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A Clunker by Any Other Name . . .
What is a clunker? Various dictionaries I consulted used terms like “a decrepit machine, especially an old car” or “an old or badly working piece of machinery” or “a noisy, dilapidated automobile.”...
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A Quick Conversation with GM CEO Fritz Henderson
“We need to be able to make decisions faster.” Thus spake GM CEO Fritz Henderson to Automotive News [sub] at the National Business Summit yesterday. In what can only be termed a blinding flash of the...
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Bye-Bye, Vibe
The GM/Toyota partnership known as NUMMI builds but one vehicle for GM: the Pontiac Vibe. And it will continue to do so. Until the end of August, that is. GM’s announced that’s when they’ll cease...
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Editorial: Connect the Dots: Could GM Get Their Own Version of the Prius?
GM is shutting down production of the Pontiac Vibe at the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) plant in California. GM has sold some car or another based on the Corolla ever since they jointly...
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Review: 2009 Infiniti FX35 (RWD)
I love technology. I was an early adopter of the microcomputer (8″ SS/SD floppies, anyone?). I spent way too much on a TI calculator in college because it could *gasp* do square roots. My car has...
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Toyota Pisses Off Environmentalists
Toyota, the automaker of choice for the green movement, is under fire by the green movement. It seems that the company wants to turn 1600 acres of cedar forests and 17th century rice paddies into a...
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Toyoda: “Toyota’s Screw-Ups Look Like GM’s”
TTAC’s not the only one wondering when Toyota will stop acting like GM. Last February, none other than 84-year-old honorary chairman Shoichiro Toyoda (grandson of the company founder) upbraided 400...
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Ford, Nissan, Tesla First to Dine at DoE Bailout Buffet
Ford may “just say ‘no’” to TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money that puts them under the control of the PTFOA (Presidential Task Force on Automobiles), but the other wise acronym-aversive...
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Forbes: “Ten Cars That Changed The World” or Not.
Forbes, number one on the top ten list of top ten list purveyors, has published their list of “Ten Cars That Changed the World.” It contains vehicles “that were the first of their kind and that...
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Ask the Best and Brightest: What Constitutes a “True Porsche”?
Ever since Porsche debuted the Cayenne, Porschephiles have heatedly debated where it fits into Porsche’s branding strategy—or if it should even exist. When SPEEDtv.com Editor in Chief Tom Jensen...
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Say It Isn’t So, Mr. Bond!
Aston Martin is thinking small. In what has to be the ne plus ultra in brand dilution, they will offer the “Cygnet” in 2010. And what, you ask, is a Cygnet? It’s a rebadged Toyota iQ. No, I really...
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Toyota: Lights Off at NUMMI? GM Synergy Drive?
Will they or won’t they? First, the factory. GM’s announced they’re bailing on NUMMI. Bloomberg says Toyota may be considering the same thing. Once GM turns its door keys over to Toyota, the Fremont,...
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Is Toyota HIDing from Prius Headlight Problem?
First, engine sludge in the Camry. Then, rusty frame rails on the Tacoma. Advertising Age (of all people) reveals the latest problem to tarnish Toyota’s solid gold quality image: the Prius’ HID...
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Review: 2009 Nissan Frontier 4×2 Crew Cab SE
Once upon a time, way back in 1959, a company called Datsun imported a funny-looking pickup truck with a small bed and tiny engine, giving birth to the compact pickup market in the US. After a slow...
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RF!
The inmates are running the asylum today while our fearless leader takes the day off to celebrate the BIG FIVE-OH. We all wish Robert a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Bob Lutz Un-Retires to Join “New GM”
TTAC’s Lutzies are safe. When Bob Lutz announced his retirement from GM at the end of this year, automotive journalists openly wept at the prospect of losing an never-ending supply of quotes and sound...
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House Bill Wants to Reinstate Terminated Dealerships
The House Appropriations Committee has passed a provision in the 2010 financial services spending bill that would require GM and Chrysler to work through state courts—instead of the federal bankruptcy...
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Review: 2009 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV, Take Two
While Ford and GM consider building their mid- and full-size cars on a single platform, Toyota and Nissan are already doing it. The Avalon has been based on the Camry platform since its inception and...
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