Every authentic automotive enthusiast has at least heard of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and/or Monterey Historics that happen each year in mid-August on the Monterey Peninsula. But if you've been following (and/or attending) those events for any length of time you know it's gotten a bit too big for its britches. What started as a pure car-guy weekend has, largely, become another corporate tool. For example, it's no longer the Monterey Historic Race event that it started out as in 1974, it's the ROLEX Monterey Historic Races presented by TOYOTA. And it doesn't just happen at Laguna Seca raceway, it happens at MAZDA RACEWAY, Laguna Seca.

The Pebble Beach Concours hasn't officially sold its name or location to a corporate entity since its 1950 genesis, but during the long weekend leading up to the Sunday car show just about every automotive-related company tries to get in on the action with sponsored events, vehicle introductions and general corporate posturing. If you can fight your way through the traffic, crowds and paid signage (much of it made up of clearly non car folks or subject matter) you might catch a glimpse of some of the best vehicles on the planet, both racing at LAGUNA SECA and displaying on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach golf course.

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Last Friday's blog entry discussed the crash-and-burn status of large truck and SUV sales. Basically, if it's big and it's truck-based, it ain't sellin' (with rare exception). At the same time, Ford's archaic Ranger is up for the year, and anecdotel evidence suggests new and used Rangers, along with older Toyota and Nissan compact trucks, are quite popular with truck buyers in 2008.

This is basically a repeat of what happned with American cars in the 1970s. For decades they'd grown larger and larger, then a fuel crisis hit and everyone (car buyers and car makers) stopped, took a critical look at the size of their vehicles, and basically said, "What the #@&* are we doing?! Nobody actually needs vehicles this big, we're just caught up in a 'Size Arms Race' with the rest of the industry. Now our vehicles are just stupid-big -- and they guzzle a lot of gas!"

This epiphany had every carmaker immediately downsizing their offerings as a result, and while cars have grown in recent years we've still never approached the behemoths being sold in 1974.

There's an undeniable trend that just keeps repeating this auto show season. It started in Tokyo last October, though at that show you expect to see a bizarre combination of performance (Nissan GT-R) and environmental responsibility (Honda Puyo). But the same themes have appeared at Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and Geneva.

You've got car companies committed to vehicles like the Dodge Challenger and and Corvette ZR-1 because they had their genesis back when fuel was $2 a gallon and the Prius was still a punchline in late night monologues. At the same time every automaker is scrambling to produce an earth-friendly, Al Gore-approved form of transportation as quickly as possible.

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The 2008 Dodge Challenger stands poised to upstage the Chicago Auto Show this week, and as an avowed Mopar freak I should be fully enthralled by this car's return. Yup, I should be.

But I'm not. While I see the Challenger's return as an excellent opprotunity to cash in on Chrysler's muscle car heritage (and I love the production grille, fuel-filler door and other styling cues) I also see some major problems with the car's launch plan. As I stated last week in my Dodge Charger R/T post, the LX chassis is pretty hefty for a "sporty coupe" -- even one with a muscle car heritage. But there are additional issues that have me concerned, most of them centered around first impressions this car will make on potential buyers.

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Like many car guys, I spent a good chunk of this past weekend watching the annual Barrett-Jackson Car Auction. Every year this event takes place in Scottsdale, Arizona (though it will reportedly be moving to Las Vegas soon), and even if you have no interest in bidding on a vehicle it's worth watching to see some great iron. But after attending the event once in person, and watching it several times on T.V., I've learned a few things:

1. NEVER watch it live. The combination of commercials, obvious "filler" cars and endless self promotion make me wonder how anyone can watch it in real time. I consistently record it with my DVR and watch it after the live event ends -- rapidly blasting through the Bentleys with gold spoke wheels, "male enhancement" advertisements and belabored bidding practices.

2. IGNORE the prices. You've probably heard this before, but the prices at this auction simply don't represent reality. Many bidders rely more on ego than logic when deciding how much to spend, and the atmosphere inside the Barrett-Jackson circus tent not only encourages this behavior but depends on it.

And perhaps most importantly...

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There's driver distraction, and then there's driver distration. On one of my final cab rides in Detroit I saw this practice raised to a true art form.

My driver had a video screen mounted in the center-stack area (right below the radio/climate controls). When I sat down in the rear seat an episode of LOST was paused on this screen, but he hit the "PLAY" button as soon as we drove off. That's not all -- at every stoplight on Woodward Avenue the driver would flip on the dome light and read from a newspaper (ironically, he did not pause LOST during these reading sessions).

Of course he wasn't completely wreckless. Whenever the light turned green he dutifully put the paper down, turned off the dome light and began watching LOST again (with a litle focus left over for that whole driving thing).

I knew nobody would believe me, so I snapped the above photo, which is not posed or staged in any way, I assure you. We were simply waiting at a red light on northbound Woodward when I took this shot.

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The most impressive (and seductive) technology statement at the show.

If anyone must offer a production V12 diesel engine, it's Audi.

Yet another diesel performance breakthrough. Last one in this story -- promise!

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After the first day of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show I've seen Brian Adams sing next to Audis, Kim Cattrall driving a Mercedes-Benz, and professional basketball players shoot hoops over a Kia. But easily the most "wild" product unveil surrounded the 2009 Dodge Ram -- literally.

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Our 2008 Detroit Auto Show preview is up, and among the world premiers is the most powerful Corvette ever, the next-generation Ford F-150 and the first redesign of Honda's highly-successful Pilot. I'm intrigued by the powerful Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V that will debut in Detroit, but I'm more impressed by what appears to be a serious green showing by Chrysler. Despite its access to the same two-mode hybrid transmission that GM is using in the Tahoe, Chrysler has the farthest to go in achieving real-world fuel-mileage gains.

Of course it wouldn't be a modern auto show without a crossover or six. Beyond the Pilot you can expect to see the next Subaru Forester, the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLK, the all-new Kia Borrego, the all-new Toyota Venza and the Land Rover LRX Concept.

The first round of 2008 North American Car and Truck of the Year votes are in...

Car Finalists:

   1. Cadillac CTS                   2. Chevrolet Malibu                3. Honda Accord

Truck Finalists:

     1. Buick Enclave             2. Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid          3. Mazda CX-9

The final winnners will be announced the morning of January 13th as part of the kickoff for the 2008 North American International Auto Show (also known as the Detroit Auto Show). I just sent my second-round ballot in, so my part in voting for the car and truck winners is over. I won't know the results before that January 13th announcement, though obviously I know who I voted for.

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