DECEMBER 11, 2024

The original - and still our favorite - Autoextremist logo. 

The AE Quote of the Century: Everybody loves The High-Octane Truth. Until they don't. -WG 

(Alfa Romeo images)

Valtteri Bottas, Formula 1 driver and customer of the new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, spent an intense and engaging day with the Alfa Romeo engineering team at the Balocco Proving Ground (Vercelli province), testing the “00 prototype” of the new custom-built supercar. Following the test session, Bottas said, “The opportunity to test the 33 Stradale was a very special moment. I hope my feedback can be useful to the experienced Alfa Romeo development team for the final tuning. Configuring my personal car with the 'bottega Alfa Romeo' was engaging and exciting, and testing it today was really exciting. All I have to do is wait for my 33 Stradale to be ready! I am extremely satisfied with the testing. Today's experience is close to perfection, which for me means total symbiosis with the car. The car immediately puts you at ease: extremely responsive, precise. The feeling with the car is immediate, extremely easy and fun to understand, and you certainly don't need to be an F1 driver to experience it. In addition, its sound envelops the passenger compartment and is unmistakably Alfa Romeo." The test session served as another collaboration with Bottas, who has been involved in many of the decision-making stages since the beginning of the project. Bottas is a member of "Club 33," one of the 33 owners of the exclusive supercar. The venue for the event was the Alfa Romeo track at the Balocco Proving Ground in Vercelli province, the iconic track that has hosted the development and preparation of high-performance racing cars (Autodelta) since 1962, including F1, DTM and Super Turismo competitions. Watch the video here. 

 

(Toyota images)

This may not be a big deal to most of our readers, but an all-new Toyota 4Runner is a very big deal to fans of the vehicle and to Toyota operatives. The high hard ones? The woefully underpowered 4Runner finally gets more juice in the form of the standard i-FORCE powertrain with up to 278HP and 317 lb.-ft. of torque and an available i-FORCE MAX with up to 326HP and 465 lb.-ft. of torque. (Order the one with more HP -WG.) Other stuff? Standard power rear window with an available hands-free power liftgate; new Trailhunter and Platinum grades now offered, although there are a total of nine grades offered, which is, to be blunt, flat-out ridiculous. An available 14-inch Touchscreen Display and Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 is standard on all models. The 2025 Toyota 4Runner has a starting MSRP of $40,770, plus $1,450 DPH, and it will be on-sale in early 2025.

 

(BMW images)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: This just in from the "Fools And Their Money" File. This is the 2025 BMW XM by Kith, the third chapter in an ongoing collaboration with lifestyle brand Kith. The BMW XM Kith Concept was unveiled on December 5 during Art Basel Miami Beach, offering a first look at the inspiration behind the forthcoming limited-run series production model. Kith Founder and CEO Ronnie Fieg also created a one-off 1981 BMW M1 as an homage to the evolution of BMW M and the new concept vehicle. An exclusive Kith for BMW collection of apparel and lifestyle products will debut in parallel. The 2025 BMW XM by Kith was available for preorder on December 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM ET exclusively through BMWUSA.com. How much? $199,000 plus destination and handling fees. -PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our new segment - The Farley Follies - in honor of CEO Jim "Electric Boy" Farley and his chronic mismanagement of Ford, has proven to be quite popular with our readers. (Please scroll down for updates. -WG) The recurring question we get asked is, "Why is he still there?" The latest evidence of Farley's rumblin' bumblin' and stumblin' was Ford's recent financial report, which has the company's third-quarter net income falling 26 percent. Now, this was largely attributed to Ford delaying some of its EVs - (Cue Johny Carson: "Gee, I did not know that." -WG), but it resulted in the company also lowering its full-year adjusted EBIT to “around $10 billion” after previously saying it could earn as much as $12 billion. But wait! Farley Apologist-in-Chief - CFO John Lawler - said it was all good, because the company's total adjusted earnings - before interest and taxes - rose 16 percent to $2.6 billion, with a revenue increase of 5 percent to $46 billion. Huzzah! “It’s a good proof point of our product strategy and our overall Ford+ strategy,” Lawler said on a call with reporters Oct. 28, as reported by Automotive News. “We grew the top line, we grew the bottom line, our balance sheet’s in great shape, so it was a solid quarter.” Really, John? That's all you got? Lawler went on to say that Ford has cut $2 billion in costs this year, but those reductions are being offset by inflation and higher warranty expenses. (Italics mine.) “We’ve got a great strategy, but cost is holding us back,” Lawler said. “It’s an opportunity for us to really unlock the full potential of Ford, and that’s why we’re focused on improving costs not only this focus but every quarter.” Lawler, without specifying an exact dollar amount, according to AN, said Ford’s warranty costs were slightly lower than at the same point a year earlier. That follows an $800 million year-over-year increase in the second quarter. This is Farley speak writ large. Pay no attention to that ol' bugaboo behind the curtain! Ford's abject failure to deal with its crushing warranty costs, which Farley promised to get a handle on from Day One, has permanently scarred the company, and that's directly due to Jimbo's serial incompetence. The Bottom Line for Ford? The Farley Follies continue unabated, and it is wreaking havoc on any of the good will accrued by Bill Ford and his fabulous resurrection of the Michigan Central station. And now, an ugly reality is looming for Bill Ford, because he has no succession plan for After Farley, which should be much sooner rather than later. I would like to point out to our readers that Jimbo "has plenty of money" as he took it upon himself to tell me repeatedly. (Yeah, he's a card-carrying Unctuous Prick, in case you were wondering.) So, there's no reason to fret about his future After Ford. He'll just retreat to California and spend money like water on his vintage racing habit. In closing, in thinking about the consistently underwhelming performance by Farley, I'm reminded of the exceptional - and memorable - quote by Joe Pesci in Casino when describing an underperforming wise guy: "He could fuck-up a cup of coffee." That's an apt and painfully accurate description of Farley. -PMD Editor's Note (11/6): As if right on cue, Ford announced on Halloween that it would idle its F-150 Lightning EV plant in mid-November for the rest of the year. How's that EV thing working out, "Electric Boy"? - WG Editor-in-Chief's Note (11/15): Ford has agreed to pay a fine of up to $165 million — the second-largest civil fine ever levied by NHTSA — for failing to comply with federal recall requirements, according to Automotive News. NHTSA determined that Ford failed to recall vehicles with defective rearview cameras in a timely manner and failed to provide accurate and complete recall information. Just a reminder: Ford has led the auto industry in U.S. recalls for three consecutive years. It is leading the industry again this year with 58 recalls, tied with Stellantis. Ford executives in October cited cost concerns, especially warranties, as a main reason for lowered earnings expectations. And the hits to the bottom line just keep on comin' under Electric Boy's watch. -PMD Editor-in-Chief's Note (11/27) For Bill Ford, the pressing question is: How long is this sustainable? I will answer that question – it simply isn’t. Recalls are seriously impacting Ford’s bottom line, and this situation has not improved one iota since Farley was handed the reins of the company in 2020. Ford’s performance in this area has been below mediocre, shockingly so, in fact. And now the next question for Bill Ford becomes: What price mediocrity? And, the answer, apparently, is what Farley has been paid since becoming CEO, which is approaching a jaw-dropping $100 million. This just in: The clock is ticking on Farley’s reign. -PMD

The AE Song of the Week.

Sittin' in the kitchen, a house in Macon
Loretta's singing on the radio
Smell of coffee, eggs and bacon
Car wheels on a gravel road

Pull the curtains back and look outside
Somebody somewhere I don't know
Come on now child, we're gonna go for a ride
Car wheels on a gravel road

Car wheels on a gravel road
Car wheels on a gravel road

Can't find a damn thing in this place
Nothing's where I left it before
Set of keys and a dusty suitcase
Car wheels on a gravel road

There goes the screen door slamming shut
You better do what you're told
When I get back this room better be picked-up
Car wheels on a gravel road

Car wheels on a gravel road
Car wheels on a gravel road

Low hum of voices in the front seat
Stories nobody knows
Got folks in Jackson we're going to meet
Car wheels on a gravel road

Cotton fields stretching miles and miles
Hank's voice on the radio
Telephone poles trees and wires fly on by
Car wheels on a gravel road

Car wheels on a gravel road
Car wheels on a gravel road

Broken down shacks engine parts
Could tell a lie but my heart would know
Listen to the dogs barkin' in the yard
Car wheels on a gravel road

Child in the backseat 'bout four or five years
Lookin' out the window
Little bit of dirt mixed with tears
Car wheels on a gravel road

Car wheels on a gravel road
Car wheels on a gravel road

Car wheels on a gravel road
Car wheels on a gravel road

"Car Wheels On A gravel Road" by Lucinda Williams, from the album "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" (1998).* Written by Lucinda Williams. Publisher: © Warner Chappell Music, Inc. Lyris licensed and provided by LyricFind. Listen to it here. Also, watch Lucinda perform "Right In Time" - one of PMD's favorites - live in Austin, Texas, here.

*Lucinda Williams was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1953, into a family deeply rooted in the South. Her father, Miller Williams, was a noted poet and literature professor, and her mother, Lucille Fern Day, was an amateur pianist. Williams' early years were spent in a variety of locations, as her father's work took the family to various places in the Deep South. This nomadic lifestyle exposed Williams to a wide range of cultures and experiences that would later influence her songwriting. This song is a compilation of southern, rural imagery from her childhood. "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" is a southern gothic travelogue, humming with memory and loss. Williams sings of "cotton fields that stretch for miles," and "the telephone poles, trees, and wires fly on by" as she travels with her parents across the American South. She also captures the instability and forced transience (car wheels) as the narrative traverses from one Southern locale (the gravel road) to another. Lucinda Williams recalled her father apologizing to her after a show at the Bluebird in Nashville. It was the first time he had heard "Car Wheels On a Gravel Road," and among the fields of cotton, smells of coffee, eggs and bacon, and sounds of Loretta and Hank, he identified the neglected child in the back seat as the young Lucinda: "Lookin' out the window. Little bit of dirt mixed with tears."

"That was the most amazing moment," she told Uncut magazine. "But it was bittersweet. I didn't know why when I was writing it, it was this whole subconscious thing. I guess it's weird how you can take yourself by surprise by something you've written yourself? I thought I was writing in the third person, but actually I was writing in the first person." "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" is the title song from Lucinda Williams' 1998 album of the same name. A crunchy blend of country, rock and R&B, the song provides a lightning rod for the record's portrayal of Williams' experiences in the Deep South. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road was met with widespread critical acclaim - The Village Voice hailed it as the best album of 1998 - and it clinched the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1999. Today, the record is considered a landmark in Americana and alternative country music. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG