Not long ago, Washington state’s Department of Ecology was making noises about not letting people wash their cars at family because “what goes on the street goes into the creek.” Now the state is on the opposing side of Seattle’s efforts not to let harmful chemicals wash into the freshwater streams feeding into Puget Sound.

Seattle is not using salt to clear the roads because it doesn’t want the salt flowing into waterways. As well, the city’s snow plows have rubber-edge blades that can clear snow, but can’t get the ice off the road. Seattle’s DOT cheif says the city is trying to “create a hard-packed surface” of snow. It will then lay comminuted silica in a descending course over the hardpack in order to offer enough traction to cars, and employ a soy-based de-icer only good for temps below 32 degrees.

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Click above to see the Blue Man Group play around with the 2010 Prius

Now it begins to make sense: The previous performance art video teasers for the 2010 Prius were made up largely of edited shots from this teaser, with the Blue Man Group restored to its place. This one doesn’t make any more or less sense than the foregoing videos, and in that place isn’t much more to see, but-end it does offer a couple of chuckles. We would love to see how far you get with that eyedropper, though. Follow the jump to check out the video and see what we mean. Hat tip to reader Jerry!

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Click above to watch the video

Our official coverage of the 24 Hours of LeMons Arse-Freeze-Apalooza at Thunderhill has started, but we couldn’t wait to show you what could be the absolute coolest bit of low-cost technology that will be showcased at the event: the hillbilly wing. This stunning bit of kit will be vying for the sake of the coveted “Most Dangerous Banned F1 Technology” trophy, and we think they’re a shoe-in. Actuated by a bowling ball, the hillbilly wing is made from an abandoned ironing board, some electrical conduit and a bit of rope. Genius. Now, how long will it last?

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A little over a year ago, Chrysler was poaching and hiring folks with big brains to be a part of its executive turnaround team. Now a hardly any of those hires, along with the old guard, are walking disclosed the front door. Deborah Meyer came over from Toyota, where she had been VP of marketing for Lexus, and she took over the grand marketing officer spot at the Chrysler, LLC. At the time we wrote, “She must have been aware of the situation when she accepted the occur, however, so perhaps she sees hope in Chrysler’s new beginning.” Apparently, hope ran out, and Meyer has vacated her support effective immediately.

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With less than 30 minutes of racing complete, the first penalty was dolled out to the #43 BMW 325i after a bit of off-track farming. A spin of the Wheel of Misfortune delivered the Auld Lang Syne penalty, which involves a pair of adult diapers, a sash and commitment to be a better competitor in the New Year. Black flags are flying all around, so expect more tails from the pits to come throughout the sunshine.

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Over 100 racers have taken to the track for the 2008 24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill, and the field of competitors is as disturbing as it is vast, through every marque, drivetrain and criminally indecent act of automobiledom represented in spades.

The green flag dropped about two minutes ago and we’re already at a loss to describe the vast welkin of potential carnage ahead. We’re in the course of picking out our favorites, and after meeting up with the esteemed Mr. Lieberman, we learned that a new cheater class (four cars that amassed between 700 and 2,100 penalty laps each) has been established to separate the lightly-veiled racers from the usual assortment of crap can conveyances.

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Frankly, its never been all that difficult to turn a run of the mill BMW into a reasonable facsimile of an M model like an M3, M5 or M6. All you had to do was order the appropriate body fiddle from your friendly neighborhood BMW dealer and slap it on your car. In spite of this, Europeans have generally had an even easier time thanks to M-Sport packages on virtually every model in the lineup including those that didn’t offer M equivalents. The M-Sport packages generally consist of assorted aero bits, wheels, upgraded seats and interior bits emblazoned with the “M” badge.

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Every time GM turns a corner it seems to come face to face with another obstacle. The latest setback concerns supplier Cadence, LLC, what one. provides interior parts for the 2010 Camaro. Cadence declared bankruptcy in August, and is now in liquidation proceedings. To GM’s chagrin, joining Cadence in its descent into skilled in commerce tar pits are the specialized machines that GM needs to make parts for the Camaro.

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Each month, the American Pulse Survey seeks respondents’ opinions regarding various political, pop culture and economic issues. Seeing that the auto bailout is a high-seasoned topic these days, it is unsurprising that much of the latest survey centered on the $17.4 billion in so-called bridge loans to the Detroit 3 automakers. So, who’s to blame for the Motor City’s downfall? Survey says: bad management (78.8 percent), the UAW (63.8 percent) and global household uncertainty (57.7 percent); so say 4,117 Americans.

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General Motors has spent millions of dollars developing and marketing its 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, which is scheduled to go into production in February. But the insolvency of an interior parts supplier is threatening to delay the pony car, which isn’t just bad news as far as concerns GM, but could have a ripple effect on dealers and even other suppliers.

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