General Motors Death Watch 107: Volte Face?
It’s no secret that The Detroit News (DTN) likes to cheer for the home team. It’s also no surprise that the financially challenged paper imports…
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Suzuki XL7 Review
I’m 31, single and happy. So obviously my mother is constantly nagging me to get hitched and give her grandchildren. Even my sister’s impending m…
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Review: 2007 Suzuki SX4
What the Hell’s a Suzuki’s SX4? I know it’s my job to know about these things, but I swear the test car greeting me upon my return from Old…
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BMW M6 Review
I’ve had a thing for the BMW 6-Series ever since “Spenser: for Hire” shared the airways with Mötley Crüe. While Robert Urich had…
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Car Insurance Rates: Star Struck?
As much as I enjoy vigorous debate, I abhor pseudo-science. From The Bermuda Triangle to past life regression, I just can’t deal. If the subject matter…
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Ford Expedition EL Review
Whenever I show up at my weekly poker game, the boys (being boys) are always interested in what I'm driving. How much? How fast? Not this week. This week, al…
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Shelby GT500 Review – Counterpoint
A small bump in the road traversed at the slightest discernible angle on dry pavement at 50mph will send the Shelby GT500’s rear end sideways with enou…
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Hell is Other People's Cars
The sex industry has a motto: if you don't get it, it's not for you. Never mind all those activities involving non-reproductive bodily fluids, military fatig…
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Podcast: What's an RS4?
I suppose it was only a matter of time before some video maven caught site of The Truth About Cars (TTAC) and thought, hmmm, that might make an interesting T…
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The Speed Limits of Democracy
I like to drive fast. I don't think I'm breaking new rhetorical ground to suggest that anyone who likes to drive fast violates the speed limit from time to t…
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Lieberman Does Chrysler
It’s funny how some things stick in your head. I’ll never forget Hispanic actor Ricardo Montalban’s satisfaction with the 1976 Chrysler Cor…
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Lieberman Corrals the Stangs
Aside from the early, dainty-looking Mustangs and their Shelby siblings, I never really "got" the whole 'Stang cult. During my formative years, the mucho mac…
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Ford Death Watch 5: Can Mulally Get Ford to Straighten Up and Fly Right?
Was he pushed or did he jump? Either way, Billy Ford’s resignation as CEO of the family firm is yet more proof that The Blue Oval’s in big troubl…
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General Motors Death Watch 89: Elimination
So, General Motors has pulled its sponsorship from Survivor. Flackmeister Ryndee S. Carney claimed GM came to its decision “months ago, before the show…
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General Motors Death Watch 86: Pickups Stick
Last Thursday, Mark LeNeve declared that General Motors has “turned a corner.” Obviously, GM’s Vice President of North American Sales and M…
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General Motors Death Watch 85: The Calm Before the Storm
According to GM, happy days are here again. Profits are up, costs are down and the company’s turnaround plan is on track. The automotive media have swa…
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BMW's Ultimatum
According to BMW’s ad for its M products, “history and compromise cannot be made at the same time.” Huh? What about The Missouri Compromise…
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General Motors Death Watch 83: The End of Days
Relax. The news that GM stockholder Kirk Kerkorian has been playing footsie with Renault/Nissan doesn’t represent some kind of paradigm shift for GM or…
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General Motors Death Watch 79: The Vision Thing
When the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the world’s largest automaker tells his shareholders to think long-term, there’s only one word f…
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BMW Bans TTAC: The Vagina Dialogues
Last week, BMW flackmeister Dave Buchko banned The Truth About Cars from access to BMW and MINI press vehicles. Mr. Buchko wanted to be clear: the company wa…
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Maserati Health Check
Remember Maserati's mid-80s offerings? The Biturbo looked hotter than Christie Brinkley in a Ferrari 308, but was awful in every other way a car can be. The…
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General Motors Death Watch 77: Bull
Why is GM's stock rallying to a six-month high? Delphi's Sword of Damocles still sways above The General's head. Their market share and sales continue slidin…
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General Motors Death Watch 75: Desperate Times
Rabid Rick Wagoner lacks self-esteem. Why else would GM's CEO submit himself to triple presidential humiliation? First, Bush tells GM to take a hike– e…
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Ford: Bold Moves Sink Ships
I've never run a multi-billion dollar multi-national car company. But I've driven hundreds of cars, and every car I drive tells me everything I need to know…
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General Motors Death Watch 71: The Butterfly Effect
Now that General Motors is poised on the brink of disaster, the smallest setback could send the The General sliding into bankruptcy. What will be the straw t…
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General Motors Death Watch 70: Locked and Loaded
Before you can buy a firearm in Rhode Island, you have to finish a gun safety course. My instruction consisted of a pot-bellied ex-State Trooper telling war…
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Shootout at the Low-CARB CAFE
What's worse than farce? Political correctness. When farce ends, people look around and say, "Wow! That was stupid." With political correctness, the stupidit…
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General Motors Death Watch 69: Running Out of Gas
You've got to wonder about the mood at RenCen these days. Watching the price of gas crest $3 a gallon must make GM CEO Rabid Rick Wagoner feel like the Capta…
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General Motors Death Watch 68: Predestination
The ancient Greeks knew the truth: character is fate. If Oedipus hadn't been such an asshole he wouldn't have killed his father, married his mother and kept…
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General Motors Death Watch 66: No No Nadir
At yesterday's New York International Automobile Show, Bob Lutz provided the hook for GM's PR counterattack. Of course, the Car Czar's rallying cry wasn't pl…
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General Motors Death Watch 65: When Billy Met Ricky
I wonder what Billy Durant would have made of Rick Wagoner. GM's founder was a man of great honesty, intelligence and drive. He was also a high school drop o…
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Killing the Golden Goose
Chasing Robert Berry's Enzo up Equinox Mountain in a Lamborghini Murcielago, I remember thinking there's no way I'm going to keep up with this guy. As the Fe…
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General Motors Death Watch 63: GM RIP
At 9:30am this morning, a group of lawyers representing bankrupt auto parts supplier Delphi will appear in front of Federal Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain. Th…
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Ford's Family Values
As predicted, the American Family Association (AFA) has renewed its boycott of the Ford Motor Company. The move comes after The Blue Oval reneged on a privat…
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General Motors Death Watch 62: Grounded
Ward's Automotive recently profiled Pete Gerosa, GM's former Vice President for Field Sales, Service and Parts. Although Gerosa's heading for retirement, he'…
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General Motors Death Watch 60: Bankruptcy is Good for the Soul
It's official: bankruptcy is good for GM. In their recent ass-covering exercise for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Ford Motor Company list…
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General Motors Death Watch 59: X Marks the Spot
Yesterday, The Detroit News caught-up with Maximum Bob Lutz at the Geneva Auto Show. GM's Car Czar was busy unveiling Saab's Aero-X, a Corvette-based concept…
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DSG: Stick Shift RIP
If you were going to invent a way to control an automobile, you wouldn't ask the average driver to develop the skill and coordination of a church organist. N…
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General Motors Death Watch 58: Supply Side Economics
A couple of days ago, I was talking to an auto industry analyst about the world's largest automaker. We were discussing the cracks in GM's hull, trying to fi…
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General Motors Death Watch 57: What the Dickens?
This is a tale of two Tahoes. The first is a wildly successful SUV that's flying off the lots at full price: a Hail Mary pass that will put General Motors ba…
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The Pleasure Stops Here
Over at Edmunds.com, automotive journalist Alistair Weaver reckons Dubai's Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road is "The World's Greatest Driving Road." Judging from Ma…
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General Motors Death Watch 55: My Kingdom for a Horse
As our GM Death Watch series gains traction, I've taken to scanning the skies for black helicopters, stashing Glocks around the house and avoiding the fine c…
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Porsche: The Maus That Roared
Porsche is my favorite automotive brand for one reason: they make my favorite sports car. They do not, however, make my favorite SUV. Infiniti's FX45 is more…
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General Motors Death Watch 53: On A Plate
I once showed-up for a job interview in the adult film industry. (It was an honest mistake.) Before I bailed, I complimented Mr. Triple X on the spectacular…
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Freedom From Choice
In 1817, Marie-Henri Beyle toured the Uffizi museum. Lost in a maze of galleries, the French novelist was paralyzed by indecision. His heart raced. His breat…
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General Motors Death Watch 52: Kill! Kill!
If I hear that "you can't cut your way to prosperity" line one more time, I swear I'm going to post a forty-eight page article about surgical cancer treatmen…
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General Motors Death Watch 50: 399 Days and Counting
On Tuesday, the elephant in GM's boardroom removed its cloaking device. In the heart of GM's corporate HQ, in the middle of the Detroit auto show, Jerome P.…
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General Motors Death Watch 49: Paranoia Rules
If you're visiting the Detroit auto show, do me a favor. Go to the GM stand, find the new Chevrolet Tahoe Dual-Mode Hybrid SUV and ask the moto-bouncer to po…
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The Detroit Auto Show: And the Band Plays On
I don't want to be the one to throw cold water on Detroit's billion dollar beauty pageant, but someone's got to do it. The workers' demonstration outside Cob…
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General Motors Death Watch 48: The Price is Wrong
Regrets? GM's Vice President of North American Vehicle Sales has had a few. Then again, too few to mention. When quizzed about the wisdom of last summer's Fi…
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General Motors Death Watch 47: Happy Days
When historians analyze GM's collapse, searching for the precise moment when The General jumped the shark, it will be like trying to pinpoint the onset of Al…
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General Motors Death Watch 46: The $2b Question
For those of you who've just joined us from Wall Street, welcome. We've been waiting for you for a while– long enough to wonder if GM's stock price got…
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General Motors Death Watch 45: In His Hands
According to Rabid Rick Wagoner, terminating his employment would only slow down GM's recovery: 'When you bring in a lot of new people, you bring in a lot of…
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TTAC Car of the Year
I'm a bit of a fix-it freak. Don't get me wrong: I'm no great fan of home improvement. I just love tools. I can quite happily while away an hour or so down a…
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General Motors Death Watch 44: As Witchita Falls
Forget GM's Toe Tag sale, which failed to extinguish the automaker's low sales idiot light and sealed their reputation as the K Mart of cars. Ignore GM's ete…
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Ford: Out of the Frying Pan
Last Thursday, the American Family Association (AFA) reached an agreement with The Ford Motor Company ending their boycott of the automaker's products. The f…
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A Rose by Any Other Name
If a rose by any other name would still smell so sweet, would a Ford Fusion by any other name still be a front-wheel-drive economy car? Lincoln certainly hop…
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General Motors Death Watch 43: One More Such Victory…
Yesterday, GM announced it will release former subsidiary Delphi from an agreement trimming big bucks from The General's parts bill. This despite the fact th…
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General Motors Death Watch 42: Slouching Towards Bethlehem
I used to think that spin meant arranging facts to conceal their meaning. After watching Rabid Rick Wagoner's responses to the pre-shocks signaling GM's impe…
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General Motors Death Watch 41: Fiddling Around
'I'd just like to set the record straight here and now,' Rabid Rick Wagoner wrote in an email circulated yesterday on GM's intranet. 'There is absolutely no…
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