“What to call these?” tweeted @edmunds.com. “Dudemobiles? Guy Cars? Testosteroners?” And they linked to their scientifically prepared list of the cars with the most men as buyers. Not a list compiled by basement dwellers, but by Polk. The list reflects total purchases made in 2011. And we are counting down …

Recently, while praising the growly note produced by the VW GLI, I made an off-handed remark concerning the multitude of axle-backs I’ve bolted onto my WRX over the years. Unlike most of the hyperbole that is my métier, such statement was actually based in reality.

I really did swap out back-boxes like Jack cycles through guitars, desiring both an uncorking of the rumble produced by a flat-four with unequal-length headers, yet without the yobbish blatting of some angled oil-barrel. A straight STi swap? Nope, all the metallic unpleasantness of chomping tinfoil. The Borla Hush? Stealthy in looks only, but drones like Ben Stein playing the didgeridoo.

If you’re interested, I ended up with a 2.5” single-tip Maddad Whisper, a fine, US-made piece of engineering which I paid through the nose for. Worth every penny though: just enough bass at idle to flip my on-switch, crest 4K in the rev department and suddenly Nicky Grist is calling out the pace notes.

And here’s the thing, of all the facets of the motorcar that are constantly being refined and improved and modernized, it’s the sound I’ll miss the most.

It’s “another broadside for the EV industry,” says Automotive News [sub]. The alleged artillery barrage was sent by the Center for Automotive Research. It cancelled its 2012 Business of Plugging In conference. The reason? Lack of interest.

Video killed the radio star. And the Internet is about to kill the auto industry. Researchers at the University of Michigan noted a disturbing trend: More young adults would rather surf the web than cruise the highway. In a new study, Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the U-M Transportation Research Institute found that a higher proportion of Internet users is associated with fewer drivers licenses among young persons.

I’ve started this series with all analog clocks, but I think I’m going to dip into my extensive collection of digital automotive timepieces pretty soon. For today, however, we’ll stay old-school with another hand-equipped unit. This one has some heavy-duty-upscale Roman numerals and the right-turn signal indicator built in, so you know it came from a car that at least aspired to prestige (though it’s not a Ford Aspire). Study this clock, make your best guess, and then click the “More” link to see if you had it right.

In yesterday’s Name That Car Clock challenge, we went all the way back to 1965 and admired a beautiful, though admittedly nonfunctional, Oldsmobile timepiece. Today, we’re going with something from my collection of junkyard-harvested clocks that’s a bit newer. Quick, what’s the year/make/model of the car that yielded this clock to my junkyard toolkit?

We saw a Porsche 944 clock in yesterday’s Name That Car Clock challenge, and today we’re going to dig even deeper into my big collection of automobile timepieces for a really tough one. I love the look of this clock so much that I bought it knowing it didn’t work (I bring a 12-volt battery pack to the junkyard when I’m hunting clocks). You decide what year/make/model vehicle gave me this clock, then make the jump to see if your guess was correct.

As we go through and attempt to identify the clocks in my junkyard-derived collection, our last NTCC challenger came from a 1987 Saab 900 Turbo. Today’s clock was also made by VDO, but it didn’t come from a Saab. This call will be tough, because plenty of cars got timepieces very similar to this one over the years. Make your guess as to the year/make/model, then make the jump to see how geeked-out a car-trivia expert you are.

Yesterday’s Name That Car Clock challenger came from a ’74 Fiat 124 Spider. That clock was very dignified, in a cool Italian sort of way. Today’s NTCC contestant is much more festive, though it’s not from a Ford Festiva. Decide what year/make/model vehicle produced this clock, then make the jump to see if you were right.

I’ve been harvesting car clocks at junkyards for a few years now, stockpiling them for a project that requires at least two dozen functioning timepieces. Here’s one of the prizes of my collection. Believe it or not, this elderly mechanical clock, from a country not known for reliable machinery, still works! So, guess the year/make/model of the car that yielded this fine clock for my collection, then make the jump to see if you were right.

Yesterday on Name That Car Clock, we went to Germany for a subdued ’84 VW Golf timepiece. Today, we’re going… well, that’s for you to decide. Guess the year/make/model of this clock, than make the jump to see if you guessed correctly.

Yesterday, we saw a majestic Cartier chronometer out of a ’76 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, which was a pretty easy call for many of you. Today’s NTCC contestant should be a little more difficult, though it should be an obvious call to certain single-marque-obsessed types. Make your guess, then make the jump to see what it is. Year/make/model?

You heard it yourself. When Obama is out of office, he’ll buy a Chevrolet Volt and drive it himself. The Secret Service, which famously wouldn’t let Obama drive the Volt down the Hamtramck assembly line, generally protects the President for up to 10 years after they leave office – we’d assume that the “no driving” clause applies here. So Obama’s Volt may sit for a long time – hopefully it won’t brick.

Meanwhile, the DoE’s projection of 120,000 Volts produced in 2012 (let alone sold to consumers) still looks a little optimistic. GM just restarted production of the car a few days ago. Their sales target of 45,000 in 2012 has been abandoned after coming 2,300 units short of their 10,000 unit goal in 2011. GM now says that they will adjust “supply to meet demand”.

After a lot of soul-searching, googling, and a good dose of arbitrary decisions, Edmunds published the list of the 100 Most Beautiful Cars of All Times, something that should bring traffic to the Edmunds site for years to come.

Interestingly, one of the most expensive cars of all times, the Bugatti Veyron, landed on rank 100. Which is the Edmunds way of saying that it is butt-ugly. The Volkswagen CC, a Pontiac Grand Am, even a Chrysler Town & Country are considered prettier.

While Volkswagen is devastated by the verdict, which cars are the absolute rulers in Edmunds’ beauty pageant?

In our last episode of Name That Car Clock, we admired the Jeco analog timepiece out of a 1978 Toyota Corona wagon. That was quite a clock, but it looks pretty drab next to today’s entry. This should be a pretty easy call for you students of the Malaise Era (there’s a hint), so let’s hear your best guess about year/make/model for this designer-edition clock. Answer after the jump!

I’ve been pulling car clocks from junked cars for several years now, gathering them for a seriously unnecessary sculpture project, and now I’ve got 50 or so of the things in boxes in my office. We started this series with this 1980 Toyota Cressida fluorescent digital clock, made by Jeco, and now I’m going to make it a regular series. Today’s clock is also a Jeco, but this one is a handsome analog unit with a weird conical plastic faceplate. Before you make the jump and see the answer, guess what year/make/model car produced this clock!

Unless you hate cars and live under a rock, you have undoubtedly seen the recent pictures of the Porsche 911 whose driver tried to take a shortcut through freshly poured concrete. It has been emailed, Facebook’d and even posted on my own message board with snarky comments about the arrogance and ignorance of Porsche owners.

With good reason, Porsche owners are jerks.

We advance into adulthood by degree, and every one of the degrees is a first time that cannot be duplicated or get a do-over, no matter how much we would like to change our personal history. So we romanticize the clumsy moments and brash decisions of youth as we get older and view our teenaged pasts in a nice golden hue. It may shave several layers of reality off the actual events but it makes our younger years more glamorous and heroic in a Paul Simon ‘Kodachrome’ kind of way.

One thing that never changes in my memories is my first car. We should remember our first cars with the same degree of reverence as other really big first time events from our youth. The kind not found on the pages of a collector car website.

Back in September, I wrote about my search for a 1990s Japanese luxury car as a daily driver, with the Infiniti Q45, Lexus LS400, and Acura RL as the main contenders. Five months later, I’ve made my choice.

These days the big kids on the block are giant pickup trucks and luxury model sport utility vehicles. A bygone era in Detroit featured giant cars with giant engines and painfully small mpg ratings.

The movement toward big and beautiful really caught fire in the late 50s when the Big Three fought a size-really-matters battle with their high end luxury models.

Purists would argue that high end pre-war cars were pioneers in the giant automobile craze, and they would be right. But the big car era became pretty main-stream until the 1973 oil embargo swung the size-matters pendulum the other way.

Long-time TTACers know that it’s usually possible to request your humble author as an instructor at any TrackDAZE event. If you secretly want to beat me up, and you’re too lazy to drive to central Ohio, this can be a good way to save yourself a trip. I will be attending several of their 2012 events with my anything but trusty Boxster Anniversary Edition and/or my Plymouth Neon racer.

This year, however, the nice people at TrackDAZE have a new option for instruction, and it’s an even better idea than letting me boss you and your triple-supercharged Corvette Z07 around VIR.

Where is global warming when we need it? Europe has been hit by a gigantic blizzard, and the Grüne Hölle of the Nürburgring has been converted into the Weisse Hölle. What happens when hell freezes over shows this clip by Spiegel TV.

So what about Chrysler’s halftime ad? You know, the one with a Clint Eastwood who looked like he would die on the set? It did not show up in any of the Edmunds.com rankings. It is neither on the “that ad’s the bomb!” list. Nor is it on the list of ads that bombed. Maybe because Edmunds could not find the car. Car? What car? The ad tried really hard to repeat the “Imported from Detroit” success. Instead, the ad created a lot of controversy. Controversy? The [forbidden word] hit the fan! It might cost Obama the election!

One of the most famous cars in the world is one of the most despised cars on my very short list of despised cars.

Hell – who am I kidding? I love all old cars more than most people.

But I don’t love the General Lee.

Longterm TTAC reader and indie musician Pennan Brae sent us a link to his latest video. It has a nice red Buick Skylark Convertible in it. At least one of the protagonists looks hot too. Because of the car, we would have run the video anyway. Then, Pennan decided to bribe us.

Look at this still from the video. And then …