The Important Stuff: The Plame case? Saddam's trial? Harriet Miers? Hell, no! The new Ferrari! I have been a fan of Giugiaro's Ital Design for years. (I've even owned several of his, er, more democratic designs.) This one, though, looks like crap to me. It looks like a car for Italian-Americans, not Italians. It looks like something GM would come up with for a self-consciously "forward-looking" (meaning "throw every gimmick we have at the wall") Cadillac coupe. Reminds me of his hideous Maserati Bora.

Mickey Kaus is also unimpressed. He calls it "a hack pastiche of styling cliches," although he goes on to cite among Giugiaro's "magic" designs the De Tomaso Mangusta, a car designed exclusively for teenage boys to wank to. Speaking of hack pastiches, note the chrome key cylinder, the overused "shark-gill" style air intake, and the silly side-mirror design. Why not cite this clean, elegant puppy instead. Granted, if you've got a hard on for curvy, feminine-looking Italian cars, particularly Ferraris, Giugiaro's not you're guy.

My friend who took me for the ride in the 550 Maranello e-mails, re: Giugiaro:

50 years in the f*cking business, and the most notable design feature is that they managed to make a hatchback trunk that is bigger than a Camry's.

It is a testament to the spirit that presided over Ferrari in years long past that there is still a spark deep in the cars. Even though they are made for rappers and golfing bond traders, when a normal person gets his hands on one, it is more Italian than you would hope. I don't mean to get teary-eyed, but god damn they make a good f*cking car.