For what it's worth, I was pretty surprised the first time I found my car didn't have a spare. (It was a Volvo V60 wagon, about 2-3 years ago). The pump & sealant kit didn't solve the problem.

If you're based in Canada but need a little logistical help from somebody UK-based in order to do the Mongol rally (or some other similar event), I'd happily help.

... and when FIAT saw the first crash test data, they said "Yay! Let's go into production!" whilst the Saab engineers had their heads in their hands wondering how they'd keep their customers alive. Right? :-)

Smart car. S-class limo. Golf buggy. Anything which isn't designed for offroading.

The Saab 9000 shared a platform with the Lancia Thema, Fiat Croma, and Alfa 164.

Rewarding seniority is a common policy for unions. It's not some malicious conspiracy, it's just a consequence of stakeholder interests: Union members are already in the business. Outsiders and potential new hires are not union members right now. The most influential/senior union members are the people who've been…

Yes; do it!

You had a great adventure - because you weren't kitted out with fancy vehicles and gear that would make everything easy. The best adventures are the ones with inadequate vehicles.

The Phaeton isn't meant to be a profitable volume car. It's a way of improving the brand; for every one person who actually buys it, there's a thousand people who just hear about it and think a bit more positively about the VW brand, and then consider buying a Golf instead of a Focus or whatever.

Cycling (ie. stage racing) fans have a similar experience.

Protectionism has long since been discredited. Let consumers and businesses make their own decisions about what's best for their needs.

Prices are determined by supply and demand.

A different way of looking at things: The last time I did a big-city 10K, there were thousands of runners, so the organisers set up a staggered start. The actual start line was for elite athletes; behind that was a banner that 5-minute-milers would stand under; behind that a banner that 6-minute-milers would stand…

Nice work!

I want this hood ornament.

This is a ubiquitous problem in sport. Organisers start out with the best of intentions - "level the playing field" - but anything you do to level it gives a relative advantage to categories of people who would not otherwise do well in the sport. Hence competitors have an incentive to get into one of those categories.

“When people come, they really want to buy today,” Case said. “So we’re building our dealerships to have the inventory on site, and we’re building them in stories so all our inventory is inside.”

Not directly. Other industries tend not to have quotas like that on the producer side, but there are other rules. For instance, there are higher taxes on more polluting products; tax breaks; restrictions on selling certain kinds of old tech; and so on.