Automobiles

The Lincoln Continental with leather seats, the shiny gray Mercedes-Benz, the immaculate Lexus ES 300 and the impeccable Cadillac DeVille seem out of place in this San Fernando Valley junkyard, where wrecks of VW bugs and pickup trucks bare their smashed hoods like fangs at the pretentious newcomers. They may be luxury cars in name, but now they're just like the other clunkers surrendered for car-buying cash in the government's Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS. It might seem like a waste.

The drastic reinvention plan that General Motors Corp. unveiled Monday would leave the onetime world goliath a smaller, leaner company -- with its legendary Pontiac brand discontinued -- but puts the automaker on a collision course with bondholders that could still land it in Bankruptcy Court. GM proposed a painful downsizing that would eliminate 21,000 workers, 2,600 dealers, $44 billion in debt and four brands -- while making the U.S.

President Obama's threat to cut off government loans and bring on bankruptcy has given him unprecedented leverage to realize his vision of Detroit as the world leader in greener cars. Yet even if the president succeeds in getting domestic carmakers onto firmer financial ground, even if Detroit overcomes decades of consumer skepticism about the quality of its products and begins cranking out fuel-efficient cars that don't damage the environment -- even then the U.S. auto industry could die.

Love and marriage, for Kelly Respess, are better suited to a horseless carriage -- specifically, the antique Ford that delivered her to her wedding on a busy Central Park corner. It was a small but eye-catching salvo in the long-running war between animal rights activists such as Respess and her groom, Paul Kercheval, and the horse-drawn carriages that are as much a fixture in Central Park as rats are in subway tunnels. If the Kerchevals have their way, a fleet of electric cars made to resemble vintage automobiles will replace the hansom cabs -- retaining, the couple says, Central Park's old-world flavor while relieving the beasts of their burden and being kind to the environment.

Smoking a cigarette in a car makes the air inside 10 to 30 times more toxic than the air outdoors on one of Southern California's most polluted days. On Thursday, state officials put on a live demonstration of that health hazard to promote a new law that bans smoking in cars carrying minors. Neil Klepeis, a Stanford University environmental health scientist, attached sensors to the dashboard of a 1999 Toyota Corolla parked on the lot of the Hollywood United Methodist Church.

Hyundai Motor Co. launched its rear-wheel drive Genesis luxury sedan Tuesday, a car the South Korean company sees as its ticket into the ranks of the world's top-end automakers. Hyundai preceded the introduction by showing a promotion film featuring a decidedly James Bond-like actor driving the sleek, road-hugging vehicle. The screen then receded to reveal an orchestra and three South Korean tenors who gave a live performance of "Nessun dorma," an aria from Puccini's opera "Turandot."

Amid all the futuristic vehicles, "green cars" and much-hyped "crossovers" being unveiled this week at the Detroit auto show, one of the biggest game changers coming to the American automotive market may be a simple price sticker. How's this for innovation: $14,000 for a fully loaded, mid-size sport utility vehicle with a leather interior. The catch: It's made in China.

Figuring out the value of a collectible car these days can be more like an episode of "CSI" than "Antiques Roadshow." Sure, a vehicle's condition and relative rarity are keys to its price on the auction block, but potential buyers have to be as concerned with authenticity. Does it have only factory-installed parts? Has the engine been replaced? Do all of the identifying numbers match? Are the documents genuine?

The first rule of selling station wagons is don't talk about station wagons. That's the marketing plan behind the stealthy return of one of the auto world's most practical -- and most ridiculed -- designs. For years, the mere idea of a wagon has been poison in the car world, resurrecting queasy carpool memories of ungainly giants like the Ford Country Squire and the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser for a whole generation of drivers.

Suffering from lessee's remorse? In the past, making an early exit from a car lease was about as easy as getting out of jail free. Now a handful of websites are offering restless consumers a chance at freedom while also providing an option for those who want to lease but aren't happy with the terms their local dealerships are offering. Two leading lease transfer sites -- LeaseTrader.com and -- operate somewhat like the online car-selling services that have become common in recent years.