Yes, good point. The early TGUKs were sometimes tough to swallow for non-car geeks. TGUSA has certainly improved, although Tanner seems too vanilla and Rutledge somehow always annoys me.

But a truck this fine needs to be romanced first.

Not much. There's very little living in these salt flats. It's the water use that's the big problem. But it's not as bad as Toyota's nickel habit.

I dunno. At least it was crashed at speed. The Z8 barely got out of second gear before the bodyshell stand-in got sawed in half. Weakest sauce.

My girlfriend loves TGUK. TGUSA lasted about 3 minutes before it got shot down. Right when Kevin Smith's little brother got out of the small blue Miata. I dare not even try The Car Show.

Dukes of Hazzard the Movie? Didn't watch it so I'm just guessing.

If I'm not mistaken there's some toplessnessness as well. That counts for something, right?

Ah, got it. SBC/slushbox beats notchy 5-speed/Cologne V6 every time.

Interesting...to make a deposition. Or, to die on the way to your scheduled deposition at the wheel of a speeding Aerostar.

What's the deal with all the 70s cars sporting Spanish city names? Cordoba, Seville, Barcelona, Vega... was there a yearning for boquerones and Duero wines?

I never really had any problem with the CR-V. It does 95+% of what the old V6 Ford Explorer was typically asked to do, and boasts better fuel mileage, reliability and use of interior space. And I appreciated Honda's adherence to the 4-banger, even as their Acura division was doing stupid things like building a…

It's sad no homologation requirements exist for prototype classes. A Bentley Speed 8 Carriageway Edition would be interesting.

The Sammy is lot different than the Wrangler, and can actually go places the bigger, heavier, wider Wrangler can't. It's a little more like the original Willys than today's Jeeps. Same wheelbase, but about 2 inches narrower. Less rugged, definitely (the transmission is made of rice paper, actually), but capable in wet…

Fantastic off-roader, but if you're going for an old Japanese hardtop 4x4, a 2-door Montero is a better choice. It's almost as good off-road, the mechanicals are rugged, the Astron I4 is twice as big and bulletproof, and the car is vastly better on freeways.

Get a load of the judge. Shoeless Joe was also on his scratch list.

He also stole this van from some kids and a dog.

Marketing plan: Build eco-friendly Bentley SUV.

I heard a feature on the radio this morning (full disclosure: NPR) about the importance of choosing a proper company name. The Twitch/Twitter story and the "what if Google stayed as BackRub?" storyline was old, but they did have point: it's important to choose a good name.

Plus, it was Ford's first try at the like-it-or-hate-it CVT, which may have helped spoil the party even though a six-speed auto was offered. The V6 felt fine in the FWD car, but in the Haldex cars it was probably sluggish. Chevy's 3.5 pushrod didn't do much better at the time.

Order Sphenodontia, retaining characteristics of birds that reptiles have lost. Not a bad name for a car, especially when you want to stress that you're unique.