At the beginning of the year, I pledged I wouldn’t drink on school nights. It was a great plan, and I wish I’d stuck to it. Then I wouldn’t have this massive hangover. Here’s the news:   

• Ford is bringing back the Taurus. But will it ever be number one again? The New York Times
• Aston Martin is changing its colors. Look, the Shell scheme is cool and everything, but no racing green? Smells like heresy. Auto Express
• After 76 years, it looks like the General might lose the title of the world’s largest automaker. Freep
• I though that Jag’s venerable XJ was going to be replaced by the XF, but they aren’t ready to give up on it yet. Winding Road

I just figured out sick days don’t carry over into the new year, so I was ill yesterday. Here’s the news:

• The Publisher of Automotive News says if Detroit doesn’t expand COBO hall, they risk losing the North American International Auto Show. Just what Detroit needs: Freep
• Car-based portable toilets? Ketchup on your tie doesn’t seem so bad now: LA Times
• A company in California was just busted for issuing fake tickets to cars parked in free lots. If there was ever a case for the death penalty, this is it: SF Times
• Thieves in Georgia just got an unexpected Christmas gift. Instead of having to scope out cars loaded with packages, the cops are now doing it for them. As Chief Wiggum would say, "that’s some nice aiding and abetting boys!" Rockdale Citizen via BoingBoing 

GM is in a buying mood, making a big play for Russian car maker AvtoVaz, which came as a big surprise to me. Who knew the Russians made stuff other than AKs and vodka? Here’s the rest of the news:

• Thanks to the miracle of TiVo, I will soon watch Lewis Hamilton’s appearance on Top Gear. In the meantime, their write up is doggone entertaining (and now the race is on to give me crap about using the word ‘doggone’): Top Gear
• The New York Times gives a loving and cautionary eulogy to the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the Ford Ranger, the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Dodge Magnum: NYT
• Britain may go to a zero tolerance policy on drinking and driving and I, for one, think that’s not a bad idea: Winding Road
• A bad economic outlook is going to have big consequences for those who try to sell cars. My inner optimist says, "Sounds like it’ll be a buyers market next year!": Freep

After stalling major overhauls of fuel-economy standards for over two decades, and being dragged kicking and screaming into an agreement on new mileage requirements, the auto industry seems content that the compromise reached Saturday is basically a fair deal. Under this agreement, automakers will be required to increase average fleet mileage to 35 mpg by 2020, representing a 40% increase over the current standards of 27.5 for cars and 22.2 for trucks. General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner said that while the new standard would "pose a significant technical and economic challenge to the industry," GM was up to the task. Toyota took it a step further, claiming it would beat the government to the punch instead of waiting for the standards to take effect. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the hike will reduce oil imports by 1.1 million barrels a day, "or roughly half of the daily U.S. daily oil gulp from the Persian Gulf." More details at freep and Detroit News.

I don’t know if I have the energy to write today. Thankfully, it’s not every day you get your flying car dreams crushed:

• Yay! Fiat has new, limited edition, tiny cars! Buy a truck, and you could even park your Fiat Panda inside! Automotive Express
• Terrific early results for GM. The new Malibu is performing well in the unsexy car market and putting unsexy rivals Accord and Camry on notice. DetNews
• Anyone ready to backseat drive from the driver’s seat? Robot drivers are now a reality, marking the first step towards safer roads—and our ultimate doom (John Connor, we need you NOW): Freep
• If you have the money and want a blazing fast muscle car, go out an buy an ’08 Viper. Just do me a favor and don’t get the green one, it’s just not right: DetNews

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

• Honda announced they’re on the oil-burning bandwagon and might use the 2.2L CTDi engine from the Euro Accord in a new Civic Type-R! (Left Lane News)
• Apparently the General is back to #1! Toyota was bucked from the #1-in-Sales spot after 3rd quarter results were released. You’d think after 76 years they’d let somebody else hold the spot for longer than a few months. (Freep)
• Lotus announced another new Elise, the Elise SC, and obviously ignoring conventional "too much of a good thing" wisdom. This 220hp supercharged rocket weighs in at a mere 1987lbs and will hit 0-60 in 4.4, nearly matching the acceleration of an M3! (WorldCarFans)
• Sirius just showed my how I’m going to blow $330. The new Stiletto2 just showed up on their website… Unfortunately it’s still unavailable and it still comes with the same crappy headphones. But according to Orbitcast commenters you can find it at some Big Box shops already. (Orbitcast)

Good news for everyone involved, as GM and the UAW have come to an agreement. That means the strike is over, pending approval of the deal by the UAW membership:

• The University of Michigan is using OnStar to study the connection between certain types of accidents and injuries. This has to be the best use of in car technology in recent years: DetNews
• The deal struck in between UAW and GM could be a game changer for labor relations in Detroit: Freep 
• As part of the countdown to the Tokyo Auto Show, where it will unveil the 2008 GT-R, Nissan launched a site profiling the Skyline legacy and counting down to the show: gtrnissan.com
• "There is no hard-and-fast rule about how long a house can sit on the side of the freeway." Winding Road
  

All eyes are on the pickets lines in Michigan. UAW called a strike against GM this morning and if it lasts more than a few hours, the impact on the US auto industry could be huge. Talks between the union and GM are ongoing:

• Freep has pictures from the picket lines, in case you hadn’t seem them before: Freep
• Acura is teasing us with pics of the concept for the next NSX: Car and Driver
• Ford and Microsoft are coming out with a pretty cool gadget that will keep your eyes on the road without ignoring text messages from your bff: LA Times
• There is an even more exclusive Bugatti on the market. I should clarify, by "on the market," I mean, "there are five of them in the world and they all sold already for over $1 million." As you can see below, it’s one bad [expletive deleted]: Top Gear

Next time you get a parking ticket, just be glad you were cited by a human. In Westminster, they are turning over some parking enforcement duties to computers who, if I can trust the Terminator series, will ultimately enslave all of us:

• Soon, it will be easier to get service for a hybrid than a Saab: Wired
• One car from the Frankfurt show poses the question: What do you call a big Mini? NY Times
• A little short on cash to design and build your dream car? Google is handing out money to car companies. There is one catch—your design must be really green: RechargeIT
• Two bits of good news in Detroit this morning: Ford is nearly free of its British brands and GM announced it will be raising production: Freep