Bailout Watch 24: The playing field is not
balanced

post from The Truth About Cars on 05 September 2008 10:06:39 PM. © The Truth About Cars

So writes former Chrysler outside counsel Steven Roby in a rebuttal Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times today (the original LAT Op-Ed contended that the US government should not bail out American manufacturers). His thesis of “It’s not the Big 3’s fault” is supported with inventive arguments such as “It’s not the Big 3’s fault” [...]

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-playing-field-is-not-balanced-and-us-vehicle
-makers-can-hardly-be-accused-of-squandering-any-competitive-advantage/

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TTAC Called It: UK New Car Market Tanks

post from The Truth About Cars on 05 September 2008 10:06:38 PM. © The Truth About Cars

Back when GM and Ford claimed that foreign sales would keep them afloat long enough to patch their hulls, turn their ships around and avoid reefs of their own making, TTAC called bullshit. First, we pointed out that the domestics’ American losses were simply too large to sustain with foreign profits. Second, we said overseas [...]

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ttac-called-it-uk-new-car-market-tanks/

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Bailout Watch 25: Jerry Flint Votes Aye

post from The Truth About Cars on 05 September 2008 10:06:38 PM. © The Truth About Cars

What did you expect? Jerry Flint has been a Detroit apologist since Kennedy’s Justice Department tried to force GM to spin-off Chevrolet (if only). Still, Flint’s argument [via WardsAuto] in favor of $50b in low-cost federal loan guarantees for America’s beleaguered automakers is yet another conflicted, half-hearted recommendation. “Detroit can?t convert from a truck-heavy [...]

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/bailout-watch-25-jerry-flint-votes-aye/

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Bailout Watch 26: Feds Take Over Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac

post from The Truth About Cars on 05 September 2008 10:06:37 PM. © The Truth About Cars

The Washington Post reports that Uncle Sam is set to take over U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The government has formulated a plan to put troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under federal control, dismiss their top executives, and use government funds to prop them up, government officials [...]

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/bailout-watch-26-feds-takover-fannie-mae-and-fre
ddie-mac/

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The Ford Nucleon: A Miniature Nuclear Reactor in
the Trunk

post from Ride Lust - Motion + Mobility on 05 September 2008 09:44:50 PM. © Ride Lust - Motion + Mobility

Imagine a car that would emit no harmful vapors and would offer incredible fuel mileage far beyond that of the most efficient cars ever built. It’d be sleek and silent, with only the hum of a turbine. It’d basically be run on steam. That’s how nuclear power works. Yeah, nuclear [...]

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http://www.ridelust.com/the-ford-nucleon-a-miniature-nuclear-reactor-in-the-trunk
/

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Red Light Cameras = Fail

post from Automoblog.net on 05 September 2008 08:51:23 PM. © Automoblog.net

Well duh, and not to harp on a subject, but:“The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don’t work,” said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health. “Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections.”These things just [...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Automoblognet/~3/384656619/

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RENNtech tuned C63 AMG

post from GTSPIRIT - Daily supercar news, car event coverage & more! on 05 September 2008 08:06:06 PM. © GTSPIRIT - Daily supercar news, car event coverage & more!

In it’s latest creation RENNtech has tuned the C63 AMG saloon produced by German manufacturer Mercedes Benz. The headline figures are the cars collosal power figures which have increased by 97bhp (over 20%!) to 548bhp. The torque also recieves a dollop of excess with figures quoted at 510lb-ft (785Nm).The figures are achieved with a new exhaust system [...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GTspirit/~3/384097958/

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Toyota: U.S. Market Hasnt Hit the Bottom Yet

Why the Hell would it? The U.S. “housing crisis” is far from over, credit’s too tight to mention and the consumer shift to more fuel efficient vehicles has left millions of SUV owners backwards/underwater on their loans. Amongst other things. Anyway, the idea that U.S. new vehicles sales have “bottomed-out” is a combination of wishful [...]

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-us-market-hasnt-hit-the-bottom-yet/

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Question of the Day: Will You Cry For Pontiac

Here we go again — the always churning, ever yearning, never learning rumor mill is speculating that Pontiac might be headed for an Oldsmobile style fate (i.e. murdered without dignity). But I remember that when Olds was put down, it had no reason to live. Does Pontiac? And seeing as how my very first car was [...]

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/question-of-the-day-will-you-cry-for-pontiac/

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Naked Sportbikes: The New Cafe Racers

A Naked Kawasaki Concours 14HellForLeather has a great post about the new cafe racers: stripped down sportsbikes. They hit the nail right on the head: function is form. The beauty of these bikes is their inner workings. I like their comment about leaving the stock exhaust on too: quest is the [...]

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http://www.ridelust.com/naked-sportbikes-the-new-cafe-racers/

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