Cars! Cars! Cars!

CTS On A Roll

AutoWeek reports: CTS Renaissance. We've never been fans of the smaller Cadillacs. They seemed... no, they were ass. Re-badged, shitboxes they were. So when the Catera came out, we took another look (OK, we were staring at what's her name's legs... mercy!) and it was the same as before. And, therefore, we dismissed the CTS as soon as it came out. You'da done the same!

Anyway, kudos to Cadillac for kicking our arses with the 2008 CTS (it's sweet). If Cadillac can get use the same magic on its big cars (which are total snores right now) maybe the brand can give the Japanese a run for the money.

The pic of the CTS in the article is total ass. It makes the car look short and fat. And while we're personally hoping that's appealing to Alison Krauss, it's really not appealing in a car. Oh, that's a snap of the 2008 Cadillac CTS. We'd recommend skipping the '07 model and grab the '08 once it's out. It's far, far superior. Where's the snap? Eh, Typepad is fucking up right now and making the image all FUBAR'd. Go Typepad!

My Baby Is American Made

With apologies to The Oak Ridge Boys, thanks to Cars.com, we can easily see which vehicle is, indeed, American made. Kicking Tires reports: American-Made Index Updated.

It's super interesting to see which vehicles are considered American made. Nice to see what's considered to be American, the Ford F-150, in the number one slot. Can you imagine if some friggin' Japanese car was way up there? How in God's name could something from Japa... oh, right. The Camry.

You surprised by any of the vehicles on the list?

The Road Ahead

The Detroit Free Press reports: Cheaper gas cause for worry. Fina-fucking-lly! Finally someone is thinkin' smart. Of course lower gas prices will lead to higher sales in big-ass, fuel-guzzlin' vehicles. And it will help save Detroit's bacon. And it will cause this country no small amount of worry down the road. Why?

So why worry?

Worry because whenever the Iraq war ends, it looks likely to end badly.

Worry because Iran, Venezuela and other oil-exporting countries are led by tyrants who openly spew hatred of the United States.

Worry because the United States has no energy policy, unless you consider "we use all the energy we want and have a Defense Department to ensure that we can get it" an energy policy.

We can't help but wonder if there's a connection between lower fuel prices around election time and around the time when Detroit needs the help like never before. Lower fuel prices helps Detroit sell vehicles that use a lot of fuel and the more fuel we use means that the U.S. has to ensure we have an unending supply of that fuel (and that means big bucks to contractors who make the equipment needed to ensure that we have that unending supply of fuel).

Anyway, go, Walsh, go!

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Read these:

Philip at Classical Drive writes: See the Country Before Seeing Scottsdale.Our buddy Phil is back somewhere covering something. Make sure to read over his auction reports. He's got purty pictures of the cars for sale -- cars that no one we know we ever be able to afford. Phil's got fancy tastes.

Bloomberg reports: Ford Studies Addition of Plug-In Hybrid Autos, Executive Says. A plug-in? As in a mostly electric car? That'd be something.

What's Up With Dem Fuel Prices?

Jalopnik reports: I Just Paid Under Two Bucks A Gallon For Gas! Look, we're no old, white business men, so we don't have a valid theory as to why gas prices are dropping (well, none that don't involve Alison Krauss with a cape and stilettos), but it's definitely interesting. What could the real cause be?

The Detroit Free Press reports: Can $2 gas give SUV sales a jump? Oh, right! If everyone starts buying SUVs and trucks again we'll all need to buy fuel more often! Is this true or are we just being paranoid?

The Detroit News reports: Wagoner calls for U.S. to focus on alternative fuel. So the government should pay for the research on a new fuel, rather than the marketplace? How come (GM CEO) Rick Wagoner thinks the government can make a new fuel, but not regulate tailpipe emissions?

If You Think EVO Is Something...

Wait until Rachel Ray gets her hands on the EVOO model! Autoblog reports: EVO-powered X-Works Automotive sports car unveiled.

What would a Rachel Ray car be like? We don't really know, but we want to write enough words so that the words wrap around that sweet pic of Rachel Ray.

Maybe Rachel Ray would drive a hybrid. Or maybe she'd drive a Mustang GT. Yeah, we think Rachel Ray would drive a Mustang GT.

What do you think Rachel Ray would drive? Is this enough words yet? Sheesh, look at them legs!

You: No Car Show For Me!

Kicking Tires reports: Detroit Auto Show Crowds Shrinking. We sorta expected this to happen, although we admit we're not 100% why we thought this.

Are people losing their love affairs with cars? Well, maybe a little, but we think it's more people are losing their love affairs of people with offensive B.O. Which is probably why we're not allowed in any longer. Uh, we mean, it's why we don't go to the shows anymore.

Why do you think folks aren't going any more?

Volvo: No Small For You!

Well, they'll sell it, but y'all ain't a-buyin'.
AutoWeek reports: Volvo: wagons are a 'go'. It's cool that Volvo is making more wagons, but that's not what we found interesting. What we found interesting is that the bigger and more expensive the Volvo, the more it sells.

Bigger is better, say the sales figures.

So, why is that? We're suspecting the combo of a tight back seat and a spendy bottom line is causing nothing but trouble for the V50 (which is really a sweet-lookin' wagon).

Any thoughts on why the fancier the Volvo, the more it sells? Aren't the same safety things in the less-expensive models (the safety cage, etc)?

That's a snap of the 2007 Volvo V50. It's sweet, right? But it's spendy as hell.

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We'da commented on these, but, you know...

Philip at Classical Drive writes: Montclair Means "Big" and Finally We Learn to Love It. Look at the size of this car. It's insane. Our apt is smaller than that back bumper for cryin' out loud!

Edmunds reports: Mission Control: OnStar's Command Center. This looks pretty cool in a War Games sorta way.

AutoWeek reports: Chrysler's grand minivan plan. OK, we're not saying this does or doesn't make sense (OK, we do think it makes sense), but we're more interested in the "One size will be offered, a model 2.0 inches longer than the 2007 long-wheelbase model." At some point, you see, minivans won't be able to be called mini. We think that time is now. Maxivans? Mostivans? Bigmofovans?

The Detroit News reports: UAW: Expect sacrifice. Unions should also demand change at top management that got Detroit into the shape it's in.

What Up With Bad Dudes Running Car Cos?

The Detroit Free Press reports: Give Hyundai chairman 6 years, prosecutors demand.

The Detroit Free Press reports: Former top VW executive to go on trial.

We're not up on all of these shenanigans, so we don't have much to say. But we do wonder why all these car guys are getting into trouble.