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Blogging The Auto Bloggers
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blogging the auto bloggers
GM's "Maximum" Bob Lutz Using Twitter, Giving Random Shout-Outs to Auto Journalists?
GM's product czar Bob Lutz is now not only "Twittering", he's giving shout-outs to minor automotive journalists. Seriously. What do we think — inappropriate attempt at currying favor with low-hanging fruit or just something silly that shouldn't be happening? Either way, we're not sure someone like "Maximum" Bob should be doing anything called a "tweet." Ever. But hey, feel free to check out the Jalopnik Twitter account where we'll randomly give shout-outs to automotive executives. Also, we'll never call anything a "tweet." [GMBlogs on Twitter]
blogging the auto bloggers
Brock Yates Leaves TTAC, Again
We seriously like Brock Yates and we seriously like the idea of serious writers with a long history coming over to the digital side of automotive journalism. We're just waiting for someone to make the transition that will actually keep a job long enough for us to see how it works out. As you'll remember, Yates was fired from Car und Driver, then went to work for TTAC, then left TTAC, then was hired by TTAC, again. So what's happened next in the ongoing W2 saga? After just three columns, Yates is Fara-gone. The statement from the big boss man at the site all about the truth apparently Yates couldn't handle (or maybe the truth couldn't handle Yates?) below the jump. More »
blogging the auto bloggers
Brock Yates Joins TTAC Full-Time, Welcome To The Interwebs
Though it's been a while since Brock Yates was fully canned from Car & Driver, and there was talk of him joining the interwebs many moons ago, nothing ever materialized. But now we're happy to say that Brock Yates will officially be joining the League of Extraordinary Automotive Bloggers at The Truth About Cars. More »
blogging the auto bloggers
Truck Trend Admits to Hummer H3T Embargo Screw-Up
One of the big buff mag boys over at the House of Trend is showing some remorse over the Motor Trend empire's embargo-breaking for fun and profit. Mark Williams, chief truck-lover over at Truck Trend, is manning up to "accidentally" publishing their latest issue ten days early and revealing the new Hummer H3T a week and a half early (though curiously forgetting to apologize to Suzuki over the new Suzuki Equator embargo blunder). Mark says "...it looks like we were the ones who screwed up the whole thing...and no doubt the subject of a few heated conversations at General Motors..." More »
Edmunds Inside Line joins the anti-embargo fight on the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. Go Line on the Inside! [Edmunds Inside Line]
blogging the auto bloggers
Yes, it's official, Auto Week hates embargoes as much as those of us here in the automotive blogosphere despise them. In an editorial written in the wake of the silliness that was Chrysler's embargo strategy on the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 reveal for the Chicago Auto Show, Dutch Mandel, the hard-charging editor of AutoWeek, echoes our pleas from last week. Quick summary: The auto industry needs to let the embargoes go and bring the "show" back to auto shows. We welcome Dutch & Co. to the trenches — they've got themselves a seat here next to us. Heck, we've even got room for guys like Marty Padgett over at The Car Connection. We're still waiting for others with the necessary intestinal fortitude to join the fight — but we think Motor Trend may not have the thick skin we once thought they had. Pity. [AutoWeek]
The Post Whereby We Welcome AutoWeek to the "Embargoes Suck" Bandwagon
Yes, it's official, Auto Week hates embargoes as much as those of us here in the automotive blogosphere despise them. In an editorial written in the wake of the silliness that was Chrysler's embargo strategy on the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 reveal for the Chicago Auto Show, Dutch Mandel, the hard-charging editor of AutoWeek, echoes our pleas from last week. Quick summary: The auto industry needs to let the embargoes go and bring the "show" back to auto shows. We welcome Dutch & Co. to the trenches — they've got themselves a seat here next to us. Heck, we've even got room for guys like Marty Padgett over at The Car Connection. We're still waiting for others with the necessary intestinal fortitude to join the fight — but we think Motor Trend may not have the thick skin we once thought they had. Pity. [AutoWeek]
blogging the auto bloggers
Motor Trend Gaming Google on the 2009 Corvette ZR1?
While covering the Barrett-Jackson auction this weekend, specifically the $1 million purchase of the first "retailable" 2009 Corvette ZR1, we did a quick Google search for the 2009 Corvette ZR1 in order to pull up our old story on the new super-Vette from the General. When the results came up, we noticed something rather odd. No, not Motor Trend being the first result — we mean, come on, they're Motor fuckin' Trend — the fact that Jalopnik is merely a step behind them says little about us and more about Motor Trend's inability to leverage their brand name on the internet — and about how low they've let their brand name go. But we digress. What was weird was that they've got their "exclusive" "scoop" on the ZR1 set up in the "roadtest" section of their site. What? Do they know something we don't? Was there some super-secret drive of the new ZR1 they partook in with Chevy? Our sources at Chevy say no. So what's the reason? More »
blogging the auto bloggers
CNET Covers GM... Favorably?
Looks like Rick Wagoner making nice at CES ended up being a smart move. The trip to the geekfest by GM's top man has led to gadget industry stalwart CNET giving GM some free press, and it's mostly favorable. CNET Executive Editor Charles Cooper comes close to damning GM with feint praise, but his article comes off as hopeful the General is actually turning the corner on tech and environmentalism. Pretty soon we'll be hearing how more companies should be like GM. Before you know it, exurbanites will be gushing about how environmentally friendly their Cadillac Escalade Hybid is (snicker). [CNET.com]
blogging the auto bloggers
A Titan of a Giveaway: PickupTruck.com Wants You to Help Customize, Win Nissan Pickup
Our friends over at PickupTruck.com have one heck of a big giveaway. One could even say it's a Titan-ic giveaway if one was predisposed to puns. Luckily we're not. But, whether punny or not, they're giving away a 2008 Nissan Titan PRO-4X Crew Cab. Only if you're the winner then it's a little bit more than just a stock truck you'll be driving away with. The readers of the site will help by voting on a custom job for the Titan and the PickupTruck.com folks'll be doing a series of videos of the build. Once they're done
blogging the auto bloggers
Scott Burgess of the Detroit News Wants to Have it All
Scott Burgess, the most cuddly of auto critics over at the Detroit News has come up with an interesting, one-man-focus-group pseudo-review of the best parts of cars this year. Deftly sidestepping the realities of engineering, Burgess asks for somebody, anybody to put parts of some of the most dissimilar cars around into a Frankenstein's monster of platform prostitution. Take the brain from Ford's Sync System and put it into an Audi R8 body, bring in a heart from GM (what?!) and eyes from Mercedes... okay that's where our body parts/car parts metaphor runs out, but it's still madness, madness we say! Mwah ha ha ha ha! We're totally loving the diabolicalness of it all.[detnews.com]
blogging the auto bloggers
Random Blogger Explains Why PT Cruisers Should Be Purged From World
While we're not quite so disinclined towards the little faux-retro econoboxes ourselves, a writer over at BrooWaha makes a fairly convincing case for the theory that the "PT Cruiser has murdered taste and massacred better judgement, all the while asphyxiating our culture's collective memory." Strong words for a car with such an uncertain future. More »
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]
news
Top Ten "Green" Automotive Sites
In case anyone is interested, some
Congrats to the Detroit News for finally bringing their web site up to date — now we'll get to see Danny Howes and the whole Auto Insiders team in something approaching current html standards. Who are we kidding — have you seen what our code looks like? [Detroit News]
blogging the auto bloggers
What with UAW negotiations, sales numbers and the boardroom-stocking going on over at "The New Chrysler," I feel like it's getting to be rare for us to see CNBC's auto blogging on-air talent Phil LeBeau actually get the chance to sit down and do some ride n' drives with one of the products he covers. So, when he gets the chance to play with a high-powered Italian stallion, we like to highlight the lovable LeBeau lovin' the seat time. So sit back and watch as LeBeautakes a junket spends some time in Italy driving a Lambo and touring the Lamborghini factory as he learns all about the bullish brand and where it has its fiery and angry eyes set on next. Hint: it's not just the upper-upper class of 'merica anymore — now it's the middle-upper class. Also, try not to point out how LeBeau's lazily handling the steering wheel like he's driving a Lincoln.
Climb Into A Lamborghini "Road Rocket" With CNBC's Phil LeBeau
What with UAW negotiations, sales numbers and the boardroom-stocking going on over at "The New Chrysler," I feel like it's getting to be rare for us to see CNBC's auto blogging on-air talent Phil LeBeau actually get the chance to sit down and do some ride n' drives with one of the products he covers. So, when he gets the chance to play with a high-powered Italian stallion, we like to highlight the lovable LeBeau lovin' the seat time. So sit back and watch as LeBeau
blogging the auto bloggers
Scott Burgess Of The Detroit News Is A Complete D***
So we were sitting at home a few weeks ago when we got a phone call from Scott Burgess of the Detroit News. We figured that he, as the auto critic for the paper, was calling to let us know he had some sweet auto action he was currently testing and wanted to rub our face in it from afar. Nope, that wasn't at all the case — he was actually calling to rub my blogger nose in it from a-close. Turns out he was standing right outside the apartment building in downtown Royal Oak where the Jalopnik Detroit bureau's located — happily showing off his "get" from the bull-headed auto gods to anyone passing by. Apparently they'll let anyone with ink on their fingers get seat time in a Lamborghini Murcielago. Despite the fact he's a punk for the nose-thumbin' — please head over there and check out his review — he worked really hard on it. Seriously, we think he worked all of thirty minutes on it and come on, he mentions Paris Hilton in the first line. [Detroit News] Attention: The following post was sarcasm. Scott is a good writer. Read his reviews. Seriously.
Who knew the only goal in life for Autoblog's John Neff was to be "the web's premiere auto blogging ninja?" We're wondering whether there's blogging in mediums other than the web that maybe we could be the "premiere auto blogging ninja" in. [Autoblog]
