Friday, June 05, 2009

MUSTANG IS THE NUMBER ONE CAR TEENS WANT

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The elite automotive press often makes it seem like only Japanese invader cars are the only ones popular among America's "Fast and Furious," video-game-saturated teen drivers.

Think again.

According to a recent survey reported on Forbes.com, three of the top ten most popular vehicles among teens are Fords. And the most popular vehicle of all? Ford's Mustang!

This is not a new position for the lead ponycar.

Unfortunately, some parents who buy cars for their young drivers don't seem to be as enamored with Ford's iconic ponycar.

However, this survey shows that many of America's kids aren't ready to quietly acquiesce to the Prius-ification of the American highway. Soulless, government-approved FWD Obamamobiles haven't yet captured the hearts and minds of our next generation of drivers.

For Mustang brand manager Allison Revier and the others charged with nurturing the Mustang legacy, it is critical that Mustang be kept true to its legendary V8, RWD heritage and not be diluted into a FWD ProbeStang gelding.

This will be hard under the crushing burden of the Obama Administration hikes in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. However, Mustang is a defining, aspirational model for Ford. Much like some Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Mustang provides an iconic canvas for self-expression. It has strong cross-generational appeal. It is the spiritual successor to the '32 Ford V-8 as a foundation of grassroots motorsports.

Even though most of the current Mustang powerplants (excluding the hyper-exclusive Shelby GT500) are way down on power to GM's Camaro and other competitors, the Mustang remains the true heart and soul of the Ford Motor Company. Other Fords may sell in greater volumes, but the Mustang is the one that Fordophiles care about.

Jim Farley, Ford Group Vice President of Marketing and Communications, told 0-60 Magazine that "The Ford Mustang is one of the world’s most beloved automotive and cultural icons . . .Since April 17, 1964, it has been a symbol of American freedom and fun.”

Thankfully, many of the kids still "get that."

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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

HP2g L.L.C. AND THE REVENGE VERDE SUPERCAR?

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Doug Pelmear and the team that initially claimed to have built an 100+ m.p.g.e. Fox-Body Mustang for the Progressive Automotive X-Prize Competition has now announced a manufacturing facility for their mysterious engine technology.

First manufacturing facility for 110 MPG HP2g engine / R&D lab


Grand Opening June 1, 2009

Wauseon, OH: June1,2009 Time 10am -12noon ---- Horse Power Sales.net, Inc. and HP2G, LLC will officially open the first manufacturing facility for the production and assembly of their revolutionary, 110MPG, V-8, HP2g engine on June 1, 2009 in Wauseon, Ohio.

The HP2g is a revolutionary alternative energy solution that will reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil, and help keep the environment clean. The engine runs on E85, (a green alcohol-based fuel) that significantly reduces green house gas emissions. In testing, HP2g has exhibited ultra-high fuel economy and outstanding horsepower upon demand. The first production vehicle to utilize the HP2g technology will be the Revenge Verde Super Car, a luxury performance super car from Revenge Designs Inc.

The opening of the facility will create immediate jobs for the Northwest Ohio area. Planned expansions could result in the creation of as many as 2,000 support jobs in the next three to five years.

Also to be on display is HP2g Mustang, Revenge GTM-R Super Car and other performance vehicles. Both companies look forward to displaying the HP2g motor and Revenge Verde Super Car in the future after their late 2009 release


According to Autoblog Green, the Revenge Verde supercar is to be displayed at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show in December.

Revenge Designs, Inc. is apparently primarily a Pontiac Solstice and 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO tuner.

However, the Verde is self-reportedly a clean-sheet design:

The all-new Revenge Verde Super Car will be totally designed in-house. The Revenge Verde Super Car makes extensive use of carbon fiber and has a chromoly tubular chassis design as well as a wheel base similar to the Ferrari GTB in order to allow for considerable leg and head room. The mid-engine compartment is specifically designed for the HP2g engine technology.

The production of the GTM-R Super Car will not continue. It is simply not feasible to produce a vehicle that is not entirely designed in-house and requires such a considerable amount of reconstruction and design.

With several months into the development of the Verde Super Car, Revenge Designs hopes to release the new Verde Super Car at the LA International Auto Show in December 2009. Revenge intends to display two versions of the Verde; one left-hand and one right-hand drive with the purpose of releasing the vehicles to the world market and not simply the American stage. Following the Revenge Verde Super Car, the company will be producing a Super Saloon vehicle in late 2010 that will accommodate the four-door passenger car market.


According to a Revenge Designs press release, "Revenge [will be] the sole and exclusive Certified Installation Centers in the United States for the installation of HP2g engines for aftermarket purchasers. Revenge will be the sole and exclusive Certified Installation Center for HP2G's HP2g engine for those clients."


Truth With Speedzzter has thus far been unable to verify independent, objective scientific verification of HP2g's claims. Moreover, Truth With Speedzzter is not privy to any proprietary information about the "Pelmear Mystery Motor" from HP2g However, it seems that HP2g may soon have their alleged revolutionary engine in the hands of the motoring press or members of the public. Until then, Truth With Speedzzter will remain skeptically optimistic about HP2g's and Revenge's spectacular claims.

NOTE: This news story contains unverified information based on forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this report that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approvals for anticipated actions.

Truth With Speedzzter is wholly unaffiliated with HP2g, LLC, Doug Pelmear, Revenge Designs, Inc. or anyone affiliated with these entities.

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WHAT KILLED PONTIAC--A COUNTERPOINT TO JIM BRENNAN

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Bangshift.com has pointed its readers to an Automotive Traveler e-zine story entitled "Recently Deceased: The Top 10 Reasons Why Pontiac Failed", by Jim Brennan.

Brennan's analysis is solid and should be read. However, it tends to overfocus on more more recent and superficial mistakes instead of hitting many of the core structural problems that doomed Pontiac.

Here's Truth With Speedzzter's alternative hypothesis:

10. GM Politics -- Protect the Corvette. Delorean, Estes, Knudsen and Co were often "shut down" in their attempts to remake Pontiac into GM's performance division by the politics of protecting the 'Vette. The original Bonneville was a two seater. So was the Banshee. Only the Corvette could have multiple carbs after '66, killing the legendary GTO "Tri-Power" system. The Fiero was hamstrung with weak engines out of fear that a high performance model would hurt the 'Vette.

9. Performance Malaise -- After the insurance companies and the government killed Pontiac's 1960s business model, Pontiac floundered in coping with the new, low-performance reality of the 1970s. Instead of building smaller, lighter high-performance cars, GM forced Pontiac into building some of its most overweight and underperforming cars (which were badge engineered as Mr. Berman observes) since the flathead Straight 8 days. These cars haunted Pontiac's brand image for decades.

8. Design Malaise -- Co-extensive with PMD's performance malaise was the stagnation in design that gripped Pontiac. Corporate downsizing lead to a series of boxy models that looked like the shipping crates for the swoopy Pontiacs of the 1960s. Moreover, Pontiac stayed too long with the Colonnade/neo-classic styling initially championed by the '70s Grand Prixs (before they were disasterously replaced by the horrible, FWD GM10s)

7. Leaving NASCAR -- Every GM division that has left NASCAR racing, save Buick has ended up dead. Coincidence?

6. The GM Racing Ban -- The real death of Pontiac started in February 1963 when the GM board killed Pontiac's Super Duty aspirations in the infamous racing ban. The ban sent folks like Mickey Thompson and David Pearson into the arms of rivals. The ban dried up most high performance development of the Pontiac V8. The ban left Pontiac coasting on the inertia of the Super Duty era throughout the entire lifespan of the original GTO, up to the point where it became the fat, bloated, "old Elvis" cartoon of itself featured in "Two-Lane Blacktop." Pontiac's forced withdrawal from racing made the brand flabby. When it returned in the 1980s, its race cars were too far removed from anything it offered to the general public.

5. Three decades without a GTO -- Nowhere is GM's mismanagement of Pontiac more salient than the decades spent without a GTO. When the going got tough in 1974, GM politics and Pontiac's failure to adapt killed the Goat. And even as Buick was making headlines with the turbocharged Grand National/Type T Regal, Pontiac soldiered on with the freakish 150 h.p. Chevy-powered Pontiac 2+2 (a car which rivals the Aztek for ungainly styling). However, the idea of a practical, good handling, exciting-to-drive muscle car has never lost currency. The 2004-2006 GTO was simply too little, too late.

4. The slow death of the Firebird -- The Firebird was a good idea. But GM simply didn't keep it current enough. Each generation hung on too long. The innovative OHC 6 was killed not long before it would have been a huge help to PMD during the gas-crisis '70s. Each generation after the first was or became too heavy and inefficient. The quality of the latter generations was horrible. The 301 Turbo Trans Am was shockingly underdeveloped and killed off before it could be refined into a Grand National-killing supercar. The CAFE "two fleets" rule forced GM to build the F-Bodies in Canada, alienating some U.S. customers. By 2002, the Firebird simply was too impractical and dated. As others (namely Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet, Hyundai) have proven, the Pony Car concept remains viable, but Pontiac simply forgot how to build them.

3. Front wheel drive -- GM's insistence on Wrong Wheel Drive in its sedans and coupes was anathema to Pontiac's sporting pretensions. While the Bonneville, Grand Prix and others soldiered on for decades with archaic two-valve pushrod sixes and hamstrung with FWD, they were not attractive for brand-building grassroots motorsports activities. While PMD attempted to offer sporty FWDs with the 6000 STE and various Sunbird/Sunfires, Pontiac had nothing competitive for the emerging sport compact and sports sedan niches until it was way too late.

2. The Iron Duke -- Possibly the most antediluvian engine of its time, the wheezing pushrod, two-valve Iron Duke four was the antithesis of Pontiac's performance image. It is emblematic of GM's short-sighted, penny-pinching ways. It was the boat anchor that held down Fiero. It regularly burst into flames in Fieros as well. It's lack of attractiveness and weak bottom end drove scores of sport compact tuners to higher tech Japanese cars, depriving Pontiac of another generation of customers.

1. Death of the real Pontiac V8 -- The modern soul of Pontiac was cut out in 1981 when GM forced Pontiac to use Chevrolet engines. Brand loyalty plummeted. The one thing that made sporting Pontiacs unique was lost forever. Everything that happened after that point was simply rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.

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Tuesday, June 02, 2009

SETBACKS FOR THE JAPANESE INVADERS

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The May 2009 sales reports show that Ford Motor Company suffered less sales erosion by percentage than any other major auto company in the U.S. market. Although Ford’s sales were off by a reported 24.2 percent compared to May 2008, it actually gained market share.

Meanwhile the leading Japanese invaders cratered. The “Evil Empire” (Toyota) was down a whopping 40.7 percent and was in third place behind GM and Ford in the U.S. market. Honda also tanked, losing a massive 41.5 percent of sales as compared to last May. Nissan was also down by 33.1 percent.

Are Americans starting to figure out that buying Japanese instead of a Detroit 3 product creates huge net losses for our economy?

Are more buyers realizing that it’s simply bad form to turn their backs on American industry at time of grave economic crisis?

Are Americans starting to fight back in a small way against globalization?

Is the message starting to sink in that buying a Detroit 3 product supports more quality OEM jobs than purchasing a foreign vehicle that's merely assembled (often mostly by robots) in a low-wage “invader” plant?

Are Americans finally starting to rally to defend our auto industry from the predatory Japanese takeover?

Are Americans finally starting to discover that Ford quality is competitive with Japan’s government-protected and subsidized automakers?

Or is it something else at work, such as inferior demographics. Most certainly, the credit crisis has damaged the ability of young, sub-prime borrowers to finance new vehicles. Undoubtedly, the customer mix of the Japanese invaders has always trended younger and is most likely less creditworthy. Thus, it seems possible that the Japanese invaders would suffer disproportionately more in a broad market sales downturn.

Or could it be that the Korean attack at the margins is starting to slash the Japanese invaders in entry-level and youth market segments?

It’s hard to get too excited about one month’s sales data. Moreover, FoMoCo is still shrinking, albeit not as fast as everyone else.

Most certainly, Team Japan will engage in brutal “kamikaze” marketing incentives and smashmouth tactics to fight any erosion in their market share. And millions upon millions of short-sighted Americans still fail to realize the danger of Japan’s predatory automotive policies and the unsustainability of our trade deficits. They selfishly ingest the “appliance motorist” myths about Asian imports and cling to dated stereotypes about American vehicles. They give no concern about the greater effects that their vehicle purchases have on sustaining the American economy.

Still, the May 2009 sales figures inspire some hope for supporters of real American vehicles in general and Ford in particular.

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Monday, June 01, 2009

FEW MOURN TILLER, GM, OR CHRYSLER (BUT MITT “SLICK WILLARD” ROMNEY IS STILL ABSOLUTELY WRONG)

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The rule of law is supposedly a hallmark of the American system. Yet the events of the past few days have shown that the rule of law is under virulent attack.

As expected, the nationalization of General Motors has now moved into the friendly confines of bankruptcy court.

As expected, the Indiana Pensioners and other creditors got steamrolled in Chrysler’s Obama administration-orchestrated “show bankruptcy.”
Now the Treasury Department is partners with FIAT and the U.A.W.


Capitalism, anyone?


And on Sunday, May 31, 2009, the heinous and vicious late-term abortionist George Tiller met his Maker somewhere in the aisles of the Reformation Lutheran Church of Wichita, Kansas. Tiller was murdered at the hands of a rogue anti-abortion zealot who cast off the essential philosophy of the pro-life movement to mete out vigilante justice that was “above [the assassin’s] pay grade.”

Meanwhile, President Obama has nominated to the Supreme Court a liberal, pro-abortion, “policy making” identity politician masquerading as a jurist. Judge Sonia Sotomayor has expressed a belief that neutral questions of law and constitutional interpretation are better decided by an inarticulate, brusque, unquestionably liberal, Ivy-league-educated, Puerto Rican woman who grew up in the ghetto, than by any Caucasian male: “ I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.”

In each of these events, pragmatic, ends-justifies-the-means rationales were clearly at work.

And each of these events is an indicator that the impartial rule of law is dying in America.

Few seem to be mourning that.

The average Obama voter certainly doesn’t.

Deeply imbibing the mellifluous snake oil of “hope and change,” the average Obama supporter blithely wheels her non-union-made Japanese car and sheds no tears for the government-union-regulatory nexus that mostly destroyed GM and Chrysler’s competitiveness over the past seventy years. Instead, she demands increased environmental and organized labor intrusions into the business of American manufacturers, even as she personally consumes products made in dirty overseas sweatshops at record rates.

And as long as the government checks keep coming, the mobs of special interests that support Obama and the power-mad Democrats will scarcely question the costs of current deficit spending spree, or the de facto nationalization of our most basic industry, or the sacrifice of what’s left of the free market and success-through-merit on the altars of forced redistribution, “fairness as justice,” and climate change.

Few will mourn that the creation of “Government Motors” will have the unintended consequence of driving many more short-sighted, selfish consumers into the arms of the predatory Japanese invader automakers in retaliation for the perceived largess toward the U.A.W. and the recent federal interference in the business of GM and Chrysler (notwithstanding that decades of federal interference mostly predicated the crisis to begin with).

Few will mourn the loss of American industrial muscle and of vehicular freedom-of-choice that will result from the polarizing events of the government effectively running over half of the domestic auto industry.

Few will mourn the thousands of family-owned automobile dealerships which will be forcibly closed in “reorganization” (and some will even celebrate that these losses fall most prominently upon Republicans).

Few will mourn that an emerging Climate-Industrial Complex is becoming poised tocontrol or affect virtually every aspect of life in America.
Likewise, few will truly mourn the premeditated murder of an unrepentant, cold-blooded killer-for-hire who crushed the skulls of defenseless children sometimes just days or hours before birth and vacuumed out their innocent brains like some sort of fetal parasite. Many will see the irony that Dr. Tiller’s end was as unwilling and violent as the untold numbers of unborn children he dismembered for profit.

A few misguided souls will attempt to rationalize that Tiller’s quantum of moral evil somehow justified the moral evil of his murder. Such a result would indicate a profound misunderstanding of the underpinnings of the pro-life movement.

Undoubtedly, the Planned Parenthood lobbyists, abortion mills, “pro-choice” activists, and grandstanding leftist politicians (many with politically-motivated crocodile tears flowing) will attempt to elevate Wichita’s most infamous baby butcher into some sort of sick, fetid “martyr” for the pragmatic cause of the “right” to murder unborn children for convenience -- or in the sanitized P.C. vernacular of the pro-abortion movement: for “choice.” Some may even try to link the special-interest campaign to confirm the “Wise Latina” and budding constitutional vandal Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court as the necessary response to Dr. Tiller’s slaying. Yet, few will mourn that the rule of law and valid, transcendent principles of conscience failed to constrain both Dr. Tiller and his assailant.

Few will mourn that an allegedly “Christian” church – the so-called Reformation Lutheran Church – was apparently so devoid of the Gospel and of sound doctrinal teaching on matters of life that a horrific, rebellious, unrepentant serial murderer such as Dr. Tiller could peacefully thrive within their congregation and was even reportedly permitted to assume a leadership role. Certainly, the pragmatism of such a“church” has blinded them to God’s laws and has lead them into an unholy union with the “god of this age.” The inherent idiolatry of popularity has seemingly caused their salt to lose its savor (if it ever had any).

Few will probably mourn that the unlawful, yet sickly “pragmatic” act of murdering Dr. Tiller will distract and detract from decades of righteous, non-violent, law-abiding opposition to the unspeakable horror and manifest injustice of abortion-on-demand.

However, the pragmatists on both sides of the aisle will be out in force maneuvering. A prime example is “Slick Willard” himself, Willard Mitt Romney.

Romney is ever the pragmatist, and is seemingly unguided by consistent principles. Previously, Romney has repeatedly demonstrated his permutability on the abortion question.

And now Romney has conclusively shown his lack of insight on the automobile crisis. On Fox News Sunday, “Romney suggested that the roughly 70 percent of GM that the government could own after it emerges from bankruptcy should be immediately distributed to taxpayers, and the 17.5 percent that will go to a UAW trust fund for retiree healthcare should be handed out to UAW members.”

Romney’s “pragmatic” grandstanding makes absolutely no sense. It is simply transferring ownership of GM to people who have done nothing individually to merit it. The billions of dollars in GM debt held by the Treasury Department that purportedly justify the government acquiring an ownership stake would not flow with the distributed stock under the Romney Plan. Certainly, the only hope for recovering any of the taxpayer money spent thus far is the remote possibility of GM and Chrysler recovering (against the crushing load of Obama’s carbon-reduction, environmental, foreign, and labor policies) and a sale of the new stock to investors. Romney’s plan would be nothing more than a windfall to people who did nothing much to deserve it. Moreover, it compounds one abuse of the rule of law with another one.

The events of the last few days show that the rule of law in America is in grave crisis. And there is no shortage of charlatans, such as Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, and Mitt Romney, who are poised to “pragmatically” take advantage of the crisis for their own benefit. And few will join Truth With Speedzzter in mourning that.

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