Speculation runs rampant as to why Detroit's Big Three find themselves in their current predicament. U.S. News and World Report's Rick Newman has his own view, and below we'll give you a quick run through his short list of the vehicles that caught Detroit with its pants down and its eyes focused on a quick buck. Wonder if Dave Letterman would cackle through this top-ten list out on his late-night comedy show...

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1. Ford Pinto. From the dark days of Detroit playing catch up to its lean, mean foreign competitors, Detroit's old school mentality of low-tech small cars built with big car engineering (small interiors, big exteriors, wasted space, inefficient packaging) just didn't impress savvy consumers. Sure, they sold initially in huge numbers, but when haphazard engineering resulted in a raft of exploding fuel tanks and horrendous reliability, class-action lawsuits sealed the Pinto's fate for good. Not a proud chapter in the history of the American automobile.

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2. Chevrolet Cavalier. Ahh, the GM J-Body. Another example of poor space efficiency, the Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunbird/Buick Skyhawk/Olsmobile Firenza/Cadillac Cimarron (GASP I'm out of breath) featured uncomfortably high dashboards, asthmatic four cylinder pushrod engines, sloppy and unresponsive three-speed automatics, and oversprung/underdamped suspensions. The ultimate insult to the American consumer came in Cadillac form, points out U.S. News & World Report: "GM even added some lipstick and high heels and tried to peddle the upgrade as the Cadillac Cimarron." While this vehicle sold in the millions, brand-loyal consumers learned their lesson. It's no wonder they're loathe to buy American small cars now. And yet GM persists, bringing us the Pontiac G3 to name but one mediocre example.

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3. Chevrolet Astro. If you didn't love the Chevrolet Lumina APV/Pontiac TransSport/Oldsmobile Silhouette minivans with their Karl Malden proboscises, you could always opt for the sturdy old Chevy Astro/GMC Safari twins. With their gravelly 4.3-liter pushrod sixes huffing way beneath the huge center-mounted hump between passenger and driver, bus-style driving position, and very mediocre reliability, these vans kept an ancient design alive that other automakers had abandoned decades before. The Ford Aerostar was a marginally better vehicle, but Chrysler stole the show with its lightweight, car-based, forward-thinking minivans that saved it from obscurity. Says U.S. News: "The Astro drove like a bread truck, and consumers noticed. It also earned the worst safety ratings in its class."

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4. Ford Taurus. Much like the minivan was for Chrysler, the Taurus and Sable proved that Detroit wasn't comatose. The Taurus became a bestseller, points out U.S. News, and rightfully so. A forward-thinking styling ethos, fresh and ergonomic interior, good space efficiency, and sprightly driving dynamics gave Americans a vehicle they could be proud to own. So what did Ford do? "For the next 20 years, Ford let quality declien and neglected the family sedan, while pouring love and money into trucks and SUVs," claims U.S. News. The 500 sedan followed, and "went on record as one of the most short-lived models ever." A revival of the Taurus nameplate to a "bastardized 500" was too little, too late: "by then, the damage was done."

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5. Ford Explorer. "The Explorer helped create an addiction that lasted 15 years," criticizes U.S. News' Rick Newman. He goes on to quote David Magee, author of How Toyota Became No. 1: "executives could not see beyond the green piling up at their feet."  Soon GM and and Chrysler were in on the SUV game, pumping out Trailblazers and Durangos en masse. In this interesting, myopic game, suddenly the Big Three were competing against each other and ignoring larger trends in the market. Which brings us right to the current crisis.

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6.  Jaguar X-Type. If ever there was a mediocre bastardization of a luxury marque, it was this cramped Ford Mondeo sedan, tarted up with the Jaguar "J-gate" shifter, wood trim, and all-wheel drive. It was like Jag's very own Cimarron. "Jag purists were horrified," claims U.S. News, and buyers of BMWs, Lexuses, and Acuras were not swayed. NVH, interior materials, and driving dynamics did not bespeak luxury. Ford missed the mark with its attempts to make Jaguars, and recently sold the once-prestigious marque to Tata of India.

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7. Hummer H2. The Hummer division had quite the quick rise and fall, existing for less than a decade. The big, brash H2 thumbed its nose at efficiency, at girly men in crossovers, at gas prices, and at anything and anybody who didn't like its rock crawling prowess and angry get-out-of-my-way demeanor. And now, everyone who the H2 pissed off is chuckling, as Americans who thought they needed the bruiser are quickly coming to their senses and realizing they like fuel efficiency, they don't need rock crawling capability for shopping mall parking structures, would rather not pay a grand for new tires, and are actually a bit embarrassed to be seen driving a huge plasticky dinosaur with chassis bits from GM heavy duty trucks and leftover fuel caps from the ill-fated Pontiac Aztek. All in all, probably the last time GM will send a linebacker to do the job of a quarterback.

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8. Toyota Prius. Rick Newman draws a painful comparison: "While GM was spending $1 billion to build up the Hummer franchise, Toyota was spending $1 billion to develop a high-mileage hybrid - even though gas prices were still low." Maybe the Prius was just a guess, a gamble...but regardless, it was an incredibly prescient one. What did GM say when the Prius debuted in 2000? "Ahh, the Prius, it's just for those GreenPeace treehuggers." Today, Toyota can hardly keep up with demand for the Prius. As for GM? Well, uh, it brought us the two-mode Escalade Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid. Combined mileage just north of 20 mpg hardly astounds, though it's better than city mileage in the low teens. But make no mistake - not even hybrid powertrains can stop the sales nosedive of full-size pickups and SUVs.

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9. Chrysler Sebring. U.S. News muses: "Did Chrysler engineers set out to build the world's most boring car?" Well, According to Consumer Reports, they did manage to produce a vehicle with the lowest predicted reliability score - 283 percent lower than average - the Chrysler Sebring Convertible. Ouch. Not only does the Sebring lack character, driving verve, and interesting styling, but its also destined to be a reliability nightmare. "The only way to sell marginal cars," says U.S. News, "is with steep discounts, which money-losing automakers can no longer afford." They conclude: "this model seems destined for extinction."

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10. Jeep Compass. It seems even Jeep has gotten in on the badge-engineering game, having produced the weak-kneed Compass/Patriot/Dodge Caliber triplets. All three end up as less than the sum of their parts. A decent 2.4-liter four, co-developed with Hyundai, is castrated by an oddball CVT transmission. The once-proud Jeep nameplate is hopelessly watered down by the front-drive econocar underpinnings, hardly the stuff of Jeep's trail-rated reputation. Interior materials seem destined for mail-delivery duty, with harsh plastics and cheap seams in abundance. U.S. News claims that "Chrysler has oversaturated its strongest brand lineup in a desperate attempt to boost sales." They end with a "message to Detroit: consumers aren't that stupid."

GM, Ford, and Chrysler have got to think better, and longer-term, as they prepare to borrow huge sums from the American taxpayer. We know they can do it; witness the Cadillac CTS, Chevy Malibu, 2010 Chevy Camaro, Buick Enclave, Dodge Ram, Ford Flex, and Ford Fiesta. They've got great new advancements coming down the pike, but already delays have begun as money becomes ever more scarce. Will the buying public get a chance to see and drive great new products, or will they become stillborn victims of poor planning?--Colin Mathews
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Continuing its penchant for pithy one-liners, Motor Trend doles out a parade of them while gushing over its winner of the 2009 Car of The Year contest, the 2009 Nissan GT-R. Here's a brief sampling from Angus MacKenzie, editor-in-chief: "no 2009 contender crushes our criteria like the GT-R...the Nissan GT-R rewrites the rule-book for high-performance vehicles...rivals the world's best-known supercars, at a fraction of the price...the GT-R sets benchmarks every automaker in the world will be studying." Thankfully the winning vehicle is actually deserving of the award, unlike dubious picks such as the GMC Envoy, SUV of The Year winner for 2002. In our review, we gave that SUV 6.8 out of a possible 10 points.

The GT-R, indeed, has the stats to back up its win, with a base price significantly below the vehicles with which it competes (and in many cases, beats). The heart of the GT-R is its twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-6, which is hand-assembled in a clean, climate-controlled environment. Transmitting the power to all four wheels is a rear-mounted, six-speed dual-clutch automated manual, the latest and greatest in high performance transmission technology.

The GT-R is reportedly capable of a 0-60 mph run in a swift 3.3 seconds, and climbs to a top speed of over 190 mph. 480 hp and 430 lb-ft. twist ensure fleet performance, and a relatively small displacement allow still-sane mpg ratings of 16/21 by the EPA's yardstick. To be sure, the GT-R is no lightweight, ringing in at over 3,800 lbs. according to Wikipedia. If weight is the enemy of performance according to Colin Chapman, then the GT-R could stand to go on a diet. With competitors like Chevy's Corvette Z06 tipping the scales at a comparatively svelte 3,180 lbs. (courtesy of an all-aluminum chassis), one has to wonder if the laundry list of technology and hardware in the GT-R ends up being worth its weight. For track day glory, no doubt, the GT-R claws its way to supremacy. But what kind of beast would it be to live with day-to-day?

Motor Trend continues to use whimsical language in describing some of the remaining competitors ("hero cars," they claim) for COTY: BMW 1-Series ("tight"), Pontiac G8 ("suave"), Audi A4 ("coolly restrained"), Honda Fit ("cheeky"), and Lincoln MKS ("glitzy"). As long as the machinery really is deserving, we'll go along with the high-octane epithets. For sure, there are some remarkably deserving automobiles on the market for 2009, no doubt driven in part by a challenging market and rapidly changing consumer tastes.--Colin Mathews
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Apart from dabbling in some weak-kneed four cylinders in the late 70s/early 80s, Ford Mustangs have always throbbed with a thrilling V-8 soundtrack to accompany the prodigious thrust from their V-8 engines. From the original 60s 289 V-8 through the iconic 5.0 of the 80s and 90s up to the modern-day 4.6-liter OHC V-8, Ford has always taken special care to give its Mustangs a sonorous war cry befitting their ponycar mission.

Tuning exhaust sound is quite a science, and it starts with custom crafted exhaust headers, which replace standard issue exhaust manifolds coming right off of the engine. Serving as the vocal chords of an engine, headers typically equalize the length of each tube coming from the cylinders en route to a collection tube prior to the catalytic converter and the remainder of the exhaust system. Acoustic and powertrain engineers spend countless hours perfecting every bit of the exhaust system to find the balance between a healthy burble and an annoying drone.

As to unwanted noise - the kind that interferes with the engine's song or your conversation with your passenger, such as wind noise or excessive intake whoosh - engineers must design this out of a vehicle to avoid perceptions of crudeness, thrashiness, or cheapness. Not to mention, driving a relentlessly noisy car contributes to driver fatigue and annoyance (I can attest, having fitted a droning glasspack to my 1988 Honda CRX that set off car alarms in parking garages across Atlanta).

To eliminate the nasty stuff, Ford engineers paid attention to the most minute details. From the design of the windshield wipers, the location of the radio antenna, and the thunk of the doors when slammed, they went over every sound generated by the 2010 Ford Mustang with a find-toothed comb in an effort to produce sounds pleasing to the human ear. Sound dampening materials were fitted to minimize unpleasant noises, and conversely, Ford's Induction Sound Tube technology actually pipes the good stuff from the Mustang's induction system right into the cabin. BMW used this technology to good results in the most recent Z4 roadster, highlighting the fact that too much isolation, especially in a sportcar, results in a bland, detached experience that is a sure turn off for enthusiasts.

It's great to see domestic manufacturers delve into the details, as this is precisely the area where foreign makes have trounced them for years. Import buyers typically love (and fall in love with) a car's details, and perhaps with increasing dedication to improvements in the subjective elements of a vehicle - textures, sounds, materials, "feel," - domestics like Ford will continue their quality improvements with a concomitant improvement in market share.--Colin Mathews
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Joining the growing list of companies purchasing hybrid and other green vehicles for fleet duty, Verizon Wireless today announces the addition of nine Toyota Prius gas/electric hybrid vehicles to its fleet of over 100 hybrid vehicles that cover seven states and the District of Columbia. Since the end of 2007, the phone service provider has been purchasing hybrid vehicles for its fleet.

Verizon estimates that by ultimately increasing the number of hybrid vehicles in its fleet to 200, it will conserve an additional 16,000 gallons of fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 1.4 metric tons per vehicle annually. Verizon points out that its Toyota Priuses get nearly twice the mpg of conventional gasoline-powered sedans while emitting less than half of the carbon of those vehicles.

Verizon has a strong commitment to environmental consciousness. They've also been using 13 custom-designed gasoline/electric hybrid vans in Maryland and Texas. And in 2007, the  company powered down or removed obsolete equipment from more than 400 buildings as well as collecting 1.1 million mobile phones for refurbishing, donation, and recycling. Joining a popular trend of eliminating paper waste in the customer billing process, Verizon has been able to electronically deliver about 75 million bills to its customers.--Colin Mathews
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It seems vehicular collision with deer and other living things is on the rise. HLDI (Highway Loss Data Institute), an affiliate of IIHS, claims that "animal strikes" peak in November, when they are roughly three times higher than in other months. While the agencies above do not specify the animal involved, other data point to deer as the main reason for elevated insurance claims.

Despite Americans traveling less recently, the agencies also point out that fatal crashes involving vehicular collisions with animals have shot up 50 percent since 2000. Kim Hazelbaker explains this phenomenon by pointing out that urban sprawl means that man is increasingly encroaching upon deer habitat, putting the two in ever closer proximity. More collisions are inevitable.

State Farm insurance backs up these statistics. The nation's largest auto insurer's estimates point to 1.2 million claims for damage due to animal collisions during the second half of '07 and the first half of '08. They also claim that these types of collisions have increased 14.9 percent over the past five years.

Texas is the state with the highest total number of deaths due to animal collision; the Lone Star State logged 227 deaths in all from 1993 to 2007. Anne McCartt, IIHS' senior VP for research, says that "the months with the most crash deaths coincide with fall breeding season." We aren't sure whether human or animal fall breeding is causing all of the drama, but they say if you're on a rural road and traveling over 55 mph, especially in times of low light such as dusk, dawn, and nighttime, you're apparently at the greatest risk for a collision.

The safety agencies also point out that it is not usually the actual collision that proves fatal, but rather attempts to avoid the collision (running off the road) or neglecting to use protection (seatbelts, we assume) that pose the greatest danger. So please, Texans, beware the dangers of fall breeding season and be on the lookout for armadillo, deer, bears, and other Lone Star wildlife as you head home from the annual Truck of Texas Rodeo in your winning 2009 Ford F-150 pickup.--Colin Mathews
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