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.

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]

5.) Jingoism

Nothing says "we love America" more than "we hate everyone else." Domestic car dealers are clearly on the front lines of this downturn in sales and have turned to hating on foreign car companies. A dealer in South Carolina is running angry rants on the radio (listen here) that blame anyone who buys a Toyota for their own loss of employment. The most xenophobic car dealer award probably goes to Bob Swift of Sacramento who sells Chrysler products and had this to say:

"People are reluctant to buy our cars because of the perception that maybe the quality isn't what it should be. Therefore, they're going to buy Japanese, they're going to buy a German car, forgetting that 50 years ago, we had to bomb those people and kill them by the thousands to keep them from overtaking our country."

Even if you ignore the many Japanese and German cars built and/or assembled in South Carolina and California, the foreign car companies are doing just as poorly.

4.) Panic

Riots in Detroit used to be so common David Bowie wrote a song about it. The catastrophe that is the not-so-Big Three is no exception. People are selling their stuff, refusing to fly and trying to keep their profile low. We're just waiting for this to happen next in Detroit. Of course, that's only if anyone's left living there.

3.) Anger

With so many jobs in jeopardy and so much emotional investment in American companies, it isn't surprising people are playing the blame game. We have senators blaming CEOs, pundits blaming unions and Barney Frank yelling at everyone it isn't a happy time to be involved in the industry.

2.) Prayer

Nietzsche said "Faith means not wanting to know what is true." We wouldn't mention this to the hundreds of thousands of people who rely in Detroit for a job and don't want to be unemployed this Christmas. The congregants of Detroit's Greater Grace Church here are praying someone, anyone, performs a miracle and saves Ford, Chrysler and GM. They've gone so far as to pray over hybrids in a church based in Detroit. Sadly, they've already cancelled one of the worshiped hybrids. And did we mention they're hybrid SUVs? Hey, Jesus is in the resurrection business. Right?

1.) Morbid Curiosity

There's a great scene in the not-so-great The Glenn Miller Story where they're playing a song and a buzz bomb cuts out overhead, the clear sign the bomb will soon fall on someone. Everyone pauses. Silence. Explosion. Everyone, on stage at least, survives with the knowledge they were lucky this time but may not be so lucky again. We think most people are this stage. There's word of a bailout agreement but, even with this Deus ex Congressa there's no guarantee things will be peachy keen. Not knowing for sure what's going to happen we've taken to inventing games, holding symbolic bake sales and selling merch.

Thanks to Jason and Jim for the tips

[Photos: AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis via MyWay, David McNew/Getty Images]

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

The committee's Chairman, Barney Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, not surprisingly suggested he'd rather have nothing to do with such a vehicle. We imagine "Leroy," "Big Blue," or "Bear" would be more his speed.

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.

Ford: Escape Hybrid SUV

Ford CEO Alan Mulally started this trend by first claiming that he'd drive to D.C and, not surprisingly, showed up in a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid. It shows to Congress and the world how Ford, which is in a better financial position than the other two, is making fuel efficient cars people want to buy and already has good hybrid technology. Ford also showed up with a 2009 Ford Flex to, we assume, move staff around.

Chrysler: Aspen Hybrid SUV

Chrysler's Bob Nardelli also drove to Washington, D.C. in a hybrid SUV: the 2009 Chrysler Aspen Hybrid. How does the Aspen Hybrid stack up against the Escape Hybrid? It gets worse gas mileage, it uses mediocre hybrid technology developed in conjunction with GM and is built into a car that's proven to be wildly unpopular.

But don't worry, they've already cancelled it — just four months after starting production. This not only demonstrates the company is unable to build attractive, efficient vehicles. It's another reminder parent company Cerberus is just waiting for Chrysler to get sold off to someone else.

He showed up to the hearing in a JEEP EV, a futuristic electric vehicle that will be a great halo vehicle for whichever company ends up owning Jeep.

General Motors: Chevrolet Volt Mule/Malibu Hybrid

General Motors' man at the helm Rick Wagoner drove to Washington, D.C. in a 2009 Chevy Malibu Hybrid but drove to the Senate hearing in a 2011 Chevy Volt test mule. There was also a Chevy Suburban and Cadillac CTS in the area, perhaps to shuttle executives around when not in front of the camera.

The fact that GM brought two different hybrid vehicles down shows the company is willing to work hard for the money, so hard for the money. The Volt prototype clearly demonstrates they're on the path to creating a mass production hybrid vehicle. The Malibu just shows they're not dumb enough to drive around Washington, D.C. in something unreliable.

The Entourage

Special thanks to STR8SIX for getting these live shots togther. His report below.

I made a short trip into downtown DC this afternoon. I was only able to spend about a half an hour snooping around the senate buildings. I found the Ford Flex and Escape hybrid from the Ford convoy. I also found an Aspen hybrid. Each of the vehicles had a driver sitting in it with the engine running. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the Chevy Volt mule. One of the security officers said that GM was giving test drives in the Volt and did not know if it would reappear this afternoon. A dark red Cadillac CTS with the engine running was parked in front of the Ford vehicles. That may have been Wagoner's ride back to the hotel.

[Additional Photos From Win McNamee/Getty Images, Ford, Chrysler GM]

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]

It doesn't look like the Democrats, with their current majority in the 110th Congress, actually have the votes. Our source in Congress tells us that they're still trying to get a good sense for where they are which is why they're starting in the Senate first. The leadership is afraid of risking a house failure and causing a market crash a la the $700 bill bailout.

The final piece of the puzzle came yesterday when Detroit-favorite Rep. John Dingell was defeated for the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee by Environmentalist-favorite Rep. Henry Waxman of California. This is a clear sign that the next Congress wants to take a more environmental tack.

This leaves Congress in a position where they likely don't have the vote to push through a bailout now and, given the behavior of the CEOs, it won't look good to do it right away. Congress will also need some cover after the $700 billion rush-job. On the other hand, most representatives have auto-related jobs in their states and they don't want to see GM fail. Given the liberal bent the next Congress seems to be taking, there seems to be pressure on conservative "blue dog" Dems to get it done before the next Congress starts up next year.

There will be a couple of chances for the Senate to take this up before the break and the not-so-Big Three have an opportunity to come up with a great plan that emphasis cutting costs, corporate reorganization and a better product mix. Or they can come up with a bad plan and see if Congress will swallow it anyways. Either way, we'll likely know before winter break.

[Time, San Jose Mercury News, Photo Mark Wilson/Getty Images]