See Corker’s post-hearing interview with CNBC here.

And there we were saying Ford doesn’t have branding. Anyway, fun is a serious business, apparently. Bloomberg reports that Ford has been trying to trademark the word “FUN” (all caps?) in connection with “some” of its European automobiles since 2005. In 2007, the EU courts said, in effect, geddowdahere. And while we’re dealing with the surreal, how about this: the original case was brought in German. Spaß; Freude; Scherz; Lachen; Gelächter? Bloomberg seems to think that today’s ruling clears the way for Ford to resume its claim on FUN, but I think they got it exactly backwards. The adjudication itself is, remarkably, a hoot. Seriously, the jump is well worth your time, as it includes some language Bloomberg neglected to mention. Where’s their sense of fun?

WaPo columnist Warren Brown never turns down an opportunity to show Detroit some love. Or at least lash out at its haters. Today he takes on the “sophist nonsense… spun by people who haven’t bothered to check the numbers, and who have paid even less regard to the history of their supposed knowledge,” otherwise known as opposition to the government bailout of a failing industry. And like Michael Jackson’s greatest music video, the arguments appeal to the sense of pathos rather than logic or reason. The financial sector and price-conscious consumers are blamed for dragging down Detroit, despite the fact that both have supported Detroit for decades. The automakers may have slurped all the credit they could get for years, and consumers may have only purchased Detroit iron on price alone, but they’re the ones to blame for the industry’s downfall, reckons Brown. But like the gloved one, Detroit can’t create its own very public trainwreck and then blame people for noticing. Or if you must damn the media and public for calling your failures like they see them, at least do it with a sense of humor. Even Michael Jackson knows that.

Hat Tip: Jalopnik

***Ferrari FXX Evo 860hp Supercar DONUTS!!***

Conan O’Brien presents Detroit’s call for bailout bucks.

GM has become the first Detroit firm to acknowledge the toxic fallout from what’s fast becoming known as Corporate Jet-Gate. Reuters (via Yahoo News) reports that GM will send back two of its leased corporate jets, after attracting widespread criticism for jetting to DC with begging bowls in hand. Actually, according to GM spokesfolks, GM decided to return the aircraft because of a “really aggressive cutback in travel.” Seriously? “There is a perception issue,” says GM’s Tom Wilkinson of CEO Rick Wagoner’s travel to Washington on a private jet. “We need to be very sensitive to that going forward.” What’s next? Alan Mulally’s Lexus?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Drifting Hovercraft

Porsche 996 GT3 RS vs, Nissan GT-R on Nordschleife

Matthew McConaughey should make you feel badly about yourself. He’s a nice guy, albeit an idiot, with no actual acting “talent” to speak of. So he takes his millions of dollars and lives on the beach in Malibu in a custom Airstream trailer and does frat guy beach things all day – BBQ, goes running with his shirt off for the paparazzi, plays frisbee with his dog, and then goes inside to his brutally hot girlfriend, Camila Alves. Am I jealous? Of course. My life is pretty much identical, but my house hasn’t been featured in Architectural Digest ever since Mr. Levitt built it. And McConaughey’s Airstream trailer is in AD’s November issue. The article is mostly fluff, but focuses on how McConaughey enjoys cruising around the country in his Ford King Ranch with the Airstream in tow (F-150? F-250? AD doesn’t say). One of the article captions really sums up how much sense it all makes: “The thing about small spaces is that they’re relaxing,” says McConaughey. “You’re limited in your options.” He is now customizing two more Airstreams.”

Awesome Cop Work in Europe!

372 Kph BMW M6 By G-Power- 232 miles

Blind Man Drives Lamborghini At 308km/h

Hail Vs Car

take a test are you a redneck?

Obviously, TTAC has no problem with car manufacturers targeting gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, transsexuals or herbisexuals for any given brand or model. But we do expect carmakers to do so with a modicum of common sense. Pitching the new Chevy Traverse at gay men is like suggesting that Barack Obama should show up at his rallies in a Maybach Exelero. Hang on. Cool! OK, it’s like suggesting that soccer Moms should buy a Pontiac Solstice. Actually, they should– just to get away from the kids for a few hours. And keep Alzheimer’s at bay by trying to erect the Solstice’s top. Is that sexist? Damn! Alright, try it this way. GM’s marketing mavens should know that the Chevy Traverse is to the Mazda Miata what Chuck E. Cheese is to Fire Island. Or something like that.

Yes, the sound of Rice !!!!!

I know we’ve already done a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot blog this morning. And last time I looked, TTAC wasn’t Jalopnik. But I reckon this video raises an interesting question for all you fathers with sons out there. Is hooning a permissable male bonding experience? I’ve been blessed with [four] daughters. I’m teaching them to drive on a private road. Have done since they were five. And I’m planning on giving them track time, so they can handle high-speed evasive maneuvers and learn accident avoidance. But if one my daughters ever pulled a stunt like this when I was riding shotgun, there would be MAJOR consequences. I’m not saying they should all drive like driving instructors (when students are on board). Nor could I look them in the eye and say “buy a slow car” (assuming please God they’re using their own money). But I would never, ever accept high-speed driving on a public road (AT NIGHT?) while I was in the car. Veteran readers will know that former Car and Driver editor Stephan Wilkinson proudly relates his daughter’s driving chops on TTAC’s e-pages. So, as Bill O’Reilly asks (even though he’s just setting-up a nominal interviewee for an extended brow-beating), am I wrong?

Some dad's first reactions on M3 Turbo

American automotive design creativity and imagination in Detroit died with the 1977 wrap-around rear-window Oldsmobile Toronado XSR Coupe , but it's alive and well in the Nevada desert. At the annual Burning Man gathering, mobile imaginations/hallucinations incarnated run amok and are celebrated. It's a fitting (if extreme) reaction to the ever-more predictable and imitative automotive styling rut of the times. GM Styling guru Harley Earl would have felt (and looked) right at home tooling around the sand flats in his gas-turbine powered Firebird dream-car .

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this is a real real Very best street race ever....

Extreme Toyota Prius

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It's hard to believe that General Motors was once the world's largest company. It's even harder to believe GM was once the world's most profitable company. If there's one factor connecting the GM money factory of old with today's sinking ship, it's a sense of a boundless (senseless?) optimism married to a mien of manifest destiny. One wonders if GM could produce something as… seamless as this PR piece today. Sadly, yes. [Any resemblance between this film and a hypnotic smoking cessation video are entirely obvious.]