Watch a pair of ultra-slick Magnums lay down a bunch of epic burnouts. I sure am glad I’m not paying for those tires!

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

Last week Chrysler announced that they are axing four models, including the Dodge Magnum. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised about the Crossfire or Pacifica. Killing off the PT Cruiser convertible seems kind of lame (and it’s even lamer that Chrysler has no plans to redesign the PT Cruiser). But stopping production of the Magnum just seems stupid. Yes, the Charger outsold the Magnum almost three to one. But the Magnum is a modern classic with a huge following–just check out all the awesome Magnums on CarDomain. More on the Chrysler situation at CNN.