David E. Davis, Jr: "I've never told this story in public before..."

Car and Driver's David E. Davis, Jr., guesting on Autoline After Hours, tells the story of his departure from Automobile, the magazine he founded in 1986 with Rupert Murdoch.

It involves allegations of treachery, which inspires DED, Jr. to dream of a piano falling from an airplane and onto former protege' (now Automobile Editor-In-Chief )Jean Jennings. Scroll in to 14:55 and let it roll for a minute until the host and other guests start squirming.

Also: Davis' story of his 1968 firing from C/D (about 10:30), and what inspired his 1985 resignation from his second tour at the magazine (11:43).



And if you have the time, what follows is a very good discussion about Cash For Clunkers, the state of the automotive industry, Cerberus and more between David, host John McElroy, Autoextremist.com's Peter DeLorenzo and BusinessWeek's David Welch.

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Autoextremist Turns Ten

I remember when my friend Mike Conlee came to me and said "You've gotta see this new website about the auto industry." Incredibly, that was 10 years ago, and I haven't missed a week. Peter DeLorenzo recaps the decade...along with the surprise that this was intended to be the last Autoextremist.com post.

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How It Happened

The once inconceivable is now reality. General Motors, rebuffed by bondholders, appears headed to bankruptcy court and a future we can only guess at. Peter DeLorenzo's piece on Autoextremist today is the best analysis of how the mightiest corporation ever managed to fall.

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And Miles To Go...

Whether the fuel economy standards announced by President Obama yesterday are a good thing or not is a matter of opinion (or perhaps ideology). But, as Peter DeLorenzo notes in today's Autoextremist, it is what it is...and now the work begins.

So how far from the targets are the cars we drive now? Jalopnik did the math, and found that not a single automaker is there yet.

UPDATE: But then, Los Jalops learned more about the nuts, bolts and...um...air conditioning...behind the figures. Turns out the bar's a lot lower than the headlines suggest.

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Just How Far It's Gone

A sobering article from Peter De Lorenzo at Autoextremist.com about the need for GM to re-name when (is there still a chance it's "if"?) they reorganize through bankruptcy. Read it here.

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