Two kids street racing caused a serious wreck outside Seattle last night. One driver was taken to the hospital, and the other was taken to jail. Remember, take it to the track. Here’s the news:   

• Israel is joining Sweden in the effort to get off oil. Renault is signed up to help, and they’re shooting for 2020. Paging responsible American leadership: Motor Trend
• It’s been too long since BMW has made a drop-dead sexy car, but their Gran Turismo project could be a perfect apology. Just look at the concept it’s based on: Winding Road
• Will our power grid be able to handle the demand if larger numbers of drivers switch to plug-in hybrids? Um, maybe: CNet
• PETA is giving Chevy props for a new ad where a flex-fuel Silverado is described as vegetarian.    Automotive News
• While McLaren paid a $100 dollar fine for spying on Ferrari last year, their drivers were allowed to finish the season. In the future, that won’t happen: BBC News

Generally, the only way I get comments on these posts is by making embarrassing grammatical gaffes. The good news is that on Friday, I got a comment unrelated to a typo. The bad news? The author said I completely suck. What can you do? Anyway, on this day back in 1911, the first Monte Carlo Rally was run. Here’s the news:   

• Saudi Arabia seems poised to lift its ban on women driving. Bravo guys! Lookout 19th century, here comes Saudi Arabia! Telegraph
• The General is looking to raise its profile by launching urban megastores which would showcase all the brands in its stable. Will bigger mean better?  Automotive News
• Ford’s new "Drive it Like You Stole It" campaign didn’t go over so well in the Great White North. Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Detroit News
• Jag’s new flagship has hit the ground running. UK buyer’s guide What Car? has named it Car of the Year, and says it’s the best Jag ever. Freep
• How far would you go to avoid paying traffic tickets? Would you pretend to be dead? Because Shafkat Munir did. BBC News

I haven’t worked a full week in over a month, and the grind is already started to wear on me. Well, at least I got a flat on the way in to the office. Here’s the news:

• Want to get your hands on a GTR before it officially hits your shores? Good luck. Nissan is threatening gray market entrepreneurs with legal action: Auto Express
• Hot Wheels is planning a cross country blitz to celebrate its 40th anniversary. You can’t blame them—can any other company claim to have sold four billion cars? Auto Week
• This year, F1 cars will be hitting the grid without traction control, and some drivers are predicting more accidents: BBC News
• Upon release, Aston Martin’s new Rapide sedan will be going head-to-head against Maser’s sexy  Quattroporte and Porsche’s dreadful Panamera. How will it do? From the looks of these pics, jolly well indeed: Car Scoop
• So just who is legitimate media anyway? That’s the question the brass at NAIAS are asking. Here’s a tip: if you write a blog about beer and cheese, it’s not you: Detroit News

First off, I’m a huge Top Gear fan, and I think Jeremy Clarkson is hilarious—but nobody’s perfect. After computer disks containing the financial info for 25 million Britons were lost, Clarkson used his column in London’s Sunday Times to dismiss concerns that the information could be used to steal from people’s accounts. And he—literally—put his money where his formidable mouth was, publicly revealing his personal financial info. I’ll give you one guess to figure out what happened next. Read the full story on BBC News.

As a person with little regard for my own safety, I was saddened by the news that Evel Knievel died. Now for the news:

• I’m not sure I could see myself commuting in this solar powered car: Winding Road
• WRC rally car racing may be returning to the U.S. of A! FIA wants to run a regional competition in North America next year: Autoweek
• I can’t  wait to see what Lewis Hamilton does on the Top Gear track in the reasonably priced car challenge: BBC 
• GM is set to lose $1 BEEEELLLLION this year, but says it will break even next year and show a profit in 2009: DetNews

Our LA Auto Show photos are on the way. If you just can’t wait, check out the LA Auto show stuff on NYT.com. Here’s the news:

• So, the buzz out of LA is that the best looking car from the LA car show rolled off the line in 1972…in Czechoslovakia. I’m not going to say the car isn’t attractive, but I’d like to think we can do better than the early ’70s in the Soviet bloc: LA Times
• Toyota’s F1 team will be packing a Glock next season. Wow, that was a terrible pun. I feel horrible: BBC Sport
• Automotive Traveler has a useful primer from anyone considering the trip to Dakar for the 2008 race: Automotive Traveler

GM said it wants to be the first to sell one meeeelllion hydrogen cars. Of course, they’d already be there if they hadn’t got gas-drunk on $0.89 a gallon in the 1990s. Here’s the news:

• Lewis Hamilton choked at the end of the F1 season, but McLaren is trying to get him the title anyway. Even if they win their appeal of the Brazilian GP, where do you celebrate when you win the title in court? BBC Sport
• Lexus just topped a JD Power survey on owner satisfaction. I gotta think a fair amount of that is the smug satisfaction of telling people you drive a Lexus: DetNews
• Motor City is seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s not tying its fortunes to car making: Freep
• John McCormick of Detroit News is letting people know what he thinks of speed traps. It’s a brave stand, and I’d hate to be in the car with him when he gets pulled over for doing 35 in a 30: DetNews

Personally, I think keyless entry is the one of the coolest things about modern vehicles, but I draw the line at needing anything other than a good old fashioned key to start them. Jen pointed out some of the problems these new-fangled gadgets might cause a little while back—but this is one scenario she missed. Apparently, while a woman in England was replacing the battery in her key fob, her dog scarfed down the gizmo’s chip. Now the car won’t start—unless her chow-challenged canine is behind the wheel! How hilarious is that? I wonder if it’ll still work after nature runs its course? Get the full story from BBC News.

The NY Times has a pretty comprehensive writeup on the count down to the new Nissan GT-R. Be sure to check out the quote from product planner Hiroshi Tamura. When you’ve done that, go ahead and read what I’ve been reading:

• Toyota’s fuel cell test car tested at a 480 mile range. The big question is when you’ll be able to find two hydrogen fueling stations within 500 miles of each other: DetNews
• This article, featuring a picture of Kermit the Frog in front of an Escape Hybrid, details how much the Big Three are falling over each other to tout their "green-ness." The picture made me turn a little green: Seattle Times
• This is why they say you shouldn’t talk on your cell phone while driving…especially if your cellphone is almost the size of your car: English Russia
• It’s now apparent that F1 drivers were inspired by Talladega Nights. Jacques Villeneuve will join Juan Pablo Montoya in NASCAR, beginning with the UAW-Ford 500: BBC Sport

It’s good to see that Daimler and Chrysler will still be friends after their breakup:

• If a Veyron is a little out of your price range, Bugatti has a reasonably priced alternative. Now you can smell like Bugatti for as little as $3,113: Winding Road
• Thank you, Top Gear, for pointing me to something else to do at work, besides surf the internet: Top Gear
• McLaren is not going to appeal its $100 million fine for spying on Ferrari. Guys, I’ll file the appeal for free. Just give me a cut if I can get the fine waived: BBC Sport
• If you can’t find a place to park today, blame these guys: parkingday.org