</strong>” then don’t do it. It is futile. We locked-out HTML.

Why? Two reasons. One, as you may have noticed, some people added huge pictures and sometimes videos to comments, causing the site to load slower than it already does. Second, it’s  safer for everybody. Sure, we could have written code that separates “bad” from “good” HTML. I decided that’s discrimination.

Yesterday, I wrote about the Melbourne Grand Prix and its inability to solicit cars for its stars for the purpose of a celebrity race. Would you believe this made me an intellectual property infringer? No? Just wait.

This morning, I find an email from a tej@transportbrokergroup.co.uk who writes:

“Hi,

You have used the words ’Cars for Stars’ in this page: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/01/new-trends-in-product-placement-no-cars-for-stars/

Please note that Cars for Stars is a registered trademark wording of Cars for Stars Ltd.

Can you please either change the words or add a link to us www.carsforstars.net at the bottom somewhere.

Please confirm once this has been sorted as we were alerted by our Patent Solicitors.

Regards,

Tej Randeva
CEO”

I’m in trouble!  Does Her Majesty’s Trademark Service have me in its cross-hairs? “Ease up, Schmitt,” I tell myself. “Always do your research first,” as my obscenely priced Manhattan lawyer had imparted on me, providing not so free advice while I still was rich enough to afford his services.

Researching Cars for Stars ® is not for the faint of heart. Prepare to be overwhelmed. The company is one of the most search engine optimized enterprises I have met. Type “Cars for Stars” into Google, and you will be assaulted. Each of its mostly UK outlets has its own URL, following the “http://www.carsforstars-XXX.co.uk/” format, where the XXX stands for a city. The links go to mostly the same content, however, the different URLs cause Google to produce walls of links. An exact search for “Cars for Stars” produces 57,000 hits.

(Update: That number suddenly dropped to 9,970 – did someone at Google adjust the algorithm?)

Dave, who proudly pronounces in a logo at the bottom of the Cars for Stars ® website that he “SEO’d this website,” sure gave Cars for Stars ® its money worth  (“£99 per month – no hidden charges!”)

It comes as no surprise that four minutes after the mail that allegedly was sent by Mr. Tej Randeva, CEO, another mail arrives.

This one is from marketing@limobroker.co.uk, pointing out that both Topgear and Forbes had written about an Audi R8 V10 stretch limousine built for Limo Brokers, and wouldn’t that be “A good story to feature?” Sure is. It fits perfectly our “Sunday Whodunnit – Adventures in SEO Land” © 2012, BS.

Both Cars for Stars ® and Limo Broker are “Favourite Leasing Sites” of Dave`s house of instant spam. Both look like they have the same designer, actually, they do, Dreamshock.  Mr. Randeva’s Transport Broker Group owns both Cars for Stars® and Limo Broker. The thick plottenz as Mr. Farago would have said.

With such a megaton of search engine optimization, the few extra hits this article will create will be a drop in the bucket, so let’s investigate further.

According to Google, Cars for Stars® is a wonderful company, providing wonderful cars. Only very persistent people who have the time to wade through the produce provided by fertile linkfarms stumble across complaints that are otherwise drowned out. At MoneySavingsExpert, a poster recommends to “avoid Cars for Stars like the plague” saying the “company is shadey & extremely slippery.” (I had to find this nugget by using the search words “Cars for Stars” and SEX - don’t ask.)

Speaking of SEX, as Cars for Stars® is heavily search engine optimized, ads for Cars for Stars® show up in the strangest of places, giving credence to the rumor that some of what happens behind that partition is not always Safe For Work.  But we digress. It’s easy.

Did you know that the word “for” is trademarked? Me neither, but it is. What does that mean for you? Does that mean you have to forgo the use of “for” in your writings, forever and ever? No. You should exercise caution if you are engaged in the “Administration of employee benefit plans concerning insurance and finance” though, because these are the goods and services for which Optcapital LLC has received a trademark for FOR.

Even then, you may go ahead and write “There is no cost for for the blood glucose monitor” without receiving a note from Optcapital’s Patent Solicitors, at least not unless they want to be the joke of the bar. Why is that?

I am no lawyer, however, I spent my life around trademarks, and many years under expensive tutelage. I know enough to be dangerous.

A trademark is not a copyright. Optcapital has trademarked ‘for’, UPS even has trademarked the color brown. This does not mean that for, or brown are off-limits. You can use ‘for’ for as long as you want, and you can produce all kinds of brown shit. Just don’t call your next employee benefit plan ‘FOR’, and avoid excessive use of the color brown when you have a courier service. Using brown vans would be a bad idea.

Can a Doug Miller operate a one man railroad car rental agency called “Cars for stars” in Santa Ana, CA? He sure can. California is not in the UK, or the EU (where Cars for Stars® has a trademark, I could not find one in the U.S.A., ) and  the rental of railroad cars, although perilously close, does not fall under “Class 39, Chauffeur services, limousine hire, car hire, wedding car hire, airport transport services.” Which appears the only class where Cars for Stars® asserts a trademark. All other classes are fair game. Sorry, spend more money.

Can Jaguar U.S.A. use “Cars for stars” in its website? Sure it can.  If Mr. Randeva sends Jaguar an email, he probably will be ignored. Should his patent solicitors write, a Jaguar attorney will probably explain the birds & bees: Sorry, wrong country, wrong trademark class. Also, Jaguar might just have a look at the Cars for Stars® website.

Do you think Cars for Stars® has a written license for the use of trademarked logos of Range Rover®, Porsche®, Bentley®, Audi®, Lamborghini®, Jaguar®, Ferrari®, and Aston Martin®? I am sure they do.

The test for trademark infringement is likelihood of confusion. At TTAC, we write all day about GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Mercedes, but we would only violate trademarks if we would start making cars. If we write that the Melbourne Grand Prix could not find a sponsor that would provide cars for the stars of a celebrity race in Australia, the likelihood of confusion with a limo service in the UK is infinitesimally low. The only confusion that might exist is with the author of the email.  Or with a gullible blogger who clicks his heels and submits when such an email arrives.

When we wrote that the Melbourne Grand Prix will have to make do without the proper cars for its racing stars, we did not even know that there is a “Cars for Stars®.” But, as they say, ignorance is no defense. However, I note with great interest that Mr. Randeva (allegedly) sent me an unusual cease & desist letter. Instead of telling me to remove all mentions to the highly trademarked limo service, he gave me the option to “add a link to us www.carsforstars.net at the bottom somewhere.”

I take that as an implied non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide, limited license (without the right to sublicense) for the use of Cars for Stars® in Thetruthaboutcars.com™, just in case I would need such a license. Which I don’t. In any case, it is good to have.

Personally, I believe that this odd letter is another twist in the never-ending saga of search engine optimization. Again, it worked brilliantly.

Disclaimer: Cars for Stars® is a registered trademark of Cars for Stars Limited. Community Trade Mark No. 4767679 – UK Trade Mark No. 2345169

While America slept, the TTAC server, without consulting with the supreme powers of TTAC, said: “What the heck, it’s Sunday. Time for a nap.”

And it went to sleep as well.

Readers who fired-up their laptops and tablets for a good Sunday-morning read were greeted by the orange band of shame: CloudFlare signaled that it had lost communication  with the TTAC server, and offered a two days old version it had kept in the cache.

Finally, emergency response teams that had spent a long night in Toronto bars were roused, and they kicked the napping server back in gear.

We are deeply sorry, we promise to make it up for you in the coming days.

Due to the heroic efforts of our NAIAS team, we had the best five days in TTAC history – now we lost most of the day. As the book says:

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Our New Year’s resolution is to provide you with even better information, reviews and analysis.

I am starting off the well-wishing (unless the Aussies did beat me to it) on a balmy evening, overlooking Hong Kong Harbour.

As a longstanding TTAC tradition, let’s march the celebrations around the globe!

The gang at TTAC will take Sunday off to nurse any party aftereffects, and will be back on Monday.

Happy New Year!

And here, a glimpse of the exhilarating Kennesaw (without h) nightlife. It’s hopping.

The staging area of the TTAC Goes South tour is picturesque Kenneshaw, GA. For whatever reason, the city sports one of the highest densities of low-priced motels. My Wifi scanner gives me a choice of 9 channels, all belonging to the giants of the roadside hospitality business.  Those who arrived from far-away places like Portland (Ed) and Beijing (BS) are already here, waiting for Steve Lang to close his last buy here, pay here of the day.

Tomorrow, we will witness Steve in a real live Southern Monday auction. Then, we’ll head towards Tennessee, where roadblocks have already been erected. The real bad elements of the team of course know this and will fly to Tennessee. Before we leave Kenneshaw, we are promised a demonstration of how ice and guests are being laundered.

There are people who wish that TTAC would just go away. This coming week, their dearest wishes will be fulfilled. My special friend in Moscow won’t have to send hate mail anymore: TTAC is finally going South.

Our intrepid leader Ed Niedermeyer, Steven Lang, the fastest mouth in the South, “lock-your-daughters-in-the-basement” Jack Baruth, and yours truly will go on a tour of turkey shoots, kudzu, and southern transplants. For me, it’s one of those strange trips where you arrive earlier than you depart (Beijing to Atlanta) and you nonetheless feel like a truck hit you.

We will post from en-route – if the Motel 8 has Internet. Y’all come back now, y’hea?

If the cadence of TTAC articles will march a little softer in the coming days, then it’s because the TTAC offices on both sides of the globe are deserted. We’ve literally gone fishing.

Ed Niedermeyer is going to Detroit (yes, Detroit) to write stories with the usual bias report on something which will make the hearts of any fans of Detroit iron beat faster than a redlining Corvette. Ed will be fishing for juicy tidbits from Detroit executives.

I’m going to Chengdu (ever heard of it?) in the center of China to attend the Global Automotive Forum, where I will be fishing for answers to questions such as “The role of Chinese auto industry in the world”, or “The auto industry investment needs: Where will the money come from? Where will it go?”

Ed & I will try to file as much as possible – which will be next to nothing. In the meantime, Jack, Murilee, Sajeev, John, Alex, and the whole TTAC cast of characters will hopefully hit the keyboards to keep you informed and entertained.

That’s right. I mean, that’s wrong. So for disregarding the warning, the referee has sent MikeAR off the field. There is no coming back when that happens.

The comments are being policed by Ed and myself when we have nothing better to do, like writing articles. Each of us has a slightly different style, here is mine:

• Any opinion is fine. This is an open forum for civilized discussions.
• Don’t get insulting or personal. If you would not say it in the face of the other person, don’t write it.
• This is like a dinner party: You are all invited to have a good time. Certain topics, such as race, religion, or politics should be avoided, or at the very least treated with caution.
• If the host says: “Now, now” – please tone down. Don’t continue the argument, don’t argue with the host. If you absolutely have the urge to say something, say “I’m sorry.” That’s one line. Not an “I’m sorry, but …”
• If the dinner party disintegrates, the person who causes the disturbance will be shown the door and will not be invited back.

Now how’s that for mixing metaphors?

Did you notice? TTAC loads much faster. Most likely , you did not notice. An old axiom in the nerd industry is that performance gains mostly go unnoticed. Slowdowns on the other hand drive people nuts.  Our gee-whiz kids in Toronto moved TTAC to something called “Cloudflare,” which really speeds up load times. The trouble is: Once in a while, the Cloudflare suffers burnout and TTAC becomes inaccessible.

Today was such a day. Because TTAC lives (computer-wise) “in the cloud,” you may have experienced outages, or not, depending on where you are. The trouble is, when it happens, it doesn’t seem to clear up. It actually does, but you won’t notice it. Something in the cache of your browser brings up the dreaded screen above, again and again, while others can enjoy TTAC.

So here is what you do: When you see the Cloudflare splash screen, wait a while. Then clear the cache of your browser (in Internet Explorer and Firefox, it is Ctrl-Shift-DEL), and if you are lucky, TTAC is back. If you aren’t lucky, take a break, then try again. Just don’t do what I did today: Pull the rest of your hair out.

Possibly Ed’s rant against overusage of “bias” has escaped the attention of some commenters. “Bias” is no longer a welcome word on TTAC. Usage can result in permanent banning. I am inclined to put the word “bias” on our bad word list. The only thing that keeps me from doing so is the fact that the banning robot is stupid and will also kill comments that contain, “bias-ply tires”, sundry “phobias”, “suburbias” etc.  Don’t make me wipe out whole suburbias.

While on the topic of banning: Because of an onslaught of spam which we have to clean up manually when we have nothing else to do, a new spam filter has been employed. Its ways are as mysterious as those of most spam filters. However, it also contains a list of “throwaway” email accounts. If your comments don’t come up, and you use Disposable Email Addressing (DEA), change you email account. As the all-knowing Wikipedia says:

“Many forum and wiki administrators dislike DEAs because they obfuscate the identity of the members and make maintaining member control difficult. As an example, trolls, vandals and other users that may have been banned may use throwaway e-mail addresses to get around attempts to ban them.”

And therefore, we have banned a long list of DEA mailhosts.

Ed and Bertel are spending this coming week in Detroit to talk to auto manufacturers.

First impression: I could get a nice fixer-upper in an up and coming neighborhood for a little more than the price of my ticket from Beijing to Detroit. Compared to Beijing prices, this is a steal.Second impression: When I asked the doorman of my hotel where the next cash machine is, a hotel shuttle drove me to it. The driver waited patiently until my business was conducted, then he drove me to the T-Mobile store for a cell phone refill. When I thanked him for the unusual courtesy, he answered: “We aren’t allowed to let our guests walk around here.”

If any Detroit area B&B want to get together, please let us know. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings look good on the calendar.

My friend Goto, a former Japanese judo national champion who somehow got caught up in the Summer of Love as an exchange student in Berkeley, and who never looked or went back, once told me: “My father say, some people have death wish, and you have to glant it to them.“

There are some people who are just dying to lose posting privileges on TTAC. It’s fast and easy. Simply do what some commenters did. Hidden behind Gmail and Hotmail accounts, but posting from IPs located in Moscow, they sent threatening messages, and some involving the oral contact with male genitalia. The messages did not even make it on-line, they were caught by TTAC’s generally unpredictable “bad word” filter. The unpredictability of said filter makes it necessary to patrol the detritus and to rescue innocent messages from banishment (if your message does not show up, don’t post it twice. Someone will look at it and release it – or not, as they say around here.)

The story that triggered the threats and invitations to perform fellatio on some commenters was the SAAB story. Whenever we write one, we get those love letters from Russia. However, we have this nifty function here. It’s called “Blacklist” and puts the commenter into a virtual Gulag. We can do that faster than a comment is written. It’s kind of one-sided, so don’t even try. Or remember what my friend Goto likes to say.

The Truth About Cars is excited to announce that in our relentless drive towards globalization, TTAC has now added a Polish edition.

Articles appearing in Thetruthaboutcars.com appear in real time in the Polish language.

“The content of TTAC has so much polish,” said Franciszek Ksawery Postbischil, Warsaw-based editor of TTAC Poland, “that a Polish edition is simply germane.”

The layout of the Polish edition caters to the eclectic tastes of our Central European readership. Instead of cars, which attract the attention of our predominantly North American readership, readers in Poland can feast their eyes on pictures of nature, taken at random from Flickr.

TTAC Poland is called “Samochody”, which is Polish for “cars”. The truth has been omitted.

For quite a while, Ed and I had a hands-off posture towards moderation. Sadly, this was exploited by some. The tone of some comments has become increasingly aggressive, vile, and sometimes downright insulting. It is time to put a stop to this.

I have endless patience, but enough is enough. I will not edit comments. I hate that. It is like cleaning up messes other people make. It only encourages uncivilized behavior.  TTAC is a forum for any opinion. We will not censor it. However, TTAC is not a place for name calling and racist remarks.

Those who overstep these simple boundaries will not be invited back. And now, hopefully, we can go back to our hands-off posture. Thank you very much.

I’m not supposed to let you in on our inner workings, but here is something I wanted to share with you for quite a while: There is a huge grassroots movement that wants the HUMMER back. How do we know this?

Well, we are keeping tabs on you, dear reader. Whenever someone types a term into a search engine like Google, and the search leads to us, our server records it and gives us the most used search words. Usually, “ttac”, “truth about cars”, or “the truth about cars” rank highest. Only incorrigible geeks like me would still type in http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com.

For several months now, we have noted an odd phenomenon: There are ever increasing searches for “hummer”. Yesterday, “hummer” was on position 4, behind “ttac”, “the truth about cars”, and “truth about cars”.

Today as I type this, “hummer” leads the list.

It gets odder: There is an old story from the dog days of 2009, titled “Hummer to China. Why In The World?” Again and again, this ancient story ranks amongst the most requested stories of the day. Over the years, this must be one of our most requested stories (we don’t have THAT good a server that keeps tabs on this.) But we have a nifty graph engine that shows us the interest in a story. You see the needle moving when the story was published, then it dies down, and whammo! an explosion of requests.

A lot of people seem to suddenly lust for a Hummer. But why? Any ideas?

Ed Niedermeyer is too humble to say it, so it’s left to me: Ed just had his second third op-ed piece in the New York Times. Required reading.  Two core sentences:

“In particular, what Mr. Obama called his “one goal” — having Detroit “lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars” — is nowhere near being achieved. While the idea of improving G.M.’s and Chrysler’s fuel efficiency was doubtless a politically popular justification for the bailout, American consumers have not embraced the goal with equal fervor. Sales of fuel-sipping compact and subcompact cars have actually dropped this year, while pickup and sport utility vehicle sales grew by double-digit percentages.”

Honestly: Trying to tell customers what to buy fails. You have to make what they want. If they want dualies, give them dualies. It (still) is a free country. The mind-altering abilities of advertising are vastly overrated.

“And if Detroit’s slipping into bad old habits wasn’t distressing enough, the bailouts have created a perverse new dynamic. With G.M. stock now being publicly traded on Wall Street, taxpayers have every incentive to cheer on the bailed-out automaker as it overproduces vehicles and pushes cheap credit. After all, the sooner G.M.’s stock hits a certain level — likely around $52 per share — the sooner the Treasury can sell its remaining equity and get taxpayers out of risk.”

True, very true.

Almost exactly a year ago, I received a phone call informing me that the founder and editor of The Truth About Cars, Robert Farago, would be leaving the site. Robert and I had already discussed (in theoretical terms) the possibility of such a move, and he’d mentioned that I would be in line to replace him when the time came.  Still, nothing could had prepared me for the actual realization that TTAC had become my baby. A year later, the shock is still wearing off.

And why not? Comments in our posts announcing the transition overwhelmingly expressed disappointment to be losing Robert, and a kind of tentatively supportive “don’t screw this up for us” attitude towards my succession. The term “big shoes to fill” figured heavily in much of the commentary. And as usual, the Best & Brightest had it right: stepping into Robert’s shoes has been the challenge of my (not particularly long) lifetime.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of taking stewardship of the brand Robert had built from nothing was the fact that I simply could not replace him. Having built TTAC from nothing, Robert literally poured himself into this site. Its tone, work ethic and editorial focus all reflected his personality, his passion. When I first started writing at TTAC (some 3,649 posts ago), things were easier: I worked for and with the man who embodied this site… and luckily I shared many of his values. When he stepped down, however, I suddenly felt very much alone.

Luckily, I was not alone. Though several writers left TTAC’s orbit around the same time Robert did, I had the immense fortune of retaining the core of TTAC’s contributors, and over the past year that core has grown and solidified. The writers who stuck with TTAC during the difficult transition of a year ago took a leap of faith that can not be underestimated. Like me, they knew that Robert had created a community and a brand that held immense promise… but they surely had a difficult time imagining TTAC without Robert. I know I did.

Today, much work remains to bring TTAC to where it needs to be, but after a hectic, exhausting year, I finally feel confident that TTAC has survived its transition to the post-Farago era. In fact, we’ve more than survived: we’ve seen some of our best traffic in the site’s history, we’ve had our opinions solicited by some of the most influential outlets the mainstream media (and some of the least)… hell, we even touched a nerve in the White House. What 12 months ago seemed like an impossible dream at the end of an endless struggle is now reality: today, TTAC is healthy, vibrant, relevant and sustainable.

Credit for this happy state of affairs goes first to you, our loyal readers. TTAC’s “Best and Brightest” have long made this site what it is, and their faith in TTAC’s brand and values is what made the site’s transition possible. In fact, were it not for the knowledge, experience, courtesy and relentless feistiness of the B&B, I might never have survived as even a writer here.

Possibly the most important realization I came to, after just weeks as a freelance news blogger here, was that I would never know as much about any given topic as at least one of TTAC’s commentators. This freed me from the burden of trying to be an expert (which, at the time, I couldn’t have been less of) and allowed me to focus on starting conversations that would bring out the knowledge and insight of TTAC’s commentariat. The truth can not simply be written and published… it evolves as a conversation. I can not thank the B&B enough for continuing to make this conversation possible.

The other element of TTAC’s success is our team of conversation-starters: the bloggers, writers, editors, reporters, historians, and analysts who inform, provoke, and entertain us each day. Their dedication, diversity and talent is as crucial to TTAC as anything else, and several individuals deserve special recognition.

Bertel Schmitt, TTAC’s Overseas Editor, has been a true rock for this website. His depth of experience in everything from computer science to automotive advertising has been a constant resource for TTAC, often in ways that aren’t obviously manifested in its content. From his Beijing headquarters, Bertel is also perfectly positioned to keep TTAC’s readers abreast of the latest developments in the (new) largest car market in the world. Though we do get the odd “too much China news” comment from time to time, the Chinese market is as crucial to the car industry as Bertel is to us. As the car industry changes, you’ll be glad you kept up on developments in the Middle Kingdom.

I’ve always focused on the big picture issues here at TTAC, which is why Michael Karesh is such an important member of the team. Our Chief Road Tester a “product guy” par excellence, with broad experience and unimpeachable credibility. His years of compiling reliability and pricing data at TrueDelta make him a goldmine of information, while his presence in the Detroit area and reputation for even-handed reviews keep him driving the latest cars. He’s also the only TTAC contributor I’ve actually met in person, which is more important than you’d think if you’ve never worked on the internet before.

Jack Baruth has become an indispensable element of the TTAC formula, injecting our often-nerdy discussions with what he once described as his “blood-and-thunder, guns-and-butter” style. I was deeply dismayed when our tame racing driver (understandably) ditched TTAC a year ago, and his decision to return was the answer to quite a few editorial prayers. Jack’s unique perspective and no-holds-barred approach is crucial to the diversity of TTAC’s content mix… so much so, in fact, that I never know what he’s going to write next. I may not always agree with him, but his talent, knowledge and ability to provoke discussion are unquestionable.

Sajeev Mehta has been crucial in keeping the TTAC community together. The social media expert and Fox-Body fanatic pioneered our write-in advice columns with his beloved Piston Slap series, which has since been expanded to include the car-buying advice column “New Or Used?” (alongside  Hammer Time scribe Steve Lang). Sajeev has also single-handedly revamped TTAC’s Facebook presence, providing fans an opportunity to create their own discussions about cars, the car industry, car culture, and even TTAC itself.

When Ronnie Schreiber first started commenting at TTAC, he labeled himself “TTAC’s official Detroit defender.” Since then, he’s gone from keeping us honest to keeping us reading, with his in-depth histories and penetrating book reviews. From his “Magazine Memories” series to becoming TTAC’s point man on the print media, Ronnie has carved out a place for himself in the TTAC brand.

Though her nom de plume has changed, Cammy Corrigan has been commenting at and contributing to TTAC for longer than I have. Keeping an eye on the British and European markets, Cammy makes up for the fact that I’ll never be quite the anglophile Farago was. And if we somehow miss a significant story anywhere in the world, Cammy brings it to our attention.

Marcello Vasconcellos provides indispensable insight into the wacky and wonderful world of the Brazilian market. Another growing market that will become increasingly important to the future of the car industry, Brazil’s automotive scene is as unique, intriguing and diverse as Marcello’s dispatches.

Finally, and most importantly, I must thank Paul Niedermeyer. TTAC’s resident historian and my father was absolutely crucial in the transition of a year ago. Faced with the overwhelming challenge of taking on the TTAC burden, I asked Paul to be my managing editor last year. His help, support and passion for cars was the key to getting through my first few harrowing months as TTAC’s Editor-in-Chief. When he left the site this spring, it was like being forced out of the nest all over again. Having him back is a privilege. Working with your father isn’t always easy, but the rewards are immense. And since I wouldn’t have been born or considered working at TTAC without him, it’s no exaggeration to say that he’s made all of this possible. Plus, Curbside Classics may just be the best running car column anywhere, print or online.

Other contributors have helped make TTAC what it is as well. Steve Lang’s Hammer Time is one of the longest-running staples at TTAC, providing a peek into the world of used cars, auto auctions, and dealer finance. Ken Elias hooks up the occasional analyst insights. Alex Dykes helps bring some of the hottest reviews to TTAC from his home base in San Francisco. David Holzman occasionally chimes in from New England, Walter Foreman sends news and reviews from South Korea, Tal Bronfer reviews cars from Israel, Martin Schwoerer and Mike Solowiew have contributed from Germany, and Thor Jonsen reports from Sweden.

In fact, TTAC’s community is so strong, it would be impossible to thank everyone who has sent in a crucial tip, provided valuable information, corrected errors, caught typos, or generally kept TTAC on its toes. Your dedication to TTAC’s vision helps make us the site we are.

Of course, we must thank VerticalScope, who pays our bills and lets us write whatever we want. You can’t knock that.

Finally, it would be churlish not to thank the folks on “the dark side,” the OEM PR and brand management folks who have taken a chance on TTAC over the last year. For a bunch of deceitful, manipulative flacks, you’re actually incredibly nice people. It’s heartening to see that so many of you do appreciate TTAC’s contributions to the automotive media, and are willing to take a chance on the truth.

After a whirlwind year of transition, TTAC’s future is wide-open and I aim to keep pushing this site to become the most relevant, respected and well-rounded car blog on the internet. In fact, I’m so confident that we have the foundation for success laid, I’m actually going to take a week of vacation (beach, Mexico, one week from today) before tackling the next year of TTAC excellence. Thanks to our fantastic staff and vibrant community, I know TTAC won’t skip a beat. That alone proves how far we’ve come in a year.

In 1922, independent front suspension was pioneered on the Lancia Lambda and became more common in mass market cars from 1932.

Independent rear suspension became popular much, much later (possibly due to its widely unpopular IRS moniker), paving the way to fully independent suspension.

According to a study J.D. Power, 64 percent of new car shoppers use the internet for gathering information. According to the study, most popular are independent websites that provide in-depth reviews along with dealer invoice pricing, rebate information and transaction prices, followed by sites that offer news and reviews but don’t offer “inside” information.

Used car dealers around the country are organized in the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA).

Independent auto repair shops are seen by some as the savior that ends their dependency on expensive dealer service. Automakers and their dealers have a different opinion. Withholding repair information is a time-honored tactic.

Importing a vehicle to the U.S. can be a nightmare and can collide with a wall of standards, rules and regulations. An Independent Commercial Importer can smooth the way – for a little extra charge.

Road-side assistance programs by automakers (who want you in their dependent shops) or by insurance companies (who want you in cheaper, supposedly independent shops they prefer) gain in popularity. A site that advises immigrants seeking freedom and independence offered in the United States recommends  “roadside assistance services from independent automobile clubs like AAA,” and to stay away from the insurance-provided program because “every time you use insurance company’s roadside assistance service, it is considered an insurance claim and will appear in your vehicle driving history. This will affect your insurance premiums with most insurance companies in the future.”

The Truth About Cars prides itself of its editorial independence. Even though we accept advertising, the ads do not influence our editorial content. We also believe in full disclosure. Any time we receive a car loan or travel considerations from a manufacturer, we state the fact in the review.

Last but not least, let us celebrate the fact that the automobile affords you the independence from walking, unavailable, unreliable or infrequent public transport. Please do your celebration at home, as too much revelry can cost you your independence at the frequent sobriety checkpoints that have become a holiday tradition.

>

The Booth  Babe requests your indulgence. She announces that The Booth Babe Chronicles will be late, due to the fact that she’s at a beach somewhere. So if you see a hot babe furiously typing into an iPhone or similar at a beach, who knows, this could be her.

Easy to find out: Walk up to the lady, and say: “Do you come with the car?”

Blank stare: Fail.

Slap in the face and a kick in the privates: Bingo!

Anyway: Coverage will be spotty this weekend. Writers: Don’t send your stuff to Ed, send it to me. Thank you!

(Might as well get used to the Ed-less weekends: His secret mission will extent through all of July weekends, or so he mumbled.)

For two days, the reporting will be a bit heavy on the foreign part due to the fact that the Overseas Editor edits from Overseas. We beg your indulgence.

We’ll also make it up with bitchen car reviews.  (TTAC correspondents: Please send your posts to me if you want them to appear before daddy is back.)

In the meantime, let’s play a game. Which of the following car makers has Ed critiquing their latest  products?

A.) Ford

B.) Hyundai

C.) Toyota

D.) Chrysler

E.) GM

F.) Tesla

First to guess will be crowned “Grand Wizard Of TTAC ESP” – after Ed is back

It’s been a tumultuous several weeks here at TTAC, as we’ve moved headquarters and lost our managing editor, all while the industry continues to flop about in dramatic fashion. And we’ve been barely keeping up with the latest developments in the world of cars,  because behind the scenes we’re preparing to introduce a brand new lineup of contributors to our ongoing quest for automotive truth. We still have a few details to clear up before we make a full announcement, but suffice it to say that I’ve had the exquisite luck to ask some of my favorite automotive writers to join the TTAC team and have them say yes.

One of these fine writers, Jack Baruth, has already started ruffling feathers in true TTAC fashion in his first week in his expanded role here. The other new additions will be officially announced next week, but I’m certain that TTAC fans both new and old will appreciate the diverse, top-notch content that they will bring to our site. Trying to replace the full-time services of a managing editor like Paul Niedermeyer is never easy (especially when he’s your dad), but I couldn’t ask for a better compliment to myself, Bertel, Cammy, Marcello, The Booth Babe, Tal, Martin and the rest of TTAC’s superb staff and freelance writers than the group we’ve been able to assemble.

Unfortunately, there will be a brief break in our content cadence as we prepare to welcome our new team members. Both Bertel and myself are in transit today (I am writing this from the Salt Lake City airport), and I will be busy re-upping TTAC’s review hopper in sunny Southern California until Tuesday. In the meantime, we’ll do everything we can to keep the content flowing, and we assure you that any short-term interruptions will be more than made up for when our new lineup hits its stride. Thanks, as always, for your custom, comments and commitment to supporting the search for automotive truth. Providing you, our faithful  readers, with the most consistently high-quality automotive content on the web is our continuing honor, and we appreciate your patience as we work to take TTAC to new heights.