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Remember CarandDriver's April Fools' prank? The one that made the magazine relevant for the first time in years? It's caused NASCAR to set down the Natty Light and consider a future without not-so-Big Three sponsorship. More »
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As President Obama today addressed his desire for the fuel-efficient cars of the future to be built here, the following news flash shot across the bottom of the screen. Ironic? A bit, yes. [CNBC] More »
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With the President mulling the use of TARP funds to help Detroit automakers weather the Carpocalypse, we thought it appropriate to show you these five Detroit industrial relics that didn't quite make it. More »
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The Carpocalypse draws nigh after Senate Republicans lanced last night's bailout. In response, the White House now says "all options are on the table" and Toyota's scared after its stock drops 10%. More »
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The $14 billion House auto industry aid bill failed in the US Senate tonight. On a somewhat but not quite related note, GM hired bankruptcy advisors as the Carpocalypse draws ever closer. More »
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The US House approved the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act (aka, "Bankruptcy Lite") by a vote of 237-170. It's morning again in America. Well, at least until the Senate gets involved tomorrow. More »
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People say "Detroit" deserves to fail. Maybe, but as you can tell by the map below of every manufacturing facility from the domestic automakers, they'll take pretty much the entire Midwest with 'em. More »
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The bailout loan's no longer just a $15 billion bridge loan for the not-so-Big Three to make it until the Obama administration, it's actually "bankruptcy lite." It's also a really good idea. More »
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Sen. John Ensign (R-Nevada) told CNBC this morning he's not happy with the auto bailout bill. The Senator from Vegas is so unhappy he's willing to gamble on a real bankruptcy occurring while he tries to figure out how to make a pre-packaged bankruptcy occur. But don't think Ensign's making his decision on high-minded principles. More »
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We're not usually ones for jamming our thumbs into our own eyes. Be that as it may, we're going to start sifting through the full discussion text of the automaker not-a-bailout bill entitled: "To authorize financial assistance to eligible automobile manufacturers, and for other purposes." Sounds thrilling, doesn't it? Read along with us here. More »
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A bailout bridge loan plan for the not-so-Big Three drawing emergency aid from an existing pool of $25 billion for green vehicle R&D and including a Cabinet-level oversight board could come as early as today. More »
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With all this talk of corporate jets, slumming it on road trips and idling hybrids, it’s easy to lose track of the human cost of Carpocalypse Now. Has anyone thought of the standard of living adjustment the Big 3 CEOs will have to take when their salaries are cut from tens of millions to a paltry $1-per-year? One man has. That man’s name is Donny Miller. He’s taken it on himself to single-handedly help Alan Mulally, Bob Nardelli and Rick Wagoner put food on the table. How? An old-fashioned bake sale at last week's LA Auto Show.

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We know it's the middle of the day, but it's Friday and we ain't got shit to do other than watch this three-ring not-so-Big Three circus. Luckily, a friend sent in an idea for a drinking game. Their rules below the jump, let's make up some of our own in the comments. More »
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The CEOs of the not-so-Big Three made it to DC for committee hearings beginning today at 10:00 AM. According to Bloomberg's sources, GM and Chrysler execs are considering a pre-arranged bankruptcy (which we've already said is a good thing) as a last-resort of getting a multibillion-dollar government loan. More »
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The crew at Automobile's come up with ten cars lawmakers and pundits should keep in mind before letting the Carpocalypse consume the not-so-Big Three — and for once, it doesn't include the Ford F-150 or Chevy Corvette. More »
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New York Congressman Gary Ackerman feasts upon a buffet of "delicious irony" as he asks the CEOs from the Not-So-Big Three to perhaps save some cash and fuel by using a single jet together rather than individual private jets from Detroit to D.C. to beg for bailout dollars from the Feds. We even hear Reagan National's got a diamond-festooned runway set up just for jetpoolers. [CNN] More »
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It's probably a bad thing to fly a private jet from Detroit to Washington, DC when you're going to ask Congress to provide you a multi-billion dollar loan to bail you out of a financial crisis. That fact hasn't stopped Ford's Alan Mulally, along with the heads of the other automakers, who not only flew to D.C. in the Ford private jet but are, apparently, unwilling to fully cut themselves from the corporate crack that is their private air forces. This really disturbs us. We've been having all sorts of problems with the way the US automakers have managed their message in making the ask for money from the Feds for survival. First they weren't getting their message out. Now, however, they're getting the wrong message out. Frankly, when folks begin saying things like this: More »
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In attempts to tap their customer base for assistance in avoiding this Financiapocalypse, GM has emailed an unknown number of their product owners in an effort to get them to speak out to their local congressman regarding the pending bridge loan. We've intercepted one of these emails and have it posted below the jump. More »
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Barack Obama took time away from talking about his mother-in-law and a college football playoff system to talk about the automaker bailout in an interview on CBS' 60 Minutes. While admitting Detroit needs help, he said it's important to make sure it's conditioned on the stakeholders (labor, suppliers, execs) coming up with a plan for a sustainable domestic auto industry as opposed to just giving out "a bridge loan to nowhere." Oh, yes, he went there. This was taped before the scary GM video, which at the very least we're hoping, convinced him to buy a Save GM t-shirt. More »
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The red rubber bull-biting bald man by the name of Jim Cramer had a mouthful to say about the Motor City today — making clear his belief that if Motown gets showed D.C.'s checkbook, then we've seen the lows of this financial downturn. I tend to agree. Right now, according to Cramer, the issue isn't anymore whether you think GM deserves or doesn't deserve to be saved, it's whether you're alright with massive unemployment and an economic downturn taking this nation further into the murky unknown depths. Sounds to us like someone thinks people need to buy some "Save GM" t-shirts. That sentiment's shared by Keith Crain's Automotive News, where we saw an opinion piece today the likes we've never seen — essentially refuting an idea I'd held up until the past week, that Chapter 11 could allow for reorganization. The Op-Ed's entitled "The cost of GM's death," and you can hit the jump for the excerpts. More »
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Barack Obama used part of last night's debate to tee off on aiding the domestic auto industry. Obama took nearly a full minute talking about the automaker bailout and the need for more efficient cars, and the democratic presidential candidate made a reference to "retooling" plants in the heartland. Of course, he's talking about three important swing states: Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. Good thing the car companies aren't based in California. More »
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After a nasty summer of sliding sales and eroding market share, domestic automakers are planning to lobby the US Congress for $50 billion in low-interest government loans. The companies claim the money would allow them to modernize plants and develop new fuel-efficient vehicles; ordinarily, automakers would have tapped existing lines of credit for the required cash, but rising interest rates combined with debt ratings reduced to junk status have rendered their options severely limited. But, the important thing to note here is that this is NOT a bailout. No sir. More »
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Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Second Coming), in a letter to UAW officials last Friday, endorsed a plan to push through $4 billion in aid to prop up the Detroit Three. The package of tax credits and loan guarantees is a proposed part of a second (and real) economic stimulus package working its way through congress for a September vote. Those billions would then be used to secure up to $25 billion in loans, which now starts to look like some real big-boy money. More »
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Remember Pan Am and TWA? Yeah, neither do I. But I do remember that for a time I thought I could impress girls by quoting Shakespeare from memory, specifically Macbeth. Anytime someone would mention the temporal nature of existence, which was a disturbingly common theme amongst girls that would agree to date me, I'd trot out those famous lines: "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Creeps in this pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time. And all our yesterday's have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle. Life's but a walking shadow." This all transitions very well into today's COTD. More »
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