No one likes the sound of "Government Motors." Not General Motors executives; not the Bush and Obama administrations, which bailed out Detroit; not the taxpayers who found themselves holding 61 percent of America’s largest automaker.

 

Now, with GM reporting its most profitable quarter in six years and heading toward an initial public stock offering, the government will begin sloughing off that investment and recouping a chunk of the $50 billion borrowed by GM -- and, eventually, restore the General to its private-company status, along with (hopefully) the consumer good will that the bailout and years of short-sighted management cost GM.

 

Edward Whitacre, the former AT&T chief handpicked by the Obama administration to lead GM, will step down at year end. He’ll be replaced by Daniel Akerson, another former telecommunications executive who’s currently head of the powerful Carlyle Group’s global buyout division. This makes Akerson the fourth GM CEO in the past 18 months.

 

Even more shots of some of the world's most beautiful vehicles, after the jump. (Scroll over the images to get vehicle information.) 

Like every other day I've been in Pebble Beach, Calif., this week, today started off cold, rainy and gray. Thankfully, just like every day other I've been here this week, the rain has stopped, and in about an hour I'll be wearing too many clothes for the warm weather.

But enough of my temperature woes: The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is under way. I've been out here since about 8:00 a.m. (last year I was out for Dawn Patrol at 5:00 a.m., and in a way I regret not coming back this year) so I have a bunch of cool pictures. I'll be posting some throughout the day as time permits. Enjoy. (Scroll over the images to read what each car is.) 

As promised, here are some shots of the gorgeous, classic Jaguar XKSS models that were gathered at the Jaguar Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance kickoff party.

Jag had good reason to celebrate the past, as this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Jaguar name. Of the 16 XKSS models -- arguably the most beautiful and iconic Jag ever made -- the British company, now owned by India's Tata motors, managed to bring 12 of them to the party. At the kickoff, corresponding to a "Gentlemen, start your engines!" announcement, each owner started up his car and saluted the attendees with some throaty exhaust notes.

More pictures after the jump. 

We've been running around like mad men (and women) here in Monterey, Calif., so instead of a diary-style entry as to the goings-on -- and, let's face it, no one wants to read that -- I figured I'd post some pictures and some quick commentary.

You can read all about the Ford Boss Mustang reveal during a cold and rainy Friday morning at the Laguna Seca racetrack here, so I'll just throw this in: These are fine-looking cars, especially the Laugna Seca model, which is, as Ford put it, as close as you'll get to a race car with a regular license. The manufacturer held a raffle in which three winners would get to take the Boss around the track; I didn't win.


Just spending some time watching the race cars tear around the Laguna Seca track is well worth a trip to Monterey, especially if the historic models are having a go when you're there. You'll have at least a few "whoa, what was that one?" moments as yet another low-slung bright blue or maroon or banana yellow car whizzes by you in a blur. You really understand how addictive the whine and rumble of a perfectly tuned engine can be. 

The folks at Saab passed me off to Sander Van Dijk, marketing manager for Saab's new owner, Spyker. I met him at the Spyker Pavilion at Pebble Beach for a test drive.

Spyker is known for a few things: a minimalist, driver-first approach; bold styling; and fast cars. The company's newest model, the C8 Aileron, was off somewhere else. Instead, we slid open the gull-wing doors and jumped in the C8 Spyder SWB -- a car Van Dijk promised me would be more "essential" to the Spyker brand.

Van Dijk got behind the wheel first to let me get a feel for it. During his drive, he explained some of the inspiration behind Spyker vehicles. Aircraft are a major source of design details, from the rows of toggle switches to the brushed-aluminum interior to the propeller blade details on the air vents. The brand is notoriously allergic to man-made materials, preferring an all-natural approach; this means that the curb weight of 2,750 pounds is kept low without the help of materials such as carbon fiber.

 

Does an AutoWeek reader own one of the oldest Porsches in America?

We hope so, and Porsche has thrown open a Web site registry at www.porsche60years.com to find out. Called My Classic Porsche Search, the program is intended to find and document the oldest of the brand's models in the United States as part of the company's celebration of its 60th anniversary in the United States.

Owners in 12 model ranges--including the Porsche 356, the 911, the 912, the 914, the 924, the 928, the 944, the 968, the Boxster, the Cayenne, the Carrera GT and the Cayman are encouraged to enter their cars. In addition to finding the oldest Porsches in each model range, the search will identify the oldest Porsche ever sold in the United States. The search ends Oct. 1.

 

(UPDATED at 1:53 p.m. on Friday): For those who guessed this was a replica -- or, possibly, an original -- Mysterion by Ed Roth, you are correct. I was contacted by Nathan at JMPR, who will be putting me in touch with an expert on Ed Roth vehicles sometime this weekend, so I can learn more about it.

 This has been parked in the lot at the hotel in which I'm staying, and I've passed it a bunch of times. There are always gawkers, but no one (yet) who can tell me what, exactly, it is.

From the looks of it, it's a single-seat, ultramodded hot rod ... thing, with a touch of Adam West's Batmobile and a curb weight of no more than several hundred pounds. Other than that, I'm stumped.