Welcome to the August Rush. Chad, Daphne, Cole, and even the dog are out at Bonneville. Brian is also out on the salt, though he took a quick vacation to play announcer for the Roadkill Nights event in Detroit. And speaking of Detroit, after I make a quick visit to a guru in Cleveland, I’ll be heading up to Motor City for a Modern Street Hemi Shootout race with the Chrysler and the Woodward Dream Cruise again this year. To say that the three of us are wherever the winds take us right now is an understatement. To say that we’re happy about it is also an understatement…those two are living the good life on one of the most beautiful stretches of real estate in this hemisphere and I’m stoked to be racing…not even changing out sixteen spark plugs in the dark can put a damper on my good times! But don’t think that we’re leaving you in the dark, hungry and alone. Of course we can whip up a little bit of Scrapple. It’s quick and easy!

1. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu…

DEAD: Mitsubishi i-MiEV. I don’t care if it did look like a happy, derpy little runabout, good riddance.

2. Genuine question: How do you charge the battery to return to civilization?

The rumor mill has spit out an interesting line: there is supposedly an SUV coming that will be more than slightly related to the Nissan Leaf, both in style and in powertrain. Yeah…the Leaf. The electric Nissan. Interesting idea, but unless the roof is entirely made up of solar panels…

3. Did everybody suddenly forget about the monstrous airbag inflator recall?!!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but last time I looked, airbags were a touchy subject…namely, because a major manufacturer of airbag inflators inadvertently created miniature fragmentation grenades and caused one of the biggest product recalls ever issued. So why in the hell is Mercedes looking at adding external airbags to their vehicles in case someone strikes a pedestrian? At what point does safety go too far?

4. “Simplify, then add lightness”. And sell. Don’t forget the “sell” part.

Lotus hasn’t been on great ground lately, but signs are starting to show that the company is rebounding. If you look at the 2015/16 fiscal year, Lotus was profitable before tax. Admittedly, after tax, the company is on the wrong end of the equation, but here’s the real mark: in the prior fiscal year, Lotus lost £41.2 million. OUCH. The current situation? After tax, the loss has been reduced to £11.2 million. Part of that is due to healthy sales of the Evora in the United States and the home market, and part of that is due to Geely’s acquisition of the brand. Now, if they can get cracking on another model, they might be alright for a bit.

5. Now here’s a crazy idea we all would enjoy!

Last year I spent a lot of time in Chevrolet Camaros, and I found only two things that really, really bothered me about Chevy’s pony car: they are small inside and the price tags will knock the wind right out of your sails. Proof point: a 2SS convertible was well over fifty grand out the door. Nope, that will not do, and neither the turbo four or the six cylinder models were much better. Add to it that the Camaro is trailing both Mustang and Challenger in sales, and it appears that GM is looking into a way to knock a few grand off of the price of each engine choice level. How many times have you commented about “if it didn’t come with Options A, B, and C it’d be an affordable car”? Here’s a suggestion: hit up the Chevrolet Camaro Facebook page and make a suggestion or two. And be nice about it…there’s enough a-holes in the world right now, it seems.