I'm one of those who believe contemporary cars have become overly complex. Every two weeks I'm into another brand new auto and should spend one of those weeks studying the owner's manual. Actually, I rarely bother. If the darn thing doesn't speak to me from the moment I'm seated we get along with the basics.

Robert Farago, a fellow auto journalist who produces "The Truth About Cars," a good-looking Weblog I'd never seen until this morning, has written a witty and intelligent treatise on this very subject. For example, when referring to the BMW M5, he says: "While a hard-core cadre of enthusiasts embrace the Bimmer's programmability, most newbies sit in the M5's driver's seat and... freeze. After overcoming their initial shock, they rely on one or two factory settings-- or walk away thanking Gott in Himmel they own something a lot less complicated."

Robert also critiques the auto industry's absurd marketing philosophy that insists there be a car for every niche. What a ridiculous way to squander resources! From now on I'll refer to it as the "Niche-itch: Scratch it and forget it." By the way, I discovered this Weblog through Autoblog.com, another site I enjoy. But when I clicked on the link not found appeared. A little effort revealed that Autoblog had added one too many w's, i.e.; wwww. Rely on us, folks. We'll never link you wrong.

Well, most of the time. Nobody's perfect.