Autoline After Hours

This week Autoline After Hours goes retro from the site of the world's largest one-day automotive event, The Woodward Dream Cruise. Crowds and cars will be populating the sidewalks and parking lots as many of the 40,000 classics get Woodward Avenue warmed up for the big day. And, we'll give you a much-coveted curbside position, plus we'll even go for a cruise down Woodward! John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo are joined by a host of special guests such as: "the man who knows too much," Jim Hall, Ken Lingenfelter from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering and Mark Phelan from the Detroit Free Press, as well as executives from our friends at MOPAR along with their most tricked-out rides.

Each summer, nearly every major automaker makes its way to northern Michigan for a conference called the Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) and organized by the Center for Automotive Research. John McElroy and Michelle Krebs from Edmunds were both in Traverse City for the event and they'll be in studio to explain some of the news that broke and why it's such a well-attended conference. They, along with Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, will also be discussing some of the big news coming out of the industry this week including Dodge ditching NASCAR and the National Governors Auto Caucus announced at MBS. Plus, we'll welcome Karl Brauer from TotalCarScore.com who will join the discussion via Skype from Camarillo, California.

This week our webcast goes where no webcast has gone before as our camera gets into the highly guarded, super-secretive GM Design Center. We’ll give you a walking tour of the facilities guided by none other than the man himself, Ed Welburn, GM Vice President of Global Design. John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo will get an inside look at the creative heart of GM including the Color and Trim Studio, the company’s high-tech Virtual Reality room as well as Bill Mitchell’s historic garage populated with iconic cars like the Mako Shark concept. Join us for an intimate look into the design rock stars’ playground and a discussion about how GM’s past is informing the cars of the future.

How do you find the proper title for a man like Bob Lutz? In the end, there’s really only one choice: Automotive Icon. He’s been everywhere from BMW to Ford to GM to Lotus, and he hasn’t quit yet. This week, he gives Autoline After Hours the unique honor to visit his farm where we’ll get to tour his extensive collection of automobiles and motorcycles. For the man who could own just about anything, what does he choose to keep in his garage? We’ll find out. But, we won’t let him go without asking what he thinks of the state of GM now that he’s no longer the much-vaunted vice chairman. And, is Lotus going to survive? On hand to do the hard work of hanging out with the ultimate car guy is John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist.

This week we're getting inside the head of General Motors' marketing chief, Joel Ewanick. We'll be asking him what sort of message GM plans to get out to the world as it continues its uphill battle to shake the "Government Motors" moniker. What advertising is one the horizon? Why did GM pull out of the Super Bowl? Is there a value to social media? Joining John McElroy in the studio is Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist.

They’re on the clock…almost. This week the Autoline After Hours studio transforms into Draft Central as the show conducts its second-annual Automotive Draft. If you recall last year’s event, John McElroy led a contingent of four “team owners” — made up of his colleagues from the auto press — in choosing the executives who would lead their own car companies. This year’s automotive draft is bigger, better and even has its own ESPN-like “Draft Reporter” — Ms. Tiffany Stone — who will try her best to moderate the show’s returning Draft analysts, Mark Phelan from the Detroit Free Press and Scott Burgess from AOL Autos. Join John McElroy from Dymaxion Motors, Jim Hall from Automobiles Bistango, Michelle Krebs and her team Edmunds iMobility, Drew Winter and New America Motors along with Todd Lassa and Jaeger Motor Car Company and see who they choose during the seven rounds of the 2012 AAH Automotive Draft.

When Richard Hollingshead invented the drive-in theatre he knew he was combining two passions that would go great together. And, while drive-ins may not be as popular as they once were, cars and movies just keep cruising on and on. As you’ve probably guessed by now, that’s the subject of this week’s show. We’ll talk about the classics like “Vanishing Point” as well as films you might not associate with cars like “Body Heat.” Plus, we’ll get into some non-Hollywood topics such as Cadillac’s struggle to take on BMW with the ATS. To discuss all this and much more, Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, is joined by Todd Lassa from Motor Trend and Jim Hall from 2953 Analytics.

Celebrate 15 years of Autoline on this week’s edition of After Hours! We’re having a party to commemorate our anniversary and you’re invited alongside some of our illustrious guests including: Mustafa Mohatarem, General Motors’ Chief Economist; Mark Fields, the President, Americas of Ford; and author Margery Krevsky with a couple of her “Sirens of Chrome.” We’ll be talking about some of the changes we’ve seen in the industry over the last decade and a half, and we’ll take a look back at some of the notable interviews we’ve conducted over time. Have a listen or sit down and watch this very special edition of Autoline After Hours!

On this week’s show, “father knows best” and in this case the patriarch we’re talking to is none other than the “father” of the very successful Ford EcoBoost technology. Dan Kapp is the Director of Ford Powertrain Research and Advanced, and we’ll be asking him what’s next for EcoBoost and what other powertrain goodies he’s working on for the Blue Oval. As you can guess, we’ll be getting into the news of the week including management shifts for Audi and Infiniti and the move of Road and Track magazine from its historic home in Newport Beach, California to Ann Arbor, Michigan. To discuss these topics and much more, John McElroy is joined by Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, and Alisa Priddle from the Detroit Free Press.

On the docket this week: is the Toyota sales recovery the real deal? Chevrolet drops the Super Bowl and teams up with Manchester United (they play the other kind of football) to hopefully cement the bowtie as an international brand. Plus, we'll take a stroll down memory lane to remember the Chevrolet Corvair, the classic in the studio today. To discuss these topics and way, way more, Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, is joined by Gary Vasilash from Automotive Design and Production and Scott Burgess from AOL Autos.