The armament of the Kirovs is indeed frightening, but it does come with its own curious drawbacks. It is immensely, immensely difficult to effectively coordinate that many separate and over-lapping systems on a single platform. The Kirovs are simply capable of putting more firepower into the air than they are capable…

How do I get me one of those Jalopnik Accountability Team things?

The argument can certainly be made, but I consider it to be as legitimate as its successors. It was initially intended to go into space, and it very nearly did after the loss of Challenger.

Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that Palmdale, CA was where final design, construction, and testing of the shuttles occurred. Up until the mod-90s, all missions also landed at Dryden, and the shuttles were stored and maintained there, being moved to Kennedy only when they were launching. In fact, there…

Dear Paul Thompson,

What did you call BS?

No, no it isn't.

I remain a particular fan of the 2002 Lincoln Continental Concept

It's rare that a car company will build a running prototype of a car, highly publicize it, and then decide that it isn't worth building.

What, no satellite-aided transmission? Amateurs.

Okay, it's time to set the record straight on a few things here:

No, the Thunderbird was never, ever intended to compete with the Corvette as a sports car. The Thunderbird was conceptualized, built, and marketed as a personal luxury car, a segment that it created. In terms of size it and its status as a halo car, yes - it competed with the Corvette. But from the very start, Ford…

I actually have a great deal of affection for these things. They were a return to what the Thunderbird was in its golden days: a big, semi-luxurious V8 cruiser that had a smooth ride and room enough for two and as much gear as they'd ever need.

To be fair, when it first came out, it actually was a very competitive little car in its segment. It made some attempt at styling (YMMV in terms of said styling, but at least it tried) and it was dead practical. The problem with the PT Cruiser wasn't that it was ever that bad; it was that after the first few years,…