Admit it! You love “Uptown Girls”!

Around 180 inches (more or less) works good for me also.  That’s 15 feet and my home garage is 20-ft on one side, so I can have a 2-foot-deep workbench at back wall and still move around easily.  When we replaced CR-V (178”) with Odyssey (201”) it essentially made it necessary to first open garage door to get to other side of van, and also to pull van out in order to do any work at all inside garage.  The premise that bigger is always better doesn’t ring true with me.  I prefer vehicles to be as large as I need and no larger.

That seems a bit excessive. My tiny Focus has a 12-gallon tank, and the TC has a 15-gallon tank.  The older I get, the less I understand the American obsession with large trucks. It seems like a wonderful way to support the profits of Legacy automakers, and make people feel better about themselves. My favorite truck is this.  

The chicken tax is the gift that keeps on giving to US automakers. 

From Autoline Daily:   Ford reported its Q3 numbers and the company posted some positive results. It sold 1.1 million vehicles, up 6% from the year before. Revenue topped $50 billion for the first time, up 9%. Its operating profit of $1.5 billion was up 77% over last year’s lackluster performance. And Ford put $2.4 billion on the bottom line, up 174% for the same reasons. Ford Q3, 2025 Earnings Sales 1.1 M +6% Revenue $50.5 B +9% Operating Profit $1.5 B +77% Net Profit $2.4 B +174% Source: Ford FORD AVOIDS $2.5 BILLION IN ZEV CREDIT PURCHASES But the most interesting news about Ford came from its earnings call with Wall Street analysts. Here are some of the highlights.
 • The chip shortage caused by China blocking exports of diodes and transistors made by Nexperia is threatening to shut down automotive production in Europe and the U.S. Ford CEO Jim Farley said he was in Washington DC this week and that it was top of mind with every official he met with in the government. He said a resolution could come just as they’re about to run out of chips, but they need a quick breakthrough to prevent production losses. • With the Trump Administration getting rid of regulatory fines for missing zero emission vehicle mandates, Ford will see a big financial benefit. Prior to that change, Ford was going to have to buy $2.5 billion of ZEV credits this year, but now expects most of that to go away. • Thanks to the Administration easing up on emission regulations Ford will no longer have to constrain production of vehicles like the Tremor and Raptor which are in high demand. • Ford says it’s making big progress on improving its quality. It cut warranty costs by $450 million in the third quarter. • Ford Pro, which sells commercial vehicles, is the most profitable unit in the company. It made almost $2 billion in EBIT, and close to 20% of that came from providing software services to fleets. We’ll see how the market takes in all this news. When GM reported its numbers this week, the stock jumped 15%, adding $8 billion in market cap. Meanwhile, Ford stock was up 4% in pre-market trading.    

This morning's updated gas prices in Hamden, CT 06514 (Greater New Haven)  $2.97 Regular (Cash) @ Gulf  $3.03 Regular (Cash) @ Citgo (Decreased $0.06 from $3.09)  

It won't stay there long term. This stock hardly moves it bounces between $8 and $13 all the time.

You might have left some money on the table,,,,,   HRG

The second idea