Some say he has a tattoo of a Saleen S7 on his rear end. Others tell us he was born with a penchant for oil rather than his mum's milk. All we know is he's called the Auto Insider and he's always ready to provide the scoop from the other side of Eight Mile.

Submit entries either in the comments section below or to autoinsider@jalopnik.com and please use the subject line “GM-Chrysler Mashup Photoshop Contest." Make sure to name your entry something unique so we can keep them all straight. As always, standard contest rules apply and submissions will be accepted until Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at 12:01 AM so we can vote for the winner later this week.

And oh yeah, "The Challamaro" — that's right below.
Good luck to all you ‘choppers!

Beck's Beer Presents: Jaloptoberfest
Gawker HQ Roof
Date: October 23, 2008 — 7:00 to 10:00 PM
Food and all the Beck's Beer you can drink will be provided
Note: By filling out the form, readers will be opting-in to Beck's Key Club.
As always, standard contest rules apply.

Threading is a way to make comments read more like conversations instead of a bunch of disconnected single replies. Now, when a comment is replied to by other commenters, all the replies will appear directly below the original comment. Each of these blocks is called a "thread". All of this will be self-explanatory once you start using the new system, but read on for a more detailed explanation of how these threads will weave together to create a new, and more plaid, commenting experience.

The first comment in a thread will have a few distinguishing features, among them, the number of replies in the thread along with the time of the most recent reply.

Clicking the reply arrow on the lower right side opens a comment reply input box directly underneath the comment. No need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to reply.

Replies to replies - sometimes known as second or third (or fourth) level replies - will not be indented as is the custom in most forums. Instead, second and third level replies will be collapsed.

How are the threads displayed, still in chronological order?
Each conversation will be displayed in chronological order. But organization of the conversations overall will be displayed based on popularity. The most popular conversations will migrate to the top. The most recent comment that has no replies will appear on top for approximately 15 minutes before being filtered down. If a more active conversation receives a reply within those 15 minutes, that conversation will overtake the stand-alone comment.

Where did the plus and minus go?
The plus and minus, which was used to friend or un-friend a fellow commenter, has been replaced by a heart. Friends show a red heart, and the rest are empty.

What's the deal with the star again?
Star commenters were readers who have 25 or more followers, or were designated as stars by a comments admin. With the introduction of threading, the number of followers required to attain star is increasing to 40.

Is there a way to view comments the "old-fashioned" way?
You can switch to the old style comments layout by clicking the "classic view" link in the comments bar at the top of the threads.

We also wanted to take a moment to introduce Pete Gaines. His name's over there yonder in the masthead as our Commenter Admin. You can e-mail him at pete@jalopnik.com, and his job is to handle not only any questions you may have on comments, but also to approve and deny commenters and handle any unruliness in the Jalopnik commentariat. We'd also like to remind everyone of some rules on good commenting from our good friend Al Navarro — expect to see a more updated guide to hit these pages sometime in the near-term future. We'll also have some new and — gasp — innovative features coming shortly. Or, as soon as the Gawker tech team irons out the wrinkles. In the meantime, have fun kids, and try not to break anything.

OK, I won't necessarily be moving to print, but rather I'll be doing editorial and production work for Dallasnews.com the Web site for The Dallas Morning News. So technically I'm still an online guy, but whatever.

What kind of farewell post wouldn't include a reflection? Ray hired me primarily as a technology guy and immediately threw me in with the wolves at the Detroit Auto Show. Prior to my time at Jalopnik I knew a little more than the average bear, but I was far from an enthusiast or gearhead. I was privileged to learn about the industry under the bright minds of Ray, Matt, Ben and the rest of the Jalopnik crew, but what I learned the most from my time here is not about the inner workings of an automobile, but rather, what it is like to be an automotive enthusiast. It's a full time job being an enthusiast and I applaud you folks, the Jalopnik readers and commenters, for being so dedicated.

And with that, I am out. Don't hesitate to click around Dallasnews.com after Monday so I can take credit for the traffic increase.

Best,
Travis Hudson

Q: What is a Down On The Street car?
The original Down On The Street Series features old and/or interesting cars and trucks found parked on public streets in the city of Alameda, California, where I live. Alameda is located (mostly) on an island in the San Francisco Bay, about five miles from San Francisco and a few hundred yards from Oakland. Since the Alameda DOTS series has been so popular, we've expanded the concept with the Down On The Street Bonus Edition (DOTSBE), for vehicles found anywhere else.

Q: So does that mean that the Down On The Street Bonus Edition posts are for cars found outside of Alameda?
Yes, that is correct. If the main tag above the post's title reads "Down On The Street," the vehicle was photographed by me on the street in Alameda. If it reads "Down On The Street Bonus Edition," the vehicle was shot somewhere other than Alameda, generally by Jalopnik readers but sometimes by me.

Q: Wait, what? Does that mean I can send in photographs of cool old cars I find where I live, and you'll post them on the site?
It sure does! And this is as good a time as any for me to share some tips that will make the whole DOTSBE process easier for me... and the easier it is for me to deal with your photos, the more likely I'll be to post 'em:

• DOTSBE vehicles must be on public property. That means no driveways or yards, unless you OK it with the owner first. Parked on the street is best, parking lots might be OK, and car shows are out.
  
• Email DOTSBE photos to me, Murilee Martin, not to the Jalopnik tips email. We don't need giant email attachments clogging up the tips inbox.
  
• The maximum useful size for DOTSBE photos is 1280 pixels wide. 1280 is the max width for photos in our galleries, so anything beyond that just makes the email take longer to send/receive (and forces me to resize the images).
  
• When emailing DOTSBE photos, Include "DOTS" in the subject line. I have email filters set up to direct DOTSBE submissions into a super-high-priority mail folder, so an email with a "DOTS" subject ("DOTSBE" and "Down On The Street" also work) makes organizing things that much easier for me.
  
• Include relevant info with your DOTSBE photos. That means the location of the vehicle (city/country), anything interesting you might know about it, and your Jalopnik commenter name (if you have one), so I can give you credit if I use the photos in a post.
  
• Be patient. I get a lot of DOTSBE photos, most of them are great, and I'll get to yours... eventually. Sometimes they'll go up the day after I get them, and sometimes it takes a year.

• Weather: Alameda is an island in the San Francisco Bay, and the weather is quite mild. It doesn't snow here, and rain is very rare between April and November. This means rust isn't much of a problem. The sun isn't as harsh as in the Southwest, so upholstery and paint hold up pretty well.
  
• Limited Off-Street Parking: Most of present-day Alameda was completely built up by the early 20th century, and the 1906 earthquake- which devastated much of the region- barely touched the island. This means most of the houses were built before cars were beyond the novelty Horseless Carriage stage, so garages aren't as common as in other cities. Many houses built in the 1910s and 1920s have semi-basement garages intended for tall, narrow cars with high clearance that can deal with a 30-degree grade. The water table is so close to the surface here that digging a deep garage requires some serious sump-pump hardware, lest you find your ride in four feet of water.
  
• Hot Rod Tradition: Alameda has had a vibrant culture of hoons hopping up their cars since the days of the Model T, and so you have the old guys passing on the virus to the younger guys. Some of the car clubs on the island have unbroken lineages dating back to the 1920s. And that leads straight to...
  
• The Island That Time Forgot: Alameda is a weird place, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's essentially a David Lynch movie set in a sunny California climate, among Victorian and Craftsman architecture and a small-town mentality that belies its urban grid street pattern and very high population density. The island is full of old people who never cross a bridge, whose original-owner classics never drive faster than 25 and are used only for short trips to Ole's Waffles or Lee Auto Supply. It's also full of young people who start to feel that an old car just, you know, make the most sense. You never know what this town will do to you; Jim Morrison arrived on the island as a wholesome Navy kid, and by the time he departed for LA he'd become a dopefiend weirdo poet.

Look! A gratuitous picture of a Fierenzo. Now will you sign up? It's so easy! Just look for the thing that looks like this:

We humbly thank you and return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Photo (and, you know, everything else) Credit: Jezebel

I've worked on the advertising side of the auto industry for the past four years, mainly for then-DaimlerChrysler and most recently for the General, enjoying a lovely view from the glass Tower 'O Power downtown. But, lest you think I'm some white-glove cube monkey (or worse, some advertising faux-hipster), note that I've also worked as a mechanic, a parts counterman and a dealership salesperson. I've wrenched on everything from a '49 Plymouth to an '08 Saab, and I've done restorations on two Triumphs, a '63 Riviera, and my current project, a '73 Mach I Mustang. I keep a Malaise-era Chilton's manual by my bed for humorous evening reading, and Summit/Jegs catalogs in the john. And I've run a little site called Beater Review, dedicated to raggedy-ass old cars, for about two years now.

In other words, I live and breathe this stuff too, kids. And since the future's on these here interwebs, I decided to cast off the shackles of my corporate overlords and jump over to Los Jalops. To be honest, there's nowhere I'd rather be.

Ray Wert
Editor-in-Chief

Like other city boys, born and raised in South West of Detroit, Wert's been steeped in automotive culture since birth. His formative years were spent tooling around town in the comfort of a late malaise-era jet-black Northstar-powered Cadillac Sedan De Ville and the teeth-rattling ride of an R edition Mazda Miata. Since then Wert's owned more Jeeps than he can count on one hand (except for a brief two year interlude in a Dodge Intrepid R/T, but he doesn't like talking about that). A former senior staffer for Michigan Governor Granholm, Wert was an industry wonk who has since seen the light on that whole "politics" thing. An avid fan of classic 'merican muscle, Wert has since branched out a bit to embrace cars made by — well, you know — other automakers, but still spends much of his free time poking fun at German service center signs in Michigan watering holes. Wert's most treasured possession, other than a "Block M" license plate with the plate number of 0R0NS, is his very own one-of-a-kind bobblehead. In addition to serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Jalopnik, Wert also has written for The New York Times, PopularMechanics.com and is a regular contributor on CNBC. Wert splits his time between New York City and his beloved Metro Detroit.

Wes Siler
Road Test Editor
While not chastising Kanye West's bodyguard for his ill-advised political leanings or riding motorcycles, Wes Siler finds time to be Jalopnik's Road Test Editor. Wes first found his passion for cars while growing up in England. A subscription to Autocar soon turned into a string of vehicles, the first of which was a 1969 Morris Minor that broke down more times than Wes has fingers (nine). Slightly more reliable was the TVR Sagaris he used as a moving van in London a few years later. Wes has written for magazines ranging from Nylon to Msafari to 0-60, and he has just launched his own online motorcycle magazine, Hell For Leather.

John Krewson
Editor, Nights & Weekends
John has always enjoyed doing things the hard way, which is why he loves being an automotive enthusiast in the affordable and car-friendly city of Brooklyn on the exorbitant pay of a comedy writer. This is somewhat easier than being an F1 enthusiast in the lovely countryside of the great state of Wisconsin, where he was born and where he learned to drive fairly quickly on a variety of surfaces, including snow, ice, dirt, frozen dirt, whitetail deer, opossum, rabbit, squirrel, frozen whitetail deer, and even pavement. Although he comes from people who would rather push one brand of car than drive another, John does not in fact believe this to be a valid viewpoint. In his ample spare time from serving as the sports editor of The Onion, John Krewson will be covering nights and weekends for Jalopnik.

Matt Hardigree
Associate Editor - Chicago
Matt Hardigree is a twenty-something Texan doing a tour of duty in chilly Chicago. A wordsmith by trade, Matt has divided his time between writing about cars, romance, politics and the CMBS market (though he'd rather not talk about that). In addition to covering the latest news for Jalopnik, Matt focuses on the esoteric, the metaphysical and the hilarious side of the automotive universe.

Ben Wojdyla
Associate Editor - Detroit
Ben Wojdyla started out life as an Indiana farmboy and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree in 2004 from Kettering University. He's been passed around the automotive world like a two-dollar corporate whore, working in various facilities within Ford and Visteon, even doing time as a project consultant with a German engineering firm. More importantly, Ben drives a 1999 Audi A4 2.8L V6, a 1978 Kawasaki KZ750B3 and he's working on resurrecting a 1964 Lincoln Continental in his very own level of Project Car Hell. Ben covers the dark and weird little corners of the greasemonkey world for Jalopnik and monitors the Detroit beat. Ben lives in scenic Royal Oak, MI.

Travis Hudson
Associate Editor - Aftermarket and Technology

Travis Hudson is a recent graduate of Kansas State University. Travis spent two years of his life at Gizmodo, obsessed with all things consumer electronics (including beer bongs). Travis is a technology fiend who is beginning to dabble more into the world of automobiles and trying not to get hit by one while doing his dabbling. Travis will be covering all of the great gadgets and doodads that can be found on the road and many that can't. Travis drives a 2006 Civic Si and currently lives in Dallas, Texas, but is contemplating a move to New York City.





Murilee Martin
Contributor
Emerging from the swamps of the San Francisco Bay Area, the young Murilee Martin was tragically sidetracked from his destiny as a billionaire high-tech kingpin when a $113 GTO and the sound of Lemmy Kilmister's voice on the radio seduced him away from the Apple II and into a tawdry life of primered-out beaters, junkyards, and general hoonage. After a stunningly unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a performance/installation artist, Murilee went on to become a hack professional writer, creating everything from junkmail to bondage smut to mechanics' shop manuals. Murilee has owned and discarded dozens of heaps, clunkers, and Hell Projects, with a Competition Orange '68 Mercury Cyclone and a British Racing Green '73 MGB-GT being the hopeless cases he most regrets letting go.

Mark Arnold
Contributor
Mark Arnold is Jalopnik's video guy. A "seasoned pro" with over two years of production experience under his belt, Mark started working with Jalopnik at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year and we decided we'd keep him because he's just too damn good. He suffers from the same lifelong obsession with cars as the rest of us, and started here as a commenter before making the jump to contributor. Mark has a philosophical belief that an automobile should die under its own power. He has killed 8 cars in the past 6 years by means of blown engine or total-loss collision. Mark babies his cars.

Mike Spinelli
Editor-at-Large
Mike Spinelli is the founding editor of Jalopnik. In addition to being the rock, island and spiritual leader of the team, Spinelli has published pieces in a variety of outlets including Wired, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Lane Daily, Garage 419, 0-60, Maxim Radio on Sirius and many others.

While it's true that the stars indicate our new team of all-star commenters who, in the past, have helped to provide and maintain a certain level of decorum in the commenter threads. We'd like to continue having them do that — except now they'll have a little star next to their names. They'll be our eyes and ears letting us know when or if something may be in need of attention as well as to make sure we're all getting the best possible commenting experience. None of the chosen few yet know they've been deputized, but that's OK because if they don't think they're man enough for the challenge, they all know how to reach me.

This list isn't final, complete, and the only criteria will be continuing to be what they've always been — our all-stars. It also means we have an expectation of class, civility and, you know, not being a lunatic (POLAЯ, we're looking right at you — you're on probation for the moment, my friend). At the end of each month, we'll select a new member of the team, culling from those commenters who have been selected as commenter of the day during the past month. Want to be a member of the as-of-yet-unnamed elite special unit? Keep up your commenting excellence and remember, never cut the funny. Unless it's that lame sophomoric crap. Keep the funny smart.

We'll also have the list of all-stars available in the "About" link at the bottom of the page shortly. And that, as they say my friends, is that. Without further ado, here's the list:

Al Navarro
Bumblebee
Charles Barrett
FatBraff
Schweppes
POLAЯ***
peabody3684
danio3834
SwatLax

***On Probation

• Nights & Weekends Editor: A workaholic night owl type with a meth-like addiction to every news source on the planet to keep the site humming at the redline 24/7 and give me a few hours off each day.
• Associate Editor, West Coast: Strong story selection and writing skills a must for this new position to balance out (with the lovely Murilee and DeBord of course) our heavy East Coast influence. Being tuned-in with the tuner crowd a must.
• Intern (Detroit): Speed-reading RSS feed readers are strongly encouraged to apply. Bonus points if you've in the past spotted things that end up on our site before they've actually ended up on our site. Must be willing to follow Ben to the ends of the earth.
• Intern (Anywhere): Same as above, only located pretty much anywhere.

It wouldn't be out of the question, for instance, to find references to Udo Dirkschneider, the pygmaic lead singer of 1980's German heavy metal band Accept, a Japanese TV show about Dekotora trucks and Dutch reverse-gear racing all on the same day. In short, it would be obscure and fun, if you went in for that sort of thing.

Here, in a very particular and personal order, I present to you, The Loverman's 11 Favorite Jalopnik Moments:

#11: Davey G Introduces Me
First of all, absolutely yes — Davey and I met for the very first time at a strip club in Hollywood called Jumbo's Clown Room. If any of y'all should ever go there (and I recommend you doing so) check out the wall to the left of the bar — one of the very first articles I ever had published anywhere is hanging on that wall. And here's the post: The Truth About Jeep's Faulty Brand Compass.

#10: Audi R8 vs. Honda Civic
Where else but Jalopnik would you ever see this? Exactly, no where. I take special pride in this review — not cause I wrote it or anything — because last time I quit Jalopnik to go work at Inside Line, I said to Spinelli, "Sorry I'm leaving — but you should hire that commenter Murilee Martin. He's really good." So, if history repeats itself, I'll be back in 3 weeks and you'll soon be reading Polar's take on the Ferrari 599. In the form of a song parody. Audi R8, Part 1

#9: The Very First Thing I Ever Wrote For Jalopnik
As some of you know, I was writing for TTAC before I got tangled up with the J-nik. Farago and I somehow scammed convinced Skip Barber to let me attend one of their high performance driving schools. While the subsequent TTAC Editorial was about the school itself, I wanted to talk about all the sweet metal I got to hoon about in. So, I pitched the idea to the Postfather and he published it! Thanks again, Mike. See How they Run: Four Track Day Whips Examined

#8: Me and Mike Austin Talk About Ford's Edge
It was just one of those things. Former Guest Editor Mike Austin and I both happened to be at the San Francisco Ford Edge junket. We rode around for two days together, got to talking and (somehow) convinced Spinelli that it would be a really good idea to let us do a "He Drove, He Drove" review of Ford's then-new CUV. Man, that was fun. 2007 Ford Edge, Special He Drove / He Drove Edition, Part 1

#7: My First Auto Show
If you read what I write here on the big J long enough, you will eventually get to the part where I mention how kooky it is that my favorite thing as a kid was going with my old man to the LA Auto Show, and now I get to work it! Only it turns out that working as a blogger at an auto show SUCKS. Unless your idea of a good time is running around like a headless chicken for 14 hours straight. I really wasn't prepared for the grind my first time out (which led to this), but it was when I met Bumbeck. And that made it all worthwhile. LA Auto Show Broke: Drinking, Smoking and Sweating the Jalopnik Way

#6 (Tie): Jalopnik Forever Creeps Out Jezebel
One of the things I'll miss the most about working for the Khmer Rogue Gawker Media is the ability to "splice" into other sites. You know, when stuff from Lifehacker suddenly appears explaining how to fix scratches in your paint with White Out. Well, my good Se7enangelist buddy Al Navarro sent in a question (I just posted it — honest!) and now the Jezzies forever think y'all are utter scum. Nice work, boys. Good thing I'm leaving. What Would You Drive on a Date with Jezebel's Slut Machine?

#6 (Tie): Best Car in the Fantasy Garage
Not a bad writeup, either. Ferrari 288 GTO

#5: Se7en Se7en Se7en
Speaking of Mr. Navarro, I owe him big time. The other day I was having a quiet moment and my girlfriend asked me, "What are you thinking about?" I wish you could have seen her face when I answered, "Lightweight tube frame sports cars with small displacement engines." Maybe I'm too naive, or just new to the car writing game, but the chance to be with those guys and their cars on that road... I'm still smiling. And apparently, day dreaming. Se7en, Se7en, Oh My Se7en!

#4: Davey and I Rock the RS4
Austin and I might have been first with the "He Said, He Said" review format, but Davey and I perfected it. On accident, too. See, the plan was to just go and drive Audi's wunder sedan around Los Angeles, grab a beer and call it a night. But, as it happened the day of the drive was Halloween and Emil Rensing was having a party. Christ that was fun. Hell of a car, too. Jalopnik Reviews: 2006 Audi RS4 - He Said Supercar, He Said 'Meh' Edition

#3: Most Comments, Ever!
What started out as a funny idea turned into the most heavily commented upon post in Jalopnik history. As I'm typing, "How Jalopnik Is Your Car?" has 468 comments. The previous record holder — Porsche? Or Porsche? — had but 215. I'm really glad you guys enjoyed playing so much — Murilee's promising a part II. So harass him. How Jalopnik Is Your Car?

#2: Thunderhill LeMons
Events like the 24 Hours of LeMons are the sort of stuff I used to read about in the nether regions of Car & Driver that caused me to get into auto journalism. Quite literally, the stuff of my dreams. And I got to cover it. I'm still shocked. As you know, Murilee's putting together a team to race a V8olvo at Altamont this May. And even though I'll be doing a portion of the driving, I'd kinda rather be covering the spectacle. Kinda. Thunderhill LeMons

#1: DAF vs. FAF
I know this choice is going to make zero sense to most people, but honestly I've never had more fun writing about cars. Turns out that Davey G and I are both hugely competitive and certifiable loons. Who knew? Anyhow, a tip of the hat to Spinelli for letting us get away with it, and a tip of the pint glass to you guys for putting up with us. Look for Tatra vs. Tata in an RSS reader near you. For Whom the DAF and/or FAF Tolls

Anyhow, I'm going to miss the hell out of you guys. So let's just treat this as a navel-gazing QOTD — what's your favorite Jalopnik moment?

I do want to leave you with one last quote. When asked for his take on the meaning of life, Werner Herzog quoted Conrad Hilton who when asked a similar question said, "Always make sure the shower curtain is inside the tub." Not that I'm trying to answer the meaning of life, but what in God's name is the meaning of all this car jazz? Here's a line spoken by Eugene Morgan from Orson Welles's 1942 follow up to Citizen Cane, the at first panned but now revered The Magnificent Ambersons:

I'm not sure George is wrong about automobiles. With all their speed forward, they may be a step backward in civilization. It may be that they won't add to the beauty of the world or the life of men's souls. I'm not sure. But automobiles have come. And almost all outward things are going to be different because of what they bring. They're going to alter war and they're going to alter peace. And I think men's minds are going to be changed in subtle ways because of automobiles. And it may be that George is right. It may be that in ten or twenty years from now, if we can see the inward change in men by that time, I shouldn't be able to defend the gasoline engine but would have to agree with George: that automobiles had no business to be invented.

For the past couple of weeks I've been boarding at my friends' non-working farm. It's a typical southern-Tuscan spread set between the cliffs of Monte Amiata and the Mediterranean Sea. I've just taken Zoe, a Labrador mix, for a run in the vineyards and my faithful sneaks are caked in thick, red clay. As existences go, rural Italian life is an order of magnitude less frenzied than standard. There's no rush to get out of bed before eight, and good luck buying an aspirin or a jar of mayo between one and four in the afternoon. But despite a lack of certain stimuli, cars still manage to dictate the firing order in my temporal lobes.

About an hour ago, along a dirt track leading to the beach, I recognized a nondescript econobox ambling up the road as indeed a Renault 5 Turbo, in a condition best described, considering the salt air, as astonishing. "Che bella macchina!" I called to the driver, a large, bearded man whose bulk packed every inch of Le Tweaker's compartment as if he'd been poured in. As the only other motorized vehicles in sight were tractors and pitch wagons, the emergence of a rare, French, mid-engined hatchback was beyond incongruous. It was ethereal, like bumping into the ghost of Ayrton Senna shopping for bibb lettuce.

During my first visit here a few years ago, Zoe and I would take daily sprints up a long knoll to follow the scent of quail or wild boar (Zoe) and get an eyeful of the Baratti coastline (me) and the Thyrrenian waters that lay beyond. Back then, blogging about cars for a living was as remote a prospect as delivering pizzas by nuclear submarine. I'd pretty well resigned myself to a second decade publishing business-to-business market research, and didn't imagine it would be much damn fun.

Then, curiously, Gawker tossed me the keys to its new car site, which we named Jalopnik by way of a Roget's thesaurus, a vague notion of personality, and a bottle of medium-grade champagne. As sole writer (and editor), all I knew to do was articulate my own automotive proclivities and Google-led flights of obsession. To my thinking, Jalopnik would be the antithesis of traditional car media, with a natural inclination to follow the bizarre, the extreme, the whispered, the forgotten, the geeky. It would be the equivalent of indie-rock radio, with a voice inspired not by its most direct antecedents, but by others once (or twice) removed, or by random association. It wouldn't be out of the question, for instance, to find references to Udo Dirkschneider, the pygmaic lead singer of 1980's German heavy metal band Accept, a Japanese TV show about Decotora trucks and Dutch reverse-gear racing all on the same day. In short, it would be obscure and fun, if you went in for that sort of thing.

This year, Zoe and I are a bit rounder in the middle, and getting to the top of the hillside requires stopping off for a few extra breaths. Jalopnik has grown to become one of the most trafficked car sites on the 'Net, and a daily read for untold thousands. I mention this not for horn-tooting purposes, but as a source of continued amusement. Of course, writing weird stuff about cars every quarter-hour and getting paid for it is one thing, but running an organization devoted to sussing out and posting on the vast quantity of automotive information in the universe requires an altogether separate set of skills, a different head and a motivation to be first, above all. After all, is not speed the primary benefit of a publication with the lead-time of a soft-boiled egg?

Thus, fair readers and car-information junkies, from this day forward, you'll be in the capable hands of Ray Wert, Jalopnik's ascendant editor-in-chief. I'll be assuming the inflated title of editor-at-large, which means I'll be focusing not on the day-to-day operations of the Jalop, but broader issues like what color the T-shirts should be, whether scotch is best drunk with water or without, and if the word "hoon" should have an apostrophe like in some UK papers. I'll also be writing more and racing the guys from Autoblog back to the car shows' media centers less, though that's been great fun too. But for now, it's back down the road to find the guy with the Renault and beg, in broken Italian, for a quick drive down the block, to where the Etruscans used to bury their dead. Zoe sends her regards.

Rök