Jalopnik: New York Times

Is The New York Times Crossword Puzzle Trolling Car Enthusiasts?

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST

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I suspect New York Times Puzzle Wizard Will Shortz was once again showing his weakness with slang when he edited this week's über difficult Friday crossword. Otherwise, he's definitely screwing with car enthusiasts by employing a bit of clue misdirection. More »

NYT Warns Of The Perils Of Taking Jalopnik Jokes Seriously

Ray Wert — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:30:00 EST

Be warned, ye who desire project cars, for hell filled with blood, death and unbelievably hard-to-find Russian parts await all who dare not heed our warnings. Even the august penmen of the New York Times agree. Forsooth and such. [NYT] More »

New York Times Writes About A-10 Monster Truck, A-10 Monster Truck Officially Not Cool Anymore

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:45:00 EDT

Well, that was cool while it lasted. More »

Survey: Most Arguments In Car Are Over Directions

Sam Smith — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Survey says: Most car arguments are over directions. (Shut up, honey! We're not lost!) [NYT] More »

Google Maps As Art, Your Life As A Road

Sam Smith — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EDT

New York artist Christoph Niemann created these funny, clever illustrations using the visual language of Google Maps. Life, meet road. Road, meet life. Is there a Street View for that? More »

NYT Encourages Demolition Of Detroit

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST

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The latest idea-that's-been-around-for-a-decade-and-the-media-is-just-discovering is urban farming, specifically urban farming in Detroit. The New York Times has picked up the story and dutifully regurgitated it without a half-second of rational thought, advocating the wholesale leveling of the "failed city" of Detroit. More »

NYT Bitches About GM Not Building Gas Guzzlers, Make Money To Pay Back Gov't Loans

Ray Wert — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:15:00 EDT

Insult to injury: wanna bet that new Ford was made in Mexico? [NYT] More »

NYT Asks Jalopnik If GM Will Ever Go AC/DC

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:30:00 EDT

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The front page of today's New York Times business section has an excellent feature taking an in-depth look at post-bankruptcy GM. Bonus #1? An insider-y Ward Sutton cartoon. Bonus #2? Two quotes from our very own Ray Wert! More »

NYT Freakonomics Blog Hates American... Asphalt

Ray Wert — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT

The Freakonomics blog over at the NYT has launched a contest looking for the best homage to the worst stretches of road in America. Maybe they should start with these Detroit potholes, here or even New York's exploding streets. [NYT] More »

Is Selling Hummer Moral? Is Killing The New York Times?

Ray Wert — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:40:00 EDT

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The New York Times Ethicist blog asks today whether GM selling Hummer is the right thing to do. They posit the honorable thing should be to kill it. Kind of like newspapers. More »

New York Times Loves The Jalopnik Mobile Command Center

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:20:00 EST

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America's newspaper printing all the news that's fit to print highlights the Jalopnik Mobile Command Center, America's most fit electric-powered auto-journo-mobile. [New York Times] More »

NYT Tips Hat To Jalopnik On "Carpocalypse," Chrysler's Woeful Product Future

Ray Wert — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:45:00 EST

In-crowd kids already knew "Carpocalypse" was the hip term for the current state of the domestic automotive industry. Now, even the NYT's using it. But they're not the only ones. Feeling self-referential? You betcha. More »

While New York Slept: A Mad Lib NYT Op-Ed By Friedman Thomas

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

Thomas Friedman's obscenely transparent attempt to sell books with yet another rant against "Detroit" has pushed us to ask our own Friedman Thomas to respond with a Mad Lib rant of his own. More »

NY Times Calls For Speed-Limited Vehicles, Uses Flawed Logic

Wes Siler — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:40:00 EDT

Writing in the New York Times yesterday, Kent A. Sepkowitz called for all new vehicles sold in the US to be limited to 75 MPH, saying, “Speeding is the cause of 30 percent of all traffic deaths in the United States — about 13,000 people a year.” He goes on to compare speeding to alcohol, which he says is responsible for 39 percent of all traffic deaths, “But unlike drinking, which requires the police, breathalyzers and coercion to improve drivers’ behavior, there’s a simple way to prevent speeding: quit building cars that can exceed the speed limit.” The thing is, Mr. Sepkowitz has his number wrong. More »

NYT Automobiles Gives Chrysler Minivans A Seemingly Unnecessary Smack-Down

Ray Wert — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:00:00 EDT

We don't know if New York Times Automobiles writer Christopher Jensen's got kids, but if he had them, he'd know that handling is not really the most important requirement for a minivan. More important is the need — which he admits in his smack-down this weekend on the new minivans from Chryslerberus almost reluctantly — to pacify children to the point of "superstupor" (Yes C.J., we do like that one and may use it as often as is possible). But to levy charges of inadequacy against the new 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country simply because the handling is merely "average" misses the point. No self-respecting driver's driver would ever be caught dead driving one of these, or any other people hauler down the road. No amount of fine-tuning, mechanics or changes in structural rigidity's going to make a minivan with this level of options (and weight) fun to drive. More »

NY Times Profiles Vagina-Equipped DeLorean Owner

Travis Hudson — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:15:00 EDT

Cue the sirens! This just in! There are female DeLorean owners out there and now there is officially proof because The New York Times decided to profile one Lauren J. Reilly, the owner of a completely stock 1981 DeLorean DMC-12. The 31-year-old advertising firm producer lives in Midtown Manhattan and milks the car for all the attention she can get from tourists and jaded onlookers. Reilly described owning a DeLorean as "5 percent being a rock star," which is debatably accurate. The design enthusiast decided on the DeLorean as a birthday present for herself after doing lots of research prior to buying a hers on eBay. Unfortunately the near legendary French V6 is performing exactly as the stereotype would suggest More »

New York Times Goes Negative On Jalopnik El Camino Campaign

Ray Wert — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The New York Times's Lawrence "Lars" Ulrich took a swing at pithy commentary on the 2010 Pontiac G8 "El Camino" sport truck today, deciding to heap the bed full of liver-lilied liberalism and haterade. To wit:

"Who exactly was clamoring for a two-seat, gas-guzzling pickup with the cheapest-looking interior this side of a Motel 6?"

Who? Well, us for one. But we wouldn't expect Ulrich to understand anything about a vehicle... More »

Go Ahead, Ask New York Times Automobiles Editor Jim Cobb Anything

Ray Wert — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:15:00 EST

So Jim Cobb's the editor of the Automobiles section at the Ol' Grey Lady. If you didn't realize the section existed, that's OK, many people confuse it with the classified section. Yeah, you know, it's that section of the Sunday New York Times with a couple of reviews, a couple of feature-y stories and an absolute crapload of ads for car dealerships and luxe brands like Lexus, Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Lexus, Cadillac and umm, Lexus. But if you've ever wanted to know more about big Jim and his adorable little section, he's answering Times reader questions this week. More »

New York Times Takes Bill Vlasic for a Ride as New Detroit Chief

Ray Wert — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:01:00 EST

Looks like there'll be a new sheriff in town for the New York Times. The Old Grey Lady's gone and stolen Bill Vlasic, veteran of many a Detroit automotive battle, from the Detroit News to act as their new ~~whipping boy~~ Detroit bureau chief. If you'll remember, Vlasic penned the classic story of the famed "merger of equals" between Daimler and Chrysler dubbed "Taken for a Ride." We're told the NYT even likened it to "Barbarians at the Gate...a spellbinding tale, juicy gossip and all, of how business is really done among the world's largest companies." Yes, it was exactly like "Barbarians at the Gate" except for the part about it making a big pot of money through selling lots of copies. We kid the new Times main-man and look forward to ~~finally seeing~~ continuing to see Bill at auto press events in the near future. Full press release from Larry Ingrassia below the jump. More »

NYT Name Checks Jalopnik Over Vines Resignation, We Name Check Back

Ray Wert — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:15:00 EST

New York Times name checks Jalopnik on our mourning of the loss of Jason Vines at Chrysler. Parting is such sweet sorrow. But wait, why are we receiving all these inquiries from GM PR over where he's going next? Is someone else interested in the former Chrysler PR main-man? We guess we'll have to wait and see. [NYT Dealbook] More »

We were disappointed — we totally...

Ray Wert — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:45:00 EST

We were disappointed — we totally thought Jerry Garrett of the New York Times would mention the potential for blizzards in Detroit during the LA Auto Show. [NYT] More »

NY Times Reports on Unique Performance... Finally

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:45:00 EST

The Gray Lady finally catches on to something we've been reporting for more than two weeks and we learn absolutely nothing new. One thing the author focuses on is that the likelihood that the value of these cars, which was probably not going to increase anyways, could seriously decrease. What we know and what all of this means after the jump. More »

Oops: New York Times Erroneously Reports Tesla Delays "Battery Related"

Jonny Lieberman — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:30:00 EDT

OMG! Ann Coulter is right. Just like when Dale Sr. took one for the team and the New York Times failed to put it on the front page, once again the Gray Lady gets it all wrong when it comes to cars. Oh wait, the New York Times actually did run Earnhardt's death on the front page and Coulter is a freaky looking drag queen/performance artist. Exhale... Anyhow, in a profile on Silicon Valley "technologist" Shai Agassi, who is planning on sticking battery recharging stations everywhere, Times writer John Markoff mistakenly reported that the delay in the much anticipated electric Tesla Roadster was due to "battery related issues." Tesla's VP of Sales, Marketing and Service — Darryl Siry — was all over it and the New York Times issued a retraction. Funny how that works. Turns out that the delay was and is continuing to be caused by transmission woes. Having spent some time behind the wheel of an Elise, the car the Tesla is based on, we can see how the tranny — the Elise's Achilles' heel — would be an issue. [Update:: Now I have to publish a retraction. What I meant by my bad tranny comment is that the worst part of the Lotus Elise by far is the transmission. Therefor, even though the Tesla has a totally different 2-speed gear-swapper, I'm not shocked because... oh, forget it. I'm just going to re-read Godless: The Church of Liberalism.] More »

Top Ten "Green" Automotive Sites

Ray Wert — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:45:00 EDT

In case anyone is interested, some ~~hack~~ writer wrote up a piece in today's copy of the New York Times listing the top ten "green" automotive sites. Jalopnik for some strange reason, wasn't listed. To this very moment, we still can't figure out why. OK, that's a lie — we know why. But we swear we had nothing to do with the headline — mostly because we all already know how I feel about one hypegasmic site after a particular transgression occurring after the piece had already been submitted. Oh, the graphic? What can we say — a couple of us here happen to be Spartans. [New York Times] More »

NYT Wheels Blog Examines The Shift Away From Shifting

Ray Wert — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:45:00 EDT

It's always been our contention that the point when automatic transmission vehicles began to outsell manual transmission vehicles here in the United States was the same point 'merican drivers became less concerned about the trip and more about the destination. Looks like the Wheels blog over at the New York Times has just come to the same conclusion. Travel with them on their journey towards enlightenment. We've already seen how it plays out. [NYT Wheels] More »

Thomas Friedman Takes It From Both Ends: First GM, Now Toyota Attacks!

Ray Wert — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:00:00 EDT

The New York Times editor's taking it from every angle today — first from the punditocracy from guys like MotorTrend's "Motor City Blogman" and Fortune's Alex Taylor. Next he took one in the eye from the "other" Tom, GM's Tom Wilkinson. Even we took a shot at him. But now Friedman's taking it from the company he was shooting at to begin with. Yup, now he's taking it from Toyota's 'merican communications man, Irv Miller on Toyota's Open Road blog. Actually, this one's pretty funny — not in what Irv says — that's spot on. What's funny are the comments from Prius owners acting like Toyota just kicked a dog because they make trucks and SUV's. Ah, silly little uninformed environmentalists — what, did you not think Toyota was a company that looks to make money? [Open Road Blog] More »

GM's Tom Wilkinson Engages In Epic "Battle Of The Toms" With Thomas Friedman

Ray Wert — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT

GM decided not to take yesterday's peppering by Thomas Friedman's shotgun laying down. Mere minutes after we dropped our post on Tommy Boy's anti-Toyota tirade, the General's FYI blog had quickly dropped a retort penned by GM's Tom Wilkinson. Wilkinson, who is not at all the same Tom Wilkinson as the actor who played Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins pictured to the left, proceeds to point out a number of "issues" GM had with Friedman's piece. These "issues" include his perceived lack of understanding of why gas prices are higher in Europe and that trucks are ~~people~~ vehicles too, comprising 40% of the new vehicle market. In addition, Wilkinson asked Friedman to "step off his soapbox and use his gifts as a reporter to develop a deeper understanding of this complex, fast-moving and vitally important industry." Wilkinson then went on to point out Friedman's mother was a hamster and his father smelled of elderberries. Tommy Boy, the soapbox is now yours. [FYI Blog] More »

Thomas Friedman Again Fires Shotgun Blast At Auto Industry, Hits Toyota, Everyone

tingwall — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:35:00 EDT

New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman is shaking a finger at the American automotive market again, and this time it's Toyota that he's ticked at. Friedman seems to have difficulty wrapping his head around the fact Toyota, with the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the market, has joined the automakers formerly known as the big three in fighting the Senate bill to increase combined corporate average fuel economy to 35 mpg by 2020. We thought it was pretty obvious that Toyota was, you know, a company, and would be looking to maximize profits, as companies are wont to do. While Toyota's suffering the worst of the blast, they're not the only one Friedman hit in yesterday's blast. More »

Cab Catches Fire One Block From New York Times Office, Times Web Team Gets Crappy Video

Ray Wert — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:15:00 EDT

We caught this off of the NYT YouTube feed this morning. We're betting they're totally glad they invested in all that video equipment. We wonder if anyone thought to run downstairs and actually get close to the taxi cab caught on fire — or was everyone worried it was a terrorist attack? Maybe this means there's going to be one more medallion up for auction — woo-hoo! A new top price story! Yay! More »

Wait — what is this new html coding...

Ray Wert — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:15:00 EDT

Wait — what is this new html ~~coding~~ code the New York Times Wheels Blog has ~~finded~~ found? It's like they're a real live blog! Now if only they could have used it on like every ~~post~~ article ever written by Jayson Blair. [New York Times Wheels Blog] More »

The New York Times is soliciting reader...

Ray Wert — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:30:00 EDT

The New York Times is soliciting reader opinions on the question of "What changes do you think are needed in the American auto industry?" We just lurve the "America's Sagging Automakers" headline — it makes us feel like all they need is a face lift or something. [New York Times] More »

Who knew Jerry Garrett was a Ford truck...

Ray Wert — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:45:00 EDT

Who knew Jerry Garrett was a Ford truck man? [NYT Wheels Blog] More »

First there was quality, then there was...

Ray Wert — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:30:00 EDT

First there was quality, then there was cost cutting. Now, for Danny Howes, simplicity is apparently "job one." Only problem is — we think we read this article already on the front page of the business section of yesterday's New York Times. [Detroit News via NYT] More »

Did the New York Times Wheels blog just...

Ray Wert — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:45:00 EDT

Did the New York Times Wheels blog just use the words "hybrid" and "hype" in the same headline with Lexus? That splat sound was a snowball hitting the devil in the back of the head. [NYT Wheels] More »

Jerry Garrett of the New York Times parrots...

Ray Wert — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:45:00 EDT

Jerry Garrett of the New York Times parrots the "Hyundai is a luxury brand" line and then swallows it, the hook and the sinker in a little horsepower envious piece. [NYT Wheels Blog] More »

How Many Drinks Was That? Whoa, Wert...Whoa

Ray Wert — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:30:00 EDT

Learn All About The Chrysler Sale On Your iPhone

Ray Wert — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:00:00 EDT

The most recent AT&T-Apple ad for the iPhone shows just how much iPhone users are ready and waiting to care about the sale of the former 'merican side of the German-American hybrid — if only given the opportunity. The new über-phone is shown running through such fundamentals as "how to turn it on", how to listen to music, how to check e-mail, etc. But when it gets to "this is how you surf the web," we're treated to a web shot of the New York Times from a few weeks back featuring an article by Micki Maynard and Mark Landler — "Chrysler on Verge of Sale to a Private Firm." But then — just as these two automotive industry writers are about to become famous as the hands of Jobs (or whomever) ready themselves to tap on the article — just as the whole of the technology-obsessed world readies itself to find out all about the ins and outs of the imminent sale of the Chrysler Group to Cerebus — friggin' John Appleseed calls. God, I hate that man and his apple tree-spreading ways. – Ray Wert More »

New York Times Drives Toyota Tundra, Falls Flat On Face

Ray Wert — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:30:00 EDT

Now don't get us wrong — we love it when we get the opportunity to tweak the Old Grey Lady once in a while, especially when they forget things like checking the weather report (as opposed to the weather forecast) or revamp their efforts in the brave new world that is the blogosphere. But it's hard for us to make fun of Micki Maynard for her attempt at a review of the new Toyota Tundra falling, quite literally, flat. I mean, it's not like the Times has much in the way of experience in heavy (or even light duty) trucks — what with New Yorkers predisposition towards hatred of anything that's meant to carry. Well, maybe not everything — I mean, they do love those little cozy coffee carriers from Starbucks. – Ray Wert More »

New York Times Kills "DriveTimes" E-Mail To Focus On Making "Wheels" Blog Less Sucktastic

Ray Wert — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:45:00 EDT

Anyone who's a subscriber to the NYT's DriveTimes weekly e-mail knows two things. First, it's a re-hash of the weeks stories in the Times having anything to do with cars with random stories from elsewhere peppered in. Second, it sucks. Lucky for those of us who've been on the receiving end of this amazingly dull weekly re-cap, it looks like today's e-mail will be the last. Or at least that's what we're told:

"A note from the editors: This is our last issue of DriveTimes. A new e-mail newsletter is coming that will keep you up to speed on the latest automotive news. In the meantime, visit the Wheels blog for news and notes about new products, about trends in automotive design and technology, and about the business of producing cars."

Rest In Peace, dear friend — we hardly ever read you. In its place, we've now heard the Times will be focusing its time and efforts on Richard Chang's new baby, the Wheels blog. We look forward to the daily recaps, YouTube clips, mini-articles or whatever the hell else is deemed appropriate from the automotive blog of the newspaper of record. – Ray Wert More »

Peter Horbury: Still Has Big Balls, Now Believes In Magic

Ray Wert — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:15:53 EDT

Peter Horbury, FoMoCo's designer of the now infamous Gillette-like "Hi, I'm Dave!" grille is not only a designer with the "big balls" necessary to design FoMoCo out of their Nasser-created product design nightmare, but now he believes in magic. That's right, the always lovable, huggable and eminently quotable Horbury dropped this little tidbit on Phil Patton when asked about the doors of the Lincoln MKR concept

"In the future you will simply touch the car and the door will magically open."

What will FoMoCo think of next? Maybe Horbury's next design will be based on a Nimbus 2000. We can only hope to see a car shaped like a flying broom coming out of the next Detroit show. – Ray Wert More »