I’ll go ahead and answer the question in your head. The Dodge Caliber, with a final score of 49 out of 100, is the only vehicle tested by Consumer Reports that scored lower than the Honda Insight (54 points). David Champion, senior director of CR’s Auto Test Center calls it “the most disappointing Honda Consumer Reports has tested in a long time”. CR testers berated everything from its visibility to interior noise and handling. The as-tested 38 mpg fell within manufacturer’s claims and softened the blow a bit, but I have to wonder how a car with so many faults still garners a “Good” overall rating from Consumer Reports. First place was given a “Very Good”. Photos, full press release and my proposed ratings system after the jump.

It boils down to this: this Ford RS200 is a rally car you can drive on the street. Plus, it’s not in some dirty European country, it’s in California! If that description doesn’t make your naughty bits tickle, well, we don’t know how to help you. If it does, then click over to Ebay for the ad in question.

Yup, it’s zero hour for those 780 or so Chrysler dealers who got the axe from up on high. What are they going to do now? A lot of them are simply closing, but others are turning to resourceful ideas to turn losing their Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep franchise into an opportunity for change. Who says that being on the losing side of bankruptcy reorganization is necessarily certain doom?

Contrary to first impressions, this isn’t a partisan post – anybody calling for a boycott of GM would get a snarky comment from us. But honestly – a boycott? Of a company whose advertising and national image was almost synonymous with social conservatism, tailgate parties and light American lager? What in sam hill is going on? We want to know what these particular arch-conservative Republican rabble-rousers are smoking, because we want to avoid it.

In stark contrast to the calamities befalling their crosstown rivals (or perhaps because of them), Ford is aggressively grabbing market share as Americans increasingly turn to Ford for domestic cars and trucks. The numbers are impressive considering that any good news in this sort of economic climate is rather incredible. More details below.

We here at Ridelust have a deep, abiding love for Fantasy Junction, a magical place where if you have a deep enough pocket you can actually walk away with something that they offer. If not, you can gawk and gape, but be careful not to let your dropping chin dent a valuable Monteverdi … or this positively LUST-tastic ‘68 911 T/R, packing a twin-plug, 220 HP, 2 liter flat-six from a Porsche 906 sports racer. But as to price, if you have to ask … well, you can ask, but you’ll have to make the jump to get an answer.

With Ford now officially the last man standing in the ruins of Detroit, the Blue Oval is looking to expand their domination beyond the U.S. borders – and it looks like they’re succeeding. Today, Ford Canada released their sales statistics for the month of May, posting a mean growth average of 10%, including both Ford and Lincoln combined. Now enjoying their 7th consecutive month of market share increase, Ford can directly attribute their success to their decision to break from industry tradition and produce quality, impressively engineered vehicles. “Amid tough industry conditions, we continue to increase our market share,” explained Ford Canada president and CEO, David Mondragon,”These results are driven mostly by new customers coming in to drive our new products. In fact, nearly 50 per cent of sales come from new models, which is up 15 per cent from last year.”

Hmm ... $2 million ... why not?

If you’ve been asking yourself, “what sort of convertible or targa-roof car can I get for this $2 million burning a hole in my wallet?” Have we got the car for you! It’ll do 224 MPH, and it probably won’t suck your face off at that velocity with the roof off. (Probably.) Bugatti’s long awaited (by the 2 people on earth who can afford it) targa is finally here, as the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport enters production in July.

Popular Used Car: 2006 Acura TL

Not surprisingly, while new cars sales take a steady beating, used car sales continue to stay up.  Naturally, some used cars are more popular than others, not only because of a specific car’s perceived fuel efficiency or utility, but as a result of the longevity or sheer number of each model’s production.  So for those in the market for a newer but not new car, here is a breakdown of the Top 10 Used Cars for 2009 based on sales numbers compiled by the auto information statisticians at Edmunds.com.  Some of these results may surprise you.

Ensuring that landfills 10 years in the future are teeming with rusted-out B3 bodies, Ford UK has set to work aggressively courting first-time car buyers with generous scrappage incentives. Supplementing the government’s already generous vehicle trade-in offers, Ford has slashed the sticker price on even its most popular models, reducing the Ford Fiesta from £9,995 to a mere £7,995, and their most popular model, the Ford Focus, from £13,995 to £9,995. Available exclusively to customers looking to ditch vehicles that are 10 years or older, Ford’s new scrappage scheme has caused a surge in sales, boosting their first-time buyer count by an impressive 3,000 orders.