Daily Podcast: Prius Profiling
We here at TTAC have gone out of our way not to characterize Toyota Prius owners as left-leaning tree-hugging pompous, uh, people. As the Toyota gas –…
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Daily Podcast: No Good Reporter Goes Unpunished
We're preparing our reapplication for press credentials to the Detroit Auto Show, but it's hard to know what to send. TTAC's mono-maniacal Managing Editor Fr…
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Daily Podcast: TTAC Denied Detroit Auto Show Press Credentials
Unique visitors. I just love that term. It's not quite as Walt Disney World politically correct creepy as "special"– all visitors to Mickey's Kingdom a…
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Daily Podcast: Color Me Impressed
Sometimes my fascination for all things automotive scares me. What if Yellowstone blows up and plunges the world into a new Ice Age– mit famine? The ar…
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Daily Podcast: Auto Show Me the Money
In its unstoppable quest for pistonhead patronage, TTAC is boldly going where all our competition has gone before: the North American International Auto Show…
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Daily Podcast: Roger Smith RIP
“Roger Smith led GM during a period of tremendous innovation in the industry. He was a leader who knew that we have to accept change, understand change…
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Daily Podcast: Hold on Tight to Your Dreams
I can't get that friggin' song out of my head. Even my trusty pop hook removal methodology– humming Elvis' Rock A Hula Baby– won't exorcise the t…
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Daily Podcast: See, They Install That TruCoat at the Factory. There's Nothing We Can Do.
North Dakota has a population of 640,000. It also has the largest state-owned sheep research center in the United States. What it doesn't have, however, is e…
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Daily Podcast: Darwin Rides Shotgun
I am not one to hang about whilst driving. Oh, I know how to cruise. And I know when cruising's the better part of valor. But there are times when I don't sp…
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Daily Podcast: Another Milestone
How did Stevie Wonder go from "You Haven't Done Nothin'" to "I Just Called to Say I Love You?" The easy answer is money (they don't call it "selling out" for…
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Daily Podcast: One Step Ahead of the Shoe Shine
I don't normally read Car and Drivers' letters to the editor section. But the sub-head over a readers' missive caught my eye: "Is our BMW Bias Showing?" I'd…
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Daily Podcast: Although the Last, Not Least
Ted Turner used to have a sign on his desk: "Lead, Follow or Try to Snort as much Cocaine As I do." No wait. "Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way." Americans…
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Daily Podcast: The Geography of Nowhere
I remember when Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen were all subsets of a larger brand: "German car." Although Mercedes best exemplified what is now called the moni…
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Daily Podcast: Embargo THIS
I never understood the concept of an automotive-related news embargo. It's easy enough to see what's in it for the carmaker. They can time their marketing an…
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Daily Podcast: Persistence
I just finished editing a piece by Steven Wade about Saab's renaissance. Bolstering the arguments of a writer whose opinions I don't share may seem a bizar…
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Daily Podcast: The End of History
Yes, I've driven the "new" Ford Focus. And yes, it blows. I'm working on the review now, trying to summarize the vehicle's ghastly gestalt without resorting…
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Daily Podcast: Must Focus
So here I am, on the phone to a car dealer to hook-up a test drive in the "new" Ford Focus. As I type, I'm on hold, listening to an ad for Stop and Shop. Whi…
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Daily Podcast: X Marks the Stain
There are plenty of auto industry execs who see car enthusiasts a bunch of Buddy Pines. I'm talking about the sycophantic fan in The Incredibles: a boy whose…
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Daily Podcast: Veni Vidi Video
I remember the afternoon Nancy Reagan sashayed into CNN for an in-studio interview. I was tethered to camera two, panning its unblinking eye left and right s…
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Daily Podcast: Planning a New Hatch
I'm somewhat proud that the first Survivor winner was a fellow Rhode Islander. As is the case with many successful Ocean State natives (e.g. former Providenc…
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Daily Podcast: Talking 'Bout My Education
I was hanging-out with Dad yesterday, waiting for Mom to come out of surgery. When he mistook a passerby's ringing cell for his own, I said it's hard to im…
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Daily Podcast: The Police Chase Stops Here
This morning, Frank Williams blogged the AP's report on OnStar's new "Stolen Vehicle Slowdown" (SVS) option. Tick the appropriate box on your OnStar service…
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Daily Podcast: Pickup After Yourself
Although Justin wonders how the loss of "lifestyle" buyers may hurt pickup truck sales, I never held much truck with the idea that Urban Cowboy-ism accounted…
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Daily Podcast: Bullet-Proof
Prior to the late 80's, Mercedes were known for its "bullet proof" build quality. Of course, they were no such thing. A well-placed slug would stop a Mercede…
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Daily Podcast: In Praise of Vanilla
I like vanilla ice cream. I know: as a guy who chooses "media" from the drop-down menu of professions, I should be into something exotic like swordfish pecan…
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Daily Podcast: In Praise of Driving Large Cars Really Fast
I know really big cars are deeply unfashionable amongst people who know who Tim Robbins is. And driving fast is about as socially acceptable as smoking a cig…
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Daily Podcast: Motorcars of the Classic Era
Is the name of the coffee table tome resting underneath my left elbow. Michael Furman's photographic study of automobiles built from 1925 to 1948 leads with…
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Daily Podcast: By Thy Deeds Thy Bangle Shall Be Known
Again, for the record, TTAC has never accused Chris Bangle of being a racist. We accused the BMW designer of racial insensitivity. He singularly failed to re…
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Daily Podcast: As Fall River Falls so Falls Fall River
Samuel Slater started the industrial revolution in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Slater's 1793 textile mill set-off a manufacturing boom in The Ocean State, which…
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Daily Podcast: Warning!
An investment banker once told me business isn't risky. People are risky. One guy can take a dumb as toast business plan and make millions. Another guy can t…
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Daily Podcast: Go to Work on an Egg
Few people will recognize the name Salman Rushdie. Those who do will know know Rushdie as the Indian-born fiction writer whose novel The Satanic Verses inspired the Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a death sentence against its author. After attempting to read the work in question, I can tell you that it’s far more likely that the the fatwa was, in truth, an act of literary criticism, rather than a divinely-inspired retribution for Koranic blasphemy. Suffice it to say, the rest of Rushdie’s literary canon can be safely placed in that special category pretentious people call “challenging.” In fact, Rushdie’s greatest work was penned when he worked as advertising copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather. The headline above is one such Rushdie meisterwerk, written for the UK’s Egg Council. He also wrote “Naughty but Nice” for a cake maker. But just try and find a bio that gives proper credit for these bon mots, or explains the creative process they required. As Justin and I dissect ad slogans on this podcast, try to remember that it takes a blazing talent to find a few words that can carry a car brand into the hearts and minds of consumers. And a great company to recognize and embrace them.
Daily Podcast: Buy the Right Dog
Failing upwards is a very strange concept, one that I don't pretend to understand. For example, Mark Fields took the reins of Ford's doomed-from-birth Premie…
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Daily Podcast: Future Ghosts
I'm sure many of you share "the one that got away" syndrome. You know: the car you should have bought for peanuts and stashed away. My two four-wheeled pangs…
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Daily Podcast: Jeremy Clarkson Need Not Apply
I'd love to produce a TTAC TV program. Can you imagine? Now, try to imagine a network that accepts automotive advertising putting us on the air. It behooves…
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Daily Podcast: Where's Chrysler's Big Mac Attack?
Sorry; I went off on a major tangent. Let's try the on-message thing again. So… the podcast focused on Newsweek's list of eight vehicles Chrysler shou…
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Daily Podcast: The Dog Ate My Podcast
My career at CNN prepared me for this work. Like TTAC, Ted's 24-hour news channel was an insatiable maw that required constant feeding. Miss a deadline? Neve…
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Daily Podcast: The Brooklyn Dodgers
Over the weekend, I ate at little Rhody's most celebrated (i.e. expensive) death-by-meat-house. The experience was more-or-less as expected. As I left, the w…
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Daily Podcast: NOW I Remember…
"I just got a new wing mirror for my Skoda." "Sounds like a fair trade." And it's true: I remembered the joke; I didn't surf the web for it. Although these d…
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Daily Podcast: A to B
Back in the day, the descriptive phrase "living room on wheels" applied to an automobile was a compliment. That I never got. I simply couldn't understand why…
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Daily Podcast: Apologies to Holland
VW may be moving from Detroit to Washington, DC. So it's out of the frying pan, into the home of liars. Other than DC's proximity to the regulators who deter…
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Daily Podcast: Always There When You Need It
Sorry for the late post, Justin. My daughter's musical education demanded an emergency trip the Bundus to secure a larger violin from the only gray-haired ma…
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Daily Podcast: Hairshirt Today, What Tomorrow?
I really do wonder about the clash of ideologies inherent in the green movement. I'm just about old enough to remember America's transition from seemingly bo…
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TTAC Launches Daily Podcast… And Here It Is
You may have noticed a few changes to the site over the last few days: disappearing and reappearing car reviews, some new functions, a flaming warning above…
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Podcast: Lieberman's Cold Fusion?
Of all Ford's Bold Moves, the fact that the automaker continues to provide Jonny Lieberman with press cars is easily the most impressive. Despite Mr. Neundor…
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Safe Speed
According to French philosopher Emile Chartier, “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have.” Chartier died in 1951,…
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The Truth About GM's New Powertrain Warranty
It's clear that GM's new powertrain warranty– 5 years, 100k miles– has set TTAC tongues wagging. To get on top of the story, I phoned Philip Reed…
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Precast: F1 Hybrid, Dodge Hornet, Diesel
I've been podcasting with Mike Spinelli of Jalopnik on a daily basis for quite some time. I hesitate to say exactly how long because then I'd have to think…
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Future Classics
Something, anything, is worth exactly what someone will pay for it, no more and no less. Human beings being what they are, that "willingness" has a strong em…
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Lieberman Needs Cars
Our West Coast Bureau Chief is one persistent son of a bitch. Every day I get emails or phone calls from Jonny Lieberman asking me to pimp him a ride, prefer…
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Boompa!
My Space's success has not gone unnoticed. No, I'm not talking about pedophiles. I'm referring to the Lords and Lordettes of the "new media," who are busy tr…
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Podcast: Jag and Landie Still Winners With Wynn-Williams
You've got to feel sorry for the Brits. Once home to some of the world's best– er, most charismatic vehicles, the country has seen their automotive cro…
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Podcast: Lieberman Checks In (Again): Gabba Grabber Hey!
Fresh from some serious seat time in the Ford Mustang GT Convertible, Jonny Lieberman rang up TTAC HQ to schmooze about all things automotive. After listenin…
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Ford's Bowled Moves
We have a rule in my house: no sugar cereal until you eat your "good" cereal. By the time the girls have inhaled a bowl of non-sweetened Cheerios, Weetabix o…
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My Veyron Dot Huh?
When I ordered my first Ferrari, I spent entire nights dreaming of rust, mechanical failures, stratospheric repair bills, cliff face depreciation, uncontroll…
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Here Today, Corn Tomorrow: The E85 Road Trip
With only 750 American gas stations providing the corn juice for flex-fuel vehicles, there's more E85 hype than E85. Which is the point collegiate road tripp…
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Front Line: Porsche Salesman Kirk Stingle
A new TTAC podcast feature is born: a conversation with a car salesman about what's going down on the front line. We begin with my go-to Porsche guy, Kirk St…
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Meet Sajeev Mehta
On the same day TTAC published Sajeev Mehta's less than flattering review of the Lucerne, a Buick spinmeister emailed the site to offer a cross-Canada jaunt…
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Dino's Sex Wagon (I Kid You Not)
As a kid, I instantly "got" James Bond: look cool, kill the bad guys and the girl's yours. I was a little vague about what you did with her afterwards, but t…
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Meet Frank Williams
Frank Williams came to TTAC's attention after he cc'ed us on an email to Car & Driver. The long time C&D reader was all het up about Brock Yate's summary exe…
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Ask Patty. Go on, You Know You Want To…
I’m not a big fan of segregation. Obviously, US car culture splits into distinct niches: hot rodders, low-riders, urban gangstas, tuners, etc. Equally…
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