IRL in Milwaukee

The IRL is at the Milwaukee Mile - the oldest racing facility on the circuit (the track - in various forms - has been around since 1876 and auto racing was first held on the horse track dirt surface in 1903).

This is a great segue from the huge facility that is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The leaders end up passing back markers within 30 miles of racing! This is great racing and it's fun to watch the jockeying of cars as they try to keep competitors at bay while passing the slow folks.

Mike Lawrence on F1

Mike Lawrence is a British author and reporter of the F1 scene. There's got to be some of his stuff in my library - juxtaposed amongst the Posthumus, Pritchard, Pomeroy, Boddy, and Setright. He has a wonderful set of random thoughts up at the PitPass site that I highly recommend taking the time to read if you are a fan of Formula 1.

The biggest chuckle I got out of it was his explanation of Ferrari's woes this season. He wrote, "I did warn that, having got rid of adult supervision, in the persons of Brawn and Todt, Ferrari would revert to being Italian. It has become Scuderia Shambles, its natural default."

Here's the link.

GM Bondholder Agreement

The New York Times is reporting that GM bondholders have reached an agreement on restructuring their debt stake. Currently there are $27 billion in outstanding bonds. For that outstanding debt, the restructuring will offer a 10% equity stake in GM with an additional 15% available through warrants (a financial instrument allowing the holder to purchase stock at a later date for a 'fixed' price - hopefully the value of the stock goes up sufficiently to make the warrants valuable - much like a stock option).

Here's where the math gets interesting. There are about 600 million shares of GM stock outstanding, 10% of that is 60 million shares. The closing price for General Motors on 5/29 was $0.75. So without the future prospect of exercising warrants, the value of the 10% stake is about $45 million. Talk about a BAILOUT - GM wipes out $27 billion in debt for $45 million. And talk about taking a bath - the only way a bondholder could have gotten off worse would be to have invested in one of Madoff's schemes. ; -)

I'll say it again - if you have a company with a unionized work force, that may some day find itself asking this government for help, have fun trying to raise capital by issuing bonds.

The Starting Lineup

It's almost summer and the sports pages (Web and newsprint ; -) are chock full of baseball. So how does baseball have anything to do with cars, beyond the old Chevrolet ad campaign, 'Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet'?

Well, the heart of a car companies product lineup is analogous to the first four spots on a baseball team's batting order. You need an 'on-base' batter to lead off, a decent percentage hitter in second and third spots, and a power hitter in the cleanup spot.

For car companies that equates to a good compact and mid-size sedan, a mid-size SUV, and a full size truck.

Ford has a decent entry product, the Focus which compares favorably with Toyota's Corolla and the Chevy Cobalt. The Cobalt is a good product - much better than its predecessors - but the Corolla is the All-Star.

The Chevy Malibu is the first mid-size GM sedan in a long time that has the attention to detail in the interior that is needed in this segment. It's a very good product that anyone could use in their lineup. Ford's Fusion is good but the Camry is the gold standard.

The Toyota Highlander is as good a mid-size SUV as a product planner could hope for. The Explorer the aging 'slugger' and the late Chevy Trailblazer (gone now - replaced by the Traverse) the 'Roy Hobbs' of the bunch (it should have been a contender - especially with the creamy smooth in-line six cylinder GM did for that truck).

Cleanup hitter, Ford's F-150 - the best of the bunch, with the Silverado and Tundra playing catchup. Ford has managed to keep the F series at the top of the sales charts and is a big reason it is still healthy.

Now where does Chrysler's product fit. What's their Corolla equivalent, the Sebring? Nope that's the Camry fighter - but it's a minor leaguer compared to the rest. Medium sized SUV, the Dodge Durango - well check the interior out on that truck. And finally the Ram, a good product but an also ran - never getting any All-Star votes.

Notice also the first four slots for Chrysler are across two brands. Could this be why Chrysler couldn't make it? It's all about product.

NHRA in Topeka

Big time drag racing's traveling circus takes the show to Heartland Park this weekend (Topeka, KS).

I was pondering on Formula 1 engine power this morning, in particular the notion that they have more power than they can adequately put to the ground at times now. What does that say about the power available to the upper reaches of the NHRA classes, Funny Car and Top Fuel?

Well a current F1 engine is rated at slightly under 800 hp. Or the power of about three-plus V6 Camrys. An NHRA Top Fuel dragster is producing around 8000 hp. A stinking fleet of Camrys. Yeeha!!

While some decry what they see as the simplicity of drag racing (go straight then shut the car down), that mindset misses the preparation, the almost impossible task of putting that much power to effective use, and the sheer violence going on inside the engines.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who has a driver's license can pilot a car down a quarter mile dragstrip in a time of 14 seconds or above. But there are not many drivers that I'd trust with a car capable of sub 8 second runs.

Unlike land speed records, where top speed is achieved after a fairly lengthy run up to the timed section of the course, drag racing occurs from a standing start. And another oddity of drag racing is that age doesn't seem to be an impairment, either old or young.

For grins, here's an amateur video of top fuel dragsters burning out (to warm up the tires) and then approaching the line for the run. Notice the crew members helping to position the cars to take maximum advantage of the grip on the track.



This isn't an NHRA event, but rather an FIA event held at Mantorp Park in Sweden. Ah, American Graffiti at work in Europe. ; -)

GM Headed for Bankruptcy?

Bondholders have rejected the latest offer to restructure their debt in GM. Look for a similar conclusion to this as occurred to the Chrysler bondholders.

On the other hand the UAW settled for a much smaller stake (17.5%) in GM than the proposed 39% they were asking for.

North Korea Immitating a Porcupine?

North Korea effectively tests a nuclear device (possibly an implosion - plutonium fueled - device - or maybe they did an enhanced uranium 'cannon'). Then they fire off a handful of medium range missiles. They are rattling sabers. But why?

To say the North Koreans are bad actors is an understatement, but they are not proselytizing a religion/way of life (unlike radical Islamists or Al Gore ; -). Maybe they are in the throes of the last gasp of the Dear Leader - who wishes to maintain control as his vitality slips away.

Maybe what we're seeing is the first signs of the implosion of the North Korean state. The chaos of that event will be tumultuous.

So what are the options? I'd like to see more DDGs (guided missile AEGIS destroyers) in the neighborhood, and possibly an interdiction of material leaving North Korean harbors - not a complete blockade - but one looking for specific military 'exports'. And, as quietly as possible - no public announcements, an end to all aid to the North Korean regime. The aid is not reaching its intended recipients, the long suffering population, but is merely being used to prop up the existing regime.

The chaos of the disintegration of the North Korean regime will be a tough assignment for the international community. The only 'silver' lining I can think of is that we may have a chance to work closely with China, both diplomatically and militarily, when the chaos does erupt.

NASCAR's Coca Cola 600 . . .

. . . is underway again, after being delayed due to weather yesterday. I'm not a big NASCAR fan, but tend to keep loose track of it.

But, there are a couple of good books I'd recommend to get a flavor of the old and new NASCAR. For the old NASCAR I can heartily recommend Robert Edelstein's biography of Curtis Turner, "Full Throttle: the Life and Fast Times of NASCAR Legend Curtis Turner". Exceptionally well written with a sensitivity to the character of Curtis Turner that I believe ranks high in the pantheon of all the biographies in literature. Edelstein's literary construction of Curtis Turner's reaction to the death of Joe Weatherly is masterful.

For the new NASCAR there's "Sunday Money". As good a sendup as you could wish - in a league with Jim Bouton's, "Ball Four" (though without the author, Jeff MacGregor, being an insider). It is a good outsider's look at the sport that will leave you laughing out loud along the way.

Both books will help NASCAR novices and hard-cores alike.

There is one book that I have mixed emotions about - but will put on the list. It is, "Cheating: An Inside Look At the Bad Things Good NASCAR Winston Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed", by Tom Jensen. There are some good tales spun in the book and they're all true, but I find it lacks some context for the cheating. Leo Levine's, "Ford: The Dust and Glory" (in two volumes), recounts some of the same tales but wraps the cheating into a contextual framework. Just remember the old adage, "If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough." ; -)

New Life for the Rotary Engine

Mazda has applied for a patent covering a direct fuel injection rotary (Wankel) engine. The rotary engine has some intriguing properties, it can produce good horsepower from a very small size and it is exceptionally smooth (based on it's rotary motion that doesn't involve the violent 'starting and stopping' motions of the connecting rods in a piston engine).

Number 15 is the direct fuel injector.

For grins, here's an animation of the rotary in motion.



It has two significant drawbacks though. One is it's difficulty in 'sealing' the rotors and the second is it's dicey pollution characteristics/fuel economy. The second problem has to do with the shape of the combustion chamber, a wide shallow space that's moving, that is difficult to do a complete burn of the fuel in. That is one reason each rotor chamber has two spark plugs, one leading ignition pulse and one trailing pulse.

The direct injection could reduce the impact of that problem by keeping the cloud of fuel very close to the ignition source (rather than having it dispersed throughout the elongated combustion chamber as has been the case until now). But it appears that they are injecting fuel before compression, which still leaves a fuel/air mixture to occupy the hard to reach edges of the combustion chamber (hard for the flame front to reach that is). Regardless, fuel economy will improve.

Hat tip to MotorAuthority.

On Mileage Standards

The recently approved Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards have the automotive world in a bit of a dither. There are some that say the standards are set too high , that we'll end up with tiny (read fragile) cars, or that we'll sacrifice consumer choice.

I don't see it quite that way. For one, the positive news in this set of standards is that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) can no longer, until 2016 at least, apply a more 'difficult' standard than the federal CAFE standard. That is the prize for the automakers. They no longer have to treat California as if it were a foreign market.

As far as the mix of cars are concerned, I suspect that yes, we will see more A and B-class cars (we already have quite a few showing up, the Smart, Yaris, Fit, and Versa, to name a few). Ford will bring in a B-class (Fiesta?) and Chevy is already selling the Aveo. Heck even Cadillac has a well built little car called a BTS that they toyed with selling in Europe.

But while small cars may be the focus of the press and the yammering classes (both left and right), the real effort will go into producing hybrid powertrains in existing C and D-class cars as well as trucks. The cost of cars will go up (of course). But hybridization coupled with newer engine technology (direct fuel injection being a biggee for gasoline engines), will do the trick. There are also some new high strength steels coming into play that will allow weight savings while still providing requisite crash protection. The standards may be a stretch, but are not impossible.

In the 1970s when CAFE was introduced, most piston-heads donned sackcloth and ashes and took to the streets with signs decrying the end of the performance car. Well - it didn't die - it took about twenty plus years to sort things out, but we now have an array of high performance cars that make the '60s era muscle cars look like slugs.

The other thing we learned along the way is that as fuel economy improved the miles driven went up also. That leads me to believe there's another shoe to drop in this process. That 'shoe' will be a 'floor', or threshold price for fuel (fossil fuels only, I suspect) artificially established through taxation. Look for that floor to be in the neighborhood of $3.50 to $4.00 a gallon for regular un-leaded gasoline. Ouch . . .

Indy 500

Polesitter, Helio Castroneves wins his third Indy 500. This is the Penske Team's 15th. It was a very good ending to a comeback month for Helio and his enthusiasm was more effusive than ever.

The youngsters got some good experience and maybe a few have learned just how unforgiving the walls are. Maybe one in particular will think with his head more than his right foot in years to come.

What's a Topless Sprinter?

Not what immediately comes to mind. ; -)

Here's a clip of un-winged sprinters on dirt. About 800 Hp and only 1300 lbs. Seriously dangerous and sideways all the way around a bullring of a dirt track. The clip is from qualifying at the Bloomington Speedway.



I do believe God is a sprint car fan.

Brawn Sweeps Monaco

Strength upon strength - the Brawn GP team finishes one/two yet again, this time in Monaco. Jensen Button takes a commanding lead in the driver's championship while Brawn GP stretches its lead in the manufacturers' championship.

The race lead was never really contested. Button led from the pole and became the first British driver to win from pole since Sir Jackie Stewart did the same in 1973.

Interesting radio chatter from the team to Button after he won, "Congratulations and pick up as much rubber as possible please." Formula 1 cars are weighed (as well as the drivers) at the end of the race and must make minimum weight to pass scrutiny. The soft, hot, slick tires will pick up cigarette butts, pieces of rubber shed from other tires, gravel, small animals - you name it - and add to the weight of the car.

Good way to start the day!

Race Day

Packed schedule today, Formula One in Monaco, the Indy 500, chased with NASCAR's Coca Cola 600. Throw in a USAC 'topless' sprinter race on a half mile dirt track and I'd be in heaven.

Crack House

I really enjoy Jim the Realtor!



But there's no basement, where do they go when there's tornadoes in San Diego? ; -)

Memorial Day

'In Paradisum' is the closing of the Requiem Mass. As we remember the men and women who served their country and are no longer with us, especially those who died defending us, this portion of the mass attempts to explain the inexplicable - what comes after life. The text is copied below in Latin and English:

In paradisum deducant te angeli,
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres,
et perducant te
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
aeternam habeas requiem.

May the angels lead you into paradise,
may the martyrs receive you
in your coming,
and may they guide you
into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the chorus of angels receive you
and with Lazarus once poor
may you have eternal rest.

The first version presented is the original Gregorian chant.



The second is Maurice Durufle's 20th century interpretation of the original.



This hope for family and friends who've gone before us. Especially to Bob Feighner.

Pioneers

Indy was a rough place for women to break into - ask Janet Guthrie. In fact Indy brought both Janet and Lyn St James out on Bump Day for a Q & A session. Very nice; and good to hear from both of them. I've read both of their autobiographies and can recommend both (Janet's is especially well written - she said it took 23 years to write.)


Janet is in the center, Lyn is on the right.

So this year there are three women in the race, Milka Duno, Sarah Fisher, and Danica Patrick. And some would argue that Danica has a chance to win.

I think it proper to remember the good will and help provided to Janet by Rolla Vollstedt . And since it is Memorial Day weekend, I'd like to honor the memory of Rolla's friend and the nicest Indy driver never to win the 500, Len Sutton. We miss you Len. Here's a checker in memoriam.

Bump Day Returns

The last two days of qualifying for the Indy 500 brought more drama this year than in recent memory. Sure the cars are nearly identical, but the setups and the drivers aren't and that's where the drama begins.

John Andretti (whose car is pictured below) pulled off a last minute bump last Sunday by finding two miles per hour that frankly seemed to appear magically. Word is out that they received a call from Tony Stewart advising John to go wider into turn one to pick up more speed through the short chute between turns one and two. It worked.



One thing of note is how horizontal the rear wing is. On most tracks it would be more upright, it practically lays down at Indy - these things are setup for MAX speed!

And Now for Something Completely Different . . .

. . . a tractor pull in the Netherlands with an exploding engine. Most of the time a connecting rod goes through the side of the block and leaves a nasty hole (or REALLY positive crankcase ventilation ; -). In this case it appears that the bulk of the rotating assembly stayed behind and the block and heads were sent flying. Pretty impressive, and to quote David Hobbs, "It blewed up"! ; -)

Monaco Grand Prix

The Monaco Grand Prix runs this weekend - thankfully earlier in the morning here in flyover country than the Indy 500. Giancarlo Fisichella talks us through a lap of the circuit - the greatest street race of them all!

Giuliano Carminogla . . .

. . . is also coming to Kansas City next season for the Friends of Chamber Music series.



This is baroque music at its finest. Superb and, of course, good seats are available.

Friends of Chamber Music - Kansas City

Better Battery Business

The following article from Wired's Autopia discusses a decent alternative to the problem of rate of refueling for electric car battery packs. It's merely a swap out - drive-in with a 'flat' battery, drive-out with a 'fresh' one.

Though the article pooh pooh's the notion saying, consumers will equate changing out batteries to changing an engine, and then decries the fact that we'll never standardize misses a couple of important points.

1) The batteries are 'fuel' - and the consumer is likely to see them as that. Especially if a scheme is put in place to treat them as such, including the cost associated with 'using' the fuel. Charges based on the cell.

2) Battery powered vehicles are in their infancy. Standards will come. That's why automakers are members of the Society of Automotive Engineers (the US standards body). Think of it this way, at the dawn of the horseless carriage there was no standardization of controls. Today you can get into almost any car and drive it away without having an all day course to figure out how to drive it.

This idea has a lot of merit IF battery power is the fuel source of the future.

Andrei Gavrilov

Andrei Gavrilov will be in KC as part of the Friends of Chamber Music 2009-2010 season.

Here he is playing a portion of Prokofiev's Sonata #8.



As can be seen in 'Allegro Moderato' section, he can really pound the keyboard. Some wag thinks we should bill this concert as:

Gavrilov vs. Steinway!!

Good tickets still available! ; -)

Helio on the Pole

Helio Castroneves has had some serious ups and downs the past couple of months. He was on trial for tax evasion (and why he wasn't offered a cabinet post, say Department of Transportation, is beyond me ; -). Then he was acquitted (removes his qualifications for a cabinet post ; -). Then he got to run a car again at the Kansas Speedway and now is sitting on the pole for the 2009 Indy 500.



By the way, that car isn't painted regular red & white. It is one ungodly day-glo red that I have yet to see rendered correctly on film or in digits. You have to see it in person - it really 'POPS!'

The Track

On TV Indy's racing surface looks like it's smooth as glass, but take a peek at it up close:



The pavement is grooved asphalt, but better asphalt than your city fathers purchase. The friction this material can generate, with grooves, allows the speeds we're seeing. (The pencil is a reference for scale.)

By the way that scrape just above the pencil? It's the gouge Danica Patrick's car took out of the track a few years back. ;-)

Veritas Reborn

Immediately after WW II a small German firm, named Veritas, sprung up from the ashes of the BMW program. BMW's fate was cloudy immediately after the war and several of it's technical folks found other work, including building sports racing and formula cars under the Veritas banner.

There's a new Veritas, and true to its history, it utilizes a BMW powertrain. In this case the insanely powerful S85 V-10 lifted from BMW's M5. Ah heck, pictures are truly worth more than words in this case, here's the vid . . .



It's not retro - but it manages to pay homage to the marques styling cues. Well done, and I suspect scary quick!

Odd that in times of financial concern, somehow the bespoke builders manage to survive.

Bump Day Sunday

So I'm headed to Indy tomorrow (and have salted away a few blog posts to tithe us over until returning). It looks like there are 17 cars that could be fighting for the remaining 11 spots on the grid.

Realistically there may be only 13 or 14 cars that'll make the attempt - but that means someone will try to bump somebody out of the show.

Friends of Chamber Music

Automobiles, music, and reading are my three lifelong passions. I am extremely proud to be a friend, volunteer, and patron of Kansas City's Friends of Chamber Music. This is one of the best reasons to live in Kansas City.

Blowover!

These accidents are known as 'blowovers' a quirk of dirty air, a bit of a ramp in the racing surface, and high speeds. Since the advent of aero in racing, the times when the downforce comes off the car can be frightening!



After Indy comes LeMans!

Well, It's a Little Early for the Silly Season, but . . .

. . . Ferrari never fails to fulfill the fun factor by throwing a true hissy fit. They've decided to withdraw from F1 next year, because the governing body wants to limit costs.

More in this article from one of my favorite sites: MotorAuthority

Snooze in Spain

I love Formula 1 - it's been a soap opera extraodinaire these past couple of years, with rules changes, scandals, pouting drivers, the whole kit and kaboodle - but the race this last weekend in Spain was, baring an early wreck fest, a snoozer. Watching Indy practice and qualifying has been much more fun!

What a Spin!

During practice this last weekend at Indy, John Andretti smacked the wall hard coming out of turn 1. The impact spun the car and drove it down the track, but as it spun it had its nose pointed back up track and it headed back to the wall.

Graham Rahal came up upon this scene at full throttle, backed off, decided as Andretti's car was going low that he'd go high only to have the wreck start closing the gap between Graham and the wall.



That was a spin! Haven't seen anything that good (and lucky) since 1985's 'Spin to Win'

GM: The News Isn't Good

Looking at a number of articles concerning GM over the past two days make it clear that things are not going as well as hoped. The notion that GM is going to abandon Detroit as it's headquarters is deeply disappointing. (GM has been ensconced in the Renaissance Center - previously a Ford building - for over 10 years.)

Detroit is fast becoming a third world city, abandoned commercial property and depressed home prices coupled with massive unemployment. And that's a real shame.

Got Gold?

This doesn't bode well.

Seems that an auction of 30 year treasury notes didn't yield the sales they anticipated. People are voting with their pocketbooks, or in this case possibly, countries are voting with their pocketbooks.

Plus word that the Chinese are buying gold, and using it as a reserve, not as a tool to facilitate exchange.

Basically they're saying they don't trust us to protect the value of our money, and the way the current congress is spending, I can't say that I blame them. ; -)

The Indy 500

Practice is underway for the Memorial Day weekend Indy 500. The fastest speed so far is a 225 mph (~362 kph) lap by Marco Andretti in yesterday afternoon's session.

Qualifying for the race starts on Saturday, May 9. Indy is a bit different than F1 in that you qualify the car, not the driver. In addition, thanks to a very old AAA Contest Board rule - that set a ratio of cars to track size - only 33 cars can make the race.

On the first Saturday of qualifying, the first 11 spots on the grid will be filled by the fastest 11 cars. The car with the fastest time will be the 'pole-sitter', or the car closest to the inside front of the grid (nearest the scoring pylon - or pole).

On the first Sunday of qualifying, the cars that didn't qualify on Saturday can attempt to fill the next 11 slots. Depending on track temperatures and ambient temperatures, the times on Sunday can be faster than the times from Saturday. Too bad. Indy rewards the teams that can optimize their cars for the conditions at hand. Teams that are known for meticulous preparation are always a threat to capture the pole.

The final 11 spots are filled on the second Saturday of qualifying. But there still is a glimmer of hope for those that haven't made it. The second Sunday is known as 'Bump Day' and cars that have yet to qualify can attempt to displace the car that has qualified for the 33rd spot, or, as it is commonly called, the car on the 'bubble'. The next slowest car of the bottom 11 will be on the bubble, if the car previously on the bubble is bumped.

There are 40 entrants for this year's 500 (as of late last week). They represent 77 cars, some of which are 'spare' cars - there is always the chance of smacking the wall at Indy. Anytime there are more than 38 or so cars with the speed to make the field, bump day can be exciting.

The Indy 500 is truly a spectacle and it's an month long affair. It's neat that the car counts are finally great enough to add to the drama. I'll be there for bump day this year.

Oh, BTW, you can watch practice at http://www.indycar.com

The Weather Report

It's been a fairly wet, cool spring so far and the grass is growing thick and fast. Looks like about an inch a day. Mowing every third day is not fun.

Drag Racing at One Thousand Frames a Second

Received a 'tweet' from John Force Racing pointing to this video:


Drag Racing Filmed at 1000 fps - Watch more Fast and Furious

Drag racing has a lot more tech going on in it than most people give it credit for. The forces and physics involved are tremendous and a lot of extremely violent things happen in an amazingly short time. I like it!!

'Oh the Tangled Web We Weave . . .'

The NY Times is reporting that GM is seeking an equity stake in Fiat for the turnover of GM's Latin American and European operations.

So Fiat owns Chrysler and GM owns a big chunk of Fiat? Ho boy. ; -)

Porsche and Volkswagen

In a slightly breathless piece, attempting to tie the story into current industry conditions, CNN reports that Porsche and Volkswagen are merging.

If you haven't been following the industry, you may come away thinking the world is coming to an end. But in reality Porsche has owned a majority stake in VW for about a year plus. This is merely the culmination of some internal politics on the composition of the boardroom.

The piece mentions 10 brands, and most folks would be hard pressed to name all 10. (I only came up with 8 when I tried yesterday.) But they are; Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, Skoda, SEAT, Porsche, Volkswagen and a couple of truck makers.

(Hmmm, listed Porsche twice - I need to check for additional fingers now. ; -)

Biofuels

More on this later - there are some interesting things going on in alternative fuel sources. But here is an article from MotorAuthority that highlights government spending for biofuels. I am pleased to see that the administration has earmarked the bulk of the funding to pilot and demonstration units.

This means that this funding isn't just there to subsidize corn to ethanol. We know that works and we know its strengths and weaknesses. But there are a number of interesting alternatives to corn as a raw component for fuel. Here's one I've got my eye on: Sapphire Energy - they are working on converting algae to gasoline.

Another View of the Chrysler Bailout

From this Atlantic piece by Megan McArdle:

When the government gives money to favored constituencies--well, I don't like it, but as PJ O'Rourke says, that's basically what our government does. "It ought to be right there in the constitution: 'We the People, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and give money to jerks . . . ' " But when it starts stepping in and trying to bypass the bankruptcy rules in order to make someone else give money to jerks, that's different in magnitude, and in kind.

I concur. What we needed to do was let our legal system run its course (and it can be expedited if need be). Of course the other piece of this I didn't quote was the notion that the institutions that have received TARP funds (and who now find the rules for repaying those funds changing) are on the hook to do their masters' bidding.

What we don't want are extra-legal reaches and grabs for our money - remember who ends up paying for all of this. We now own, thanks to our taxdollars-at-work, Chrysler and GM - we must want them to succeed. But what control do we have?

Chrylser Bankruptcy Proceedings

The bankruptcy judge has ruled against the senior debtors. Look for a quick turnaround and the empty hull of Chrysler to start churning out Fiat products in the next two years (with our tax dollars limping them along in the foreseeable future).

So who wants to loan money to a corporation that may be 'nationalized' now?

I'm still of the opinion that this company will not be profitable in my lifetime. But we're practically giving it away to Fiat. Frankly disgusting.

GM's Penny Stock

Automotive News reports overnight that GM will issue sixty billion (60,000,000,000) new shares of stock that they'll parcel out to the bondholders, gummint, UAW and give out as tickets to be redeemed for prizes at Chuck E. Cheese (well maybe all of the above except the last ; -).

So how much will GM shares be worth this morning? They closed at $1.85 yesterday. GM's current market cap is $1.13B so it looks like they're expanding equity by about 100 times current. Definitely penny stock territory.

Hmmmmm, I'll need to double check calculations after a full dosage of coffee, but if you haven't dumped your GM stock yet - it may be too late.

Fiat's UK Customer Satisfaction Numbers

MotorAuthority has this story regarding Fiat's UK J.D. Power satisfaction rankings.

I owned a Fiat, a 128, an important vehicle in the grand scheme of things (at least LJK Setright thought so). But it was not a very well built car. That was in 1976, however, and hopefully Fiat has learned a few things about screwing cars together in the intervening years. ; -)

Fiat's Ambition

Fiat, not long from financial ill health itself, seems to be intent on soaking up the marginal players in the current business cycle. They are intent on picking up GM's Europe holdings.

Frankly this is a bit troubling because neither Chrysler or GM Europe has made a profit recently. Will these two additions prove to be the 'gravitas' that propels Fiat to the forefront of automakers, or will they prove to be the Albatross around the neck that brings Fiat down?

I suspect the answer will depend on the type of recovery we see from the current recession. If it is a V-shaped or even U-shaped recovery, they may come out smelling like a rose. But if it is an L-shaped recovery, Fiat may wish it hadn't reached for an Opel or Dodge too far. ; -)

Mini/Micro Cars

The Suez crisis occurred in 1956 and in its wake the first of many oil price shocks hit western economies. Europe had yet to completely recover from the effects of World War II and if an individual could buy a car, it probably couldn't be very much of a car. But cars were being produced, mini and micro cars. And a great number of them came from Germany, where tax and licensing laws made the little vehicles appealing.

While a lot of folks are familiar with the BMW Isetta, there were a number of other interesting German micro cars, from Messerschmitt, Lloyd, Glas, and Heinkel for example. Some of these and others were found at the Kansas City Mini Micro Car Show on May 3.

So without further ado here are a few pictures from the show:

The BMW Isetta 300.



A Heinkel bubble car.



The NSU Prinz (a little later on the scene than the previous two):



A real jewel of a small car, the Abarth 750, gorgeous Italian bodywork.



And for good measure, something that predates them all, the Cruved Dash Oldsmobile from 1903:



Really small cars have probably seen their time in the sun come and go in western economies. Safety considerations have driven weight and size up (it is economically difficult to build a truly light weight car that meets current safety standards). That's why cars like the Aptera are three wheelers, they have a different set of safety standards to meet.

These are fun cars to see but especially when they are in motion in traffic! ; -)

Another View of those 'Greedy' Hedge Funds

The Business Insider has this article up on the Chrysler Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

If you refuse to honor the debt, or deal with the debt in accordance to prevailing laws, how will you ever be able to borrow money? Who will be willing to lend? That's just what is going on with the auto industry bailouts. Got a union shop? Sorry, have fun attracting bondholders.

However, one of the overlooked pieces of the Chrysler puzzle is how to handle the dealers. There are too many, and there are contractual obligations to the dealers if Chrysler wishes to close them. The bankruptcy should clear some of those obligations.

And I'm afraid a friend of mine who owns a Chrysler dealership, and his employees, will be negatively impacted.