NOVEMBER 1, 2017

Wall Street. Well, that was special. After renewing its love affair with Detroit this fall and running up GM stock in particular after GM promised 22 all-electric vehicles globally by 2023, all of a sudden those geniuses on Wall Street have decided that Detroit=Bad again, which sent GM shares tanking. Hang on a second, two weeks ago today we read this: “GM back in style on Wall Street” (October 16, 2017). Then on Monday morning (10/30) we wake up to headlines like these: “Has GM stock run out of upside?” And, “GM falls after Goldman Sachs loses confidence.” Citing cyclical pressures, strong headwinds, and the usual blah-frickity-blah, GM stock was downgraded by Goldman to Sell from Neutral. As last week's rant discussed, the denizens of Wall Street are notoriously fickle when it comes to Detroit. But this change of heart was particularly quick, even by their sleazy standards. Detroit being an inexorable part of the industrial fabric of America has never been enough for Wall Street. In fact, the reality is that Wall Street frickin' hates Detroit. Always has and always will. Wall Street types unleashed a volley of critical emails to this website vociferously protesting Peter's attitude, suggesting it was ridiculous to paint Wall Street with such a broad brush, among other things. Well guess what? They are who we think they are.  

(Porsche images)
This is the 2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T. Porsche says that it is "reinvigorating the concept of the puristic 911 T model from 1968" with less weight, a manual transmission with a shorter constant transaxle ratio and a standard mechanical rear differential lock for heightened driving pleasure. The 911 Carrera T ("T" stands for Touring) is also equipped with several performance-enhancing features that are not available on the standard 911 Carrera. Weighing 3,142 pounds, the 911 Carrera T is the lightest model in the 911 Carrera range. With the twin-turbo 3.0 flat-six which develops 370HP and 339 lb-ft of torque, the "T" accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, 0.1 second quicker than the standard 911 Carrera. The new 911 Carrera T is expected to reach U.S. dealers by March, 2018. The base MSRP is $102,100, excluding the $1,050 delivery, processing and handling fee. Editor-in-Chief's Note: All that for a tenth of a second? And WTF does puristic mean, anyway? As I've said many times before, Porsche's ability - and out and out gall - to extract ever more money from its faithful is simply mind-blowing.  Back in the day Porsche had the 911T, the 911E and the 911S, in that order. Now Porsche is trying to assign new gravitas to the "T" for the people who just can't quite step up to an "S"? Please. Porsche marketers are the cynical Master Manipulators of this business. Their ability to create desirability by designing smoke-and-mirrors packages calculated to entice its followers knows no bounds. And as long as enough of the faithful keep buying, Porsche marketers are going to keep coming up with them. What's next? Are they going to change the name PDK to Sportomatic? -PMD

(Audi)
Audi is unveiling its TT clubsport turbo concept at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this week. Audi says that the TT clubsport is "inspired by the legendary Audi 90 IMSA GTO race car of the late 1980s in both appearance and performance." The Audi TT clubsport turbo concept is powered by a 600HP five-cylinder 2.5 TFSI engine with an electronically assisted turbocharger; it sprints from 0–62.1 mph in 3.6 seconds, with a top speed of 192.6 mph. The Audi TT clubsport turbo concept's angular fenders are 5.5 in. wider than the production version, and it utilizes a manually-adjustable rear wing made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer.