BACK SEAT DRIVING – “To Infiniti and beyond!” Evidently, “beyond” now means Chevrolet, as Tim Allen—the voice of Buzz Lightyear—becomes the new voice of Chevrolet. Tim Allen is no stranger to the car world. “As a kid growing up in the Motor City, the itch to tinker with cars was unavoidable,” says Allen. “One of the first cars I worked on was a VW-based dune buggy and I haven’t stopped loving cars since.” The first ad airs on Tuesday, September 7th, for the all-new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze…

BACK SEAT DRIVING – Much has been made so far about how terrible August sales were compared to this time last year. While it is no secret that we were in the midst of the government-sponsored “Cash-for-Clunkers” program that artificially inflated sales this time last year, August 2010 results strike us as reasonable given the state of the economy and the beginning of model-year closeout sales. Perhaps a better gauge of how consumer vehicle sales are trending is…

LA CAR REPORT – When Chrysler hit the skids and filed Chapter 11, few pundits thought the company would make it out alive. Most don’t. And then a series of fortunate events happened for Chrysler, starting with a big helping hand from the Feds, and following it up with the partnership with Fiat—a company with a number of new products that fit into all the segments that Chrysler was lacking. The new products were slow to come, but a new Ram pickup truck followed; last month, a new Jeep Grand Cherokee; and now, a brand new Dodge Durango.

BACK SEAT DRIVING – Here’s news about a new 300 MPG car design. This latest high-mileage, zero-emission vehicle not only gets 300 MPG–an impressive feat–but wasn’t designed by the engineering students or industry experts in Japan, Detroit or Germany. The high school students in Kansas City, Missouri who conceived of and delivered the 300 MPG electric car have even applied to Guinness World Records for their achievement…

BACK SEAT DRIVING – Of late the press has had to report the news of more tragic deaths due to young people racing automobiles on city streets. Our dragstrip at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale has been offering a safe alternative to illegal street racing for several years now. Every Thursday night we open our NHRA-sanctioned dragstrip to anyone with an automobile and a valid driver’s license. We’ll even coach newcomers in the nuances of drag racing if asked. The charge is nominal and we’d very much like to invite you…