Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut

PONTIAC'S ALL-NEW, ALL-AUSSIE G8 --- A PROPER GTO SUCCESSOR?

Let’s get right down to it: What if they built a thoroughly-delightful, family-sized and powerful performance four-door sedan with all the right bells and whistles, priced so reasonably that even your mother wouldn’t object  … but no one could afford to put gas into it?

Such is the problem in which Pontiac finds itself with their all-new, all-Aussie-built G8 “lite” V6 and its nastier older V8-equipped brother, G8 GT. It’s no different than the situation Dodge is experiencing with their newly-launched Challenger (two-door coupe) and Charger (four-door sedan) rear-drivers and Ford is in with Mustang (though that particular “pony car” remains true to its coupe-only roots).

Both versions of G8 deliver a ton of performance for the dollar, US, Aussie or otherwise. The baby of the family base-prices at $26,910, while the proper V8-equipped G8 can be had at only $29,310. That works out to about $1,500 each for the two extra cylinders offered by the GT, or about $30 per each extra horsepower drivers get with the V8.

(Click anywhere on this line to see the digivid G8 GT road test running on CAR NUT TV).

The buyers’ choice is for either the plain G8, with its modern, 256-hp, 3.6-liter four-cam DOHC V-6 and the  5L40 five-speed automatic, or the bruiser version, G8 GT, with its pushrod Gen IV L76 361-hp, 6.0-liter V-8 mated with a six-speed 6L80 Hydra-Matic. Both trannies can be set in “full auto” mode or the driver can select semi-automatic, clutchless sequential shifting. GM calls this auto/manual system as having “manual-shift capability”.

There’s a rumored all-manual six-speed shifter for the V8 coming from Oz sometime in the future, but nothing definite as yet. Unless GT sales are unexpectedly strong, though, we wouldn’t bet on it happening. Pontiac did tell us that they expect as much as 80% of the G8’s ordered to be GT models, which is a high ratio when compared to competitive cars; since we heard that directly from Pontiac, though, in mid-March, gas prices have skyrocketed. The Los Angeles Times, surveying several well-known automotive consultancies, among them JD Power and Associates and Car Lab, reported on May 31st a huge shift in the buying habits of those choosing cars offering I4 or V6 engines now favor the four-bangers, a definite change from the past. (Photo --- Busy interior belongs in a car aimed more at a family's 17-year old kid, not dad).

No matter the G8 model chosen, both the five- and six-speeds are “driver shiftable” using the console-mounted shifter (sorry, boy racers, no F1-style paddles; this car is for your dad). Our V8 tester came with a “normal” and “sport” mode choice for the six-speed; naturally, we spent most of our driving time in the sport mode, especially on the curvy parts of the over-100-mile route laid-out by General Motors’ engineering- and PR-types, and appreciated how long the system, when in sport, stayed in-gear until upshifting.

Click below to read and see more about Pontiac's all-new G8.

'RUSTY' WALLACE: TOYOTA CHEATING?

Well, 'Rusty' Wallace, in the announcers' booth for today's Nationwide Series "Heluva Good! 200," (nice family-sensitive name, that) carried on ESPN2, couldn't hold it in anymore, giving very public voice to the good ol' American xenophobia which can be found in many NASCAR garages, with Wallace almost challenging NASCAR to "level the playing field" between Toyota and its Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge competitors.

It'd been a great week, so far, for NASCAR, with TV ratings for the "Coca-Cola 600" beating-out those for the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 refugee Scott Speed, who was the only American driver in F1 in the past several years, winning Dover's "AAA Insurance 200" Craftsman Truck Race in only his sixth start.  (Photos --- Above, Denny Hamlin does burnouts after winning the Dover Nationwide race in his Joe Gobbs Toyota Camry; Below, Rusty Wallace, who apparently has "issues" with Toyota engines).

Maybe it was the three-hour rain delay before starting the Nationwide race making for a longer-than-normal-lunch among the announcers, but with wild cards like Wallace in the booth, you know something silly might be said, you just can't predict when and how bad it will be. But Wallace did deliver, and how, with comments so insipid and uncalled-for that he made NASCAR's semi-official Toyota-hater, Jack Roush, sound like the General Director of the UN.

With fewer than 10 laps left in the Nationwide event at Dover, in the middle of one of Wallace's ongoing, never-ending monologues about how great any team associated with the Wallace name is doing, Wallace broke open his personal dam of anti-Toyota feeling.

With Denny Hamlin leading the race in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, Wallace chimed in with (and we admittedly paraphrase, waiting for the official transcript), "These Toyotas are making so much horsepower ... When you put them on the engine dynos after the race, well, a lot of people just ... I wonder if NASCAR is going to do anything to level the playing field with them" and then his tirade ended, with absolutely no comment or response of any kind from his more experienced, more professional colleagues in the booth. They knew Rusty had just put his foot in it, and they weren't about to help him scrape any of it off. These are the times in "show biz" when you really find out who your friends are --- and the answer is, almost always, "Nobody". (Photo --- Scott Speed exults with crew after winning Dover's Craftsman Truck event in only his sixth start ... By the way, he was driving a Toyota).

We hope NASCAR and Wallace both realize the serious problems with what he said; there are NASCAR announcers who still sound as if they purposely mis-pronounce the Toyota name (something Lee Iacocca used to enjoy doing with both the names "Toyota" and "Mitsubishi").

With Jack Roush, who has used Fords for his teams since dirt was young, having not let-up in his criticism of Toyota from the day they announced their entry into Sprint Cup racing, today's comments by Wallace, heard around the world, question not only if Toyota "plays by the rules," but unnecessarily throws gasoline onto the anti-Japanese fire which already burns too brightly not only in the sport but, judging by visits to NASCAR-oriented blog sites, among too many of its fans, too.

GAS/DIESEL PRICES --- FINALLY, THE TRUTH

Read it and weep.

This was the scene at a Shell station on May 22, 2008, in Palm Desert, California. Diesel fuel at $5.19, 98 cents more than they are charging for the highest-octane gasoline they offer.

Any American who has ever visited Europe or Asia, especially Japan and Korea, are shocked at the price of  gasoline and diesel. In many European countries, it's over $8 a gallon. Japanese are paying somewhere north of $5.50 per gallon.

SO WHY ARE FUEL PRICES SO LOW IN SOME COUNTRIES, SO HIGH IN OTHERS?

There are some countries where gasoline prices seems ridiculously low. Some of these are nations which  sit on top of oceans of oil, though even that seemingly never-ending supply is dwindling rapidly. The people in many of those oil-rich countries not only pay very low prices at the pump, but they may also receive free health care, free schooling including at the university level, free housing and annual cash payments from their governments. In places such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Brunei, oil pays the bills.

Why are pump prices so low in some countries which are not rich in oil? Subsidization. Many of these nations keep prices artificially low by subsidizing the price of fuel, "paying the difference" as it were, between the actual cost of the oil product and what the population can realistically afford to pay.

In some of these countries, especially in South America, the central government knows that keeping the prices of gas and diesel low will keep their constituents happy and create an atmosphere ripe for further foreign investment, growth and industrialization. Venezuela and some other near-totalitarian regimes (Cuba, China, Nigeria, etc) have even nationalized their oil industries, and as the owners, they can dictate pump prices. In those countries, because the oil producers have to deal with just one buyer,  the government  can cut deals with OPEC and other oil suppliers for very favorable prices.

We Americans see low gas prices as a birthright. But why have gasoline prices been so low in the US for ... well, forever? There are many reasons, including these five at the top of the list: Volume, taxes, the value of the dollar, the current world situation and, perhaps most important overall, availability.

We'll try here to explain these "five horsemen of the apocalypse". Keep in mind that we're not historians or experts on the oil industry; I'm just a journalist who's been covering the worldwide auto industry for over 35 years. 

VOLUME

Compared to those in other nations, consumers in the US have always bought so much of those dead dinosaur remains that the oil companies, refiners, shippers, OPEC, the Saudis and their buddies and more have always been thrilled to deal with us. It's just like the old TV commercials which had some store owner or manager saying, "How do we keep our prices so low? VOLUME!".

The sheer huge amount of oil products the US buys far surpasses that of all other nations. In addition, with oil trading and speculating being done in traditionally strong US dollars, the price of oil futures had been fairly stable until the 1970s when the first "fuel crisis" occurred. The world's oil prices were also rocked to some extent earlier, by the late-1950s Suez Canal crisis, but the market got back to "normal" when that emergency was over. The Suez Crisis did result in the creation of the Mini, but that's another fascinating story.

Click below to read and see more about why the price of gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, kerosene and other aircraft fuels, and all oil products, has gone up so far and so fast in America.

NEW NOW! FOUR ALL-NEW HONDA HYBRIDS; FCX CLARITY FUEL CELL SEDAN NOW LEASING

Honda says that by 2015, the company will have a minimum of four very different gasoline/electric hybrid cars on-sale in the US and around the globe. These will include a hybrid version of the Fit, a sporty hybrid modeled on the CR-Z concept we saw at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, the company's existing Civic hybrid and an all-new Toyota Prius-fighter slated for a 2009 debut. (Photo Above -- Honda's robot Asimo appears above the FCX Clarity at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show).

More on those four later; Honda's most intriguing news this week is their announcement that production versions of their FCX Clarity hydrogen-fueled fuel-cell EV will soon be in the hands of about 200 families, who will sign three-year leases for each of the cars at about $600 a month. (Photo --- Honda said this week that their CR-Z concept, shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2007, will be one of the vehicles the company will sell as a gasoline/electric hybrid).

But first, as they, this: Most important for consumers around the world, Honda (and Toyota and Nissan) continue to put their money where their mouth is; American car-buyers still cannot buy very high-mileage cars with cutting-edge technologies from one of the Detroit Three. As it was with overall vehicle quality through the '80s and '90s and in many cases right up until today, Asian car-makers and the Japanese in particular seem so far ahead of the curve when it comes to gas/electric hybrids and hydrogen-fueled fuel cell EVs which produce virtually no emissions, that the Detroit Three seem in danger of being left out in the cold.

European car-makers including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz will be marketing diesel-powered cars and trucks in the US later this year which meet the nation's strictest mileage and emissions standards. The Detroit Three lag well behind of that bell curve, too. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Mazda have all been experimenting, very publicly, with using hydrogen as a fuel for internal combustion engines. (Photo --- GM's Equinox hydrogen-fueled fuel cell crossover; the company says about 60 of them will be available for leasing later this year).

When compared with Chrysler and Ford, General Motors is clearly, and by far, the US' leader in high-tech, high-mileage, low-emissions cars and trucks. Their development of the mileage-improving Dual-Mode Hybrid Transmission for large trucks and SUVs, the Volt passenger car which uses a small gasoline-fueled "generator" to keep on-board battery packs recharged and allow a 600-mile near all-EV range, and the Equinox hydrogen-powered fuel cell small SUV are all note-worthy newsmakers. The General says that some Equinox test vehicles will "hit the road" with specially-selected families in America within the next year, similar to the program Honda has announced for their FCX Clarity (more below). But talking about developing the vehicles necessary for the 21st century and beyond and actually building and selling them to the public are two very different things.

Honda says their plans call for the company to deliver about 200 of their FCX Clarity (Fuel Cell eXperimental) hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles to Japanese and American customers in its first three years of production, with leases beginning this July. The program marks the world's first large-scale retail initiative for fuel cell vehicle technology, and Honda has begun the process of identifying customers from a group of over 50,000 drivers who have expressed interest in the FCX Clarity on the company's website. (Photo --- A new dual-mode transmission is one of the components which make the large GMC/Chevy SUVs "Green Cars of the Year;" the system almost doubles highway mileage).

Honda will announce its first customers when the first FCX Clarity rolls off the production line at a ceremony on June 16, 2008 in Japan, where Honda will also showcase the world's first dedicated fuel cell vehicle production facility.

FCX Clarity is a next-generation, hydrogen-fueled fuel cell vehicle. Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel cell, its only emission is water, and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a modern gasoline-powered automobile.

The FCX Clarity's multi-year launch began in October 2005, where we witnessed the unveiling of the next-generation FCX Concept vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show. This was followed in November, 2007 with the debut of the FCX Clarity much-closer-to-production model not in Japan, which was expected, but at the Los Angeles Auto Show. We were there, too, when Honda announced plans to begin leasing vehicles to customers in the US.

For more analysis, perspective, information and photos of Honda's four new hybrids and FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan, click below.

$10,894,900 --- 1961 FERRARI CALIFORNIA BREAKS AUCTION RECORDS

One of 55 Ferrari 250 short wheelbase (SWB) models ever built has sold at a European auction for over USD $10,890,000 a record for any car ever sold at public auction. The beautiful car was bought by a UK-based Ferrari enthusiast and "radio personality," and his wife, a professional golfer. They both must be doing alright.

(From RM Auctions press release): Car enthusiasts and Ferrari collectors from across the globe descended on Maranello, Italy this past weekend for RM Auctions' second annual "Ferrari Leggenda e Passione" auction event to witness a new auction record established for a 1961 Ferrari California Spyder formerly owned by actor James Coburn. The rare car exceeded all expectations by selling for a world record auction price for a vintage car at auction in the amount of $10,894,900 U.S., surpassing the previous record set at Sotheby's Monaco in 1990 for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO at $10,756,000 U.S. (Editing note --- James Coburn? I thought he drove a Lark ... No, forgive us, he smoked Larks (and did all their advertising in Japan, starting in the late 1960s, when very few American actors would "lower" themselves doing advertising outside the US. Boy, have times changed).

The annual RM Ferrari auction, held in association with Sotheby's, put under the hammer an unrivaled collection of historic Ferraris at the legendary home of Ferrari in Maranello, Italy. Among the attendees was one extremely well known Ferrari enthusiast, and British television and radio personality Chris Evans. Chris, accompanied by his wife, golf pro and writer Natasha Shishmanian, attended the Gala reception on Saturday, May 17th where he fell for the considerable charms of a black 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder. The following day, Chris made the successful bid for his dream machine, which will now take pride of place in his own celebrated collection and the honor of "the most valuable car sold in auction history." (End of press release). The car does not look too much unlike another two-seater of the same era, this one from the UK, from a company called AC. (Photo --- This most expensive Ferrari was once owned by actor James Coburn, seen below; the two Ferrari owners, both Coburn and Steve McQueen, were pallbearers at the funeral of action star Bruce Lee ... Small world, huh? Coburn was in some great movies, like the "Flint" spy spoof series of the '60s, the Magnificent Seven, 1960, and the Great Escape, 1963, where he appeared with McQueen. These are some Ferraris with heavy acting karma!).

Replacing their long wheelbase (LWB) California Spyder with a SWB version, which made for better- handling and lightened the car's weight quite a bit, Ferrari designer Scaglietti showed a new Spyder California at the Geneva Show in 1960. Based on the 250 GT SWB, it also introduced disc brakes and a 280 hp version of the 250 V12. About 55 were built. (Photo --- UK radio personality and Ferrari collector Chris Adams stepped up in a big way and spent almost USD $11,000,000; witnesses say his wife did not attack him after he made the winning bid ... Lucky guy!).

The 250 models were a series of Ferrari sports cars built from the 1950s and into early 1960s. It was the company's most successful early line of vehicles, produced for over a decade from 1953 to 1964 and resulting in several variants for both road and track. The 250 was replaced by the 275 and the 330.

The most celebrated 250 is the 1962 250 GTO, a true supercar that spawned numerous imitators. Other 250 Ferraris closely-related to this record-setting sports car include the Lusso, Monza, Testa Rossa, GTO and the P and LM (LeMans) racing versions. Some of these cars are those which literally take your breath away when seen in person and in context, on either a race track or the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach's Concours d'Elegance. The long wheelbase (LWB) 250 GT theme was expanded with their 2+2 model 250 GT/E. That car was the first large production four-seat Ferrari (earlier four seaters were made in very small numbers).

Click below for more about the world record-breaking Ferrari California Spyder.

BEVERLY RAE KIMES, 68, MOST-HONORED AUTOMOTIVE AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN, DIES

Longtime automotive historian and author Beverly Rae Kimes died Monday, May 12. Kimes was a rarity in the field; as one of the first female authors in a business traditionally dominated by men, Kimes' expertise in classic, racing and collectible cars, and the people who made and drove them, was the exception to the rule.

Her career has helped open doors for other women, such as Denise McCluggage (Autoweek and more), Jean Lindamood (Automobile) and Judy Stropus (who covers motor racing). They and others to come in the future owe a debt to Beverly Rae Kimes which can never truly be paid-in-full. Knowing that in order to succeed in her chosen profession her work had to be better than everyone else's, Kimes went onto become certainly the most-honored auto writer in this country, maybe even the world. Someone had to be first, and in this case, she was the "one".

Kimes' body of work, found for decades in magazines, newspapers, especially in books and now through the Web, confirms that she was one of the best writers in her league, spending much of her professional life at the top of the ladder. Kimes had a visceral understanding of cars and drivers but also of the more "ordinary" people, like the marketers, engineers and assembly line workers who made cars possible and available to the masses. She quite literally "wrote the book" on the rare and expensive European and American classics, and her "Standard Catalogers" and other books and articles are used as trusted reference material for many motor writers who came after Kimes (trust me ... I know ... Visits to the local library or the Detroit Public Library or private periodical collections are still necessary for true research into auto stories, even with the existence of Web).

Beverly Rae Kimes was born in West Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 17, 1939, and grew up in Wheaton, Ill. She earned two journalism degrees, a bachelor’s from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a master’s from Penn State.

A stickler for accuracy and detail, thoroughness and patience, with liberal doses of humor and insight, the exact qualities her job called for, Kimes  was a prolific researcher and writer known for such books as “The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942” and “Packard: A History of the Motor Car and the Company.” Most recently, Beverly was the executive editor of the Classic Car Club of America, and had been a longtime editor of "Automobile Quarterly;" in fact, Kimes was that prestigious publication's first full-time employee.

She also had a longtime relationship with Mercedes-Benz, and in 1986 was commissioned to author and  produce the large, single volume commemorating the company's first 100 years in business, "The Star and The Laurel: The Centennial History of Daimler, Mercedes and Benz 1886-1986". The magnificent book became an instant automotive and publishing industry collectible. It featured over 850 photographs and details the technical developments and achievements in the history of the automotive industry first made by Daimler, Benz and Mercedes (the company's division which was named for the daughter of one of Daimler-Benz's first board members, Emil Jellinek, who also formed the company's first racing division and was the company's French distributor).

She also frequently contributed articles to "The Star," the magazine of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, itself one of the most-honored publications, with gorgeous, memorable prose and wonderful, warm photography dripping with Kodachrome color.

Click below for more on Beverly Rae Kimes, her life and profession.

WATCHES OWNED BY PAUL NEWMAN AND FERRARI'S PRESIDENT BRING OVER $2.3 MILLION AT AUCTION!

Most people who like cars also like airplanes ... and boats ... and trains ... and watches. Almost anything mechanical, in fact, attracts our attention.

Two motor racing-related wristwatches once owned by Paul Newman and a former president of Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari's racing team) set records and sold for a total of $2,386,067 at the Geneva, Switzerland, auction on May 12th.

A large gold Patek Philippe chronograph watch which had belonged to Count Carlo Felice Trossi, an Italian Grand Prix-winning driver (what they used to call Formula 1) who became president of Scuderia Ferrari was bought for 2.345 million Swiss francs (current USD$2,219,297). This was the highest price ever reached for a wristwatch at Sotheby’s, according to the auction house. In a sale of almost 200 watches, the Patek Philippe knows as the “Trossi Leggenda” was definitely the star attraction. (Photos --- Above, the Trossi Leggenda which sold at auction for over $2.2 million, in front of a photo of a young Carlo Trossi; Below, a version of the Rolex Paul Newman Oyster Daytona which brought over $166,000 at the same event).

At  the same event, a gold Rolex Cosmograph Oyster Daytona, made around 1980, known as the  "Oyster Daytona Paul Newman," named both after the Florida race track and for the American actor who (perhaps unknowingly) made the style famous, netted 157,000 francs (current USD$166,770), compared to its pre-sale estimate of less than half that amount.

It's important to note that the there was never an official "Paul Newman" watch from Rolex until these were produced by the company after 1980 --- The Rolex Oyster Daytona models which came before are known as "Paul Newman-types".

Geoffery Ader, head of watches at Sotheby’s told a news conference that the watch was one of “great symbolic and historic importance as it came out in 1932, a turning point which also saw car racing and the emergence of airplanes".

Count Carlo Felice Trossi was a wealthy, handsome Piedmontese nobleman who was enormously rich from his family's banking and landholdings and was a serious lover of automobiles and racing. His ancestral castle at Caglianico, near Biella, had a racing shop, entered by a drawbridge, where the Count often joined his small retinue of mechanics to work on his cars, always wearing a pair of white linen gloves.

Trossi was one of that small group of European aristocrats whose daily lives were so far removed from reality that even WWII failed to take them away from their "hobbies." (Photo --- Trossi Roadster version of Mercedes SSK currently in the Ralph Lauren collection).

Enzo Ferrari, an engine mechanic and race car engineer, started the Scuderia as a private Grand Prix team which campaigned race cars for Alfa-Romeo. Carlo Trossi, an early investor in the team, replaced Augosto Caniato as the president of record for Scuderia Ferrari in 1932 at the ripe age of 23; but the title was purely honorary, as Enzo Ferrari ran the operation and Trossi acted as Ferrari's personal ATM, the young company's main source for funding and as a backup driver. Trossi died from a brain tumor at only 41 years of age.

For much more information and many more photos concerning Trossi, Newman and Ferrari and their fantastic cars, click below.

BLING! MOST-EXPENSIVE ROLLS-ROYCE EVER SOLD AND $200,000 JEWELED "FLYING LADY" MASCOT KEEP COMPANY'S IMAGE ALIVE

Time for a quick look at some  recent Rolls-Royce news which some readers may have missed.

First, Rolls' famed mascot, known both as the Spirit of Ecstasy and/or The Flying Lady, has taken on some bling in this era of hip-hop, all good and subtle taste be damned. It's a one-of-a-kind diamond version of the Rolls-Royce mascot designed by Manhattan jeweler Jean Kemanjian and is exclusive to New York City's Manhattan Motorcars. Called "The Spirit of Ecstasy," it measures 4"h x 2"w and consists of mostly diamonds and platinum, plus a few other rare metals. Valued at $200,000. We wonder if Kemanjian's Flying Lady will fit into the "bomb shelter" which the mascot on the latest Rolls' lowers into when the driver so desires, or if that part of the new Phantom's massive grillwork also has to be somehow reworked, though from the photo it looks like it'll fit nicely. (Photos --- Above, The $200,000 jewel-encrusted Spirit of Ecstasy; Below, the fourth-ever Rolls-Royce built sold for almost $7 million at a recent London auction).

When it comes to headlines like these: "Oldest Rolls sells for record sum; The car is in perfect running   condition, says (UK auction house) Bonhams," we're always more than a bit suspicious. There are, admittedly, a huge percentage of all the Rolls-Royce machines ever built still in existence and operated on daily basis; some say this figure is as high as 75%. Many of these vehicles are owned privately, many by museums, some are owned by various groups, clubs, trusts and other kinds of organizations. Because there are so many cars and so many owners (and so many restorations), and with the cars being scattered throughout the world, whenever a Roller sells for a big price at auction, some smart headline writer or newspaper editor (or Rolls PR person) will find some reason for that particular car to have set some sort of "world record."

For more on the original 1907 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and the 1904 machine which sold at auction for almost $7 million, click below.

SIMON COWELL BUYS BUGATTI VEYRON, ROLLER DROPHEAD COUPE, MCLAREN SLR TO ADD TO HIS COLLECTION

Rolls-Royce has calculated that there are 85,400 people in the world who have the necessary disposable income to buy their cars. The company-aims to do business with 1 per cent of them every year. Simon Cowell already had one (or two) but a few weekends ago in Los Angeles bought one of the first Roller Phantom Drophead Coupes ... and a Bugatti Veyron. (Photo --- Cowell and girlfriend Terri Seymour in a Bugatti Veyron, perhaps a "test-drive loaner;" Cowell took home an all-black model).

American Idol's Simon Cowell, 49, the (creator/producer/) judge on that FOX-TV smash hit which viewers most love to hate, did what untold millions of other transplanted Southern Californians have done before --- Hit a few car lots, kicked a few tires and considered making a purchase or two, perhaps wanting to bring something special home for the girlfriend, so she can make a run to the market when their stock of eggs dwindles.

When his weekend shopping jaunt was over (he had some spare time to shop because the Rugby World Cup precluded taping of his UK TV show, X Factor), the garage at Cowell's a-building Beverly Hills manse was populated by two new models (of cars, that is, not fashion): A Bugatti Veyron and a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. Cowell dropped somewhere well north of $2 million (with factory options) for the two engines, eight wheels, AM radios and all else which comes with these machines (the ego boost alone has got to be phenomenal ... and worth it).

He's got the cash; no one need hold a benefit dinner for The Young Mr. Cowell. More than two years ago, Cowell signed a "golden handcuffs" deal worth £20 million-a-year (currently USD$39,037,284) with the UK's ITV, making him the highest paid British TV star of all time (quick, name two other highly-paid UK TV stars ... Ha ha! Got you on that one!). (Photo --- Last week, for Mother's Day in Los Angeles, Simon Cowell took his mom to the star-heavy Ivy restaurant on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood, which is directly across the street from a business office which we've frequented for many years ... So I can attest that the street is always a 'scene', with star-sightings as guaranteed as anywhere in La-La Land. And Cedars-Sinai Hospital is barely 100 yards around the corner from the famed eatery, which is where celebrities have their kids; they die of old age at St. John's in Santa Monica. Anyway, Cowell and Mum enjoyed arriving in son's nearly-new Rolls-Royce Phantom Limousine, purchased near New Year's, 2008, and equipped with that most showbizzy of optional extras - mirrored privacy glass).

Turns out that Cowell already had quite an auto collection. Cowell's is not in the "Jay Leno mode," that is, a grouping of classics and collectibles kept in a plain-Jane industrial area near the Burbank (CA) Airport. Leno visits "his garage" almost every day, sometimes twice a day, tuning and working on the cars and motorcycles himself aided by a small crew; no, Cowell's collection is probably more closely-related to what the average Car Nut would purchase if they found themselves on the winning end of the Super Lotto. They're generally stock from the factory, they're new, they have warranties and Cowell doesn't have to employ a full-time gang of wrenches to do upkeep on the the fleet.

He says, "I've got lots of nice cars... six, in fact. It's completely over the top! I absolutely love them. I could have 100 cars and I'd still want more. I love staring at them. I love driving them too. I've got two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, a Range Rover, a Jaguar XKR, an Aston Martin DB9 convertible and a very hot Mini Cooper which I drive more than anything else."

In addition to the newly-acquired Veyron and Roller, Cowell has recently taken-delivery on one of the last of a small run of McLaren SLR coupes, what many call "the ultimate Mercedes-Benz sports car". The USD$683,052 McLaren, as all of Cowell's cars, has instant credibility, inherent high value and immediate cachet. This is not only because of their low production numbers which translates into exclusivity, but also their celebrity connection. In fact, in years to come, Cowell's stable will do very well either at auction or in private sales because the cars are so stock ... We'd expect that all the numbers will "match". (Photo --- Cowell in the Veyron which he now calls his own; fewer than 200 of the cars have been built since production began in 2005).

The style and comfort of the Bugatti Veyron coupe deserves a whooping price-tag. Built by Volkswagen, the car comes with more than 1,000 horsepower being produced by its 16-cylinder engine and a top speed of 253.81 mph (408.47 km/h). The Bugatti concept car at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show actually had 18 cylinders. Cowell's Bugatti Veyron is truly a stud car. With an excess of 1,000 horsepower, the Veyron - built by Volkswagen, which also owns the Bentley, Audi and Lamborghini car brands - has a top speed of 253.81 mph (408.47 km/h). The car lists for $1,480,584 in US dollars.

For much more on Simon Cowell and his cars, click below!

PUTS BEST FRIEND INTO COMA IN ILLEGAL STREET RACE, HULK HOGAN'S KID GETS JUST EIGHT MONTHS

Yes, the American "justice system" just keeps truckin' along. How much justice do you want? How much can you afford? Apparently, Hulk Hogan was able to afford quite a bit of justice, at least for his 17-year old kid. And who can blame him? Hogan did what most fathers would do ... If they had the $$$ to spread around to make justice happen for their son.

Last August, Nick Bollea, wrestling star Hulk Hogan's son, crashed his father's modified yellow Toyota Supra into a palm tree while street racing. This past week, in Clearwater, Florida, a judge sentenced Nick (Hogan) Bollea to eight months in jail for reckless driving, five years of probation after jail and his driver's license was suspended until he turns 21 (about three years from now, and just in-time for him to drink AND drive on his birthday night). Not only that, Bollea had the balls to plead NOT GUILTY in open court. Like father, like son (when properly greased with the clear). (Photos, above and below --- The 1998 Toyota Supra driven by 17-year old Nick Hogan/Bollea at over 100 miles per hour, according to police. He lost control and hit a tree).

Not only did he total the car, but Bollea's best-friend, US Marine veteran John Graziano, riding shotgun with Bollea that night, now requires lifetime medical care for critical injuries received in the wreck; Graziano entered the hospital that night in a coma which doctors now say he will probably never recover from. Bollea was discharged the same night of the crash after being examined at a hospital.

The two families have sadly been fighting, and publicly so, since the crash. Graziano's shaken father spoke on his son's behalf at Bollea's sentencing, telling the court, "What Al Queda could not do to my son in Iraq, Nick Bollea did to him in Florida".

We've had more than we can stomach of Bollea ... There is simply no excuse which could possibly  explain-away what happened in August, 2007. Those who have seen the "reality TV show" featuring the violent, loud, obnoxious and clearly juiced-up white trash Hogan/Bollea family must stand in wonderment at this judge's ruling ... Especially given that Bollea had been cited for speeding in Florida at least six previous times before this crash (including several tickets for going over 100 miles per hour on city streets; where we live, in the local traffic court, if guilt is found based on a citation for going 100 miles per hour or over, the judge has the bailiff take the defendant's license then and there).

Exactly what kind of legal sideshow are they running in Florida? Are the only people treated to a "taste of the law" in that state the white trash and other ne'er-do-well-types featured on COPS and other TV shows? (Photo --- Bollea/Hogan under arrest after the crash which put his best friend into a coma).

Bollea's criminal (in our minds) negligence, stupidity and lack of driving skills are all painfully obvious. In other postings on this site, you'll find video of Bollea's mother acting in a somewhat bizarre fashion, laughing hysterically and waving as Bollea performs a long, drawn-out burn-out in one of his Vipers in front of the paparazzi-heavy The Ivy restaurant on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood, CA. "That's my boy!" And watching Hulk Hogan in court this past week, telling the judge how, "We've tried to keep all the focus on John (Bollea's now-comatose friend) throughout all of this," and Bollea himself, in one of his less-convincing performances, talking about how, "I pray for John every day, every chance I get ..." was all too much to bear. The kid screwed-up and Hogan paid the freight and the family clearly got their money's worth; someone should definitely check into who this judge is ... This is justice for the Graziano family?

Believe it or not, we have sympathy for Bollea. He is just a kid, he has no understanding or wisdom about the real world; growing up surrounded by freaks for parents, syncophants for friends and enough money, and all it buys, to never need to work an honest day in his life, we lay much, if not most, of all this at the feet of his parents. Can anyone honestly say that this tragedy, based on what we know about the Hogan/Bollea family, comes as any surprise?

Click below for more of the latest on this judicial travesty in Florida concerning Bollea/Hogan.

ARNOLD'S SQUEEZE NOW CHOKING FROGS?

PHOTO UPDATE! For a moment after seeing this photo we thought comedian Buddy Hackett had returned from the grave and donned a woman's wig and clothing, but thankfully, we were wrong. Remember a year-or-so ago when there were rumors about a California State Assemblywoman having slept with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Actually, the woman, Bonnie Garcia, a long-time Republican hack from Southern California's one-and-only remaining bastion of the Grand Old Party --- the Palm Springs area --- started the rumors herself by telling a group of 16- and 17-year old female high school students, in a 'home ec' classroom, with reporters in the room, that she "wouldn't throw him (the Governor) out of bed!" How Garcia ever let a conversation in any classroom get to that point is still beyond us; good thing, even though I am against term limits, Garcia gets "termed-out" this election. Garcia is obviously a decorous and proud Hispanic Republican woman only trying to help students in her district "to do better". This photo of Garcia appeared in the LA TIMES this past week. In it, Garcia appears startled by a frog (near her left hand) during the annual "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" competition in Sacramento, CA, which was made famous in a book by Mark Twain. By the way, the frog is green; Garcia is the one in the pretty pink sweater from Target's "husky teen" section. Keep it up, Senora Bonnie! All that Pilates work appears to be paying off --- Maybe Governor Arnold will give you a second look this year.

IT'S COME TO THIS: "PRAYER AT THE PUMP" GROUP FORMED

One might think that this cartoon from this week's NEW YORKER magazine (be sure to click to enlarge), which uses an old punchline from the 1920's which originally had to do with yachts to make a point about our country's situation today, "says it all".

While it's a typically NEW YORKER-ish snobby-yet-witty take on "what must be going on in the suburbs," keeping the magazine's urbane and sophisticated readers (or those who pretend to read it while waiting at their doctor's office) informed on the perils of not living in a metropolis, we've come across a French Press Agency (AFP) article which ran on the Web worldwide today, May 5th. And, as the saying goes, "If it weren't so sad, it'd make you laugh".

What was it Senator Obama said about "people holding onto their beliefs" when times get bad? (Okay, maybe he didn't say it that well). The following piece is a typically dumb but predictable American response to a problem over which we all actually do have some control, at least if people bother to vote when they're not praying and "home-schooling" their kids on the evils of science and evolution, and not drilling for oil in Alaska and off our country's west coast. (Photo --- As much as I like Obama, I think Senator Clinton is out ahead of him with her call for a "tax vacation" for gasoline-buyers, but only as long as the oil companies use some of their record profits to make-up the shortfall, and she makes solid proposals for long-term relief at the pump ... Which Obama has not yet done).

I found this piece on Oil Watchdog; click on this line to visit there, a site dedicated to providing information to the public about the worldwide oil industry.

FYI, the French Press Agency (AFP), which carried this piece, was the only "western" press agency which kept a bureau in Hanoi throughout the entire Vietnam War (both the ones against the French and the US, both of which they won for various reasons not important here and now. However, President Lyndon Baines Johnson's own Secretary of Defense, Robert Strange McNamara, and that is his real middle name, has written that the potential for large amounts of oil in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam's east coast was one of the reasons US troops were kept there for so long --- Sound familiar?). For AFP's so-called "intransigence" and "support to the enemy," most all American media, print and electronic, still do not carry their reports; today, thanks to the Internet, we all have access to it. But as a 13-year old volunteer at WBAI radio, the Pacifica Radio station in NYC, I learned that WBAI was the only radio or TV station in the country which then subscribed to the AFP; the station's News Director, Paul Fisher, understood French, the language used on AFP's teletype machine ... This was in 1967. No computers yet.

And just by the way (or, "not for nothing" as my Italian friends in Rhode Island say), oil hit $120 a barrel today, "another record day," just seven weeks before Memorial Day weekend and the Indy 500, the two portents of the traditional "start of America's summer driving season". (Photo --- NY TIMES photo of a gas pump in Gorda, located on California's Central Coast, taken over a month ago; prices ranged from $5.19 to $5.39 a gallon).

Anyway, without any more fanfare nor my interruptions, here is the piece, entitled: "Tired of Paying Through the Nose, Americans Try Praying at the Pump," written by Karin Zeitvogel and distributed worldwide by AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE.

At a Shell gas station in Washington, Rocky Twyman and an unusual group of activists were mad as hell about soaring fuel prices.

"Last week, this station was 3.51 dollars. Now it's practically 3.60. So it's gone up nine cents in one week," Twyman said as he pumped five dollars' worth of gas into his thirsty American car.

"Someone's making a lot of money and it's really, really wrong," added Twyman, who founded the Prayer  at the Pump movement last week to seek help from a higher power to bring down fuel prices, because the powers in Washington haven't. (Photo --- Recent pump prices at a Shell gas station near Palm Springs, CA; the range is from $3.85 to $4.05).

The half-dozen activists -- Twyman, a former Miss Washington DC, the owner of a small construction company and two volunteers at a local soup kitchen -- joined hands, bowed their heads and intoned a heartfelt prayer. "Lord, come down in a mighty way and strengthen us so that we can bring down these high gas prices," Twyman said to a chorus of "amens."

"Prayer is the answer to every problem in life... We call on God to intervene in the lives of the selfish, greedy people who are keeping these prices high," Twyman said on the gas station forecourt in a neighborhood of Washington that, like many of its residents, has seen better days.

"Lord, the prices at this pump have gone up since last week. We know that you are able, that you have all the power in the world," he prayed, before former beauty queen Rashida Jolley led the group in a modified version of the spiritual, "We Shall Overcome".

"We'll have lower gas prices, we'll have lower gas prices..." they sang.

At the weekend, Twyman had led a group of around 200 people in prayer at pumps in San Francisco, where gas is touching the four-dollars-a-gallon mark.

On Thursday, US lawmakers and experts at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill painted a grim picture of how Americans are being hammered by record fuel costs and the steepest food price spikes in 17 years.

To read the entire "Prayer at the Pump" story, simply click anywhere on this line.

Also, the LOS ANGELES TIMES ran a somewhat frightening piece today on Chinese businesses finding "bargains" in the US ... Click on this line to read that piece. Doesn't seem "connected" to the "Prayer at the Pump" story at first, but in reality ... at some level, aren't they all?

Finally, click on this line for some rather surprising statements made by members of the Rockefeller family, America's "First Family of Oil (and Money)".

HUGE INVESTOR TO FORD: SELL MERCURY ... AND VOLVO!

Like politics, American big business has its "great families" and its "great characters". And its "great stories" ... This is one of them. In the auto industry, the names Kerkorian, York, Iacocca, Eaton, Lutz and Perot have all had long and strong connections to every one of the Detroit Three, connections several decades long. This week, all those connections again came to light as Kirk Kerkorian's company started buying-up 20-million more shares of Ford (he already owns 100-million shares, almost 8% of the whole company) and advising Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally (a Detroit newcomer), to sell-off that company's Volvo and Mercury divisions. (Photo --- Above, Ford is estimating they will sell 100,000 of their all-new Flex models the first year it's on-sale, Below, Kirk Kerkorian makes a point to reporters; the 92-year old billionaire, with longtime, huge investments in the Detroit Three, is currently in the process of buying 20-million more shares of Ford Motor stock).

Ford's surprise turn of a profit in the year's first quarter brought all this about.

You may remember when we reported on April 25th, that "Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street today with a first quarter earnings report full of black ink -- saying it posted net income of $100 million on total revenue of $43.5 billion. That's compared with a net loss of $282 million on revenue of $43.0 billion during the same period a year ago. Ford stock skyrocketed on the news -- closing the day up 88 cents, or 11.7 percent, to $8.40 a share." (Photo --- Kerkorian's friendship with Lee Iacocca, shown promoting an electric bicycle which a Southern California company is making, using his name, created animosity between Kerkorian and Chrysler after Iacocca left it).

We've been saying "Buy Ford!" and "Buy GM!" for several years (can't say "Buy Chrysler!" anymore, unless you want the whole thing) ... These gigantic American corporations, with so many overseas properties and superior products, Ford and GM (or Opel or Holden, etc)  cars and trucks being the "favorites" in many markets (if not the US), simply can not have their stocks stay in the $10/share range, even if the companies are old-time, unexciting "brick-and-mortar" business, something very unsexy to Wall Street in these days of trying to make enormous sums of money by making as few actual products as possible. If all your company sells is "information," ala E-bay or, the best example, Microsoft, that's been all the better for stock prices since the 1990s. Ford and GM have massive amounts of real estate, buildings, skilled workers, many of them unionized, at that, franchised dealers around the world (highly-protected in this country from the manufacturer by US laws) and made huge sums in the US through the 1990s and early years of this decade by selling massive, heavy, low-mileage trucks and SUVs which don't have to be re-designed every two to three years, like car-buyers demand. Now, "thanks" to $4/gallon gas prices ($5/gallon by the day Bush leaves office; we'll also be at war with Iran), for the first time in about a decade, cars and the new CUVs (Crossover Utility Vehicles), which are built on car-like platforms, are outselling the big trucks and SUVs which Americans managed to get so used to, so easily.

After the announcement, Kirk Kerkorian announced his intention to greatly increase his stock holdings in Ford. This past week, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced that it plans to make a cash tender offer for as many as 20 million shares of Ford stock at $8.50 a share. Kerkorian, Tracinda and York are no newcomers to Ford; Tracinda already owns 100 million shares, representing 4.7 percent of Ford's outstanding shares.

Last month, after the process to buy those 20-million shares of Ford had begun, York had a private meeting with Ford CEO Alan Mulally, the ex-Boeing chief who took the Ford job about a year ago (but only after Ford deposited more than $20 million in his bank accounts). At this meeting, York apparently told Mulally that he needed to sell the company's Volvo and Mercury divisions to help in Ford's "turn-around". (Photo --- Jerry York is Kerkorian's "bagman" in buying-up 20-million more shares of Ford stock, and last month he "advised" Ford CEO Alan Mulally to get rid of Mercury and Volvo; Mulally was not amused).

While Ford is still not making a single cent in profit in the US, the company's recent positive results show that when a company based in the US, as Ford has always been, in Dearborn, Michigan, and shows profits from markets other than the US, it's still good for the company as a whole, especially as far as Wall Street is concerned.

The big problem in Ford's case, and ultimately, for America, is that a lot of the "profit" expected to come from the US for Ford (and GM and Chrysler) will come in the form of cutbacks, as Ford has upped the numbers and the values of the "early retirement buy-outs" which the company is offering tens of thousands of their US employees. And as someone smarter than I once said, "A large company can't cut its way to success and profitability."

Kirk Kerkorian and his investment firm, Tracinda Corporation, has as his "chief aide" a former Chrysler   executive named Jerome B. (Jerry) York. York is Chairman, President and CEO of Harwinton Capital, another Wall Street investment firm. He is also the former CFO of IBM and Chrysler, CEO of Micro Warehouse  and he joined the board of directors of Apple Inc. in 1997. (Photo --- Why Mercury needs to be sold, which is unlikely, or shut-down: Their Mountaineer version of the Ford Explorer. First three months of 2008 saw sales of 4,728 Mountaineers, and 27,638 Explorers. Sure, some can argue that those 4,700 Mountaineers represent pricier Explorers which wouldn't have sold, anyway. But could those few sales, and the total costs which go into making them and then the costs of their after-care, really make Mercury viable?).

Click below to read more about Kerkorian, York, Volvo and Mercury ... if Ford will sell those two divisions ... and when!

TESLA OPENS LOS ANGELES STORE; NOW ALL THEY NEED ARE CARS

Those of Los Angeles' much-vaunted and desperately-hip Westside can now shop for their EVs in a new 10,000-square foot showroom owned by Tesla, the troubled Northern California electric vehicle-builder. Tesla employees, not commissioned salespeople, will also staff the facility, opened on May 1st. Located at the heavily-trafficked corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards, one of the most-clogged intersections in the entire city, Tesla says (still) that the best is yet to come. Like actual cars. (Photos --- Staging a business opening in Los Angeles? You need red-coated parking valets, uniformed "actors/servers/models" who "circulate" with trays of cheap champagne and "crudites," whatever they are, a security guard-looking person or two, especially if celebrities are expected, and in LA, they always are, and, perhaps most-important, nearly-unreadable signage; Below, Here's an actual big-time celebrity Tesla managed to corral into their dealership opening; yes, it's "Q", or, as he's known to everyone else, Quincy Jones. Jones is also a great actor; see how he acts as if he knows the Tesla exec he is hugging).

A better start would have been locating the showroom even farther west, in the People's Republic of Santa Monica (one of our old and much-missed hometowns) or Venice (the only part of the city of Los Angeles which actually touches the ocean) ... West LA is cool, if you're a UCLA student or a Hasidic Jewish family with 11 kids and family members "in the diamond trade". But it just ain't SM and doesn't even come close to Venice when it comes to cool, where zillionaire actors and their heavily-armored and -patrolled "vertical estates" share block space with 4th-generation public housing and strapped gangsters slingin' rock being the local live entertainment starting at 11pm each evening. Ask about the special Sunday afternoon shows during summer. (And I lived there, too, so don't get hinky with me about it).

Tesla, which forced-out its co-founder, Martin Eberhard, and is engaged in various lawsuits with car designer Henrik Fisker, recently took delivery of its first four production cars --- depending on who you talk to about that very touchy subject.

The first production car went to Tesla Motors chairman and chief financier Elon Musk, while car #2 is reserved for that forced-out co-founder, Martin Eberhard, who reportedly doesn't want his car until a special paint job is ready (we predict he'll never see that car --- getting forced out of a company you help found and staked isn't a good way to engender positive vibes). Tesla says that #4 was seen at the Top Marques Monaco show with U2's Bono behind the wheel. Investors, buyers and others hope that Roadster #3 might soon be on its way to an actual customer's garage.

The automaker says they have already pre-sold 600 cars and has a waiting list 400-strong. Priced at $100,000, Tesla demanded a $100,000 "deposit" from Roadster buyers willing and able to wait a long time until their cars are ready; there are plenty of oh-so-worried green-types with that kind of disposable income in LA. Which brings us to the new store. (Photo --- If you have a car dealership, you need a car to exhibit, like this $100,000 Tesla Roadster, one of four made in-time for the showroom's opening).

With reportage by Mark Rechtin of Automotive News (with our own inspired comments), we learn that the new store, close to the crawling 405 freeway and the congested corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards, makes a potent statement for forever-gridlocked Angelenos to buy an electric car.

Click below to read more about and see more photos of the new Tesla dealership in Los Angeles!

HONDA'S ASIMO ROBOT TO LEAD DETROIT SYMPHONY; WE FIRST MET HIM WHEN HE (IT) COULD BARELY WALK!

Here's a press release we recently received from Honda: Honda Motor Co.'s remarkable robot Asimo will conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at a special performance for young people on May 13 that will feature superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Asimo will open the evening by conducting the orchestra in a performance of the song, "The Impossible Dream." (Editor's note: Impossible Dream, like Andy Williams' rendition of Moon River, are both much-loved by the Japanese public, apparently fraught with all sorts of deep meanings which a drunk Japanese recognizes more easily than his or her drunken American friends. It's not unusual to hear either song being sung, always loudly and usually badly, on Japan's late-night streets and in restaurants, and, of course, in the estimated 50 million karaoke bars throughout the country).

The 4-foot robot, able to speak English and Japanese, is the latest generation in a line of Asimo robots developed in 2000 by the Japanese automaker.

Honda has teamed up with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to offer music lessons to students in Detroit and has provided more than $1 million to create The Power of Dreams Music Education Fund.

As part of the program, Paris-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma will teach a master class on May 14 for a group of students selected from the Detroit School of Arts. (Photo --- Guest-starring in a corporate video seen at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, Asimo demonstrates features of the company's "FCX Clarity" hydrogen fuel cell family sedan).

"Honda hopes Asimo's appearance will draw attention to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's nationally acclaimed youth music programs, and particularly Detroit Symphony Orchestra's effort to encourage and support involvement of children in Detroit," Honda said in a statement.

Asimo, which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, made his first appearance in the United States on Feb. 14, 2007, when he rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. (End of Honda press release).

Asimo is conducting ... in Detroit?! Boy, those folks at Honda really know how to rub it in, don't they? Other recent Asimo happenings:

"Honda demonstrated its unique robot, ASIMO, at the Kennedy Center JAPAN! culture + hyperculture festival in Washington D.C. from Thursday, February 7 - Sunday, February 17, 2008.

The robot performed live (?) 15-minute demonstrations several times daily throughout the festival. Visitors will experience the most sophisticated robotics technology and see how robots like ASIMO will someday assist people. The free demonstrations will be held in the Nations Gallery at the Kennedy Center."

And ...

"Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has further advanced intelligence technologies enabling its advanced humanoid robot ASIMO to act autonomously and perform uninterrupted service to office guests. (Photo Below --- If Asimo replaces hostesses at Japanese companies, what will the women working there do? Gosh, maybe they'll let them have real jobs!)

Honda developed an intelligence technology that enhances smooth movement by enabling ASIMO to choose between stepping back and yielding the right-of-way or continuing to walk based on the predicted movement of oncoming people ("Out of the way, Asimo!", "Yes, master," or, "Hai, sensei." At least we hope that's what happens ... Just imagine the other possibilities). Honda also developed a new intelligence technology related to ASIMO's ability to perform tasks such as carrying a tray and pushing a cart. In addition, a newly added function enables ASIMO to automatically charge its battery when its remaining battery level falls below a certain level. Furthermore, a new comprehensive system was developed so that multiple ASIMOs can share tasks by adjusting to the situation and work together in coordination to provide uninterrupted service. For example, if one ASIMO is idled while recharging, other ASIMO robots will step in and perform assigned tasks.

Honda will begin test operations of two ASIMOs equipped with these newly developed technologies December 12, at the second floor lobby of Honda's Aoyama, Japan headquarters."

If human beings suddenly start flying out the windows of the upper stories of Honda's HQ, then we'll know ASIMO may have a problem or two ... But plugging-itself in when the battery gets low? Working in conjunction with other robots? Serious stuff, my friends (as John McCain might say, just like the used car salesman he is).

Hey, Uncle Car Nut, tell us about the time you first saw Honda's robot, Asimo, climb down a flight of stairs! (Photo --- Asimo at rest. It shrinks quite a bit when "off;" gaining height as it powers-up. Latest-generation Asimo is now four feet tall).

Well, sure kids ... Now gather round! And in spite of Honda's efforts (and who can blame them) to have  everyone anthropomorphize Asimo, like a favorite, gentle pet, let's keep in mind that "he" ( or "she" --- and who decides? Mrs. Asimo?) is quite literally a bucket of bolts. Very smart bolts and all the rest, but bolts nonetheless.

It was a cool, wet afternoon at Honda's Research and Development Center on Tochigi, Japan, about 50 miles north of Tokyo, in the lowlands surrounding the mountains where, if you cared to drive up, one would find the Twin Ring Motegi Race Track. Honda, at the time, had some 5,000 engineers working at the Tochigi R&D Center, none of them, they told us, over 40 years old. I bet a like-number of them were women, too, but I digress, kids ... You have to remember, "When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do" ...

Click below to read more about Honda's car-building, orchestra-conducting, and potentially union-bashing robot, Asimo!