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

...he misnames as the "Pontiac Sport Truck," forgetting those strong G8 roots. But he makes up for it with hackery like calling our beloved El Camino the "Like Hell Camino," the "Pontiac Wallaby" and the "Haulacious." Isn't that precious? It's like he studied at the school of me, but without the love of real cars. [New York Times]

The paper speculates that signals from the building's radio and television broadcasts could be interfering with vehicle electronics. The Empire State Building has experienced a surge in commercial broadcasting since the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001.

Empire State Building Co denies the claim, but anecdotal evidence from local drivers, AAA and area residents and doormen supports it. [Via New York Daily News]

Photo credit: Alan Thinks

" Producers of the summer hit allegedly ripped off a Brooklyn woman's popular copyrighted design of an angry bee for a sight gag in the flick.

In papers filed in Brooklyn federal court, Alia Madden says the only big difference between her "Bee-otch" air freshener and the one in the film is the deletion of her copyright notice.

"Now she tries to sell her work, which had been a consistent seller, and people think she's ripping off 'Transformers,' " said lawyer Daniel Abraham.

Madden came up with the design for a bee over the word "Bee-otch" back in 2002, and licensed it out for use on air fresheners, mugs and shirts.

In June, she attended a merchandisers convention at the Javits Center and was stunned to see it being displayed on air fresheners in the "Transformers" booth."

I'm pleased to announce that Bill Vlasic will be the Times' new Detroit bureau chief, taking over from Micki Maynard, who will be moving on to a new assignment in Washington next year.

Micki is hard to replace, with her knack for seeing around corners, and for writing smart and bright enterprise that tends to walk onto Page One. But we're confident Bill can continue the Times' tradition of first-rate coverage out of the nation's automotive capital.

With more than a dozen years' experience covering the industry, most recently for the Detroit News, Bill knows the business inside-out. Detroit is a company story, a consumer story, a labor story, an environmental story and a political story, and Bill has demonstrated an ability to approach the beat from all these angles.

He won a Loeb Award in 2005 for a series on safety problems with car roofs, and was a Loeb finalist in three other years. And he wrote a gripping series on Heinz Prechter's battle with manic depression, and how it drove the prominent auto executive to take his own life.

His book, "Taken for a Ride," about Daimler Benz's buyout of Chrysler, which he wrote with Brad Stertz, was lauded by our own Keith Bradsher in the Times' Book Review. He 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."

Bill is a Detroit native and the father of two sons, ages 24 and 21, and a 16-year-old daughter. Please welcome him when he arrives in New York for orientation in the next few weeks.

Supposedly it'll be off-road ready despite sharing many components with the new C Class. As we said before, power is expected to come from a 3.5-liter V6 with Mercedes 4Matic all-wheel-drive as a standard feature. In addition, all versions are expected to have the 7G-Tronic TouchShift automatic transmission, but, we're fairly certain we're seeing the luxe ute in its natural habitat — out front of over-priced Beverly Hills (or Manhattan) boutique shoe stores. We're hoping to have a full spy report from Brenda soon, but here's our older shots of the new GLK for you to peruse at your pleasure.

Missing from last night's broadcast of the Colbert Report was the above graphic, which clearly demonstrates the threat.

Illustration: Sebastian Assaf for Jalopnik.com
Blind People Upset with Silent Hybrids [internal]

Two reasons. First, there's the public message, as noted by the NYTWA executive director:

"Taxi drivers sometimes use the cars in their private time. Why should they tell the TLC where they are going on a Sunday with their family? This is an invasion of privacy..."

"If they let people pay with the cards, the IRS will know how much we're making in tips. Why should the IRS know that and take my money from me?"

...huge explosion and felt the ground shaking around me. I then looked over to the right, down 42nd and saw a mass of people running towards me, shouting and grabbing cell phones from out-of-view pockets and briefcases. Some of them had a frightened look on their faces like I'd never seen before. And as I saw this mass of humanity rushing forward to engulf me, I was confronted with a very instinctual fight or flight feeling. But as is my foolish character, I went with "fight," rushing forward to find out what everyone was running from.

As I cornered Lexington I was blasted with a thick stream of hot and wet smoke (looking back on it, that would be steam), and when that initial blast cleared, I was greeted with a geyser of smoke and debris shooting straight into the air, seemingly competing with the 77-story height of the Chrysler building behind me. As I was showered with the warm and wet smoke (again, I'm now cognizant it was steam) and crumbled bits of pavement and dirt I turned and began to book it down Lexington toward 44th St. I had no idea what had happened, but for some reason I felt like it didn't look like the t-word. There was something about the way the geyser looked that made me think it was something non-terror related. So in some way, while speed walking down Lex, sweat dripping off my brow, I felt comforted by that fact.

That not-so-long six block walk to the studio gave me time to call friends, family and loved ones to explain that I was fine but I didn't know what was happening. Well, at least I did that for the first two blocks and then phone calls became impossible as the cell towers became jammed with frantic calls from mothers to children, men to wives and all other forms of familial or non-familial relationships. That gave me four blocks to contemplate the weirdest part of the whole experience for me — the fact that the road, something I'd always taken for granted, could possibly explode. The road is such an important part of the driving experience, so for me it's hard to believe it could just "blow up" like that. We all expect the road to just be there — whether in good or bad shape, it's there. So this morning the first thing you should do is go out and take a look at the street or roadway you drive on each day and just thank it for not exploding today and showering you with asbestos-laden debris. Because yes, it can happen. Also, I'm going to go back home to Detroit this weekend — because although the roads may flood in the D, they certainly don't explode. At least I hope they don't.

[Photo credit: AP, BJ Garcia]

But it all depends on what borough you're in, and in the case of Manhattan, where in that borough you're looking to buy. Today's New York Times tells us of a new 34-unit condo development scheduled for completion in January on West 17th Street — with a total of five spots. Going price on the five wait-listed spots is a quarter of a million dollars. In Brooklyn, we're told it'll cost ya $125,000 at one new development. If you're looking for a bargain, head on over to Harlem — you can snag one there for the basement price of just $50,000. Jeez. I thought it was bad I could only use quarters to park if I were driving to a restaurant in Ferndale, MI. Who knew?

For Parking Space, the Price Is Right at $225,000 [NYT]

[Photo Credit: bunchofpants]

New York taxi license hits record price: $600,000 [Reuters via Autoblog]

Related:
NYC Mayor to Order Hack Fleet Hybridized by 2012 [internal]

From the Set of "The Bourne Ultimatum" [aLive From New York via Fourtitude]

Related:
Audi A 6 Allroad Quattro [internal]

The message the General's giving on their earnings is that the NorAm operational net losses were only $46 million, an amount Rick Wagoner said this morning live on CNBC was "essentially breaking even." OK, that's a total load of crap — especially considering the automaker has sold more cars globally during the first quarter than ever before. Given that, one would assume they'd have to find a way to actually sell some cars here in NorAm to make some money — instead of producing 192,000 less — or else have a gameplan to when they're going to do that via their ever-running turnaround effort. But although Phil LeBeau's only sort of buying that spin, the bigger story is the little jam-up he may have just caused on Jefferson Avenue downtown a few minutes ago. As you can see, us Detroiters love CNBC so much we're willing to risk getting smashed up in order to gawk at pundits on the street live in front of a camera. And that's why I always talk indoors — less risk of injury to my fellow Metro Detroiters. I'm just trying to do my part. – Ray Wert

GM's CEO Says North American Operations Can Be Profitable [CNBC.com]

Related:
The Official Car Pundit Drinking Game; No Way Of The Day: GM Records First Quarter...Profits?! [internal]

NBC's Today Show tells us this morning China's getting an extra 2,000 cars per day on city streets as the Socialist republic becomes more and more like the United States every day. One other problem they face similar to us? Nobody knows how to drive. As you'd expect it's causing 300 to 600 people being killed each day on the roadways of the world's most populous country. So what's the People's Republic to do? The thing we wish they'd mandate in Manhattan and here in some suburbs of Metro Detroit — mandatory driver's training. The requirement, along with increased enforcement of traffic violations is causing traffic deaths to drop a whole 10%. The effort, however, is only helping NBC's David Gregory 5% in his attempt to discern the differences between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. – Ray Wert

Today Show [MSNBC]

Related:
Today Show Heads To Michigan To Cover...The New York Auto Show?; Toyota's As American As Apple Pie: So Sayeth the 'Today Show' [internal]

"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."

Related:
And In New York...There Was A Blizzard!; Newsflash: Someone at the NY Times Accidentally Tivo'd Pimp My Ride [internal]

For our very own Richard Blakeley, this past week was an absolute auto-showgasm, as he was feted by every automaker from Audi to Volkswagen. But it would appear the experience registering as the New York Auto Show highlight for Gawker Media's videographer par excellence was his ride in the backseat of a Bentley from Park Avenue and 72nd Street to the Central Park Boathouse for a little soir e for the new Brooklands coupe. As you can see, Richard's all about anything involving shiny little knobs and buttons — so in many ways, the back seat of a Bentley's probably the happiest place on earth to him. Although normally when we're holding the simultaneous thoughts "backseat of a car" and "push it real good" in our mind, we're usually thinking about other things. But maybe that's just how we roll. – Ray Wert

Related:
New York Auto Show: Hackers Went After Subaru Website For Hot Impreza Action?; New York Auto Show: Jeep Unveils New Retractable Hand, Umbrella For The 2008 Liberty [internal]

Ok, not really, but the few flakes we did see yesterday outside the Javits Center as we left another New York Auto Show were significantly more than those I saw during the 60-degree-plus temperatures we had in Detroit during the LA Auto Show. But because that didn't stop Times freelancer Jerry Garrett from making the claim a few months back that we were suffering from a cold and snowy blizzard, we figure we'd return the favor of tossing this inaccuracy out there, mostly because it would seem we've found Jerry pitting yet another set of auto shows into a competition. Except this time, he's being Manhattan-centric instead of fluffing up the West Coast.

"As in any beauty pageant, contestants will be judged on their personality, poise, performance and sex appeal. Think of New York as the final elimination round in a series of competitions over the last four months at auto shows in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and Geneva. The winners here advance to the true test: the showroom floors of America's car dealerships."

..."show of shows," with Detroit, LA, Chicago and Geneva the prequels and New York playing the role of final arbiter of what's good enough to show up on dealer lots here in the land of the red, white n' blue. That must explain why he included the Dodge Demon and Chevy Trax, Beat and Groove in his top twelve list — all of which are global concept cars. Those are cars which won't be showing up state-side anytime soon. Maybe it's not so much that the New York Auto Show is the "final elimination round" in his alleged show-of-shows comparison, but maybe it's just a really small and not-so-important show. Somehow we feel like that's all right for Jerry, a man we're convinced truly believe it when people tell him something is a "really good size." – Ray Wert

Related:
Hi, I'm Jerry Garrett: New York Times Now On YouTube [internal]

Related:
Jalopnik Team Party Crash: The Chrysler Group Revels In The Excess Inventory Of Loin-Burgers; Jalopnik Team Party Crash: Bob Lutz Eats "Hamburgers" At The GM Holiday Party, We Eat It Up; Jalopnik Team Party Crash: Ford Wishes Us Happy Holidays, We Eat Their Debt-Leveraged Brand Image [internal]

Related:
All of our New York Auto Show coverage [internal]

Related:
All of our New York Auto Show coverage [internal]

The above video by way of Gawker videographer Richard Blakeley is from an announcement made just a short while ago in Times Square by Frank Klegon, Exec. Vice President - Product Development for the 'merican side of the German-American hybrid. The scoop is the long-awaited news that Chrysler's taking it in the back...seat. The boys n' girls in Auburn Hills, MI will be offering SIRIUS Satellite Radio Backseat TV service in 2008 model-year vehicles, starting first with their new 2008 minivans available this year. The MSRP is $470, including the first year of service, and after the first year it'll be available for $7 per month on top of the $12.95 Sat-Rad fee. Here's the start of the press release:

"SIRIUS Satellite Radio and Chrysler Group announced today that Chrysler Group will be the exclusive automaker to offer SIRIUS Backseat TV in its 2008 model-year vehicle lineup. SIRIUS Backseat TV is a dynamic and pioneering TV service that delivers live TV from the best family TV programmers directly to the vehicles...

...Whether driving cross-country or cross-town, families will be able to access SIRIUS Backseat TV's high quality television entertainment and family TV fare through a simple, easy-to-operate video service. Sirius Backseat TV is live TV programming from the world's most trusted brands in family entertainment - Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. The service will be available in select 2008 model Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, beginning with the all-new 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, available later this year."

Related:
Breaking! XM, Sirius Announce Merger! [internal]

Robert E. Petersen, Founder of Hot Rod, Motor Trend Magazines and Benefactor of the Petersen Automotive Museum Passes On at 80

Robert E. Petersen, an entrepreneur who single-handedly created the largest special-interest publishing company in America, was instrumental in the evolution of the hot-rodding culture, and who, with his wife Margie, realized his dream of establishing an educational museum to pay tribute to the automobile, died on Friday, March 23, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. after a short but valiant battle with neuroendocrine cancer. He was 80.

"Mr. Petersen helped create and feed the American obsession with the automobile, delivering gasoline-powered dreams to the mailboxes of millions," said Dick Messer, Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. "He understood the thrill that an average person could get from seeing and reading about horsepower as an art form."

A native of Southern California, Mr. Petersen's mother passed away when he was 10, leaving him with his Danish-immigrant father, who worked as a truck and equipment mechanic. As a young man he picked up his father's skills, learning to weld, de-coke engines, and hone his fascination with cars.

After graduating from Barstow High School in the mid-1940s, he moved to Los Angeles, working at MGM studios as a messenger boy. Following service in the Army Air Corps toward the end of Word War II, Mr. Petersen, now an independent publicist immersed in the burgeoning customized auto culture of California, was instrumental in creating the first hot-rod show at the Los Angeles Armory. To help establish the event, in January 1948 he launched Hot Rod Magazine, and hawked the magazine at local speedways for 25 cents a copy. Motor Trend, a more upscale publication for production car enthusiasts, and dozens of other titles aimed at specialty automotive segments soon followed.

Mr. Petersen spent decades as Chairman of the Board of Petersen Publishing Company, which was at one time America's leading publisher of special-interest consumer magazines and books before its sale to private investors in August 1996. Among its other diverse successful titles are Teen, Sport, Rod & Custom, and Guns & Ammo. He also headed a wide variety of other businesses including ammunition manufacturing, real estate development and aviation services that each reflected another passion he shared.

Firmly established as an American success story, Mr. Petersen had one lasting vision: an educational museum to pay tribute to the automobile. On June 11, 1994, the lifelong dream of Robert E. Petersen was fulfilled with the opening of a 300,000-square-foot automotive museum named in his honor, made possible by his $30 million endowment.

Today the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles stands as the nation's premiere automotive museum, serving thousands of visitors each year. Its mission remains to educate and excite generations of auto enthusiasts with the fascinating stories, vehicles and people that have influenced the American love affair with the automobile - a mission that has been a resounding success thanks to the generosity of its main benefactor.

In addition to his noted auto collection, Mr. Petersen also developed a keen interest in sport shooting. He served as Shooting Sports Commissioner for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, where he was responsible for building that venue from an old dairy farm within six months.

Mr. Petersen served as president and chairman of the board of the Boys' and Girls' Club of Hollywood, and was a member of the National Board of Directors for the Boys' and Girls' Club of America. He was active in support of numerous children's charities and also served as a member for the Los Angeles City Library Commission.

Both he and his wife have been major contributors to the Music Center of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Additionally, he was a founding member of the Thalians social society, which raises money for the Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His ongoing contributions to the community earned him numerous special citations from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council.

Mr. Petersen was to be honored with both the 'Automotive Icon' and 'Visionary' awards at the Petersen museum's annual gala on May 10. The ceremony will now be held as a tribute to Mr. Petersen and his contributions to the institution and community.

"What made him so special was that he gave every ounce of his energy and abilities to his dreams. He was a quiet man who truly became an American icon," the Petersen museum's Messer said. "He made his living doing things he loved and he found success at every turn. The way he lived his life, always looking for ways to give back in return for the success he enjoyed, made you proud to count him as a friend. The museum is now his legacy."

He is survived by his wife, Margie. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to the Petersen Automotive Museum or the charity of the person's choice in his honor. Funeral mass will be held Thursday, March 29, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

Related:
Shit. Dick Landy's Dead [Internal]

On The Money [CNBC.com]

Related:
All of our Official Car Pundit Drinking Game coverage [internal]

While walking in Tudor City this weekend, that higher than First Avenue midtown east enclave of diplomatic immunity from parking tickets, I found two examples of people rolling in vehicles which one would not expect. Top among them is the Jews for Jesus "Manhattan Division," who apparently roll in a vehicle as confusing as their name suggests, i.e. a Plymouth Voyager minivan. This is of course rivaled only by what I've now found to be the diplomat's car of choice in these UN-is-irrelevant times. And no, it's not a Lincoln town car, or even a Cadillac sedan of some sort. Actually, it's another piece of Mopar not-so-much muscle...

...the Dodge Caravan. Apparently — as you can see below — even a soccer mom can be a diplomat. – Ray Wert

Related:
Detroit Vs. New York: Who's The Man? [internal]

"It was unclear what the status of his health was, but a witness provided a Luna bar for relief, as the judge clamored for orange juice."

"O'Quinn also maintains an extensive collection of collector cars with a total value of over $100 million. In October 2005, he bought Pope John Paul II's 1975 Ford Escort GL ( 690,000). In September 2006, he bought a 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo covered with 33 celebrity autographs ($500,000), the Batmobile used in the filming of Batman Forever ($335,000), a 1941 Packard limousine used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt ($290,000) and a 1938 Cadillac Town Car used by Pope Pius XII ($250,000)."

Virgie's "Texas" Lawyer Collapses in Court [TMZ]
John O'Quinn [Wikipedia]

Related:
Driving Under The Influence Of Meat: Tracy Morgan Gets A (Second) DUI; How'd She Get The SLR Back? The Paris Hilton And Friends Post-DUI Video [internal]

Ho, snap. Just a day after content giant, Primedia announced it was buying car-niche competitor VerticalScope Inc.'s Modified, Modified Luxury and Exotics titles, the company announced it's looking to sell off its remaining enthusiast titles. Primedia has been on a cash-raising binge, of late, for example, shedding its crafts pubs late last year for around $132 million and its hunting, fishing and outdoor titles to private equity firm InterMedia Partners for $170 million in cash. The publisher of such Jalopnik reads like Automobile, Motor Trend, Hot Rod, Corvette Fever and Arabian Horse World (what?) says it's retained investment banking firms Goldman Sachs and Lehman to find a suitable media juggernaut company to snap up the list. According to Crain's, the company's stock price spiked today on the news. It's another big move in an effort to pay down a boatload of debt from big buys like that of emap usa (formerly Petersen Publishing) from EMAP in 2000 for just over a half billion. The question now is, who will buy the catalog, and how many of the titles will be cut? Consider those the question(s) of the day. Go.

Press Release:

PRIMEDIA Announces Intention to Sell Enthusiast Media Segment

Board of Directors Decides to Explore Sale as Alternative to Spin-Off

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—PRIMEDIA Inc. (NYSE: PRM) today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to explore the sale of its Enthusiast Media segment (PEM). PRIMEDIA has retained Goldman Sachs and Lehman

Brothers to manage this process.
PEM is the number one special interest media company in the U.S. with over 70 publications, 90 leading websites and over 65 events, with revenues of over $500 million in 2006, excluding the recently divested Outdoors Group. Some of PEM's best known assets include Motor Trend, Automobile, Hot Rod, Automotive.com, Power and Motoryacht and Surfer.

Dean Nelson, Chairman, President and CEO of PRIMEDIA, said, "The Board believes the market environment is extremely favorable for the sale of PEM. We have spent considerable time reviewing strategic options for the Company and have been exploring, at the Board's direction, a possible spin off of our Consumer Source division, creating two distinct publicly traded companies. We have received a favorable IRS ruling and virtually completed complying with the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. Therefore, spinning off the Consumer Source business remains an option.

"However, given the multiples PRIMEDIA received from the sale of the Outdoors Group and the particularly strong investment and debt markets, the Board believes the best course of action for PRIMEDIA shareholders is exploring the complete sale of PEM," Mr. Nelson said. "In addition, we are seeing positive results from our online and product investments, which we believe will be valued by potential acquirers. We believe there will be strong appetite for our leading brands." Mr. Nelson added, "The Company will apply the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt."

About PRIMEDIA
PRIMEDIA is the leading targeted media company in the United States. With 2005 revenue from continuing operations of $822 million, its properties comprise over 100 brands that connect buyers and sellers through print publications, Internet, events, merchandise and video programs in two market segments:

PEM is America's #1 special interest media company, with more than 70 magazines, 90 websites, over 65 events, two television programs, 400 branded products, and such well-known brands as Motor Trend, Automobile, Automotive.com, Equine.com, Power & Motoryacht, Hot Rod, Snowboarder, Stereophile, Surfer, and Wavewatch.com.

Consumer Source, Inc. is the #1 publisher and distributor of free consumer guides in the U.S. with Apartment Guide, Auto Guide, and New Home Guide, distributing free consumer publications through its proprietary distribution network, DistribuTech, in more than 60,000 locations. The Group owns and operates leading websites including ApartmentGuide.com, AutoGuide.com, NewHomeGuide.com, RentClicks.com and RentalHouses.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used under the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions, expectations and projections of the Company's management about future events. Although the assumptions, expectations and projections reflected in these forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment at the time of this release, the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Numerous factors, including those related to market conditions and those detailed from time-to-time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, may cause results of the Company to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Many of the factors that will determine the Company's future results are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and, therefore, actual results may differ materially. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All references to "Company" and "PRIMEDIA" as used throughout this release refer to PRIMEDIA Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Primedia mulls sale of enthusiast media unit [Crain's New York Business]]

Related:
Primedia Swallows Modified Magazines [internal]

The week between Christmas and the New Year is the least productive for automakers. It's when factories enter shutdown mode and the offices of automotive power that dot the Metro Detroit area become a loosely arranged snoozeville. Inside, if you're not planning for the Detroit Auto Show you're as far from Detroit as is possible on a coach ticket. If you have an active role to play, you're doing so in a bathrobe and Nascar slippers. But for bloggers this year, there was a staggering amount of work, as we all tried to match the buff mags' time-shift act (February in December? What are the odds?). That's why I interrupted Jason Vines, Chrysler Group's VP of Communications, as he was watching a movie at home on the Thursday before New Year's Eve. I had an embargo-related question for the chief-spinmeister at the 'merican side of the German-American hybrid. While on the subject, Vines told me he was "pissed off" at the number of embargoes that had gone to hell "by the buff books" and was interested in planning a "summit" to "figure out what to do differently next time around." I filed that away, too busy to think about meetings yet to be. Then, this past week, I heard Chrysler wasn't the only automaker interested in a "summit," or "meeting of the minds" or "dinner party," or whatever, to address press embargoes. The PR professionals at the largest power tower of them all, the Renaissance Center, were looking to get General Motors in on some of that summit action. Well now.

GM, following my embargo motto of "won't be the first, but never the third" with an idea, set up a meeting one of GM's PR staffers called an "embargo summit," and which Dee Allen, PR director for brands, product and a bunch of other stuff calls "a dinner," took place last week at the Rattlesnake Club, an upscale restaurant along the Detroit waterfront. Allen bills the meeting, which he organized along with GM's Terry Rhadigan, PR director of the Chevrolet brand and Chris Preuss, director of product and brand communications, as a listening "opportunity," a chance "to hear...how embargoes affected them." Allen went on to say that he doesn't "think there was anyone in the room who hasn't been in the business for at least 12 years." And he was right, the attendees were a who's who of the print automotive world — David E. Davis, Editor-In-Chief of the online magazine Winding Road; Gavin Conway, Editor-In-Chief of Automobile magazine; Matt DeLorenzo, Deputy Editor of Road & Track magazine; Wes Raynal, Executive Editor of AutoWeek magazine; the always friendly Mark Gillies, Executive Editor of Car and Driver magazine and last but not least, Mark Phelan, auto review guy for the Detroit Free Press.

To be fair, Davis is the one guy in the room who's actually embraced the internet age with gusto — creating an online-only magazine with a blog added in for kicks. With the exception of Davis (and possibly Phelan, who may have been there for the free shrimp), the rest of the press in attendance and acting as GM's sounding board on embargo issues were nothing more than an opportunity for members of the print establishment to attack the emerging online automotive media. And given what we've heard of the Luddite-like claims of some of the attendees, that's what it sounds like happened. We're told Car and Driver's Gillies was a dinner guest with some particularly virulent commentary. He's being quoted by one person in attendance as saying "no one goes to computers to research cars...the enthusiast magazines are still the authority when it comes to car information." While we'd have to admit that for many people who've never experienced the internet before, it represents an unknown and scary place. But recent numbers from a variety of research reports would seem to contraindicate Mr. Gillies. Heck, even AdAge is talking about how the buff books, and Gillies own publication, Car and Driver, are looking for ways to increase ad sales online. Maybe Gillies just doesn't know that because he's not involved with his website, as it's Mike Dushane who acts as the editor for CARandDRIVER.com.

So this was the group Dee Allen looked to in order "to get a feel for" the changing world of automotive journalism. Well, why wouldn't he look to them — for the most part, it was a safe group for him to bring together. As he said before, not a one of them had "less than 12 years in the industry." The group didn't include folks from places like The Detroit News or The New York Times, both of whom ran articles before the show lamenting embargo breaks. It also didn't include sites like Autoblog, which saw millions of page views of traffic during the Detroit Auto Show. These were not only automotive consumers, but also enthusiasts.

As US subscription numbers for print magazines in general continue to fall (source: Magazine Publishers of America; Total Circ. 2000-2005), the one segment of the auto enthusiast universe that's been increasing in size every day is the online enthusiast community. And unfortunately for General Motors, save the one token merger of the print and digital world, there was no one there able to provide some real commentary on what the online auto enthusiast community is looking for. There wasn't an outlet there who could advocate for the people searching for auto content online and reading sites like ours every day. Although I'd hate to say this, it would appear GM just doesn't care about people who are online as much as they care about protecting their established methods of shoveling out "exclusives" in the form of PR pictures and details — via the buff books.

Once again, GM is taking the easy route instead of being bold and establishing their own path. We'll just wait and see what happens as other companies like DaimlerChrysler and Ford, two companies burned by the embargo game, make their decisions about the direction they'd like to move. I just received the Chrysler Group embargo materials site via e-mail on Friday, so it looks as though Vines is still biding his time on their own "conversation." But for now at least at one company — the world's biggest automaker — the traditional automotive press still rule, and it would seem that GM could care less about the fact that you're even here reading this. – Ray Wert

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Related:
FoMoCo FUBAR! Ford Earnings Call Live-Blog!; Breaking The Bank! Ford Leaks Money Like A Sieve In 2006, Reports Net Loss Of $12.7 Billion [internal]

Jeez, do you guys ever sleep? We've collected so many entries in our latest T-shirt slogan search that they flooded the system and started making long-distance calls to their relatives in Sloganistan. Nonetheless, we have to cull the herd, as it were, so let's start culling. You can still submit slogans, but they'd better involve some A-game linguistics or they're getting pw0ned with extr3m3 pr3j#d1c3!!! Also, if you're in the neighborhood, check out the latest Gawker shirt. I mean, everyone hates someone's kids. Vote after the jump.

Related:
Go You: Submit a T-Shirt Slogan [internal]

Show slogans that are: popular | new | top-rated or submit your own slogan

93. Stefan Eriksson: Sounds like a totally ripshit videogame... [CNN/Money]

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More on the Enzo Incident on PCH, With Photos!; Gizmondo Guy Confirmed as Toastied Enzo Owner [internal]

The waif of a model usually in search of a pusher became a pusher herself yesterday — helping a friend push n' pull a Mercedes out of the mud on the super-duper-model's 2million Oxfordshire estate. We don't know why Kate didn't just call for backup from the local towing service, unless the Virgin Media money's already been used up on yay. Or maybe she just didn't mind getting down n' dirty to help a pal out. Hell if we know the real reason, and although we don't know as much about modeling as Ms. Moss, what we do know is you shouldn't park a Mercedes C-Class — or really any car with standard tires — in a mud field. Plus, isn't she preggers or something? Full gallery of her handiness in a tug-job below. – Ray Wert

Kate Moss The Pusher Car [celebpic.blogspot.com]

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Paris Hilton: Still Dumber Than Shit; Exclusive! Roadgoing Mosler Delivered to George Lucas; more celebrities and cars [internal]

...some big drug company. I know you'll find your knight in shining armor to replace those lost revenues. But don't wait around for him — have you tried the internet yet? I hear the US automakers have already been out there, dipping their marketing wick into blogs, Google, MySpace, YouTube, or really anything with a pulse and verifiable metrics. But whatever, they're a man-whore and you don't need that shit, right? – Ray Wert

Time Inc. Bleeds as Detroit Automakers Gut Magazine Ad Spend [AdAge]

Related:
Gawker's Chris Mohney Tells Wert Why Chrysler's Looking For POTY Magic From Time [internal]

Vote on the Slogans [Jalopnik]

We were going to mention how, now in its, 1,437th season, American Chopper was breaking toward the shark ramp with amazing velocity. Then we recanted as the Teutuls, on occasion of their season premiere on the Learning Channel, planned to give away free gas for private and commercial cars at a BP station on the corner of Lafayette and Houston Streets in Manhattan (by commercial cars, they meant the cabbies who use that station as an adjunct base of operations). But alas, as the best ideas often do, this one didn't make it through the proper channels via BP/marketing agency/TLC — or someone realized what a massive clusterfuck they were planning to cause — and it's been cancelled. Oh well. Maybe this season Pop will throw Mikey through a window for sweeps week. – Mike Spinelli

Free Gas!!! [The Slug]

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SEMA Show: Damn Those Yankees And Their OC Chopper [internal]

Looks like the luxe brand at the General's looking to gain some street cred by enlisting help from the wonderful world of web 2.0. They've enlisted the marketing mavens at Modernista! to create some kind of pseudo-YouTube channel and custom website to highlight their attempt to use the new CTS (photo gallery below) to bring Caddy to the masses. Will it work? Despite hiring Joan Jett (in front of CBGB, even!), Tiki Barber, Travis Barker and Fat Joe, we're going to have to go with "probably not." But bully for Caddy on the attempt! – Ray Wert

My Cadillac Story [via YouTube]

Related:
CTS And Violins: More On The 2008 Entry-Level Cadillac...Yawn [internal]