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Keep on keepin' on.

Don't hold back Peter. I expect no less. Different opinions are well and should be respected. The Country does need a reset, especially financially. We cannot keep funding what we have been and survive.

Bob Longstreth
Rochester Hills, Michigan



Keepin' the flame.

JD Vance big bonehead, hopes each day the Prez is dead. Green hard hooker feeling groovy even though they panned her movie.

Joe Folz
Bonita Springs, Florida



Notgonnahappendotcom.

I hate to say it, but there is slim hope of the USA ever returning back to "...the good ol' days". Even the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate that a unit like Trump would ever rise to the position of president: otherwise there would have been far more stringent checks and balances as to prevent him from ever achieving his acceptance as leader of a contending major political party, let alone his position as president of the land.

I hold out faint hope that a newly revised American Constitution will arise like a phoenix from the flames and ashes of this gross, negligent error -- but I am doubtful. It was, after all, the opposing Democrats who had no less than four full years to escort this criminal to his new and well-deserved residence behind bars...

But as history shows, their lack of enthusiasm in forcing justice to come to bear is responsible for the current Orange Runamuck infesting the Oval Office.

EPS
Newcastle, Ontario, CANADA



Achtung!!!! How zoon vee vorgett: The Original Software Defined Vehicles.

Taking a brief respite from toxic tariffs and their politics, today the software defined vehicle is all the buzz, SDV for short. I posit that such vehicles were hiding in plain sight at least 10 years ago and right under the noses of scientists and regulators. Some bushy tailed graduate student type EPA technicians made the accidental earth shaking discovery of their existence. To confirm their suspicions they didn’t even use artificial intelligence, just their own. True “Watson, come here!!” moments for them.

Seems that certain Volkswagen diesel powered vehicles were smart enough to know exactly when they were at the doctor’s office for a checkup, and then how to adjust their attitudes, respiratory chemistry and behaviors appropriately. Otherwise, their programmed software criminal lives went on as usual. When viewed from a purely scientific perspective and disregarding its nefarious purpose, this was an astounding automotive software defined triumph by any measure. The first truly intelligent cars smart enough to know innately where they were, why and when they were there, how to behave while telling lies, and when they could move on with the rest of their criminal eco-vandal lives- all without any Lidar, remote satellite guidance or detection… using only onboard self- contained software. The pure fusion of the criminal mind with the automobile. Voila: the original SDVs were Software Defiled Vehicles, illegitimate children born of modern technology. So much for the ethics around some great scientific advances over the course of humanity. The whole escapade is now buried in an unmarked solitary grave somewhere west of Laramie without perpetual care.

Looming over the SDV going forward is the eternal question: “Who is doing the defining or the defiling??” There’s only a one letter difference between them and it’s easy to wander over the centerline.

Eons ago when I took driver’s training the stern command was always, “Keep your eyes on the road Welch!”, followed by AAA sponsored gory, fatal accident, 16mm color horror films to emphasize ”Speed Kills”. Remember “Stay alert, Stay Alive!” or Highway Patrol’s Broderick Crawford’s admonishment, “it’s not what you drive but how you drive.”? Now the race is on to see which manufacturer can get your eyes off the road quickest and your body into their autonomous SDVs. Tariffs be damned.

Could even hero Tom Swift have imagined a software defiled vehicle? Does Tom Swift now identify as Chinese? Could Mary Barra’s final ride from the cathedral up Woodward Ave. to graveside at Holy Sepulcher be in an autonomous BEV Cadillac Eagle XT5 Echelon as a final tribute to her vision for GM’s EV future?

Seeing eye dogs must be feeling awfully threatened and very lonely these days.

Dr. John
Phoenix, Arizona



Indelible memories.

I have not even read the rest this week yet... the Grand Funk song, brought back oh so many memories. I was in Vietnam at the time, in a Marine helicopter gunship squadron, and I was "short", meaning my tour was close to being over. We had a tape deck, and we played that song... over... and over. The words and melody are deeply implanted in my brain, and the memories of listening to it are so wonderful. I hear - or see the words - so rarely these days, and yeah, being in Vietnam sucked, but seeing the words or actually hearing the song, reminds me of leaving the place. Absolutely great, thanks for the memories.

Ted R
Raleigh, North Carolina



Songs and steering wheels.

Your song is fine, tells it like it is, hits all sides. But what's really important here is that fugly steering wheel in the Mercedes. WTF?

DG
Berwick, Maine



Salty Dog.

Thanks for the Billy Joel ear worm which I still mumble to myself, not being able to remember all the words... of course, I can just shout out the d-bag du jour and make it work...

Shame the Genesis thing looks like a Ferrari designed in Appalachia for the next Mad Max movie as it actually has some nice design notes that would look good on a sporty-sports car.

Stay salty my friend.

Tony W.
Mt. Wastelands, Pennsylvania



Appreciation.

I have been a reader of yours for many years and have appreciated your insights into the auto industry. I admire your passion for design and auto performance. Great job on your timely rewrite of Billy Joel’s song.

Eddie Fisher
Spring Hill, Tennessee



We will wake up.

You feel the same way as I do about this lawless Administration. Thank you for speaking up. You have a much bigger voice than I do but I will continue to use my voice to do what I can to save our country from a would be dictator. I’ve already lost one friend but my country means more than any so-called friend. America WILL wake up to their orange god. We did to Joe McCarthy and we will to this ASSHOLE too. Maybe this lawless bunch will wind up in prison. Fingers crossed. Thank for what you do.

MLH
Salem, Virginia



Keep it sharp.

Keep your pen sharp, Peter, and continue spreading the truth. I‘m praying for America. God Bless.

Dave D.
Calgary, Alberta, CANADA



I think Genesis gets me.

My employer recently informed me that I will have to return to the office. They didn't specify how I was to get to the office, nor did they say they had a parking spot available for my use. I could use "an extreme off-road vehicle designed to be driven across the toughest and harshest terrain", as I navigate my treacherous commute: narrow community roads riddled with high-arching speed bumps, flowing to the potholes of multi-lane interstate reconstruction, exiting onto a drag strip of multiple asynchronous traffic lights, culminating with a 90 degree turn... into an overfilled lot where my best chance of unmolested parking might only be found at the bottom of an ancient riverbed a quarter mile away.

"purpose-built to conquer". Yes. That's me. My only concern? Portland is not a desert. How does this Skorpio thingy work in the rain?

Dave G.
Portlandia, Oregon



Don’t stop.

Back when I still imbibed I liked my scotch neat. Back when I smoked I preferred Senior Service, unfiltered. I don't indulge in either anymore but I’m glad I can still get the High-Octane Truth unfiltered and undiluted. Don't stop. Ever.

Tom Pease
AE’s L.A-based correspondent
Beverly Hills, California