ALLEGED HOPHEAD J.C. FRANCE SKATES ON A TECHNICALITY
The cynics said that France, a member of NASCAR’s nearly omnipotent ruling family, would walk on drug charges. According to this Associated Press report, they were right.

J.C. France being interviewed in happier times. Perhaps appropriately, he’s standing in front of a "Rum Bum" banner . . .


FORD RECALLS 33,256 VEHICLES ON SEAT COLLAPSE RISK

Comment: Unlike the allegations against the Evil Empire (Toyota), Ford got out ahead of NHTSA and the ambulance-chasing lawyers on this alleged safety defect. Way to be proactive, Ford!

Still, it’s a cold splash of negative news on quality right when the momentum all seemed to be flowing FoMoCo’s way.

JEEPERS CREEPERS, STEERING WITH YOUR PEEPERS? GERMAN CAR LETS YOU STEER WITH YOUR EYES

Comment: Those crazy Germans! How are young drivers going to text message while motoring with that thing?

OFFICIAL PROGRESSIVE AUTOMOTIVE X-PRIZE TESTING TO BEGIN APRIL 26, 2010 IN MICHIGAN

Comment: The run-up to the Automotive X-Prize has been so lengthy that it seemed like we’d never get to "put up or shut up" time.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: PATE AUTOMOBILE COLLECTION TO BE AUCTIONED

Comment: Although Pate Museum of Transportation in Texas spawned the huge Pate Swap Meet, the museum collection was never one of America’s best. Still it’s sad to see another collector’s life passion being "cashed out" by heirs.

HOW TRUTH WITH SPEEDZZTER "CELEBRATES" MICHAEL MOORE’S 56TH BIRTHDAY
(Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" here)
Massive millionaire socialist propaganda film maker Michael Moore is 56 years old today. Moore shot to infame and liberal superstardom through his sophomoric 1989 "mockumentary" "Roger & Me."

"Roger & Me" attacks General Motors plant closings Smith’s hometown of Flint, Michigan, mostly through selectively documenting Moore's ridiculous, self-promoting efforts to interview GM head honcho Roger Smith on camera.

But the film ignores most of the real structural problems at the heart of Detroit’s problems in the 1980s. Detroit was hammered by huge unfunded mandates from Washington, D.C. 1930s labor laws allowed unions to score vastly above-market compensation and benefits in "pattern bargaining" extortion, as well as hugely expensive work rules (none of which the foreign invader "transplant" assembly plants had to bear). Inflation and interest rate problems in the late 1970s and early 1980s demanded Detroit to slash costs, which ultimately hurt product quality. Unfair trade policies allowed Asian automakers to protect their home markets and dump exports in the U.S.A.

In short, Smith’s analytical skills are superficial at best. Yet he used "Roger & Me" as a springboard for a highly lucrative career shilling for extreme leftist "social justice" causes (redistribution of wealth, reductions in personal liberty, abdication of personal responsibility) in slick, sometimes witty propaganda films. He is a slouchy, plus-sized Leni Riefenstahl of the left. Only in America . . . .

So in denigration of Mr. Moore’s 56th birthday, Truth With Speedzzter looked for a video that might be the polar opposite (at least in an automotive sense) of the barren, central-government-controlled World Moore apparently pines for:

CNN: DETROIT AUTOMAKERS . . . "TRADING JABS LIKE JUNIOR HIGH BOYS" OVER HORSEPOWER RATINGS ON FUEL-EFFICIENT V6 PONY CARS?

(Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" Here)

Comment: You mean not everybody agrees with Joe Oldham?
Here’s our choice for who wins the "Battle of the Buzzin’ Half-Dozen" in 2011:

Here’s how most junior high schoolers (and to be totally honest, Truth With Speedzzter) would evaluate the 305-horse V6 Mustang . . .

Over at Bangshift.com, there’s more support for the V6s than you might imagine.

However, Truth With Speedzzter would rather see small DOHC V8s in the 2.0 to 4.0 liter range, not V6s, carry the banner for "entry level" pony car muscle in the future. With technology such as EcoBoost (tm), Ethanol Boosting Systems’ on-demand direct ethanol injection , start-stop, variable-geometry intake manifolds, and cylinder deactivation, V8s could achieve spectacular performance with startling fuel efficiency.

FUTURE SHOCK: FORD START CONCEPT CAR WITH 3-CYLINDER ENGINE PREVIEWS TINY FUTURE

Comment: Nobody will get "Start" confused with a Shelby GT500. A one-liter, three cylinder EcoBoost (tm) engine isn’t exactly the stuff of dreams . . . unless you live in Bangladesh. And without any traditional headlamps, Start looks half-asleep. Still, its design is cleaner than Fiesta. And although it beats a moped or riding a bus, it will be a sad day when "Ford" becomes synonymous with tiny fruit cups like Start. Now if it had a 1.0 liter EcoBoost (tm)V8 and RWD . . . .
FREEP: LET OUR TECHNOLOGY CREATE A GREENER WORLD, FORD ASKS

Comment: William Clay "Li’l Billy" Ford, Jr. accepted his green leader award from the FREEP in style.

Yet the idea that Michigan will emerge as some sort of green technology leader may be a bit wishful. Advantages similar to the catalysts that made Detroit an automotive manufacturing leader a century ago (abundant iron ore, timber, timber baron money) seem to be absent this time.

FORD’S 2011 FLEET VEHICLE LINEUP LAUNCHES WITH 100 PERCENT SUSTAINABLE POWERTRAIN TECHNOLOGY

"Ford, the industry leader in commercial and government fleet sales, will offer 100 percent of its fleet vehicles this year with fuel-efficient powertrains and other sustainable technologies – including battery electric, hybrid, natural gas, propane, E-85, biodiesel (B20) and EcoBoost – making the Blue Oval the industry’s greenest full-line fleet provider."

Comment: Too bad FoMoCo won’t ever build a EcoBoost Coyote V8-powered electric hybrid P71 Police Interceptor.

YOU’VE GOT TO KNOW WHEN TO HOLD IT: JERSEY GOV. CHRISTIE SHUTS HIGHWAY TOILETS TO SAVE MONEY

Comment: $270,000 to operate two restrooms? Of course some New Yorkers would probably quip that the whole "Garden State" is a big toilet . . . .

HOLY MOLEY, MARIA MOPAR! CHRYSLER’S MARKET SHARE MAY DROP TO SEVEN PERCENT AS DETROIT MOVES ON FROM THE BANKRUPTCIES

Comment: Not even Iacocca had to face such market-share headwinds. And that’s before they start trying to sell Americans FIATs. Who knew that when Chrysler bought American Motors that they'd virtually BECOME AMC.

COMMUNIST CHINA: NUMBER ONE IN AUTOMOBILE SALES

Comment: With a billion people and a manipulated currency, it’s not surprising that the CHI COMS have slingshot past the U.S.A. in auto sales. But sales per capita and ownership rates lag far behind the U.S.A. Despite America’s over-taxed and over-regulated auto market and a myriad of assaults on automotive liberty, the U.S.A. is still a better place to be an automotive consumer than China.

JALOPNIK: TOP GEAR USA: WHAT TO EXPECT

COMMENT: A show with all the essential elements of the BBC/UK’s "Top Gear" . . . except Clarkson, May and Hammond . . . A BBC-sized budget on basic cable . . . "absolutely and brutally honest" evaluations of test cars. No kowtowing to automotive sponsors.

R-I-G-H-T. What we’ll likely see is three obnoxious young frat-boys engaged in a mindless, weakly-scripted succession of demolition derbies, gratuitous burnouts, and tired, sophomoric jokes on a show with the production values of a midnight infomercial. Of course, if it’s even that good, it will be a "Fast and Furious" hit.

HOW TRUTH WITH SPEEDZZTER CELEBRATES EARTH DAY
(Get the latest “Truth With Speedzzter” here)

Forty years ago, this Earth Day madness was thrust upon us. Of course there are better ways to celebrate 1970. . . .


Short of burning a stack of tires along with an “ecology flag” or two, Truth With Speedzzter recommends the best way for every automobile enthusiast “ to celebrate” Earth Day is with a few full-throttle blasts in your favorite high-performance vehicle.

If your taste runs more towards vintage stock cars, Bangshift's linked to some good Historic Grand National Stock Car Association action.

AAA NEW JERSEY AUTOMOBILE CLUB CELEBRATES EARTH DAY 2010 WITH THE AAA GREAT BATTERY ROUNDUP®

Comment: Aren’t most batteries recycled already?

CONSUMER REPORTS (tm) (ACTUALLY TOM TOM) BLOWS THE LID OFF OF AMERICA’S “MOST POLLUTED ROADS”

Comment: Of course among the free-range-chicken-eating, hemp-wearing, Naderites at “Consumer Distorts,” the principal component of human breath (Carbon Dioxide) is “pollution.” Thus, the “most polluted” roads are also some of the slowest. While Truth With Speedzzter is all for reducing traffic jams with better high-speed expressway designs, this “most polluted roads” angle seems a tad overblown.

SENATORS DANCE AROUND THE GAS TAX ISSUE

Comment: Those who value our motoring freedoms should love Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK). When the vast majority of Washington politicians seem willing to enrich big government with liberty-killing carbon taxes (under the guise of preventing “climate change”), Senator Inhofe has staunchly stood for a fact-based, common-sense approach to energy policy. Senator Inhofe points out again how “bait and switch” politicians try to hide their true intentions (i.e. taxing our automotive liberties out of existence to placate the liberal green lobby) with semantic shell games and misrepresentations. YOU GO, JIM!

AUTOBLOG GREEN’S GUILT GRAPHIC

[Source: Auto Insurance for Autoblog.com]

Comment: Truth With Speedzzter wonders why those who lament American exceptionalism and our First World standard of living simply don’t move to one of those idyllic places that doesn’t use as much energy per capita, such as . . . say . . . Afghanistan . . . .

WILLIE WIREDHAND, MEET REDDY KILOWATT: LARGEST GROUP OF TESLA ROADSTERS MEET IN NOR CAL

Comment: “And she’ll have fun, fun, fun when Daddy takes the battery charger away . . . .” A bunch of Bay-area computer geeks displaying their Lotus-based Autobahn golf cars next to the chilly Pacific Ocean is hardly the pinnacle of automotive fun.

EARTH DAY 2010: DETROIT

Comment: While some would argue that Detroit was already in trouble on Earth Day 1970, the ensuing four decades have brought it to the brink of ruin. 400 liquor stores and only eight grocery stores . . . acres of abandoned land . . . a city in shambles.

Liberals, see what your imports and your jihad against American-made automobiles has wrought. For a more in-depth look at how Detroit has suffered in the “Ecological Age of Aquarius”, see the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit.

WILLIAM CLAY FORD, JR. EARTH DAY HONOREE

Comment: Sure, Truth With Speedzzter has been unflinchingly hard of “Li’l Billy” at times. He’s to auto execs what the Detroit Lions are to football. Still, Ford’s current ability to capitalize on greeniac madness is attributable, at least in part, to Bill Ford’s dabbling in environmentalism. And on a day when Detroit honestly should have little to celebrate, Bill Ford is being celebrated (by some) as one of Michigan’s “green leaders” (no double entendre intended).

ROUSH-FENWAY GOES GREEN: ACTIVATES SOLAR ELECTRIC PANELS AT CONCORD, NC HANGAR

Comment: Although the Roush-Fenway's solar install probably makes no sense from an economic standpoint, it's probably great public relations. Still, the hard-core auto racing haters won't be happy until the race cars and aircraft are parked and Ol' Jack is worshiping a tree somewhere.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL MUTILATES THE LEGENDARY “TOP GEAR” FRANCHISE WITH “TOP GEAR AMERICA” NEXT FALL

Comment: “Supercars Exposed” drifter Tanner Foust, internet comedian Adam Ferrara, and the hopelessly annoying “NASCAR TV” weirdo Rutledge Wood could not hope to carry the helmet bags of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.

Mr. Clarkson is right: Americans (at least at the History Channel) don’t understand “Top Gear.” If there was any truth in labeling, the History Channel would name this emerging mess “Stripped Gear America.”

“Top Gear America” is likely to make the History Channel’s atrocious “Full Throttle” (which starred “Twins Turbo” dweebs Marc and Eric Kozeluh) look like Emmy Award-winning fare.

(Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" here)

“GOVERNMENT MOTORS” PAYS BACK TAXPAYER-FUNDED LOANS FIVE YEARS EARLY

“[S]ales of newer models have improved GM's cash flow and allowed it to make the remaining $5.8 billion in payments early.”

Comment: Whether this is simply election-year politics or “Dial Tone” Ed Whitacre ripping a page from Lee Iacocca’s dusty 1980s “New Chrysler” playbook remains to be seen. But considering the taxpayers still own more than half of the “New” GM, any repayment of the billions borrowed to fix that mostly government-caused mess is good news.

Speaking of Chrysler, the unwanted assets that Fiat didn’t buy were left in the old company, now called Old Carco, L.L.C. The bankruptcy court has approved their liquidation in a plan that reportedly will recover little for the taxpayers.

GEICO VOICE ACTOR FIRED AFTER INSULTING TEA PARTIES
Comment: It’s apparently not the guy who does the gekko or the caveman. And we’re still angry with GEICO for opposing repeal of the 55 m.p.h. national speed limit and its alleged past refusal to insure high-performance cars. But this story is mildly interesting as a barometer of how unhinged some liberals are becoming about the Tea Party movement.

JOE OLDHAM ON THE 2011 MUSTANG: SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR THE V8

Comment: Legendary journalist Joe “Muscle Car Confidential” Oldham knows muscle. After all he was once the original owner of a 1969 427 Motion Phase III Camaro. And he’s smoked the tires on nearly every OEM muscle car of the past four decades. So when he says that serious revheads will bypass the “hype” and pay extra for the Coyote V8, you’d better believe him.

EDMUNDS INSIDE LINE: SUPERCREW SVT RAPTOR COMING!

Comment: Another brilliant move by FoMoCo! Just be sure to get your SVT Raptor before 2016 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards kill all high-performance fun. By the way, Mr. Mulally, where is the DOHC version of the 6.2 Boss?

AUTOWEEK: 2011 SMS 302 MUSTANG: STEVE SALEEN’S BACK (BUT HOW MANY WILL CARE?)

Comment: 440 hp and 400 ft-lb of torque “all motor” and “more than” 535 hp and 450 lbs/ft of torque supercharged is serious Coyote V8 power. But will SMS Mustangs, starting at $54,990 (unsupercharged) be price-competitive with Ford’s revised Shelby GT500 and a host of other tuner ‘Stangs? And some old Saleen customers will probably wonder where all of the “wretched excess” vents and “cheese grater” scoops have gone.

Here’s a photo montage of the SMS 302:


CHINA AUTO SHOW: DID MERCEDES-BENZ MISSPELL “SHOOTING BREAK” ON A CONCEPT CAR

Comment: A “shooting brake” in “Queen’s English” is often viewed as the same as a station wagon or SUV in America. (However, purists cringe when “Shooting Brake” is applied to wagons with more than two doors). Some question Mercedes-Benz’s use of the term “Shooting Break” on its new Chinese Auto Show concept car. But the etymology of the “Shooting break/brake” moniker is far more tortured than it first appears. We say: Give ‘em a break . . .

TASCA’S 2010 FORD COBRA JET MUSTANG RUNS 8.97 AT153 M.P.H.

Comment: Another milestone for the Tasca family and Ford Racing. But when (if ever) is Ford going to “take it to the streets” with a “blue collar” supercharged or EcoBoost (tm) Coyote V8?

Of course, TASCA doesn’t have the only Cobra Jet Mustang. Here’s new video of some Cobra Jets rocking Milan in testing:

And earlier this year, John Rains ripped the inaugural Mojave Mile event with a 182.9 M.P.H. pass in FR500CJ Mustang.

Also at the Mojave Mile event, Jim Hahn made a proud (and oversized) display of Ford’s blue oval on his 1968 Mustang race car.


ROUSH FENWAY AND RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS TO RUN FR9 ENGINES AT TALLADEGA
Comment: We can’t get too excited about the idea of non-production “stock car” engines (or common-template “car of tomorrow” “stock cars” for that matter). But as long as everybody else has them, Ford must have them too. The slow FR9 roll-out continues at Talladega in the Aaron’s 499, with a “majority” of Fords in the field scheduled to use the new NASCAR-only mill. Maybe it will improve Ford’s results.


CARS SPEEDZZTER LIKES (SORT OF): CHUCKLES GARAGE "STRANGE BIRD" 1962 FORD FALCON FUTURA GASSER
Comment: While we can’t approve of a GM powerplant (Buick Nailhead) in a Ford, this video of the under-construction “Strange Bird” gasser shows promise. Of course it’d be better with a wicked FE or Cammer recessed into the firewall and a bit more wheelbase alteration. Still this video shows that McNamara’s Falcon can be built into a wild hot rod.

VIDEO: DRIVING THE 2011 FORD FOCUS RS500

(Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" Here)



The not-for-America 345-horsepower RS500 looks incredibly attractive in this short promo film.

CHRYSLER: LOST $ 3.8 BILLION SINCE BANKRUPTCY BUT MADE $143 MILLION IN THE FIRST QUARTER
Comment: Short term prospects for “Maria Mopar” are pumped up by $7.4 billion in reserve. But Sergio, where’s the new product?

(Get the latest “Truth With Speedzzter” here)

OH WHAT A FEELING! TOYOTA WOES BOOST CONSUMER OPINIONS OF FORDS AND OTHER AMERICAN CARS
Comment: A nine point gain for American Cars since 2006: Maybe the message that Detroit has turned the corner on quality is finally starting to sink in among the appliance motorists. But with only 38 percent saying U.S. cars are best, there’s still plenty of work to do.


FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AND THE FORD FUSION HYBRID ARE “TOP 10 GREEN CARS FOR 2010.”
Comment: Truth With Speedzzter is already sick of all the “Earth Day” propaganda. But at least Ford is capitalizing on the “green” madness sweeping the globe. But where is Ford’s electric hybrid supercar?

FORD’S SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS STRATEGY IS WORKING

“Ford vehicles are now 85 percent recyclable by weight. In 2009, Ford saved approximately $4.5 million by using recycled materials, and diverted between 25 and 30 million pounds of plastic from landfills in North America alone.”

Comment: If “sustainable materials” allow Ford to keep pumping out RWD V8s, hard-working trucks and turbo cars at reasonable prices, what’s not to love?

“Ford researchers also are investigating ways to use plastics made entirely from sustainable resources such as corn, sugar beets, sweet potatoes and other vegetables.”

Comment: And Henry Ford himself experimented with body panels made from soybeans. He’d likely be proud of the progress.

GM REALIZES THEY NEED A TURBO MARKETING “HOOK” LIKE FORD’S ECOBOOST (tm)

Uwe Grebe, executive director of GM's global advanced engineering:"We didn't have a badge and say, 'This is the most important thing we will put on all our brochures. . . It would not be good to say, 'This is EcoBoost, only better’ . . .People need to know what it is," but "people don't want to know every detail of the technology."

Comment: First, GM has to build something that actually IS better than EcoBoost (tm). And opinion leaders DO want to know every detail of the technology, Uwe.

“MAXIMUM BOB” LUTZ HINTS AT OPENNESS TO ANOTHER OEM GIG
Lutz says: "Now, no other automobile company has yet approached me and said 'Here's a huge wad of money, come and work for us.'"

Comment: Get on the phone, Mr. Mulally!

2011 FORD FIESTA: APPLINK UPGRADE TO SYNC ALLOWS CONTROL OF SMARTPHONE APPS THROUGH VOICE COMMANDS

Comment: When SYNC allows drivers to adjust shock valving and EcoBoost (tm) manifold pressure through voice commands, then maybe Truth With Speedzzter will get excited. Otherwise, this is window-dressing for the technogeek wing of appliance motoring.

AUTOEXTREMIST: LONG BEACH WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE AMERICAN LEMANS SERIES(ALMS) NEEDED

Comment: Long Beach was a decent street race, even if a Honda edged out an ex-Ford Aston-Martin at the wire. But without either Audi or Peugeot, ALMS is looking a bit second-class.

NASCAR’S YANKEES SIGN FORD DRIVER KASEY KAHNE: BAD FOR NASCAR?
Comment: Kahne is vastly overrated. But how can it be good for non-production, common-template sedan racing for one super team (Hendrick) to dominate? And why is it that Ford isn’t competing for the best drivers?

NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS TO RETURN IN 2011
Comment: The drivers overwhelmingly voted against repeating four-wide in a points event. But Bruton Smith has figured out a way to pump some needed excitement into the long NHRA grind. NHRA is smart enough to see that giving in to the drivers and some hidebound fans by turning Charlotte into another “cookie cutter” event is the wrong move. The drivers should just “shut up and race.”

KEN BLOCK’S MONSTER GYMKHANA THREE FIESTA DEBUTS

“The Gymkhana Three Fiesta was built by the same team that produced his Monster World Rally Team hatch, and includes a boosted 2.0-liter four-pot capable of 850 horsepower (de-tuned with a restrictor plate to output 650 hp in the name of tractability) and 660 pound-feet of torque.”

Comment: If only the production Fiestas were more like this . . . .

VIDEO: SVT RAPTOR 6.2 ON THE DYNO
Comment: Music! Sweet music? But where’s the DOHC version of the 6.2 Boss?

GOODGUYS' BOSS SNAKE: A CAR SPEEDZZTER LOVES

The BOSS SNAKE features a 770 horsepower Jon Kaase built 520 cubic inch Boss Hemi, Ride Tech suspension featuring Chris Alston components, PPG Goodguys Yellow Paint, Custom one off Intro Wheels, Baer 6 piston brakes with 14 inch rotors, Classic Instruments Gauges, Custom Interior by RPM, Custom exhaust by RPM and Stainless Works, Custom Flowmaster stainless exhaust, a Tremec Magnum 6 speed transmission, Centerforce clutch and hundreds of intricately fabricated parts and pieces by RPM.

Comment: Can you say "Quarter Horse?" If Truth With Speedzzter wins this incredible whip, a brace of turbos are in its future . . . .