FIRST PHOTO: "Lost" Deer Species Rediscovered in Trap

October 12, 2008—In the first ever photograph of a live Sumatran muntjac, the dog-size deer awaits release from a poacher's snare on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The photo, released Friday, is the first record of the "lost muntjac of Sumatra" in 80 years, says U.K. conservation group Flora & Fauna International.

An anti-poaching patrol had photographed the mountain deer at 6,400 feet (1,950 meters) in 2002.

It was only recently, however, that muntjac expert Robert Timmins recognized the rain forest deer in the photo as the first documented Sumatran muntjac since 1930.

The species closely resembles the red muntjac. But Timmins was able to identify the Sumatran in the photo because he had earlier rediscovered another "lost" specimen—a stuffed Sumatran muntjac collected in 1914—in London's Natural History Museum.

Until the British biologist's museum discovery, the second muntjac species had been largely forgotten by science for some 60 years.

"This deer might well be relatively common in Sumatra above a certain altitude," said Timmins, speaking from his base in Madison, Wisconsin. "I always suspected it still survived in the region."

Now been confirmed as a distinct species, the Sumatran muntjac has been placed on the global Red List of Threatened Species. (See photos of 2008 Red list animals.)

—James Owen in London

Photograph courtesy Flora & Fauna International

Get your Palin and Biden Halloween masks here. For free!

Print and cut out these nifty Sarah Palin and Joe Biden Halloween masks and wear them to your next costume party. Or just attach one to the coat rack and scare the beejezus out of your roommate.

get your masks here | digg story

Paragliding along the Aurlandfjords

A fjord is a long, narrow bay with steep sides, created in a glacially carved valley that is filled by rising sea water levels. The seeds of a fjord are laid when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley through abrasion of the surrounding bedrock by the sediment it carries. Many such valleys were formed during recent ice age when the sea was at a much lower level than it is today. At the end of the ice age, the climate warmed up again and glaciers retreated.

Photo taken at the Aurlandsfjord. Paragliding is a popular sport in Norway. In ridge soaring, pilots fly along the length of a ridge feature in the landscape, relying on the lift provided by the air which is forced up as it passes over the ridge. A tandem flight with professional is the perfect way to enjoy your first flying experience. We just arrived too late to go on a tandem flight. Remember also that bookings are essential.

Een fjord is een bepaald type inham in een bergachtige kust, gekenmerkt door steile wanden die door gletsjerwerking zijn uitgesleten. Kenmerkend bij fjorden zijn de bergachtige kusten met diepe insnijdingen en steile hellingen, die zich ook onder water voortzetten. De fjorden zijn vaak in U-vormige dalen, ontstaan door de uitschuring van landijs tijdens de ijstijden.
Paragliding wordt redelijk veel beoefend in Noorwegen. Het z.g. soaring is langs een berghelling vliegen en door de hellingstijgwind op dezelfde hoogte blijven, of zelfs hoger komen. Wij kwamen net te laat voor een tandem vlucht met professional. Vergeet ook niet van te voren te boeken!

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$900 MacBook Would Grow Apple's Addressable Market by 67%

By Katie Marsal

Shares of Apple are on the rise after Bernstein Research upgraded the Mac maker and said a new MacBook priced at $900 would broaden the company's potential notebook customer base by 50 percent in terms of both units and revenue.

"We are upgrading Apple to Outperform - while reducing our target price from $175 to $135," analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a research note to clients. "We believe that the stock is overly discounted, that Apple's short-term financials are likely to remain relatively healthy despite economic weakness, and that the company's longer term growth story remains intact."

Sacconaghi turned a particular focus to Mac growth, which he said is the "biggest wildcard among Apple investors today." He said that even if the global PC market remains flat in 2009 and Apple's share gains slow by 25 percent, the company would still see approximately 13 percent Mac growth.

"We feel confident that Apple will be a share gainer, as the company continues to expand distribution and purchase intention remains high," the analyst wrote. "Perhaps most importantly, we expect Apple to lower price points to address a much broader market at some point over the next year."

To this end, Sacconaghi pointed to a recent internal analysis which revealed that a MacBook priced at $900 would expand Apple's addressable notebook market by nearly 50 percent on a revenue basis, and 67 percent in terms of units. Should rumors of a $800 MacBook prove true, it would broaden the company's addressable market by 69 percent in terms of revenue, the study found.

While such moves would undoubtedly pressure gross margins, the analyst notes that the company already factored this into its forecasts when it guided gross margins down 150 basis points for fiscal 2009 even given the expected positive impact from iPhone sales.

"Apple's cost structure has high variable costs, creating less earnings downside risk than many investors may realize," he added. "Given its extensive use of contract manufacturing, Apple's COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) are nearly entirely variable, and operating expenses relative to gross margins are low; the upshot is that Apple's earnings per share suffers less to a given revenue reduction than many of its peers."

In the short term, Sacconaghi said predicting Apple's share price and direction may prove difficult given a number of factors, which could lead to fluctuations between $75 and $135. In particular, he said the company's upcoming revenue guidance for the December quarter could apply new pressure on shares. The Street is looking for sales just shy of $11 billion for the three-month period, but given the company's traditional practice of providing conservative estimates, management could wind up guiding $1 billion below expectations.

Also complicating matters is the difficult compare that exists between the December quarter of 2007 and the December quarter of 2008, namely expectations of a more than 20 percent fall-off in iPod revenues, a tougher consumer spending environment, and the absence of software revenue generated by last year's Leopard launch.

A photo showing the empty shell of what may be Apple's first sub-$1000 MacBook.

Looking a bit further down the line, the Bernstein analyst said he's confident Apple's secular growth story remains in tact. He expects Macs to continue to grow at least 9-10 percent annually, and said Apple TV holds the potential to "act as the centerpiece of the digital home, and could ultimately morph into a capable set-top box replacement."

In the meantime, he believes the company holds a " unique opportunity" to convert its iPod install base -- estimated at 120 to 130 million -- to iPhones.

Shares of Apple were trading up $8.40 (or 8.69 percent) to $105.20 amid a broader market upswing.

How to Keep Fruits and Veggies Fresh

By: SparkPeople (View Profile)

Eating more fruits and vegetables is a requirement for every healthy eater. But when you buy more fresh produce, do you end up throwing away more than you eat? You’re not alone.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away nearly 31.6 million tons of food every year. And a recent University of Arizona study found that the average family tosses 1.28 pounds of food a day, for a total of 470 pounds a year! That’s like throwing away $600!

Storing fresh produce is a little more complicated than you might think. If you want to prevent spoilage, certain foods shouldn’t be stored together at all, while others that we commonly keep in the fridge should actually be left on the countertop. To keep your produce optimally fresh (and cut down on food waste), use this handy guide.

Countertop Storage Tips
There’s nothing as inviting as a big bowl of crisp apples on the kitchen counter. To keep those apples crisp and all countertop-stored produce fresh, store them out of direct sunlight, either directly on the countertop, in an uncovered bowl, or inside a perforated plastic bag.

Refrigerator Storage Tips
For produce that is best stored in the refrigerator, remember the following guidelines.

• Keep produce in perforated plastic bags in the produce drawer of the refrigerator. (To perforate bags, punch holes in the bag with a sharp object, spacing them about as far apart as the holes you see in supermarket apple bags.)
• Keep fruits and vegetables separate, in different drawers, because ethylene can build up in the fridge, causing spoilage.
• When storing herbs (and interestingly, asparagus, too), snip off the ends, store upright in a glass of water (like flowers in a vase) and cover with a plastic bag.

What to Store Where: A Handy Chart
Use this color-coded key along with the chart below:

*More about Ethylene: Fruits and vegetables give off an odorless, harmless, and tasteless gas called ethylene after they’re picked. All fruits and vegetables produce it, but some foods produce it in greater quantities. When ethylene-producing foods are kept in close proximity with ethylene-sensitive foods, especially in a confined space (like a bag or drawer), the gas will speed up the ripening process of the other produce. Use this to your advantage if you want to speed up the ripening process of an unripe fruit, for example, by putting an apple in a bag with an unripe avocado. But if you want your already-ripe foods to last longer, remember to keep them away from ethylene-producing foods, as designated in the chart on the last page.

Food is expensive, and most people can’t afford to waste it. Print off this handy chart to keep in your kitchen so you can refer to it after every shopping trip. Then you’ll be able to follow-through with your good intentions to eat your 5 to 9 servings a day, instead of letting all of that healthy food go to waste.

By Liza Barnes, Health Educator and Stepfanie Romine, Staff Writer

DIY, 100 MPG Car is Back on the Road After 20 Year Hiatus

October 13th, 2008 by Benjamin Jones

Through the forums I learned about the interesting story of a two men who built a super-efficient car back in 1984 to combat high gas prices, only to pull it off the road again when prices became more manageable. The two, Craig Henderson and Bill Green, founded Avion in 1984 and then spent two years building a 100 MPG sports car, which they managed to eke 104 MPG out of in a South-North trip across the US in 1986.

After making the trip for less than $15 of diesel fuel, the two hoped to find a company interested in the design, but as the Bellingham Herald notes, that wasn’t the case:

Not only was the Avion painted in “arrest me for speeding red,” as Henderson likes to describe the color, but the lightweight car’s fuel efficiency couldn’t be beat.

He was wrong about the interest.

“Nobody really cared. Big deal. Fuel was cheap. There was a glut of fuel,” Henderson, 51, recalled earlier this week. “Fast forward to today. Things change, don’t they?”

This time around, the fuel crisis doesn’t look like it will have the same kind of wait-and-see solution it did in the past. No one thinks prices are going to drop again, and even bigger fears like global warming and dwindling petroleum supplies make the need for a long-lasting change even more salient.

That’s why Avion has jumped back into the game to compete for the Automotive X Prize and $10 million. Given that the goal of the competition is to break 100 MPG in a production-ready vehicle, I would say Avion is well on its way to taking top honors, though the competition is sure to be fierce.

As for the car itself, it’s designed as a sports car, combining sleek, fast looks with aerodynamics to turn heads both on the highway and at the pumps. It’s built around a Mercedes diesel engine, but a lot has changed in engines, especially diesels, since 1984, so I’m sure there are some changes to be made there. Best of all, it could be mass-produced for about $20,000.

Check out the Avion website for more on the car, and our own aerodynamics forum for some more DIY aeromods. I’d drive one, how about you?

MacBook Pro Pics Leaked

s, Rumors

This 11th hour "leak" is supposedly a fully assembled new MacBook Pro, expected to be announced today by Steve Jobs at the Apple event in Cupertino, California.

It tallies pretty much completely with the previous shots we've seen of the upper case, with the recessed, chiclet keyboard, magnetic latch and in/out ports arrayed along the left side (see picture below for the side view). In the picture we see a 15" MacBook Pro, and there will be a 13" MacBook, also in aluminum.

Apple's one button mouse obsession? Over. Look at the trackpad and you'll see no buttons at all. The pad is apparently made from glass, just like the screen of the iPhone, and can be pressed to get a physical click, similar to that of the new Blackberry Storm. The pad doesn't look like glass in the picture, but hey, John Gruber over at Daring Fireball, who reports on the trackpad, has seen the picture too -- and and he's not usually given to discussing rumors without clearly stating so.

The other internal oddity is that Apple is putting not one, but two NVIDIA graphics chips inside, both of which will be real, full on GPUs, with their own discrete RAM. These wil be the 9400M and the 9600M GT. If GPUs are the new MHz, this makes a lot of sense, although it is certainly a rather new way of shoehorning extra power into a computer.

Further: The 17" MacBook Pro may be on its way out. It'll get a speed and storage bump today, but when they're gone, they're gone. It might be a discontinuation of the line, or maybe Apple is just concentrating on making enough of the 15" model for now.

The speculation over an $800 MacBook is also, apparently, crap, although the Boy Genius says it has confirmed a $900 item in the lineup. Gruber thinks that the regular, low-end white MacBook, will remain on sale, dropped from its current $1100 to $1000. The new metal MacBook will also reportedly gain a proper GPU and lose its FireWire port.

The prices, cribbed from Daring Fireball:

MacBook Pro

$1099: 2.1 GHz, white, 1 GB memory, 120 GB disk

$1299: 2.4 GHz, white, 2 GB memory, 160 GB disk

$1499: 2.4 GHz, black, 2 GB memory, 250 GB disk

MacBook

$1299: 2.0 GHz, 2 GB memory, 160 GB disk

$1499: 2.4 GHz, 2 GB memory, 250 GB disk

The real test of these pictures, though, is whether or not they make the current models look immediately dated. The answer is a big "yes". Jesus Diaz over at Gizmodo has mocked up a picture based on these new shots and it is gorgeous. That black (still too-big) bezel, the squared-off (and rather brick-like) base and the optically thin curved lid all make me want one. Anybody want to buy a slightly used, 2.4GHz MacBook Pro?

Contains Spoilers [★]

Mr. Blurrycam reveals the updated MacBook Pro [Engadget]

How Spam is Improving AI

Cats v. Dogs: A project called Asirra uses photographs of cats and dogs to distinguish between humans and computers. Normally, it is a difficult task for computers, but a new algorithm can correctly classify the images 87 percent of the time. Credit: Microsoft

Those pesky visual puzzles that have to be completed each time you sign up for a Web mail account or post a comment to a blog are under attack. It's not just from spam-spewing computers or hackers, though; it's also from researchers who are using anti-spam puzzles to develop smarter, more humanlike algorithms.

The most common type of puzzle (a series of distorted letters and numbers) is increasingly being cracked by smarter AI software. And a computer scientist has now developed an algorithm that can defeat even the latest photograph-based tests.

Known as CAPTCHAs (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), these puzzles were developed in the late '90s as a way to separate real users from machines that create e-mail accounts to send out spam or log in to message boards to post ad links. The Turing Test, named after mathematician Alan Turing, involves measuring intelligence by having a computer try to impersonate a real person.

Textual CAPTCHAs are a good way to tell humans and spam-bots apart, because distorted letters and numbers can easily be read by real people (most of the time) but are fiendishly difficult for computers to decipher. However, computer scientists have long seen CAPTCHAs as an interesting AI challenge. Designers of textual CAPTCHAs have gradually introduced more distortion to prevent machines from solving them. But they have to balance security against usability: as distortion increases, even real human beings begin to find CAPTCHAs difficult to decipher.

Earlier this year, Jeff Yan, a researcher at the University of Newcastle, U.K., revealed a program capable of completing the textual CAPTCHAs used to protect Microsoft's Hotmail, MSN, and Windows Live services with a success rate of 60 percent. This might not sound like much, but it's significant, since a computer can try its attack thousands of times each minute. Yan withheld the paper until Microsoft had a chance to tweak its CAPTCHAs so that they were more difficult to crack. But at the ACM Computer and Communication Security Conference in Alexandria, VA, later this month, Yan will present details of another program that he says can crack even more widely used textual CAPTCHAs.

So an alternative is to ask users to solve different kinds of puzzles. But another paper to be presented at the same conference describes an algorithm that could spell trouble for even newer CAPTCHAs.

Philippe Golle of the Palo Alto Research Center has developed a program called Asirra, developed by Microsoft, that can correctly pass an image-based CAPTCHA. Asirra asks users to correctly classify images of either cats or dogs using a database of three million images provided by animal-rescue organizations. This task should be even harder for computers than recognizing squiggly letters, but Golle's program can correctly identify the cats or dogs shown by Asirra 87 percent of the time.

Golle trained his program using 8,000 images collected from the same website. Through trial and error, his software gradually learned to tell cats and dogs apart, based on a statistical analysis of color and texture in each photo. The pink of the dogs' tongues and the green of the cats' eyes provided strong clues, Golle says, but it is only by studying color and texture information from so many images that his program could attack the problem. "Machine learning is very good at aggregating information," Golle says.

However, although each individual picture was recognized 87 percent of the time, the full CAPTCHA test requires 12 pictures to be identified simultaneously, so the attack actually works only 10.3 percent of the time.

Golle says that an easy countermeasure would be for Asirra to present more pictures, which would further drive down the success rate of the attack. Microsoft did not respond to our requests for comment.

Despite all this progress, it's unclear whether or not real spammers are currently using AI attacks against real CAPTCHAs. Websense Security Labs, in San Diego, has released reports about spammers cracking CAPTCHAs, but often this involves simply having low-paid workers solve CAPTCHAs manually.

Luis von Ahn, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, who helped coin the term CAPTCHA, says that it's not clear that any common CAPTCHAs have been broken by machine attack in the real world. "I don't know of anybody who's thinking of getting rid of the CAPTCHA because it doesn't work," he says.

However, von Ahn notes that using humans comes at a cost. Even if workers are paid just $3 per 1,000 CAPTCHAs, that is expensive, he says, especially since most of the hacked Web mail accounts will be shut down soon after they begin to send out spam. So a truly automated attack would reduce the cost to spammers and greatly increase the number of successful attacks they could afford, he says.

But until computers start to get much smarter, CAPTCHA creators will always be able to implement a few simple tweaks to make a CAPTCHA much harder. "I do think there will be a day when, essentially, CAPTCHAs are going to be useless," von Ahn says. "But I don't think it's this year, or next."

A Helmet Patch to Measure Blasts

Blast strip: The Palo Alto Research Center is using ink-jet printing technology to develop a disposable patch that can be worn on a soldier’s helmet for seven days to measure his or her exposure to blasts, such as those caused by improvised explosive devices. The sensor tape (illustrated above) will have electronics, memory, and sensors that are printed on a thin, flexible plastic substrate. It will cost less than a dollar. Credit: Palo Alto Research Center

Since the start of the war in Iraq, soldiers have returned home at an alarming rate with a highly complex battlefield injury: traumatic brain injury (TBI). The injury, which is frequently caused by the blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) or rocket-propelled grenade, can be difficult to detect and diagnose. The difficulty is made worse because the number and severity of the blasts to which a soldier has been exposed are often unknown.

In an effort to understand brain injuries, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $5 million, three-year contract to the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) to develop a strip of plastic that can be "taped" onto a soldier's helmet to measure his or her exposure to explosions. The tape, which will cost less than a dollar per strip, is a flexible plastic substrate that will contain printed electronics, analog memory, and sensors. It will record seven days' worth of information, which will then be transferred to a soldier's medical record. The disposable tape will be replaced.

IEDs emit shock waves--waves of air pressure--that travel at around a thousand feet per second, or close to the speed of sound. Such an explosion can cause severe brain damage, which often goes undiagnosed until weeks after a soldier's return home. "TBI is going to be the signature injury of the war, but to understand it, we need the data," says Kevin "Kit" Parker, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard University and a U.S. Army Reserve captain who served in southern Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003.

Last year, the U.S. Army awarded a million-dollar contract to Simbex, of Lebanon, NH, to build sensor-studded helmets, but the technology is cost prohibitive and has not made it to the battlefield.

The sensor tape being developed by PARC will be fabricated using its ink-jet printing technology, a patterning technique developed for large-area electronics, such as flexible, flat-panel displays, RFID tags, solar cells, and electronic paper. To print the components--electronics, memory, and sensors--on the tape, the ink-jet printer will deposit solution-processed materials, including organic semiconductors, polymer dielectrics, and metal nanoparticles, on a plastic substrate.

The tape will have an area no greater than a standard four-by-four-inch medical pad, with a minimum of a one-inch bend radius, making it small and lightweight. The suite of sensors on the tape will include accelerometers; pressure, acoustic, and light sensors; and a thermometer. "One reason for measuring all these [parameters] is that no one is certain which one, or which combination, will best act as a proxy for the harmful brain injury that results from accumulated blast exposure," says Jennifer Ricklin, DARPA program manager for the Sensor Tape Program.

One "alarming issue" is that "soldiers are sustaining repeated exposures [to blast events] when they may not be recovered from the first one," says Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon at Emerson Hospital, and a professor of neurosurgery at Boston University School of Medicine. "This can lead to second impact syndrome, which is fraught with a 50 percent mortality rate, or permanent post concussion syndrome, which is basically persistent concussion symptoms." ("Concussion" is the medical term for mild traumatic brain injury, and symptoms can include headaches, sleep problems, depression, and memory and concentration difficulty.)

Data from the sensor tape will be extracted and stored with the soldier's medical records using a device (not yet built) that makes it easy for a soldier's full blast history to be displayed and analyzed. "Cumulated blast exposure should be recorded such that if these exceed a prescribed level, the patient could be flagged for appropriate follow-up evaluation," says Ricklin. She expects to have 25 prototypes to test the components by spring 2009, and 1,000 prototypes for field testing by 2010.

The DARPA program, which is in its initial stages, is focused on the interaction between IEDs and the neurological system, to determine what is most likely to cause neurological injury. "The sensor tape is an important and badly needed technology to get at that data," says Parker.

Nano Worms to Kill Tumors

Wriggling Away From Cancer: (Blow it Up!) Medi-Mation

“Cancer treatments have hit a wall,” says chemist Michael J. Sailor of the University of California at San Diego. Today’s chemotherapy drugs leave the body too quickly, and both chemo and radiation kill healthy cells indiscriminately, he explains. So he has developed “nanoworms,” strings of iron-oxide particles that could swim through your blood to kill nascent cancerous tumors—and nothing else.

This past spring, Sailor published his preliminary results from rodent studies showing that the worms can congregate in tumors, a critical first step to delivering medication directly to cancerous cells. One key to the worms’ success is their shape. The liver or other immune cells swallow up single nanoparticles in minutes, well before they can accumulate in a tumor. But previous studies have shown that longer molecules, like the worms and viruses, can evade these defense mechanisms for up to 24 hours. This gives the worms, which can be loaded with chemotherapy drugs and coated with molecules that bind only to cancerous cells, enough time to circulate throughout the body and hunt tumors. Once the worms latch onto a tumor, they would release their payload. Meanwhile, the body would naturally excrete any unbound iron oxide.

The first use in humans, Sailor says, could be for tumor detection. It turns out that worm-covered tumors show up more vividly on MRI scans, making it possible to catch tumors at an earlier stage. Sailor plans to recruit patients and begin clinical trials by 2010. Below, a look at how drug-filled worms could wipe cancer from your body.

A View to Kill: Medi-Mation

STEP 1: Doctors inject train-like nanoworms into a vein, and the worms circulate through the body.

STEP 2: Coated with tumor-specific proteins, the worms home in on the cancer. Their elongated shape allows
the proteins to latch onto the tumor at multiple points.

STEP 3: Doctors perform an MRI on the patient. The iron-oxide worms react strongly to the magnetic scanner, producing brighter images of young tumors than traditional scanning techniques do.

STEP 4: The medication can be released using enzymes, heat or a time-release mechanism.

HOLY CRAP - Britney Spears New Video -- Womanizer

Never in a million years did I think Britney could look this hot again. Naked chicks are just so much better than unnaked chicks. All you bitches with clothes on, what is your problem. What is your deal. Why you gotta be all stuck-up?
words by Durden http://www.wwtdd.com

The Mouse that Runs Anywhere

Get It: Microsoft Explorer Mouse $100: Greg Neumaier

THE TECH
To calculate their position, most mice use a red LED or a laser to light up a surface, take thousands of pictures per second of the shadows cast by the surface’s microscopic bumps, and then analyze the differences between shots. But that doesn’t work if there are no bumps, as on glossy tables, or if a jagged surface, like carpet, traps narrow light beams between fibers. So Microsoft’s Explorer moves the camera sensor forward to capture the light reflected by any surface. In addition, the Explorer uses a blue LED, evened out with a diffuser. Shining wider than a laser beam and more uniformly than a red LED, it allows the camera to capture clearer, larger images, which should lead to better accuracy no matter what surface the mouse is on.

THE TEST
I swiped the Explorer across just about every flat object in my home, plus some that weren’t so flat, including a red cut-glass plate, a nubby crocheted blanket and my none-too-thrilled cat.

THE RESULTS
The Explorer did better than promised. It worked not only on plush rugs and angry pets, but also on clear glass, one of the two surfaces Microsoft says it can’t handle. (It even tracked sometimes on the other near-impossible surface, a mirror.)

Santander to buy Sovereign for $1.9 Billion

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Spanish bank Banco Santander, S.A. will acquire Sovereign Bancorp in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at about $1.9 billion, the companies announced Monday.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sovereign shareholders will receive 0.2924 Banco Santander American Depository Shares (ADSs) for every 1 share of Sovereign common stock they own.

Based on the closing stock price for Santander ADSs on Friday, the transaction is valued at approximately $1.9 billion, or $3.81 per share.

Santander, the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization, currently owns 24% of Sovereign's ordinary outstanding shares.

"Given the unprecedented uncertainty in the current market environment and the challenges facing Sovereign, we believe this is the right transaction at the right time for Sovereign," said Ralph Whitworth, Chairman of the Capital and Finance Committee of Sovereign's Board of Directors.

The Wyomissing, Pa.-based Sovereign is grappling with increasing loan losses. Its second-quarter net chargeoff rate more than tripled from levels a year prior.

But the deal is subject to necessary bank regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Spain and approval by both companies' shareholders.

Sovereign's parent company tapped former Chittenden Corporation CEO Paul A. Perrault to replace Joseph P. Campanelli, effective Jan 3. CFO Kirk Walters is serving in the interim.

Campanelli served as the bank's president and CEO, following the 2006 resignation announcement of his predecessor, Jay S. Sidhu.

Sovereign Bancorp is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, with 750 branches and about 12,000 employees, with a major presence in the Northeast

New 7 Series- The Game Changer

The last time BMW dropped a new 7-series on us, we stood there stunned and unsure of what to make of the strange new shape before us. Almost universally loathed by armchair critics who could no doubt never afford one, the fourth-generation 7 that made its debut in 2001 would prove to be the most successful version to date. Furthermore, competitors have imitated its most controversial design elements, particularly the so-called "Bangle Bustle" trunkline. Now, seven years later, BMW is sending us an entirely new 7, but this time they've gone without the shock and awe campaign. Instead, the 2009 7-series builds on the foundation its predecessor laid down with more graceful design details and with even more cutting-edge technology.

So much of the new 7's personality rests upon its looks that we simply must discuss styling first, especially the exterior. The new 7-series is immediately recognizable not only as a BMW, but also as a 7, thanks in large part to the game-changing styling of the last generation, from which it inherited its dominant stature. The shape and proportions shout "flagship" from every angle, guaranteeing that no one will confuse it for a mere 5-series. Its superior presence is characterized by elements like the near-vertical nose, with massive grilles that plunge deep into the front bumper. The long, horizontal hood projects a sense of power, as it becomes the tall shoulders of the greenhouse.

Modernist architect Mies van der Rohe famously stated that "God is in the details," and the new 7-series illustrates that perfectly. Much of its design brilliance is simply lost in two dimensions; it must be seen in the flesh, even touched, to get a full sense of designer Karim Antoine Habib's vision. There's the interaction of light and shadow on the sculpted door panels, whose door-handle recesses are now seamlessly stamped into the metal. There's the "shadowline" crease in the roof's sheetmetal that parallels the classic BMW window line, subtly enhancing the Hofmeister kink. The headlights are now more expressive; a clever glowing "eyebrow" not only acts as a daytime running lamp, but also covers the tops of the headlamps just enough to give the car's face an intense, focused expression.

The interior receives the same kind of attention. See the doors for example: Rather than conventionally shaped door pulls mounted onto panels trimmed in metal or wood, the wood and metal elements are integrated into the pulls themselves. This design not only forces occupants to touch the metal and wood and leather, the sheer heft of the mechanism also delivers the sensation of closing something more substantial, almost vault-like. The material selection itself reflects the clean, modern design of the car, with unconventional choices like matte-finish black wood. The use of real aluminum in conjunction with the wood is a subtle reminder of the car's extensive use of the lightweight alloy in the bodywork, drawing together elements of both the interior and the exterior. Whether you like the design of the new 7-series or not, it should be clear that great thought has gone into the little things.

If your preference is for science instead of art, witness the engineering technology that's been packed into the new model. Aluminum is the material of choice for all four doors; the front fenders, hood, and roof; as well as numerous mechanical structures like the strut housings and rear axle assembly. The net effect is 120 pounds saved versus conventional materials, giving the new car an upper hand in handling dynamics as well as efficiency. Other clever measures include active aerodynamics, with flaps that close behind the grilles to improve airflow when maximum engine cooling is not a concern; a power steering pump that is active only when steering input is demanded; and an active alternator that only generates power on deceleration or braking to reduce engine drag.

When the newest 7 launches Stateside later this year, the only offerings will be the 750i and the five-and-a-half-inch longer 750Li. Power comes not from a 5.0-liter engine, but rather from the 4.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 that first made its debut in the X6. This engine places a pair of turbochargers above the block, in between the two cylinder banks; the intake and exhaust flow are reversed, allowing the intake air to enter from the cooler part of the engine, which in turn keeps the heat of the turbos up high. Output is 400 horsepower between 5500 and 6400 rpm, with a more impressive peak torque figure of 450 lb-ft from 1750 to 4500 rpm. The only drivetrain configuration is a six-speed manumatic transmission feeding the rear wheels. BMW has once again chosen to forgo the added weight and expense of all-wheel-drive and assures us that the new 7-series will be a class leader in fuel efficiency as a result of this combination.

This chassis features BMW's first use of a double-wishbone front suspension on a sedan. Comprised largely of aluminum components, the new suspension setup is intended give this large car the kind of handling long associated with BMWs. The rear suspension is an evolution of the previous generation's multi-link Integral V design. The bigger news is the availability of what BMW calls Integral Active Steering; everyone else calls it active four-wheel steering. Like other 4WS systems, the 7-series system directs the rear wheels in the opposite direction of the fronts at low speeds to enhance maneuverability for parking, and steers them in the same direction at high speeds for more efficient lane changes.

The new 7 is chock full of other electronic driving enhancements as well: Integrated Chassis Management, which modifies throttle response, shifting characteristics, steering response, stability-control response, and damping control based on the driver's selection of either sport or normal modes; Active Cruise Control; front side-view cameras to aid at intersections; active headlights that move not only left and right, but also follow the contours of the road to raise and lower the beams accordingly; and night-vision technology that is able to detect people and raise a warning.

When the last generation 7-series came out, it was the first model to use BMW's iDrive multi-function interface. Though often criticized for being user-unfriendly, the system has evolved since its release. Now, appropriately, the newest 7 will be the first to use an entirely new iDrive controller, which now (finally) features a selection of direct-jump buttons for the most popular functions, as well as a "back" button and a separate one for dropdown menus. The dropdowns themselves are also easier to navigate, making it simple to do such tasks as cancel route guidance.

The nav system is greatly improved, and now includes real 3-D map views showing terrain features, as well as other data thanks to GoogleMaps. You can even access the Internet thanks to BMW's ConncetedDrive system. Making all of this possible is a new 10.2-inch high-resolution display screen.

Our initial drive of the new 7 found us pouncing through the countryside of the former East Germany, where it's still quite common to pass Trabants in traffic. Thanks to reunification, the roads are now the equal of those anywhere else in Germany, and the early-autumn scenery offered an idyllic backdrop for spirited driving. Thankfully, our debutante was up to the task, living up to the aspirations laid out before us in the previous evening's briefing.

In and around the old city of Dresden, the big sedan glides across cobbled streets with the grace and composure of a world-class figure skater. Every input is met with silent, effortless response. When the road opens up, the 7 feels lighter and more agile than its bulk would suggest, carving country roads with ease. Only when the road narrows in the way that only old European roads seem to does the car feel as wide as it actually is.

Nevertheless, the 7 still feels every bit the driver's car, delivering a tactile driving experience that is tough to trump in this class of sedan. The active steering sends enough feedback to the driver to make him a part of the system, with a proper heft to the wheel at every speed. Brakes are legendary BMW — a firm pedal gives excellent feedback and can always be counted on to do the job.

Power from the twin-turbo V-8 is lively and the transmission is quite responsive to changes in throttle position. At times, though, the car feels like it could easily absorb another 100 or so horses. If not for the mountainous torque curve afforded by boost, the 400 horsepower this engine produces might not seem enough, at least for the Autobahn. And really, this is where the largest BMW is most at home, cruising the open road at triple-digit speeds for hours on end (or at least until the tank runs dry) while coddling its occupants.

From the driver's perspective, the new cockpit is improved over the previous model. BMW has thoughtfully reoriented the center stack toward the driver for a friendlier, more conventional layout, and has placed the shifter back onto the center console. The iDrive controller sits quite naturally at the driver's right wrist and the new jump buttons are very easy to find. The seats, as usual, are an excellent place to sit for any length of time.

Pricing won't be announced until next month's L.A. auto show, but we're expecting BMW's customary MSRP bump of a few percentage points. The next few months will be an interesting time for peddlers of luxury goods, but for those who still have the means to indulge, the new 7-series is certainly an attractive option, combining progressive design with advanced technology.

How to Rally in Style

Imagine the look on the faces of all the other racers. You, in that Rolls, on the Dakar Rally across South America."

Chilean Sebastian Etoheverry is grinning like a kid who has lit off a firecracker. He is responsible for bringing the world's most infamous and challenging car race, the Dakar, across the Atlantic, from its usual home in the Sahara to its new home in South America.

In January, the Dakar will traverse Latin America from Buenos Aires to the Pacific and back, taking in the Andes twice and also the world's driest desert, the Atacama. It's a monster.

Quite by chance, before the Dakar route was announced, I came up with an almost identical route for an expedition (including a large chunk on dirt desert roads through the Atacama) across Argentina and Chile — in a Rolls-Royce Phantom. That is why Sebastian, playing me (an Englishman) off against the French, thinks the idea of bringing the Phantom back to Chile in January for the Dakar is such a hoot. "The idea of such a British car in a French race is fantastic."

The idea is not so far-fetched. In 1981, when the Dakar was at its most raw and was little more than a Christmastime jaunt to the sun for madcap Europeans, a team entered a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in the African adventure. Sponsored by an aftershave company, the Rolls made it all the way to Dakar but not in time to be classified.

It took 2000 hours to prepare the Silver Shadow for the Dakar. Our Phantom came right out of the container from the factory at Goodwood. Bone stock and equipped even with a fridge. Hardly competition spec.

The inspiration for our drive was the early competition career of arguably the world's best ever racing driver, Juan Manuel Fangio. The Argentinean grand prix racer started his career in long distance races from Buenos Aires to Lima. Paraguay and Peru are not places to take anything but an armoured version of the Phantom.

Equally harsh, but sporting fewer bandits, is the route we picked; west from Buenos Aires, across the top of Patagonia, over the Andes into Chile. The return leg veered north through the Atacama (no Dakar would be right without serious sand), back over the Andes and across the pampas to the Argentinean capital. 6200 miles in two weeks.

The Sahara gave the Dakar its reputation and stole many lives. Twenty-two-hour days for three weeks, relentless excavating of cars and bikes from dunes high as an office block, and less predictable dangers like minefields created an aura of adventure like no other car race.

"The Dakar in South America will be very different," Sebastian tells me. "There will not be 600 miles of sand in one day like in Mauritania but temperatures could reach 45 degrees Celsius. It will be hard, but in a different way than Africa. Less soft sand and more hard desert tracks."

In Africa, the Dakar bisected areas inhabited only by Tuareg nomads. Spectators were so sparse they could be counted by name not numbers. In Chile, the rally is expected to lure tens of thousands of fans to the Atacama.

Chile will be the most spectacular and most demanding section of the rally. Come January, they'll be racing at over 13,000 feet, in a desert that can get less than a thumb-width of rain a decade.

"Water is the most valuable thing in our lives out here in the Atacama," says a llama herder living outside the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama. "Make sure you have water with you when you are in the desert."

No wonder NASA used the Atacama to simulate Moon and Mars missions. Unlike the Sahara, which has a softness and a Beau Geste romanticism, the Atacama has a rugged, deadly aura. Its beauty is in its life-threatening extremes. It's why the Dakar is staging its toughest stages in the Atacama and why we have brought the Rolls here.

A week ago the Phantom was tangoing down the boulevards of Buenos Aires with the grace and poise of Eva Peron. Now the flying lady atop the famous grille is grubby and the flanks of the handmade limo are coated in desert sand. It should look wrong but somehow a battle-worn Phantom looks very, very right. And it handles the slippery undulating tracks better than you'd imagine.

The Rolls hugs the terrain like a cruise missile. Bumps, holes, and corrugations disappear under the giant 21-inch Goodyears and, with the traction control off, the Phantom balances perfectly in slight opposite lock though bends coated in slippery gravel. All that's missing is some kind of throaty growl from the V-12 engine. But that would be like asking a lady to burp.

The incongruity of the Phantom on these dirt highways is what makes this trip so special. You rarely see one of these cars on Park Avenue or Park Lane, let alone in the adobe-walled main street of San Pedro de Atacama. Cheers go up and one girl even wolf-whistles as we edge through the narrow streets in search of the town's one elusive gas station.

San Pedro will be full of rally machines in January as the Dakar swings through the region. Hotels like the Tierra Atacama are booked solid for the duration. The impact the event will have on the economy bodes well. The reaction to our car shows that Chileans appreciate an evocative automobile.

Whether the police show as little lenience to the competitors as they do to us remains to be seen. Pulled over for the third time in Chile, the highway patrol makes it clear that our progress has been well charted through the country.

"This is not the first time you have been stopped," says the officer. It's hard to adhere to a 62=mph limit in a car comfortable at almost three times that speed and on some of the smoothest, most open and uncongested roads on the planet.

Their warning is reinforced by an unhealthy series of roadside decorations. Shrines, in fact. Memorials to those for whom driving in Chile spelled the end.

"Many of the crashes happen when people fall asleep behind the wheel," says our guide, Alfonso. The trouble is, 62 mph is the most sophorific speed at which you can drive. It's not an excuse the police like to hear, but we do escape with our licenses intact.

It took two weeks to cover the 6200 miles from Buenos Aires to the Pacific and back again. Neither car nor its drivers broke a sweat. The Phantom did not have even a puncture to show for crossing Latin America, twice. All the more reason that, come January, we should bring it back and show the French how to rally in style.

US Buys in- Putting Billions of Taxpayer's Money into the business- an experiment for Social Security?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The federal government on Tuesday announced an extraordinary and historic investment in the nation's banks - the biggest bet ever made with taxpayer dollars on the U.S. financial system.

As a start, the Treasury will pump $250 billion into financial institutions. Nine of the nation's largest banks have already agreed to take the capital and in return will give preferred shares to taxpayers and limit on executive pay. It is widely expected that half of the $250 billion will go to those nine banks.

"This is an essential short-term measure to assure the viability of American's banking system," Bush said in comments outside the White House. "These measures are not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it."

In addition, the president made a formal request for an additional $100 billion to help out financial institutions. Congress authorized up to $700 billion as part of the financial system bailout enacted on Oct. 3, but it required the president to certify the need for any amount above the initial $250 billion.

The government can use the additional $100 billion to buy troubled assets held by firms or to make additional capital infusions into banks.

The president also announced insurance on all deposits in non-interest bearing bank accounts, a move that should calm businesses worried because their payroll and checking accounts exceed the limits backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. And the government will also back most new bank debt - a change designed to spur more lending between banks.

The package represents the government's most extensive attempt yet to unfreeze frozen credit markets. The aim is to give banks the confidence to make loans to one another and their customers and help provide the economy the source of funds it needs to operate.

The move was something that the Bush administration and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson resisted even as the crisis in the nation's financial system mounted over the last month.

"Government owning a stake in any private U.S. company is objectionable to most Americans - me included," Paulson said. "Yet the alternative of leaving businesses and consumers without access to financing is totally unacceptable."

The previously announced plan to simply buy the bad mortgage debts held by major banks and Wall Street firms had done little to assure investors or get financial institutions providing the loans necessary to keep the U.S. economy functioning.

U.S. stocks had their worst week in history last week, and most measures showed lending by financial institutions remained frozen despite moves by the Federal Reserve to pump potentially trillions of new dollars into the system.

So over the weekend, the administration decided to use the authority under the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package passed earlier this month to make the direct investment. The moves followed a similar plan announced last week in Great Britain. European governments had been moving the same way.

Bush acknowledged that the United States was following steps already taken in Europe. He said that is the best way to address the concerns of U.S. consumers and business leaders.

"I recognize that the action leaders are taking here in Washington and European capitals are distant from those concerns, but they are designed to benefit the American people by stabilizing the overall financial system and helping the economy recover," he said.

The reports of the broad details of the plan had sparked the biggest jump in stocks in history on Monday, and that rally continued in Asian and European markets early Tuesday. U.S. stocks were also sharply higher in early trading following the announcement.

After Bush's announcement, Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair appeared together to endorse the plan.

"Today, there is a lack of confidence in our financial system - a lack of confidence that must be conquered because it poses an enormous threat to our economy," Paulson said. "Investors are unwilling to lend to banks, and healthy banks are unwilling to lend to each other and to consumers and businesses."

Paulson stressed that some of the banks accepting government investment are healthy, but that the infusion of capital will allow them to increase their lending.

For his part, Bernanke said these steps were notable because the government is not waiting for banks to become insolvent before they act.

"Waiting too long to act has usually led to much greater direct costs of the intervention itself and, more importantly, magnified the painful effects of financial turmoil on households and businesses," Bernanke said in prepared remarks.

And Bernanke cautioned that while he was confident the plan is the best course to follow to get the economy functioning again, it does not automatically end the troubles facing the economy.

"I am not suggesting the way forward will be easy," Bernanke said.

Bair said that the United Steps had to follow steps taken in Europe or else they would have been on an uneven playing field. And regulators' work is not done, she added.

"All of us are prepared to do whatever it takes to fix whatever problems arise and to work with Wall Street and Main Street to unclog the financial system," said Bair.

Making an R8 Angrier

The Audi R8 provides some of the finest raw material ever for a German tuner company to show off what its technicians really want to do for a living, so it's no surprise that the 2009 Audi R8 Abt Sportsline is destined to go down as one of the shining moments in premium tweaks from this German aftermarket operation. Sadly, we can't look forward to driving the supercharged Audi R8 Abt Sportsline in the U.S., as even the cosmetic and suspension tricks are hard to come by here.

Although the 2009 Audi R8 MTM Supercharged beat everyone to the punch with its high-strung, 553-horsepower interpretation of the midengine Audi, the supercharged 523-hp 2009 Audi R8 Sportsline is a sports car that you can drive every day.

Great Car Begging for More Power
As luck would have it, this journey to Kempten, Germany, to drive the Abt-modified R8 was immediately preceded by a trip to Wettstetten to see our friends at MTM. The supercharged MTM R8 produces 553 hp and 427 pound-feet of torque, while the supercharged Abt R8 delivers 523 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque.

On the test track, this means that both the MTM- and Abt-modified R8s accelerate to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, hit 124 mph in just over 12 seconds and reach their maximum speed at 197 mph. This compares with the standard R8 with its 414-hp 4.2-liter V8, which reaches 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and then attains a top speed of 187 mph.

When asked about the R8, MTM development boss Michael Weber tells us, "It's a great car, but it just needs more power and torque. I mean, 414 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque just isn't enough. The capabilities of the chassis go way beyond that." (It should be noted that MTM is currently exploring the construction of an R8 that would deliver 1,000 horses for a Swedish customer.)

Meanwhile over at Abt Sportsline, technical leader Andreas Zeilbeck echoes Weber, telling us, "Audi has done such a good job on the chassis that we are somewhat free to explore the limits. We chose a supercharger because of the more immediate throttle response and sustained torque delivery. We could readily go beyond the 523 hp."

Think of the fun coming our way when the forthcoming R8 V10 hits the market next year. Abt, which fields an Audi in Germany's DTM racing series, is known to be already hammering away at Audi's future GT3-class racecar, which features the very same V10.

Supercharged Throttle Thrills
At the heart of the 2009 Audi R8 Abt Sportsline is the twin-screw supercharger strapped on top of the V8 intakes like the creepy, tentacled zygote on John Hurt's face in Alien. Abt acquires its superchargers from Opcon-Lysholm in Sweden, just as MTM does for its Audi V8 engine and Koenigsegg and Ford have done for the Ford V8. Abt specifies maximum boost at a seemingly modest 7.3 psi.

For this Phase I version of the R8, Abt did not yet want to get into the complexities of changing engine parts, not even with new pistons to lower the 12.5:1 compression ratio. That's why the boost is so low. "In Germany," engineer Zeilbeck says, "When you start reconfiguring engine architecture, it becomes quite expensive to re-homologate the changes with TÜV certification." The objectives have been to pump up power and torque within the safe limits of the 4.2-liter V8 and within the stress limits of the standard six-speed manual transmission.

On the autobahn, we explored the car's cruising habits from a 50-mph speed limit through construction zones all the way up to 185 mph in those sections of the highway where there was no limit.

While initial throttle kick from lower revs is very good, the real excitement happens between 3,000 and 6,000 revs as power climbs faster to meet the already high torque output. When our back is pressed hard into the soft seat leather for more than 5 seconds and the exhaust is echoing over the countryside, we know we're getting into awesomeness territory.

We noticed a slight hesitation on the throttle while wanting to blip it fast for downshifts as we thundered toward various traffic circles. Zeilbeck answers our criticism by saying, "The standard car delivers around 80 percent of throttle with just 30 percent of pedal travel, but I wanted a less abrupt kick-in of our added power and torque for this first Abt R8, so there's a little more pedal travel."

An R8 with Audi's R tronic automated manual transmission will be available soon from Abt, and this should help make even those sporting downshifts absolutely stellar.

A Solid Ride but Not Rude
Audi tuners are so enamored with both the R8's architecture and its use of Delphi's magnetic ride control suspension that they typically massage the first by avoiding the second. Since it would cost a fortune to reprogram the R8's stock magnetorheological dampers, the answer has been to stick with an old-school switch-out of pieces for standard dampers and springs.

Abt doesn't even touch the R8 suspension's wheel camber and doesn't add any toe-in to the steering alignment — two fairly standard alterations for quicker response from the steering wheel. With a combo of slightly firmer springs and adjustable dampers from H&R, the gap between a standard setup and the marvels of AMR (automatic magnetic ride control) has been nicely bridged. With this new suspension, the front end of the R8 rides lower by 0.6 inch, while the rear is 1 inch lower.

The ride over any road at any speed feels very sophisticated, and there's no bottoming out at the worst moments, while we found even less body roll through fast curves than with the stock AMR setup in Sport mode.

The Abt R8 wore Dunlop Sport Maxx XL tires for our drive, 245/30ZR20 front and 305/25ZR20 rear. Abt's BR20 diamond-machined cast-alloy wheels caught the eye, measuring 20-by-9 inches front and 20-by-11 inches rear. The offset is 1.6 inches at each front wheel and 1.8 inches at each rear wheel, so the front and rear tracks are wider than the standard R8 with its 18-inch wheels. This gives the car more responsiveness, plus that low, down-and-dirty feeling of a serious chassis.

Carbon-Fiber Airflow
The total Abt package here is priced at $48,000, and a large part of it is gobbled up by the crash-certified carbon-fiber aero bits all around. The front spoiler, rocker-sill side skirts, fender-mounted air intakes, fixed rear wing and rear aero diffuser are fabricated of pure carbon fiber.

Given the added stress of supercharging on the V8 engine, these aero add-ons are not only good-looking but also they increase airflow, keeping things quite a bit cooler. These ducts lead to the big front radiator, the brake assemblies, and straight to the engine intakes. Surprisingly, the brakes used here are the R8's standard units, so the additional cooling makes a big difference in resisting fade every time we late-brake into a turn.

Poking through the rear carbon-fiber skirt are Abt's thoroughly unique double-double stainless-steel sport exhaust tips. On throttle, the sound opens up and it's as showboaty as that on any Lamborghini Gallardo V10.

Abt Goes a Little Pimpy
Normally we can expect a little pimpin' action from other German tuners like Hamann or Gemballa or even MTM, but Abt Sportsline generally sticks to a strictly businesslike approach that has made it the sober authority for this niche of tuners.

Well, take one look at the engine compartment of the 2009 Audi R8 Abt Sportsline. Yes, that is the same fine napa leather from the interior now lining the entire glass-covered engine bay. Our immediate thought is that the sheer heat from the supercharged engine at its redline of 7,200 rpm could easily turn the napa leather into Nebraska beef jerky.

An Abt communicator reassures us: "It would take 284 degrees F to cause trouble there, and the highest we've detected is 230 degrees F."

Then there are those six-pack abs of the supercharger in a gleaming presentation of polished chrome designed by Abt. Engineer Zeilbeck tells us, "I just felt that it was time for us to show off a little bit, as people generally don't expect that from us."

Hussman Funds Weekly Market Comment-

Four Magic Words: We are Providing Capital

Ford GT 3 Year Long Term Wrap Up

At the 2002 North American International Auto Show, Ford Motor Company unveiled one of the most exciting concept cars in the automaker's 99-year history. In both name and appearance, the Ford GT40 concept lived up to Ford's hallowed racing legend of the 1960s, yet it seemed an unlikely candidate for production status from an automaker struggling to rebuild its aging product lineup. Eighteen months later, in June of 2003, three production-ready Ford GTs were shown off at the company's centennial celebration in Dearborn, Michigan. Then, in August of 2005, we purchased a Ford GT for a three-year stay in our long-term fleet.

Why We Bought It
The list of U.S.-built, V8-powered, midengine automobiles is pretty short. While the 2005 Ford GT's starting price of $139,995 put it beyond the reach of most car shoppers, its unique status as a 100-percent American supercar piqued the interest of even the most discerning enthusiast. Engineered to surpass the performance of the Ferrari 360 Modena at a more affordable price, the Ford GT succeeded in outgunning the Prancing Horse in every head-to-head shoot-out between the two.

But those shoot-outs focused almost entirely on performance numbers and lap times. With its 5.4-liter supercharged V8 rated at 550 horsepower and a curb weight of 3,500 pounds, the GT regularly posted 0-60 times under 4 seconds and recorded a certified top speed of 205 mph. Both numbers comfortably bested the Ferrari, but they told us little about what it was like to live with on a daily basis.

To answer these questions, we ordered a 2005 model in Midnight Blue. Four options were offered on the Ford GT, of which we specified three for our tester: BBS forged-aluminum wheels ($3,500), painted brake calipers in red ($750) and painted racing stripes over the top of the car ($5,350). The fourth option, an upgraded McIntosh audio system for $4,000, was passed over to save money and weight (80 pounds). We also didn't like the system's large subwoofer. Mounted between the seats, the subwoofer blocked the view of the supercharger through the mid-lite glass behind the driver. Unfortunately, almost every 2005 Ford GT was ordered with this audio option despite these trade-offs (likely a measure to increase dealer profit, as most GTs were ordered by dealers, not final customers).

Durability
Expecting long-term durability from a pricey exotic car is typically akin to expecting long-term stability in the stock market. You might get lucky for awhile, but eventually the smooth ride comes to an end. One of Ford's goals when engineering the GT was to make it as dependable and serviceable as any other Blue Oval product. Frequent — and expensive — dealer visits were off the table as far as the design team was concerned.

Our three-year, 16,000-mile experience with the GT confirms that Ford met this goal. In this time period, we suffered no breakdowns and only once required the services of a flatbed after road debris skewered a rear tire. Initial mechanical issues consisted of adjusting the passenger door release when it was binding and adjusting the driver's door latch to fix a rattle. Both services were done under warranty three months after purchase.

Within a few months of buying our GT, reports of broken axle bolts and stranded GTs surfaced on the Ford GT Forum. The number and frequency of the reports suggested this was a widespread issue that would likely affect most, if not all, Ford GTs. Ford began an internal investigation and eventually offered to replace the original bolts under warranty (though the company never officially issued a recall on the parts).

Many GT owners were unhappy with the delay in Ford's official response, which took approximately two years and finally came in late 2007. Our GT never suffered axle bolt failure, but in August 2007 (with 10,000 miles on the odometer), we had the factory bolts replaced with aftermarket units from Accufab. Replacement cost was $450 for parts and labor. The original bolts showed signs of stress and likely would have failed at some point.

With the odometer reading 10,500 miles, two items required warranty work during August 2007. First, after noticing an increasingly harsh ride we found a leaking rear shock on the driver side. While the dealer was replacing the shock, we had the service department address a TSB (technical service bulletin) for the brushed aluminum trim on each door panel. Originally held in place with doubled-sided tape, these panels were known to move around, rattle and even fall off (the latter usually in warm, dry climates like Arizona). At the time, our trim panels were loose but still attached. The dealer replaced the tape with plastic clips and (as with the shock replacement) charged us nothing.

Engine stalling at low speeds afflicted the 2005 Ford GT on two separate occasions. The car always restarted immediately after the engine died, and the dealer was unable to replicate the problem when we brought it in. Other owners had reported the same issue on the GT Forum, with a cracked fuel nozzle determined to be the cause. But the dealer pressure-tested our GT's fuel system and said everything was fine. Both stalling instances occurred within a few weeks of each other, and the problem never returned. Bad gas? A temporarily confused ECU? We'll probably never know.

No other mechanical or warranty issues occurred during our three-year ownership period, leaving only basic maintenance charges on our balance sheet. The Ford GT uses Mobil 1 synthetic oil that is good for 15,000 miles between changes, but we changed ours three times (about once a year) at a cost of $300-$350 per change. The rear tires were replaced at 7,000 miles after road debris punctured one of them; cost was $800.01 (parts and labor). Eighteen months later, at 13,200 miles, all four tires were replaced for $1,338.93. One air filter replacement at 12,500 miles cost us $60.

We also replaced the GT's windshield at 15,917 miles. A sizable rock put a star in the glass directly in front of the driver at 7,090 miles. We initially tried to remove the chip with a $75 glass repair service. It worked relatively well, but additional chips in the glass had us ready for a new windshield near the end of the car's test. The same low-profile shape that makes the GT so slippery at high speeds also subjects the windshield to regular road debris. Windshield cost was $800 but installation was a relatively painless $144.

It's worth noting that our windshield was replaced without unbolting the front fenders, despite a suggestion from Ford's service manual that they be removed. Other Ford GT owners have reported successful windshield replacements that didn't require fender removal.

Total Body Repair Costs: $0
Total Routine Maintenance Costs (over 36 months): $1,002
Additional Maintenance Costs (over 36 months): $3,532.94
Warranty Repairs: 3
Non-Warranty Repairs: 1
Scheduled Dealer Visits: 2
Unscheduled Dealer Visits: 2
Days Out of Service: None
Breakdowns Stranding Driver: 1 (flat tire)

Performance and Fuel Economy
As performance cars go, the 2005 Ford GT is among the fastest and most powerful street cars ever produced. Instrumented testing had our long-term GT running from zero to 60 in 3.7 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 11.8 seconds at 124.4 mph. Chief Road Test Editor Chris Walton noted, "There's a very thin line between bog and spin in the GT. Any rpm below 3,500 and the rear tires just bite into the pavement while the engine bogs. Over 3,500 rpm and they're likely to spin silently. It's really a seat-of-the-pants test to get just a little wheelspin for the best launch."

The GT's extremely tall 1st gear gets it to 60 mph without shifting, but the clutch also requires a delicate touch for smooth takeoffs under normal driving conditions. The clutch shows no sign of wear after 16,000 miles, despite getting overheated and slipping during a second round of acceleration testing to measure the effects of performance modifications. (After a complete cool-down, the clutch was fine.) At 10,000 miles a short-shift kit from Ford Racing was installed to reduce shift throws. This meant a small drop in leverage, but the GT's shifter remains easy to operate and even more precise. Cost for the shifter, including parts and labor, was $1,000.

Other modifications included a smaller supercharger pulley and a computer reflash to increase maximum supercharger boost from 12 to 15 psi. This cost us $2,000 and, when it was combined with the $3,100 (parts and labor) installation of a Borla free-flow muffler from Ford Racing, our Ford GT had some 600 hp at the rear wheels. Our car was never put on a dyno, but several others with identical modifications have been tested and come in at just over 600 hp. After installing these parts, our car ran zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at 126.3 mph.

All modifications were performed by The GT Guy, a company specializing in the Ford GT and operated by two former Roush Performance employees who worked on the GT during the car's development. These guys know the car from top to bottom and can perform just about any service. If you're out of warranty or want to modify your GT, they come highly recommended.

Happily, these modifications had no discernible impact on fuel economy. After its first 10,000 miles, the GT was averaging 16.4 mpg. An additional 6,000 miles were accumulated after the engine modifications, and fuel economy didn't change much, so the car ended its test term with an average of 17 mpg.

As a highway cruiser the 2005 Ford GT suffers from noticeable road noise coming off the Goodyear Eagle F1 tires. It's not atrocious, but we measured 74.5 decibels in the cabin at 70 mph. For comparison, a Porsche 911 GT2 generates a nearly identical 73.5 dBA, while a 2007 Lexus LS 460 generates 62.5 dBA at 70 mph. The Ford's number went up to 77.0 dBA after we installed the Ford Racing muffler.

Beyond our public road travels we had multiple opportunities to exercise our Ford GT at a racetrack. Most of these experiences involved a few hot laps on the factory tires between other official track events. But a day at the Ford GT School allowed for multiple track sessions and included instruction from the Ford GT's lead engineer, Neil Hannemann. With Hoosier slicks mounted in place of the factory Goodyear rubber, the GT reeled off impressive times and touched on 140 mph along Willow's front straight.

Best Fuel Economy: 26.2 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 13.1 mpg
Average Fuel Economy: 17 mpg

Retained Value
Some exotic car shoppers are foolish enough to consider their purchase an investment, but most recognize automobiles for the horrid investments they are. That said, the Ford GT has performed remarkably well in terms of depreciation. The exotic car market is always a bit suspect because of the low number of vehicles that change hands and the often unique nature of any given transaction.

Edmunds.com lists a 2005 Ford GT with a True Market Value (TMV^®) of $114,227 for private party sale (dealer retail is listed at $120,964). eBay has Ford GT's listed between $120,000 and $210,000. Our test car's Midnight Blue color is considered rare and desirable, but the mileage is high for this kind of car. We'd guess a real-world value around $135,000-$145,000, but for the purposes of this report we'll go with the Edmunds.com TMV.

Even using that figure gives the GT just over 25 percent depreciation after three years, which is extremely low by any vehicle standards.

True Market Value at service end: $114,227
Depreciation: $38,718 or 25.3 percent of original paid price ($152,945) after 3 years
Final Odometer Reading: 16,096

Summing Up
Few Ford GT owners will put 16,000 miles on their car in three years — if ever. The majority of these vehicles will spend the majority of their lives under a car cover in a heated garage, likely surrounded by several other high-priced toys. After enjoying our 2005 Ford GT in a variety of circumstances, ranging from long-distance road trips to hard-driving track days, we can testify to the tragedy of this situation.

Designed to beat Ferraris, engineered to F-150 durability standards and 100 percent American, the Ford GT is an enigma in the exotic car world. It's a dependable and fully functional automobile that happens to be capable of 200-plus mph and 16-plus mpg. If you own one, please drive it. And if you're looking for an exotic you can actually drive, look no further.

Kill The Car Guy

For the record, killing is bad and should be avoided, along with Brussels sprouts and flip-flops in the workplace. Still, I call this one Kill the Car Guy. It's a phrase I've just had enough of. Everybody's a car guy these days; just ask them.

You used to have real credentials to call yourself a car guy. Grated knuckle skin. Greasy fingernails. R Compound tires. A racing trophy. Proof you've been to some racetrack somewhere at sometime. A basic understanding of the internal combustion engine. Knowing how to heel-and-toe downshift. Knowing how to do a proper burnout. Knowing the GT-R is not the new Skyline. Knowing which one is Bo and which is Luke. Something.

Relax. I'm not saying you need to know all this stuff to qualify. It's not that simple. There's no litmus test here. You just need to invest in cars. What you choose to invest is up to you: could be your time, your brain power, your garage space, your weekends, your marriage, or of course all of the above. I don't care what it is, but I know this; being a car guy should not be free.

There was a time when it wasn't. As little as a decade ago, car guy status still had to be earned. Earned through your knowledge and your actions. You had to have real passion for this stuff; you weren't in the club just because you wanted to be. You had to truly care and you had to make the sacrifices that come along with the commitment. It wasn't enough for cars to be just a passing interest, they had to be a high priority, an very important part of your life.

No more. These days, we let anybody in. Recently I met a guy in a Lexus ES 350 with golf shoes in his trunk. Even he claimed to be a car guy. Said he goes to the L.A. auto show every year, and remembers a 1962 Mustang his dad bought new.

That's right, a 1962 Mustang. Jerk.

Most people think money makes you a car guy, because money buys cool cars. And there are very wealthy car guys out there. Guys like Jay Leno. Sure he's overexposed and a shill for any car company that rings his phone, but he's also very knowledgeable and passionate about his cars. He'd rather be in his garage than anyplace else. That's a real car guy, pocketbook size aside.

But for every Leno there are 100 jack-o-lanterns with six-figure bonuses and new 911s. Oh sure, they call themselves car guys, but not a one has ever heard of a 993, a 996 or a 997. Not even if you put a gun to their head. Hard up against their temple. With the hammer cocked and a round in the chamber. Trust me.

Bottom line: Most self-proclaimed car guys are not. Look, I've been on a boat. Doesn't make me a boat guy. And I don't claim to be. Even if I went out and bought the biggest, dumbest, fastest, most expensive boat around, I still wouldn't be a boat guy. Even if I read a boat magazine and went to the boat show I'd still just be a guy who knows nothing about boats but owns the biggest, dumbest, fastest, most expensive boat around, which I saw in a boat magazine while I was at the boat show. Let me reiterate. I am not a boat guy.

And I'm not the only one aware of the problem. Mercedes had so many housewives and cigar aficionados leasing AMGs to impress their neighbors, the seriousness of the brand was in jeopardy, so the company invented the AMG Black Series for the real car guys.

But why? Why does every hairy back think he needs to be a car guy? I blame the recent flood of automotive television being piped into the American home. Speed TV. Overhaulin'. American Hot Rod. With every televised Foose Fade, a car guy was born. And with every episode of My Classic Mustache and Mequiar's Car Crappy there was another golfer who had heard of Carroll Shelby.

And now that every knit shirt knows Ol' Shel tuned up some Mustangs 100 years ago, that's not enough to qualify you anymore. Mrs. The Mechanic knows that much. If you're going to use your Shelby knowledge to substantiate your car guy qualifications, you better know what year he won Le Mans and what he was driving.

If not, get off my lawn.

Whatever, enough is enough. Time to take action, people.

If you ask me, use of the phrase car guy should negate true car guy status. I think we should switch it up and not tell anybody. Let's turn our backs on the car guy. Change our handshake, if you will. Put a guard at the gate. I'm thinking "Motor Head" or "Car Nut," but I'm up for suggestions. Recently Bob Lutz used "Gearhead" on The Colbert Report, which has a nice ring to it. Then, when that bozo in the 528i claims car guy status you'll know the truth.

If he really attended the final race at Riverside and has a garage packing a GT-R, a wicked black Hemi 'Cuda and two Renault R5 Turbos, he would have called himself a gearhead. But he didn't. He's a car guy. Walk away.