 Wendell Scott is frequently called the Jackie Robinson of American stock car racing. In 1952, at Virginia’s old Richmond Speedway, he was able to talk his way past a NASCAR race steward and compete, thus crossing the sport’s color line.
Except that it wasn’t a line; it was a wall, guarded by racist track promoters and white Southern fans seething over the civil rights movement. Not to mention Scott’s fellow drivers. In his long and unfailingly miserable career, carefully documented in Brian Donovan’s “Hard Driving,” Scott was often wrecked by white drivers who knew he didn’t dare retaliate. Whatever Robinson’s travails, nobody ever tried to kill him on the baseball diamond.
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Photo: Steerforth Press
 Look, he’s only 18. You can hardly blame Levi Johnston for loving to party, shooting guns, playing hockey and, well, other activities. “I’m a ... redneck,” the teen who impregnated Bristol Palin wrote on his MySpace page. “You ... with me and I’ll kick your ...”
Well, at the risk of incurring the wrath of this obviously formidable young man, not to mention his mother-in-law-to-be Sarah Palin, I question his redneck credentials. Specifically, what about this picture of him standing in front of a blue Ford Fusion? A Fusion? Come on, that’s something a “community organizer” might drive.
Let me help the lad out. Here is a list of my top five redneck baby-daddy cars. Please suggest your own, and we’ll make sure to forward a definitive list to Alaska.
#1 -- Ford Bronco
The Bronco carries an undeniable cultural throw-weight as the truck for the wild and reckless. Note its appearance in movies such as “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Eight-Legged Freaks.” For true believers, the only real Bronco is one pre-1978, after which the Bronco was just a glorified F-series pickup. The hot setup is a 1977 Bronco half-cab in primer gray, with a Ford 302-cubic inch V8 crate motor, a 7-inch Skyjacker lift kit, AGR Rock Ram steering assist, Dana 44 lockers, bead-lock 36-inch Goodrich mudders, a PTO, rifle rack and fender spats. Bro-licious.(PHOTO CREDIT: KINDRED AUTO BODY)
#2 -- 1977 Trans Am SE:
In the land of the sunburned nape, the 1977 Trans Am SE –- black or brown, with Screaming Chicken hood decal, removable glass roof panels, and gold cast alloy wheels –- stands like a semi-literate colossus. Yet another star of “Smokey and the Bandit" –- and arguably its most emotive performer –- the T/A is a cultural icon of the '70s, like CB radios, “Free Bird” and blooming fever blisters. These were stupendously lousy cars, to be sure, but they were fun and fast and loud. And they looked like a fist in search of a mouth to punch.(PHOTO CREDIT: PHIL SKINNER/KBB)
#3 -- 2002 Dale Earnhardt Signature Edition Monte Carlo
The model year is key here: 2002 was the year after Dale Earnhardt, the Intimidator, died on the fabled high-banks of Daytona. Owning one of these cars says that you loved Dale so much you went out and memorialized him with a 48-month car loan. The magic number 3 appears all over this car, and it’s done up in the GM Goodwrench livery, just like ole Ironhead’s race car. For true rednecks, Earnhardt remains the quintessential NASCAR champion. Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne? Blow-dried weenies.(PHOTO CREDIT: DALE EARNHARDT CHEVROLET)
#4 -- Anything with duct tape
What do you call duct tape in North Carolina? Chrome. Duct tape is the sum and substance of what you might call redneck engineering. It can do wondrous things. It can keep your pants up. It can be used to make a nice tie for those formal occasions, or a tourniquet, when those occasions turn ugly. You can use it to tape your cellphone to your ear for high-tech hands-free phoning. But the highest calling of duct tape is to bind the wounds of a busted-up hoopty. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, if you’ve got more than one roll of duct tape on your car, you might be a redneck. And yes, upholstery counts.(PHOTO CREDIT: EBAUMSWORLD.COM)
#5 -- Ford Mustang
Well, of course, the Ford Mustang, but which one? You can’t have the fifth-generation Mustang, the current body design, because those are cool and they have some residual value. It can’t be an '60s-era Mustang either, because they too are cool and valuable collector's items. You don’t want people thinking you’re an elitist, do you? What will really wow them down at the hunting lodge is a third-gen, Fox-platform Mustang, with a big, thirsty 5.0-liter. Extra points for a convertible with a gun rack welded up out of square-section tubing. Double bonus if you can drive your ATV onto the rear luggage rack.(PHOTO CREDIT: FORD MOTOR CO.)
-- Dan Neil
(Photo of Levi Johnson with Bristol Palin by EPA/SHAWN THEW)
 A few weeks ago we had a story on the new Alfa Romeo MiTo which is now in the running for the sexiest small car on the big blue ball. Looking like a pocket version of the 8C Competizione, the MiTo -- the name is a mashup of Torino and Milano (the industrial and styling centers for Alfa) -- caused a small panic among readers desperate to get something both fun and fuel efficient. Where and when can I get one!? they demanded in tones of increasing incivility.
Nothing is definite, you understand, but since the story came out, Alfa and BMW have announced details of their broad-based partnership. Item A: BMW, through its Mini Brand, will help Alfa Romeo return to the USA by 2010. This will help Alfa's problem of having, ahem, no dealerships in the U.S. Item B: BMW and Alfa will share B and C (small- to mid-sized) platforms: Item C; Alfa wants its first car in the States to be small five-door premium hatchback, a small wagon. BUT, the Alfa MiTo could be federalized for sale in the U.S.
It adds up to this: MiTo is a strong candidate to be the second Alfa in the U.S. market in the second half of 2010. Mebbe.
--Dan Neil
Photos: Alfa Romeo
 As the tsunami of desire for the Alfa MiTo suggests, small-car fever has gripped America, and America has noticed that -- not to put too fine a point on it -- most small cars over here are really lame. Why can't we have cool European cars? They ask, not unreasonably. This from one of our readers:
"...We were in France in May (and also July last year). I LOVE the Citroen line of vehicles. Something fuel-efficient for everyone, from the C 1, 2, 3, 4, to the Berlingo and Picasso minivans. WHY doesn't someone make these or import these for the USA market?"
First, because Citroen doesn't have any infrastructure here and the U.S. market is vast. A company needs scores of dealerships just to have a minimal presence in the U.S. Second, because European NCAP and U.S. DOT crash test requirements are different. A move to make crash test standards the same worldwide -- "harmonize" is the term of the art -- is moving forward so that, by 2015, most cars will meet the same standards, whether they originate in Asia, Europe or the U.S. Third: Citroen's partner, Peugeot, ALSO doesn't have a presence here. That means no possibility of manufacturing stateside and that means taking it in the shorts because of the strength of the Euro.
All that is stipulated. Still, the craving for efficient, stylish cars is huge, and Citroen could come back. So which Citroen would you like?
PS: Dan's favorite luxury sedan under $100,000 is the Citroen C6. Yum. Gush. Smack!
-- Dan Neil
Photos: Citroen
 The pigment-challenged Swedish musicologists over at Volvo are riding the ABBA wave by releasing their choice for the top 21 (?) "summer road trip songs" that will "help you and your family endure hours in the car..." (Just a note to the press-release writers: "endure" doesn't really help convey the joys of a road trip in your shiny new Volvo, does it?) Also, this moldy-oldy list seems guaranteed to make your teenager wish for death a thousand times over.
Besides, it is a matter of Biblical fact that the greatest road song EV-AR is "Radar Love" by Dutch supergroup Golden Earring, and Volvo didn't deign to include it on their list. Sheesh! I was in Italy a few weeks ago when I met a journalist who was writing a "biography" of 'Radar Love," which was -- according to him -- the biggest Dutch hit since, um, Rembrandt.
Please consult my trenchant analysis of "Radar Love" here.
For true devotees of "Radar Love," behold the band's utterly nutty proto-video for the song here: The grammology of road songs in further explored in my story from 2005 -- "Running on Empty."
Lastly, here is Volvo's list of top road songs:
"Born to Run" Bruce Springsteen
"S.O.S." ABBA
"Ramble On" Led Zeppelin
"Me and Bobby McGee" Janis Joplin
"Dancing Queen" ABBA
"Jackson" Johnny and June Carter Cash
"Take a Chance on Me" ABBA
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" Meatloaf
"Stuck in the Middle With You" Stealer's Wheel
"Mamma Mia" ABBA
"Born to Be Wild" Steppenwolf
"Highway to Hell" AC/DC
"Low Rider" War
"Running on Empty" Jackson Browne
"Southbound" Allman Brothers
"Waterloo" ABBA
"Highway 61 Blues" Bob Dylan
"Little Deuce Coupe" The Beach Boys
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" ABBA
"Drive My Car" The Beatles
"On the Road Again" Willie Nelson
--Dan Neil
Photo: AP
One of the finest private collections of Bugattis in the world will be sold at Gooding & Co.'s Pebble Beach auction in Monterey Aug. 16 and 17. The collection, owned by the late Dr. Peter Williamson and his wife, Susan, will be auctioned off to benefit the Dartmouth Medical School, where Dr. Williamson was a professor.
The 12 featured cars include a Type 57SC Atalante, a Type 35B supercharged grand prix car (ex-Louis Chiron) and the Type 55 "Jean Bugatti Roadster." For the uninitiated, Bugattis are among the most beautiful and evocative of prewar classics. The company only made a few thousand cars in its time, but they were always remarkable. The marque amassed scores of wins in grand prix and road racing, while at the same time building some of the most significant luxury cars ever, such as the storied Bugatti Type 41 Royale. The collection is expected to fetch more than $15 million. Here's a few pictures.
1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante Coupe -- considered the most prestigious car in the collection; the two-toned color is known as London Fog.
1931 Bugatti Type 55 "Jean Bugatti Roadster" -- one of the most important and memorable of Bugatti sports cars, it was the first of its kind ever built.
1928 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix -- the supercharged engine in this car set new standards for performance in the industry at the time it was built.
-- Dan Neil
Photos: Gooding & Co.
No, not the Duke of Wellington and not a pro wrestler. When GM unveiled its 2010 Chevrolet Camaro to the media on Monday, it made much of the car's purported fuel economy: 26 mpg on the highway with a 3.6-liter, 300-hp V6 and 23 mpg from its 400-plus-hp 6.2-liter V8. Informed speculation has it that the car may also be fitted with an even thriftier turbocharged four-cylinder. Ouch. Offf! Argh... A four cylinder?
This recalls another four-banger pony car, the 1982 Camaro fitted with the infamous Iron Duke engine, a 2.5-liter, 90-hp inline four bolted to a three-speed manual. Produced at the nadir of American performance, when fast-looking cars were made to suffer with wheezy, limp engines, the Camaro Iron Duke sauntered to 60 mph in an astonishing 20 seconds.
A car so bad it made my "Top 50 Worst Cars of All Time."
Now, obviously, engine technology has come a long way since 1982, and a turbocharged four-cylinder Camaro would likely beat the skinny jeans off a V8-powered Camaro of just a few years ago.
And yet, lest we forget...
By Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
 In the fullness of time, even the wisest among can realize he may have been hasty, too harsh, or otherwise insufficiently nuanced in his thinking. Not me, of course. Still, I've been driving across the country this week and I've seen some cars in their natural environment that I thought, Huh, maybe not so bad after all. Here's a list.
1) Current generation Jaguar XK -- Prettier than I thought. Nicely executed. Sufficiently uncommon to be something of an event when I see it. Plenty fast too. Overall, more interesting and compelling than a BMW 6-series.
Read on »
By Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
 What is the most radical, craziest, looniest suggestion yet to deal with America's gasoline crisis? Lower the national speed limit to 55 mph, an idea so subversive that the well-known socialist Richard Nixon imposed it on the U.S. in 1974, during the first oil shocks. The federal government's power to regulate speed limits, before and after, the purview of the states, was rescinded in 1995. But it's perfectly legal and plausible. So I say bring back the double nickels. I observe this because, recently, I drove a Saturn Astra with an instantaneous fuel economy readout. At 55 mph, the car achieved above 33 mpg. Above 75 mph it achieved around 23 mpg, a 29 percent reduction in fuel economy. Now, there are many considerations here: national productivity, the cost of transitioning to lower limits, the potential safety issues caused by a sudden rise is highway speed differentials -- between compliant drivers and the non-compliant.
However, the argument -- and it will certainly be mounted against any such movement for the 55 mph speed limit -- that is it somehow not effective in reducing fuel consumption, well, that's flat wrong. It absolutely would be effective, as long as it is effectively enforced.
Other radical ideas:
Tire-inflation tickets. Police and DMV could be empowered to check cars and trucks for proper tire inflation and write citations if they at less-than-optimal pressure.
Junker laws: Mexico recently stipulated that no car older than 10 years could be imported into the country -- the idea being to prevent Mexico from becoming a depository for America's crappy old cars. Well, why not here in the U.S.? Let's work to effectively phase out less efficient older cars. And before anyone raises the spectre of big guvmint taking away our "freedoms," rest assured you will search the Constitution in vain for a passage that provides the unfettered freedom to drive whatever hunk of junk you want, heedless of the greater good. Also, don't fail for the collector car canard. No one is saying you cant own a rare antique car; you simply can't license for the street. Eat that, SEMA!
Scrap current fuel economy standards and start over with a carbon gram/mile standard, modeled after Europe's. Carbon is a definitive indicator of efficiency since it it the result of combustion. Our current EPA/DOT regime is a failure. Re-write so that manufacturers, without obfuscation, achieve a fleetwide equivalent of under 150 g/km.
I'll be awaiting the pitchfork wielding rabble at my office...
Photo by Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times
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Wendell Scott is frequently called the Jackie Robinson of American stock car racing. In 1952, at Virginia’s old Richmond Speedway, he was able to talk his way past a NASCAR race steward and compete, thus crossing the sport’s color line.
