Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Category Archives: Driving it Today

CONSUMER REPORTS’ TOP NEW CARS

MOLLY BOIGON REPORTS “Hybrids Dominate Consumer Reports’ List of Top New Cars,” Automotive News, February 3, 2026. “The reviews from Consumer Reports,” Boigon observes, “support what many dealers and consumers … Continue reading

March 17, 2026 · 2 Comments

LOSING A $50 BILLION BET—OR JUST MORE TRUMP CHAOS? PART 2

YESTERDAY, LINDSAY VANHULLE DESCRIBED “Automakers Regroup As Market Shifts After $50 Billion EV Debacle,” Automotive News, February 13, 2026. This, of course, is a fair piece of change, but implications … Continue reading

February 28, 2026 · 1 Comment

LOSING A $50 BILLION BET—OR JUST MORE TRUMP CHAOS? PART 1

“IT’S A BILLION HERE, A BILLION THERE, PRETTY SOON IT BEGINS TO ADD UP TO REAL MONEY.” So recounted The New York Times in 1938. And a variation of the … Continue reading

February 27, 2026 · 1 Comment

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN….

TOGETHER WITH MY LOVE OF CLASSIC AUTOMOBILES (and reading about them in my fav Brit Classic & Sports Cars), I continue to admire and respect Automotive News. I’m never too … Continue reading

January 27, 2026 · Leave a comment

A FULL CENTURY OF AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

THE YEAR 1925 WAS AN INTERESTING ONE in the history of the automobile: Ford produced 1,911,706 Model Ts; up from 1922’s 1,301,067 and to dwindle to 1.5 million (its last … Continue reading

January 19, 2026 · 1 Comment

SMART DUMMIES PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE DISCUSSED THE HISTORY OF AUTOMOTIVE TEST DUMMIES. Today in Part 2, NPR’s Camila Domonoske tours Humanetics, a major supplier of ATDs. Video from YouTube via NPR.  A Humanetics … Continue reading

December 21, 2025 · 3 Comments

SMART DUMMIES          PART 1

AUTOMOTIVE CRASH TEST DUMMIES ARE SMARTER than their real-life counterparts. Unlike humans, their memories retain scads of data from sensors throughout their bodies. Their materials and contours are engineered to … Continue reading

December 20, 2025 · Leave a comment

ON AUTOMOTIVE PRICES (AND, ALAS, LOAN DELINQUENCIES)—PITY GEN Z

A RECENT AUTOMOTIVE NEWS ARTICLE by Paige Hodder describes, “Gen Z Car Buyers Use Research, Digital Tools to Make F&I Deals,” December 1, 2025. (F&I, by the way, is auto … Continue reading

December 18, 2025 · Leave a comment

ONE BRILLIANT HELMET

MADELINE COLEMAN REPORTS IN THE ATHLETIC, The New York Times, October 9, 2025, “Isack Hadjar’s F1 Helmet is a Tribute to Physics, Fatherhood, and a Decade of Racing.”  Coleman observes … Continue reading

October 16, 2025 · Leave a comment

TRUMP LIES LIKE A RUG

HOW CAN ANYONE TRUST A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR? As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to our own facts.” Succinctly, … Continue reading

August 29, 2025 · 4 Comments