Autoblog

Today, we in the United States celebrate Independence Day; a day full of backyard celebrations with family and friends, tasty food on the grill, an abundance of refreshing beverages, and, in towns across America, fireworks displays that close the day of celebration in grand fashion. As we like to do each year on July 4th, we're giving you just one bit of required reading before you head out for all the festivities. Without that document, we have nothing to celebrate, but because of it and the courage of those who fought for its ideals, we have 233 years of history to commemorate today.

So, Happy Independence Day from all of us here at Autoblog. Drive safely and have fun! Your regularly scheduled programming follows.

[Image: soul motor | License: Creative Commons NC-SA 2.0]

Oh baby. The cat would appear to be out of the bag for the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2, as what certainly look to be official photos of the newest bull have hit the web. Details are sketchy, but Lamborghini's naming scheme keeps no secrets. Assuming this is all on the level, expect 550 horsepower from the V10 mounted aft of the cockpit, with that power going to the rear wheels exclusively. The lack of AWD should also result in some weight loss, a welcome addition in any sports car, much less a Lamborghini making this kind of power. And yes, that's a ball-topped gated shifter in the interior photo featured in the gallery. Glorious. A very serious car for very serious drivers. We're dying to hear the official details.

UPDATE: It's now official. The car is named the Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, in honor of Lambo's legendary test driver. Only 250 cars will be made.



[Source: Net Car Show]

While Pontiac gets ready to take a dirt nap next to Oldsmobile and the folks at Chrysler's Auburn Hills HQ brush up on their Italian, at least one American driver is showing us what might have been if the once-proposed Chrysler/GM merger (remember those days?) had come to be. Consider the perfect storm of hideous product decisions that could have ensued under such a tie-up.

What's that? Your mind's eye can't envision a scenario so horrifying? No worries. Autoblog reader Berto snagged some photos illustrating just how kooky things could have gotten. Imagine one automaker's muscle heritage fused with the base-level front-drive mediocrity of another. Imagine, friends, the Pontiac G6 V6 Super Bee. Thanks, Berto!



[Photos: Berto]

HUMMER's relationship with the American Red Cross extends back to 2005 when the SUV manufacturer first began supplying the agency with donated trucks for use in the disaster-stricken areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This relationship has been ongoing ever since, and in 2007, Brad Mellon, a volunteer with the San Diego/Imperial Counties chapter, snapped a stunning photograph of one the ARC's HUMMER H3s against the harrowing backdrop of a California wildfire.

While HUMMER waits to write a new future for itself under Chinese stewardship, its ties with the Red Cross have now been immortalized as part of a postage stamp issued by the Republic of Guinea. The stamp, commemorating Red Cross founder Henri Dunant, features artwork by Frenchman P. Pavilland, who saw fit to make the image of the H3 against the raging fire the background of the postage he was commissioned to design. So HUMMER goes out in a blaze of glory, so to speak... in Guinea, at least.



[Sources: HUMMER, eBay]

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For all the family vacations, he drives to practice, the trips to the burger stand, letting us "help" when we weren't really helping, and for not yelling at us too much when we shot cap guns at other cars out the open back window from our rear-facing seats in the family station wagon: Thanks, Dad. From all of us at Autoblog to all the dads out there, Happy Father's Day!

Got any fun dad/car stories? Share 'em below.

The web is all about immediacy, and by that token, you should have seen these Greenwich Concours d'Elegance photos right after the event happened. Your humble correspondent, however, was juggling the Concours with his own family vacation preparations, and couldn't deliver in a timely fashion. However, like Dick Nixon, I'm now tanned, rested and ready, so follow the jump for several themed photo galleries and the annual rundown on what you missed if you weren't able to make the stop in Greenwich,

All photos Copyright ©2008 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.

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Over at Clunkbucket, Mike Bumbeck has an "odd rod" feature highlighting one of the more interesting law-enforcement vehicles we've ever come across. Back in the early 70s, the Bay Area Pollution Control District decided to form a Vehicle Patrol section to issue citations to emissions scofflaws. Officers used a chart that told them what color color smoke was "good" or "bad" to determine whether the exhaust spewing from cars' tailpipes was in compliance. Nowadays, this sort of endeavor would likely be carried out by humorless glorified metermaids in politically-correct Toyota Priuses. Back then, however, jauntily-dressed pollution-enforcement agents cruised the streets of San Francisco in specially-liveried Dodge Polara pursuit specials. Because, you know, when you think "clean air" you think "Dodge Polara." Head over to Clunkbucket for plenty more photos, some additional program history, and details on the excellent replica you see above.

[Source: Clunkbucket | Photo: Mike Bumbeck]

As Yogi Berra once said, "This is like deja-vu all over again." Yesterday was the deadline for parties to file objections to the General Motors asset sale, and several were indeed filed. If some of this sounds familiar, it's because similar objections were filed during Chrysler's bankruptcy proceedings. For instance, on Friday, attorneys general from 10 states jointly-filed an objection, saying that the so-called New GM's "purchase of substantially all of the operating assets of the debtors should not include an impenetrable shield which insulates (the new GM) from all future product liability claims." The AGs are upset because under the current plans, New GM basically won't be held responsible for existing or future product liability claims related to vehicles sold before the formation of the new company. This echoes similar objections raised during the Chrysler proceedings, and if you use that as a measuring stick, things don't look good for the AGs or the injured parties (present or future) on whose behalf they're raising the objections. When the Supreme Court cleared the way for Chrysler's sale to Fiat, similar claims filed by consumer groups were essentially denied. Fiat-owned "New Chrysler" is not responsible for prior liability claims, leaving injured parties with little to no recourse.

Joining the AGs were attorneys representing over 50,000 retired union steelworkers and engineers who stand to lose out on over $3B USD in retirement and health insurance benefits they were guaranteed under the Old GM, a company that will have little to no value once the asset sale to the new company is completed. As things stand, the retirees' claim against Old GM is unsecured. Similarly, lawyers representing 1,500 other unsecured bondholders filed an objection saying that "Many of these family and noninstitutional bondholders are facing the prospect of significant losses of their retirement and life savings by the proposed GM restructuring, while simultaneously watching other unsecured creditors who by law are similarly situated receive disproportionately larger payments." Translation: some unsecured bondholders are more equal than others.

Once again, these objections are similar to ones raised -- and ultimately dismissed -- during the Chrysler bankruptcy. While the GM bankruptcy is indeed a new and entirely separate process, the federal government -- which will become the majority stakeholder in the New GM once it exits bankruptcy -- would obviously like to see the GM proceedings move along and conclude in a manner similar to Chrysler's.

With the objections officially filed, it's all in the court's hands. So now we wait to see what happens.

[Source: The Detroit News]

General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson held a web chat with journalists earlier today over at the automaker's Fastlane Blog. (Full transcript available here.) Now, despite persistent rumors to the contrary, it's been reported a few times over that GM has no intention of resurrecting the Aussie-built Pontiac G8 under a different division, even though variants of the G8's Holden Commodore source material are sold in foreign markets under both the Chevrolet and Buick nameplates. This is a lamentable course of action, to say the least, because the G8 is a really good car. In particular, the G8 GT and GXP models are downright excellent. Towards the end of the web proceedings, AutoWeek's Greg Migliore went to the well one last time on behalf of enthusiasts everywhere, asking Henderson if the G8 has any future under one of the "new" GM's remaining brands.

14:45 [Comment From Greg Migliore--AutoWeek]
Does the Pontiac G8 have any kind of future within General Motors as a re-badged model? What kinds of changes would need to be made to the car for it to be sold under another brand?

14:45 Fritz Henderson: I am not a fan of rebadging.

That's a terse, disappointing, answer – especially considering that of GM's four remaining divisions, GMC is made up almost exclusively of warmed-over Chevrolets. R.I.P. Pontiac G8. (Or new Chevy Impala. Or Buick Park Avenue...)



[Source: GM Fastlane via Motor Trend]