While manufacturer sponsorship doesn't provide the majority of NASCAR's funding - that honor goes to mainstream sponsors like Mello Yello — it is a key part of the race series' equation. Manufacturers like GM and Chrysler provide funding for racetracks, key engineering know-how and parts. There's also the historic connection between NASCAR and the manufacturers; 17 cars wear Chevy badges at NASCAR's top level.

Car and Driver, not recently known for either humor or relevance but benefiting from a revival under new EiC Eddie Alterman, reported President Obama had ordered Chevy and Dodge out of NASCAR as part of an April Fool's Day prank. NASCAR didn't get the joke, with many teams, fans, executives and assorted rednecks believing the news.

That shock has apparently awoken the above parties to the real possibility of losing the support of two brands most closely associated with going fast and turning left and instead relying on the support of newcomers like Toyota. While NASCAR claims it'd survive both financially and emotionally, we get the feeling that they're pouring a little cheap beer out for their homies at the not-so-Big Three. Humor's always best when it causes the target to get all introspective, thus proving they never really got the joke. [via NASCAR]

A few days ago, Time Magazine cashed in on the buzz around Detroit with a series of photos they called "The Remains of Detroit." While the images they portrayed were honest, they were not entirely fair. Painting a portrait of an entire city from a dozen pictures doesn't really do justice to either the rot of the city, or the renaissance. We're not here to preach about how Detroit as a city gets a bad rap or defend it from its warts, but if anyone wants to see what happens when an economy goes sour and competition shut plants down, we're happy to give you an honest look.

Over the years there have been myriad auto plants rising to power only to be wiped from the map when misfortune falls upon them. These hulking assemblages of glass and brick stand as a testament to the wills of men driven to greatness, and what happens when they, or their companies, are not continually vigilant of their profits or their contemporaries. What follows is only a slice of Detroit, so take it as it is.

Fisher Body Plant 21

The Fisher brothers started life as carriage makers and eventually became body suppliers for Buick and Cadillac. Their Fisher Body Plant 21 was in service between 1919 and 1974 and was closed shortly after the brothers died. It was used by other companies but never built another car part. The build stands now in a largely abandoned state, a single security guard watches over the back of the plant as it's slowly being taken apart.

Hudson Plant

The modestly-sized Hudson plant was originally home to the Aerocar company (no not that Aerocar) and was opened to produce Hudsons beginning in 1909. For the next three years Hudsons of the time were built there, but then in 1912 production was moved to a much bigger and more modern plant at Connor and Jefferson streets, which was demolished in 1961. The plant is currently a warehouse as far as we can tell and not vacant.

Ford Piquette Plant

The Piquette plant was the first home of the Ford Model T and can be considered the birth place of the Ford Motor Company as we know it today. Completef in 1904 and tiny by modern standards, the small plant measures only 400 by 56 feet with three floors, but was successful enough to outgrow its capacity in only nine years. The plant is today kept as something of a museum to itself by the Detroit Historical Society.

Ford Highland Park Plant

If Ford was born at the Piquette plant, it grew up at the Highland Park plant. When demand for the Model T exceeded the capacity of the old plant, Henry Ford and architect Albert Khan developed an all new type of plant built from reinforced concrete with many floors and large windows. This was also the site of the first moving assembly line in an automobile plant and could crank out a Model T every 24 seconds. Automobile production would move to the River Rouge Complex in 1917 where production continues to this day. The Highland Park plant was last used in the 70's for the production of Ford tractors and is largely vacant currently.

Packard Plant

Perhaps the most spectacular ruins in the entire city, the Packard Plant rests just off interstate 94 on the east side. Of the empty factories, it is perhaps the saddest, having once been a seat of innovation and produced the finest cars money could buy. The nearly mile long facility has long been quiet, serving as warehouse space for a while, and a destination for urban exploration, but recently security has been pulled, the once mighty facade was auctioned to the highest bidder, and the factory has been given up to the looters and the scrappers.

The S&P said a month ago that if the credit crunch wasn't taken care of, by 2009 the world would be facing global automaker liquidation. That's what we call the Carpocalypse and it's getting much closer to reality after Senate Republicans killed the House bailout bill without brokering a compromise, hung up on an attempt to strong-arm the UAW into a wage reduction for current workers that apparently isn't factually based.

Meanwhile, Toyota poised for its first U.S. sales decline in 13 years, canceled its 2009 annual dealer meeting in Las Vegas to trim expenses as consumer demand for new cars plummets. Additionally, the Japanese automaker released a statement saying a bankruptcy among the not-so-Big Three would "exacerbate an already difficult environment" for itself and the industry as a whole. On those comments, and thanks to the Senate Republicans, shares were off 10% in Nikkei trading today.

In response, the White House just moments ago claimed "all options are on the table" including, apparently, looking to breaking off a chunk of the $700 billion in TARP financing set aside for the financial industry. Toyota stock recovered after this news, down now just over 1.5%.

Fears of a bankruptcy of any of the not-so-Big Three also hit Honda today, who we just heard will now be cutting output in North America by 119,000 between now and the end of March at plants in Alliston, Ont., Ohio, Alabama and a new factory in Indiana that began producing cars just last month.. Run for the hills, folks!

[via MSN, Globe and Mail]

Senate Republicans succeeded in their effort to kill the auto bailout dead. Here's what we've got from Automotive News:

A bill to provide emergency loans to Detroit automakers is dead for now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said late Thursday.

"We have not been able to get this over the finish line," Reid said.

Reid said he dreads what will happen on Wall Street on Friday. "It's not going to be a pretty sight,'' he said. He also said the failure of negotiations will mean a "a very, very bad Christmas" for many Americans.

Hanukkah won't be too great either. Unless, of course, you happen to be Harvey Miller at the law firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges in New York. He's just signed on as an advisor to GM for possible bankruptcy. What a night, eh?

Next up is the question of whether or not the Treasury Department will provide GM and Chrysler money from the TARP program. Our guess is if that's going to happen, it'll happen tomorrow during the day so as not to have the markets impacted any further going into the end of the year. We guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[Automotive News, TheStreet.com]

Photo Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images News

The U.S. House of Representatives approved HR 7321, the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act. The bill provides an immediate $14 billion in loans to prevent the collapse of GM and Chrysler and set the stage for government stakes in automakers and Washington-directed restructurings. The vote took place at 8:46 PM this evening by a vote of 237 (Aye) to 170 (noes) to 1 (present) to 26 (not voting) setting up a showdown in the Senate where prospects for passage are not as certain. Want to see how your member of Congress voted? Click here.

Since it seems like half of the punditocracy, Republicans in Congress and every anti-car hippie with a blog seems to be interested, even giddy, at the prospect of a couple of the not-so-Big Three going under, we thought we'd try to put a little perspective on just what that means. It's easy for people to say "Detroit" deserves to fail, but it's not really just Detroit that would fail, it's pretty much the entire Midwest. We've put together a Google Maps overlay of all US manufacturing facilities currently in operation by one of the big three. Peruse at your leisure, then imagine all of those factories across the US empty and silent.

View Larger Map

Take a look at the stakeholders in the $15 billion bridge loan legislation for the Detroit automakers and you'll see why there's no clear message coming from anyone on the not-a-bailout; the automakers no longer have clout in D.C., the House Democrats seem fixated on making the not-so-Big Three into "Big Green," House Republicans are busy offering an alternative non-"ass-backwards" plan in the House that would have the Feds provide insurance which would cover up to 50% of losses of new investment in case of a default or bankruptcy. Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Shelby (R-Foreign Autobama) on the other hand are just eager to find a way to kill the UAW with some cockamamie scheme similar to House Republicans.

We guess given every other stakeholder's got both hands tied behind their backs (mostly of their own doing) or is completely without a clue when it comes to economics (Sens. Shelby and Ensign, we're looking at you), we shouldn't be surprised it was the lame duck White House that would actually craft a realistic message on the proposed bill. In the span of one press conference, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Joel Kaplan changed the message of the bill being a bridge loan for the not-so-Big Three to make it to the waiting hands of the Obama administration into what it should have been all along — "bankruptcy lite."

What this "bankruptcy lite" bill would provide the short-term financing the Detroit automakers need to give them an opportunity to do what we've said they need to do, take a few months to work with all the parties — UAW, dealers, suppliers, etc. — and get a realistic cost structure put in place before March 31st, 2009. At that time the "car czar" appointed by the President would either accept the plan presented by GM and Chrysler, come up with his own plan, or say "screw you two" to both and call back the collateral put down for the loan.

The plan makes sense to us, and it probably makes sense to the American people.

Photo Credit: CHRIS KLEPONIS / AFP

Later in the interview he was more than willing to agree to funds for the gaming industry, because "they employ more." Let's ignore for a moment Ensign's lack of understanding of the difference between a primary industry and a service / support industry. Let's also ignore the Senate Finance Committee member's ignorance of the term "indirect job." In fact, let's agree with the Senator that yes, the travel and hotel industry does employ more direct jobs than the automakers. But, let's not ignore what Ensign's ignoring: Guess where all those Strip-walkin' Midwestern beer-cozy-carrying union workers won't be visiting if the not-so-Big Three go under? [via CNBC]

Here's what the AP's reporting this morning on details from over the weekend:

"The plan would draw the emergency aid from an existing loan program meant to help the automakers build fuel-efficient vehicles. The size of the package hasn't been finalized, but it is expected to be about $15 billion, several congressional aides said.

It would create a board composed of Cabinet secretaries from the departments of Treasury, Energy, Labor, Commerce and Transportation plus the Environmental Protection Agency administrator to oversee a broad auto industry restructuring. A congressional aide outlined the emerging measure on condition of anonymity because it is not yet completed."

All we know is Bob "The Builder" Nardelli's been praying since Friday night. We guess we may find out today if his prayers were answered.[via AP]

Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images News

[via Donny Miller]

One sip for every time Bob Nardelli says, "I don't know."
Two sips for every time Bob Nardelli says, "I'm new to this industry."
Chug when Nardelli mentions Home Depot.
Drink entire six pack if Nardelli leaps across the conference table to strangle member of Congress.

Also, sorry about the Chevy shot glass rather than a GM one. I couldn't quickly find one with a GM logo, and I didn't want to waste precious drinking time.

Also, if you're looking for a full live-blog, head on over to Speed:Sport:Life. They've got some fun stuff going on over there.

This flies directly in the face of GM CEO Rick Wagoner's past comments that a bankruptcy would mean liquidation because customers would refuse to buy cars from a company that might not be able to back warranties or supply parts. Our sources, whether from inside the General or from the outside, have given us similar arguments in the past.

That hasn't stopped staff for three members of Congress, who've asked restructuring experts if a pre-arranged bankruptcy — negotiated with workers, creditors and lenders — could be used to reorganize the industry without liquidation.

But it's not just the congressional committees at work here. According to another source, a representative of Obama’s team contacted at least one bankruptcy-law firm to say Daniel Tarullo, a professor at Georgetown University’s law school who heads Obama’s economic policy working group, would call to discuss the workings of a so-called prepack, according to this person.

But don't expect anything on this to come out of this week's hearings as we're also told

"Negotiations are splintered among small groups, making it unlikely a proposed solution such as bankruptcy would emerge until next week at the earliest..."

We'll obviously continue to be all over this story like a fat kid on cake. Stay tuned throughout the day to our "Carpocalypse Now" tag today as we bring you the latest news from D.C.

[Bloomberg]

Specifically, Automobile selected cars from Detroit they believe are able to stand up to other automakers in competitive classes such as mid-size cars and crossover SUVs and not just trucks and Jeeps.

The Top Ten Relevant Products Detroit Has To Offer

1. 2010 Ford Fusion/Fusion Hybrid
2. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu/Malibu Hybrid
3. 2009 Chrysler Town & Country
4. 2009 Ford Escape/Escape Hybrid
5. 2009 Cadillac CTS/Cadllac CTS-V
6. 2011 Chevrolet Volt
7. 2010 Ford Fiesta
8. 2010 Chrysler Town & Country EV
9. 2011 Chevrolet Cruze
10. 2010 Ford Transit Connect

It's a good list and we're in strong agreement with most of the choices, though we think it's a bad sign that 80% of the list is dominated by Ford and Chevy projects and to get two Chrysler products they had to include two versions of the Chrysler Town & Country as opposed to lumping them together as they did with the hybrid vehicles from the other two domestic automakers. It's also troubling the other version of the Town & Country is the highly speculative electric version.

[Cruise over to Automobile Mag for their reasoning]

When the management of these automakers start acting like they’re in crisis, then perhaps we’ll believe them. They’ve come to Congress not to rescue their companies but to salvage their lifestyles. This is an industry that desperately needs bankruptcy and collapse to put an end to unrealistic labor deals and obnoxious executive behavior. The American taxpayer doesn’t have any business subsidizing this failure."

You know you've got a problem not even a Rick Wagoner-penned op-ed in the WSJ will solve. What GM, Ford and Chrysler need to do is start getting the PR people in charge of fixing their image problem ASAP. If the PR people were already running the show, fire them and bring in new ones who understand the importance of a strong public image right now. Then sell the planes — despite there probably being a rational reason for them — fix your image and get back to the task at hand. You know, saving your company. [Hot Air]

Jalopnik Snap Judgement: While the initial flavor of this campaign is tacky, it might prove to be a good move after all. GM still has a fairly rabid customer base that hopes to be driving The General's products in the future and this is a way they can secure that dream. Raising customer awareness of current pressing issues while garnering support for near-zero dollars? GM doesn't have that many options left. Anyone who bought a Chevy Equinox when there are, possibly, millions of better cars out there certainly wants to stick by the General.

Here's the email in full:

Dear (name removed),

You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.

Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.

The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.

The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:

• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion

Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.

Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the "I'm a Concerned American" link under the "Mobilize Now" section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.

Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.

Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.

Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.

Sincerely,

Troy Clarke

Thanks for the tip, Jeff!

Let's be clear. The alternative to government cash for GM is not a dreamy Chapter 11 filing, a reorganization that puts dealers and the UAW in their place, ensuring future success.

No, even if GM could get debtor-in-possession financing to keep the lights on (which it can't), Chapter 11 means a collapse of sales and a spiral into a Chapter 7 liquidation.

GM's 100,000 American jobs will die. Health care for a million Americans will be lost or at risk. Hundreds of GM's 1,300 suppliers will die. Their collapse could take down Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, perhaps even North American transplants. Dealers in every county of America will close.

But that's not all. Here comes the call to action:

The taxpayer needs protection and an upside. GM's top management may need to go. Government-as-shareholder deserves a big voice. Those details can be worked out.

The Detroit 3 CEOs and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger had better tell two critical congressional hearings next week what sacrifices they are prepared to make.

But the stark fact remains: Absent a bailout, GM dies, and with it much of manufacturing in America. Congress needs to do the right thing — now.

What? Buying a t-shirt won't help? [Automotive News, CNBC]