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This has been making the rounds the past couple months, but it just reached our in-box today.

Hyundai Assurance Commercial [Funny or Die]

I’ve always thought of Saab as a purveyor of somewhat-overpriced, solidly-built, safe cars.  Their clutches always seemed a little grabby to me.  On the other hand, Saab is smart enough to put the ignition switch on the floor so it won’t turn your knee into hamburger  in a front-end collision. About 10 years ago I almost bought a 9-3 convertible, but settled for an SHO instead.

So the now-bankrupt Saab looks like it’ll be washed away in the Carpocalypse unless Sweden steps in.  GM owns Saab now, but Saab wants to escape that black hole.

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Tom Daschle’s old Pontiac lasted more than 238,000 miles, and spewed god knows how much crap into the air.

Before He Got Senatized, Tom Daschle Used to Be Just Like Us [FamousDC, via Sully]

click for full size

Damn.  Chrysler is closing its plants for thirty days and may never reopen them.  I know, I know, Dan Quayle has a hand in running Cerberus (which owns Chrysler).  But I still want that Challenger R/T.

And if you want more nostalgia, visit the Old Car Manual Project.

Found at Jalopnik:

Discuss.

While I’m not in favor of pissing money away, I’d be sad if I couldn’t walk into a dealership and buy a Mustang or a Challenger. Not that I would – I live in Manhattan – but I just like knowing I can.

Odds on the Big Three submitting plan on or about December 2 that is accepted by 110th Congress and passed into law: 15-1.

Odds that the Detroit Lions finish the season with 16 losses (ties are stupid): 2-1.

Odds that the Detroit Red Wings lose the Winter Classic at Wrigley: 6-5.

Combined: 36-1. Good value!

I’m torn, folks.  Really I am.

On the one hand, the Big Three ought to go down in flames. Mismanagement to the hilt. You know this. But if they declare bankruptcy, hundreds of thousands would be put out of work. And not just at the plants, but lots of other suppliers too, as well as mom-and-pop shops around the plants. And not just here, but in Big Three plants worldwide. Meanwhile, there may be honest-to-God bread lines in Michigan this winter. Total meltdown, in other words. The economy has been teetering on the brink of complete and utter disaster, and this may give it the last nudge over the edge.

And now we have an impending bailout bill. If I had to choose right freaking now: put all the regulation and oversight on the Big Three as is humanly possible and eject the current bigwigs, but go ahead and pass the damned bailout. It might buy us some time, and the economy might be stronger next year so that a failure of one of the Big Three might not sting us poor innocent saps as much. Hell: they might even survive, get smart and, longshot of longshots, come back. (Another thought: the Big Three can be bought fairly cheap at this point by some other interested parties — like Japanese auto makers. If they can swing it, they might as well pull the trigger on a takeover.)

So: what’s the endgame here? Is there an option that (oy vey) screws us less than Ford closing its doors?