Someone at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show has a keen sense of humor. Printed at the very bottom of the media badge is this bullet point: *Please remember that I didn’t know until this day that it was Barzini all along. If you don’t know where that reference comes from (only the greatest series of New York mobster movies ever made), consider turning in your man card on the way to tonight’s rhythmic gymnastics class. Why the organizers chose not to use a quote from a Chicago-land gangster film (“You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word”) I don’t know, but I must give them credit for the small, but eye-catching bit of fun. So far the same can be said about the 2009 Chicago show; no huge announcements, no big unveilings, but a few choice morsels of info if you know who to talk to and where to look. Here’s a sampling: * Hyundai CEO John Krafcik opened the show this morning for at the Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA) breakfast and presented a sobering commentary on the state of the industry and how he views the way forward. He opened and closed with this quote from writer (and wife of Charles Lindbergh) Anne Morrow Lindbergh: “Only in growth, reform, and change…is true security to be found.”   Krafcik went on to back this with straight talk on a wide range of problem areas in the auto business, including the current financial crisis, the sea change in conspicuous consumption, the need for greater fuel economy and Volvo’s laudable focus on safety. What resonated with me were the comments he made about how the auto industry as a whole needs to take responsibility for its poor image and find ways to address the root causes.  He advised against skimping to meet cost targets and said all car companies would be better off they missed cost targets by $100 and invested that money in a more quality experience. Quite an interesting statement by the CEO of a company with a long history of value-oriented products that has recently become a player in the upmarket segment. * I think Ford may have a bona-fide hit on its hands and I’m not talking about the Taurus SHO.  Sure, 365 horsepower and a twin turbo V-6 get my blood pumping, but the prospect of carrying 1600 lbs of cargo while getting over 20 mpg is even more newsworthy in my book.  Sure, it’s meant for small business owners, but one look at that kayak-laden Transit Connect — with five comfortable seats, navigation, and tons of space in the back — made my inner road warrior drool.  The 6 ft long, 4 ft wide, 4.7 ft tall cargo area has plenty of room for mountain bikes or even a motorcycle (possibly two dirt bikes), so you know MT’s wild-child photographer Julia is going to want one. And at under $22K, she could probably swing it and the fees for all the track days she goes to as well. * We knew all about GM’s Transformers announcement, but it was still quite a head trip seeing a “life-size” mock up of Bumblebee in all his robo-glory . The other GM-inspired characters that will appear in the sequel “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen” left a bit more to be desired.  The Volt-based Jolt drew blank expressions as it looks largely unchanged, while Skids (based on the Chevy Beat concept now Spark production model) and Mudflaps (based on the Trax concept) seem to have a bad case of the Fast and the Furious. Oh well, it is a movie about cars that transform into flying robots and save the world. * Had a chance to talk to Ed Welburn about the last “Transformers 2″ character, Sideswipe . He revealed that when director Michael Bay toured the studio for a look at some of GM’s recent projects, he singled out the never-before-seen Stingray Concept GM designers produced in house in 2007.  I can see why.  In person, the car is stunning — a wide, smooth and shapely mass of familiar Corvette curves and Stingray styling cues. More interesting, Welburn told me the only other person outside of GM to see the car in all its glory was the R&B singer (and one of my favorites) Mary J. Blige, when she came by for a tour on her birthday. I’m not a huge ‘Vette fan, but I can tell you there is no hateration or holleration of any kind up this dancery . The concept is gorgeous. * Hyundai’s press conference was chapter and verse on Genesis (sorry) — including how much you’ll have to tithe to drive one. Now I wrote about the need for a sub $20k rear wheel drive sports car a few years back at Sport Compact Car , and even though they’ve come in two grand over my dream price, I think Hyundai could have a home run on its hands. Any way you look it, $22,750 (including destination) for sub-six sec., 200-plus hp turbocharged, rear-drive coupe is an impressive feat. At $25,750, the Genesis Coupe 3.8 is the lowest priced, 300 horsepower rear-drive coupe on the market. * Hyundai is supporting the Genesis the right way as well. Signing Rhys Millen to a three motorsport strategy (Formula D drift, Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and Redline Time Attack) is a huge step toward credibility both in the youth and racing arena, especially since Millen and his Rhys Millen Motorsports (RMR) company are playing by the rules. The Formula D drift series has been rife with controversy the last couple of years, as some competitors have been loosely interpreting the rule book (or throwing it out the nearest window in some cases).  For a sport that began with primarily naturally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinders cars , its interesting to see how quickly (and wildly) it’s morphed in only a few short years.  Nowadays it’s common to see competitors running powertrain combinations never before seen (or imagined).  I’m talking about 500+ horsepower truck and NASCAR V-8 engines in everything from Nissan Zs to Scion tCs.  Not so for Millen’s drift Genesis Coupe. He’s kept the Genesis’ 3.8-liter V-6 (though has bored and stroked it to 4.1-liters) and added a single Turbonetics turbo.  He says it can make 1000 horsepower, but they detune it to around 500 for reliability.  For a more advantageous power to weight ratio, Team RMR dropped 900 pounds out of the car and increased steering angle from 35 degrees stock, to a whopping 52 degrees (which is six degrees more than Rhys has ever had on a drift car). * Last bit on the burgeoning Hyundai/Rhys Millen relationship: Millen revealed that he is in talks with Hyundai about a performance line of RMR products to be sold exclusively at Hyundai dealerships.   RMR produce mostlly light tuning parts such as a carbon fiber airbox, stainless steel exhaust, chassis brace, and wheels.  “The business model might look something like the old Saleen model,” Millen says. Hyundai CEO Krafick confirmed that they are indeed in “development talks,” which makes this all the more interesting.  Is the Genesis turning into Hyundai’s Mustang? We shall see. * People are gonna drink! You know that, I know that, we all know that, and all I do is act on that. And all this talk of bootlegging — what is bootlegging? On a boat, it’s bootlegging. On Lake Shore Drive, it’s hospitality. I’m a businessman!” What movie and who said it? More from the Chicago Autoshow 2009 as it happens. The Lohdown is published on motortrend.com every Wednesday.  Please send all suggestions, comments, and spleen venting invective to thelohdownMT@gmail.com.

Dude, STFU

Finally Republicans have the balls to stand up to the Obama administration and hysteria spending President Barack Obama is coming to the Capitol this afternoon to curry favor with congressional Republicans. But it appears GOP leaders have already made up their minds to oppose his $825 billion stimulus plan. House Republican Leader John A. Boehner and his No. 2, Whip Eric Cantor, told their rank-and-file members Tuesday morning during a closed-door meeting to oppose the bill when it comes to the floor Wednesday, according to an aide familiar with the discussion. Boehner told members that he’s voting against the stimulus, and Cantor told the assembled Republicans that there wasn’t any reason for them to support the measure, according to another person in the room. Cantor and his whip team are going to urge GOP members to oppose it. In a nod to the president, Boehner did point out that this is the third time that Obama has met with Republican leaders, compared with the zero meetings they’ve held with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — a now-familiar refrain from Republicans in the House. But Obama’s diplomacy clearly isn’t buying any votes yet. This pre-meeting bluster should dampen the mood for an early afternoon meeting with the president, who is making the trek to hear Republicans’ input on the legislation before Wednesday’s vote. Once Obama is done with House Republicans, he will cross the Capitol to join the Senate Republican Conference lunch to pitch them on the stimulus… http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18024.html

He has already done something that annoys me. He has lifted the ban on lending Goverment money to oversea abortion funds. Ummm whyy ???? We need that money here and 95percent of all abortions are wrong, killing an innocent life is considerd murder and abortion is no differnt. If people oversea’s need money for abortion, maybe they should stop having sex so much. Every thought about trying to control yourself instead of killing an innocent life ?? I know this money is ment for “family planning groups” but it dosnt change anything. In every case but rape, abortion is wrong. NOTE—Im actually just ticked off about our money being wasted. The abortion thing will rage forever. But OUR money is being wasted and for what reason.

its been almost a year since i joined these grand forums many of you may remember the great thread thom and i shared shortly after my arrival it was of course an ambush, and thom received a deserved beating from myself and many other members thom never got along with me and was banned shortly thereafter :p many have suspected that i was another member and they are of course correct the question remains: who am i? i think its about time for the truth

Okay, you are in the middle of nowhere in some one horse town USA. Most of them have a Burger King or McDonalds, which are you more likely to choose?

….it’s Graham Hill :shocked: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/21/top-gear-officially-reveals-stigs-identity-and-hes-even-more/

Prof. Ken Katkin writes, though with the preface that this is “just for fun”: (1) The 20th Amendment provides that “he terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January….” (2) Art II., Sec. 1 Cl. 8 provides that “efore he enter on the Execution of his Office, shall take the following oath….” (3) President Obama did not take the Oath of Office until about 12:03 pm today, after Vice President Biden took it at about 12:01 p.m. (Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman were still fiddling at noon). (4) Therefore, there was a brief window (just after noon) when George Bush and Dick Cheney were no longer President and Vice President, but Barack Obama and Joe Biden also were not yet qualified to enter on the Execution of their offices. (5) The Presidential Succession Act, 3 U.S.C. sec. 19(a)(1), provides: “If, by reason of … failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President.” Section 19(b) states that the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall act as President (under the same terms and conditions) if the Speaker of the House fails to qualify. (6) Neither Nancy Pelosi nor Robert Byrd actually resigned their seats in the Congress. Thus, neither of them qualified to become Acting President under the Presidential Succession Act. Plus, interbranch appointments might be unconstitutional anyhow. See Akhil Reed Amar and Vikram David Amar, Is the Presidential Succession Law Constitutional?, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 113 (1995); but see Howard Wasserman, Structural Principles and Presidential Succession, 90 Ky. L.J. 345 (2002). (7) Section 19(d)(1) of the Presidential Succession Act provides: “If, by reason of … failure to qualify, there is no President pro tempore to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of State ….” (8) Notably, Section 19(d)(1) does not condition the Secretary of State’s assumption of the powers and duties of the office of President on resignation of her current office, nor does elevation of the Secretary of State raise any constitutional issue of interbranch appointment. (9) The term of office of the Secretary of State does not automatically terminate at noon on the 20th day of January. (10) On January 20, 2009, Condoleeza Rice was (and is) still the Secretary of State. (11) Accordingly, from 12:00 noon until 12:01 p.m. (when Vice President Biden took the oath of office and became Vice President), Condoleeza Rice was momentarily the Acting President of the United States, our first African-American President. I suppose the obvious counterargument is that Secretary Rice also never took the Oath prescribed in Art. II, Sec. 1, cl. 8, and thus was no more qualified than Barack Obama or Joe Biden to act as President at 12:00 noon. But if Secretary Rice was not President from noon to 12:01, then who was? http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_01_18-2009_01_24.shtml#1232483177

Filed under: Auction Action , Supercars Click above for a high-res gallery of the supercars at Barrett-Jackson Although muscle cars are usually in the spotlight at Barrett-Jackson, there were quite a few interesting supercars that caught our attention as well. First up was a Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo done up in stunning Beryllium custom paint. This particular car served as a press vehicle for Saleen and was featured in the movie Redline (who cares?), and Iron Man (cool!). Did we mention it also has the one-and-only 1,000-horsepower upgrade done by the factory. The winning bidder took the car home for $412,000. For a little more than half that much, another bidder took home one of the ultimate supercars of the last decade, a 1993 Jaguar XJ220 . Other examples sold in the past few years have gone for a mere fraction of the original list price, and we think this car was well sold at the coincidental price of $220,000, perhaps due to its DOT/EPA certification. For those looking for a supercar on a budget, there was a 1996 Vector M12 , one of only 14 built with just 6,388 miles, that sold for a mere $94,600. Other exotics that crossed the block included a Hennessey Venom 700R that sold for $115,500 and an Ultima Can-Am purchased for $51,700. Don’t forget to check out this past weekend’s complete coverage of the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale by clicking here . Gallery: Barrett-Jackson 2009: The Supercars Photos copyright (C)2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc. Barrett-Jackson 2009: The Supercars originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Filed under: Auction Action Click above for Barrett-Jackson’s bargain buys under $10,000 If you only watch the Saturday night highlights on SPEED, you might think only those with deep pockets can afford to buy cars at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. Not true! There are dozens of cars that can be purchased in the four figure range, most from the GM Heritage Collection this year, with many selling for far less than $10,000. Take, for instance, a 1989 Geo Tracker “Boom Box” custom with a kickin’ stereo system that sold for $5,170, or a cool 1991 Chevy Caprice Classic purchased for a mere $3,630. There were even some “historically significant” vehicles like the first Saturn ever made , a 1991 SL1 that sold for $3,850, the one millionth Saturn , a 1995 SC2 coupe that sold for $7,150, and the brand’s second millionth vehicle , this time a 1999 SC2 coupe that went for $8,470. Taking the honor of the cheapest car sold at Barrett-Jackson this year was the above vehicle: a 1985 Oldsmobile Calais outfitted with Michigan State badging that went for just $2,475. The description states that the car is “perfect for the Michigan State fan”, but we don’t know why you wouldn’t just take a decent car and put the badges on yourself. Click below to see 10 bargain buys from Barrett-Jackson this year that even we could afford. Don’t forget to check out this past weekend’s complete coverage of the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale by clicking here . Gallery: Barrett-Jackson 2009: Bargain Buys Under $10,000 Photos copyright (C)2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc. Barrett-Jackson 2009: Bargain Buys Under $10k originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments