Autoline After Hours

Behold the future of Ford! Well, we're sure our guest won't giveaway ALL the secrets, but if you want to know where Ford design is headed, tune in this week for Joel Piaskowski who is Ford's Director of Exterior Design for the Americas. As you may remember, Joel recently came from Hyundai where he was responsible for the fresh design language of the Sonata and other models out on the roads now. We can't wait to find out what he's got in store for the blue oval's product line. We'll also take some time to remember David E. Davis Jr., a former AAH guest and an outspoken automotive legend who died earlier this week. Does this mark the end of the enthusiast magazines as we know them? John McElroy is also joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, as well as Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press.

Does your IRA stink? Are they going to tax your pension? Maybe it's time to invest in classic cars ... or maybe not. That's one of the questions we'll put to our special guest this week. Ken Lingenfelter is the owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering as well as the Lingenfelter Collection, an assortment of Corvettes, muscle cars and exotics. Of course, you can be sure we'll get into the latest news including Bob King's accusation that Alan Mulally's raise is "morally wrong" and what the near future holds for automakers in crisis-stricken Japan. John McElroy is also joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, as well as auto journalist Jim McCraw.

This week it's time for that big, important talk about journalistic ethics. One of tonight's guests is Scott Burgess, former auto critic for The Detroit News. Scott decided he needed to resign this week when the newspaper asked him to soften his review of the Chrysler 200 at the request of an advertiser. We'll be asking Scott what happened and whether he might go back to the paper now that they have reversed their changes. There are a lot of sticky issues when it comes to reviewing cars and covering the industry as a journalist, and we'll be discussing them all. Should reporters accept free trips from automakers to cover their vehicles? How do you keep your criticism unbiased when the subject is also an advertiser? John is also joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, as well as fellow journalist Sharon Terlep who covers the auto industry for The Wall Street Journal.

This week the After Hours crew has stars in their eyes as they welcome Hollywood Car Designer and TV Host Fireball Tim Lawrence to Skype in from Malibu, California. He’s conceptualized vehicles, spaceships and other props for some of Hollywood’s biggest movies and television shows. As always, we’ll be getting into the news of the week including Alan Mulally’s big payday, Renault’s ever-stranger tale of EV espionage and the exit of GM CFO Chris Liddell. John McElroy is joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, as well as our pal Todd Lassa from Motor Trend.

This week we bring in a guest all the way from Tacoma, Washington where what will be the largest car museum in the world is currently under construction. David Madeira is the President and CEO of LeMay – America’s Car Museum, and we’ll be asking him what the museum will be like when it’s finished, why they chose Tacoma of all places, and why he thinks it will become a mecca for gear heads everywhere. We’ll also get into the news of the week, including February’s fantastic sales numbers. John McElroy is joined in studio as always by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, as well as AAH first-timer Mark Gillies, a hardcore enthusiast, acerbic commentator and survivor of the buff book magazine wars. You’re not going to want to miss it.

This week Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, takes the AAH reins while John McElroy is out on the West Coast. Mr. Renzo has summoned up two of his favorite car guys for the occasion: Scott Burgess, the automotive critic and columnist for The Detroit News, and “the man who knew too much,” Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. Together they’ll be diving into the deep issues of the week. With oil prices skyrocketing as a result of Middle East unrest, which of the small vehicles — Cruze, Focus or Elantra — will be poised to take advantage of the situation? Meanwhile, BMW will be giving all its alt fuel vehicles the “i” moniker. Also, Honda chopped down the size of its board of directors from 20 to 12. Just what is going on at that company? Join us as we get into all this and much more.

This week we’ll use the magic of the Internet to bring a little bit of Oregonian wisdom into our studio. Said wisdom will come from none other than friend of the show, Art Spinella, the President of CNW Research, who will join us via Skype. We’ll be asking Art about the latest gems of automotive insight to be unearthed from his research. We’ll also be getting into the news of the week including the chance that Bob Lutz could be headed back to GM as well as Roger Penske’s smart car debacle. John McElroy is joined in studio by the often imitated, but never duplicated Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week we’re back with another episode of Autoline After Hours as well as one our audience’s all-time favorite guests. You asked for it, and now you’ve got it: the irrepressible, always knowledgeable Sandy Munro of Munro and Associates. He’ll tell us about a new material he’s working with called “covetic aluminum,” which could be a major manufacturing breakthrough. We’ll also see how much info we can get out of him about the top secret work he’s doing for Chrysler. But, don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of the week’s news to talk about as well. In particular, we’ve got a bone to pick with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who just won’t call unintended acceleration what it really is: driver error. Plus, we’ll get into the huge number of automotive Super Bowl commercials seen on Sunday’s game. Did they hit the mark? John McElroy is joined in studio by Gary Vasilash of Automotive Design and Production as well as the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week it’s “Home Sweet Home” as the After Hours crew returns to the studio for another outspoken edition of your favorite LIVE webcast. We’re joined by special guest John Waraniak, SEMA’s vice president of vehicle technology. We’ll be asking him if performance cars can survive the CAFE crunch. We’ll also get into the other news of the week including Ford’s plummeting profits, January sales figures and what Dan Akerson is up to at General Motors. John McElroy is joined in studio by Frank Markus of Motor Trend and Mr. Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

In the final installment of our mobile AAH series, we go straight into the belly of the beast: Washington D.C. And, for this special edition John McElroy has gathered a group of newcomers and old friends alike. He’s joined by USA Today Columnist Jayne O’Donnell, Kimatni Rawlins from Automotive Rhythms and our pal from the Wall Street Journal, Columnist Joe White. We’ll be asking this trio about what’s been going on in the automotive world and get their unique Beltway perspective.