The NHTSA has released a list of all 690,114 cars traded in in the Cash for Clunkers program. Keep in mind that the list is unverified and based on dealer reports. Most of the cars we know and love have been spared genocide, although many casualties still sadden our hearts: 5 Starions, several Cressidas, a moderate number of Nissan 300ZXs, Mazda RX-7s, Toyota Supras of varying years, and a buttload of Previa minivans.

Some don’t even meet the initial 18mpg or worse requirement (1990 Honda CR-X, really?). Others seem to have been traded in on pure laziness – late model Lexuses, a Mazda RX-8, and a Nissan 350Z, for example. Surely owners could have gotten more than the $4500 credit by just throwing it up on craigslist. Keep in mind that these cars had to be driven and registered for the past 12 months, so they aren’t shells or beaters.

Click here for the complete list (PDF).

Hat tip to cesariojpn.

This is an actual commercial from Toyota in which they encourage you to crush your classic Land Cruiser in exchange for a Cash for Clunkers voucher.

Obviously a two-door FJ60 is a nonexistent beast, so was Toyota USA just creating a generic SUV from one of their own models in order to avoid using another automaker’s product? Or is the marketing department so far removed from Toyota’s heritage that they think nothing of slapping the Toyota faithful across the face with this suggestion?

This clip was put up under Toyota USA’s own YouTube account, so you can click on the video above and let them know what you think.

As a side note, if any real FJ60 owners are considering this, it’d be a pretty stupid idea since all but the most rusted out hulks can fetch more than the $4500 C4C rebate.

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So last week was the first for the dreaded Cash for Clunkers program and it’s been either wildly successful or a dismally mismanaged failure depending on how you look at it.

First, the government thought it might run out of money too quickly. Overnight, a bunch of cars that once fell within the 18mpg or under threshold to qualify were magically boosted to 19mpg according on the EPA website. Sucks for the owners, but the fewer cars that qualify on the lower end of the fuel efficiency scale the better for us JNCers.

Then rumors began to fly that the almost $1 billion automaker stimulus money set aside for C4C had been burned through in four days and the program would be suspended.

But no, it was actually going stronger than ever, and the the House approved another $2 billion for the program.

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The Cash for Clunkers law we’ve all been dreading passed both houses of Congress and was signed by the President yesterday. Although funding was reduced to $1 billion from its original $4 billion, and is limited to a four-month window, there’s still a lot of damage to be done. (more…)

Well that was quick. The national Cash for Clunkers bill just passed Senate largely in tact, except senators chose to cut the funding from 4 billion dollars to one billion. Now it moves back to the House for review and then onto Obama’s desk, where he will probably sign it into law.

[Detroit News, Jalopnik]

Well, the House of Representatives approved the Cash for Clunkers bill last night. That means drivers trading an older car for a more fuel efficient one can get up to a $4500 toward their new car from the government. But what’s this? Congress squeezed in a couple of provisions squeezed that make it perhaps not as catastrophic as we had feared. (more…)

Well it was bound to happen. The Cash for Clunker program has hit the motherload, in the motherland of our favorite cars. Japan is now offering citizens ¥250,000 (about $2500) towards the purchase of a new car if they trade in any car 13 years or older.

When we first started following the Cash for Clunkers saga the program was a misguided attempt at ecology. But then the world economy turned to poo and any environmentally minded pretense was flushed down the toilet faster than a spider in a tissue. (more…)

As we predicted over a year ago, the Cash for Clunkers program offered by states such as California and Texas is going national. (more…)

Last August California assemblyman Dave Jones put forth a bill that sought to apply the state’s strict emissions inspections to cars 15 years or older. The bill was defeated, but now Jones is at it again. This time funds from the inspections would be put into a fund that encourages the scrapping of older cars.

We already posted the reasons why these laws would do very little for the environment and yet do a lot to hurt classic car owners, and we’re sure that many readers (of JNC and other classic car magazines) already wrote in to voice their disagreement, but Jones seems to have a one track mind.

Here are the main points against Jones’ bill:

1. Old cars make up only a tiny fraction of the total number of cars and trucks on the roads today.
2. The majority of collectors do not use their vintage cars as daily drivers.
3. And most of all, encouraging the disposal of an old car so that a new one can take its place does not account for the manufacturing costs of the new vehicle.

We urge you to write into Dave Jones and the other members of the California state legislature. You can copy and paste this terrific letter written by JNCer RayRay.

Thanks to all the readers who emailed us about the bill. You can read the full SEMA press release after the jump. (more…)

Egad! As if the moist climate of  Ye Olde World hasn’t taken enough old J-tin, it appears that Cash for Clunkers programs are now being rolled out in the UK as well. In this piece titled “Money for old rope? Not quite. Money for an old Datsun? Maybe…” it says the government is looking to offer as much as £2200 for an old car, even though we know that our friends across the pond are masters at bodywork on rusty old machines. Just take a look at some of their projects in our forum and you’ll see the craftsmanship at work.

We’ve already seen programs like this in Germany, and some American states have them as well. How many nostalgics will be lost before this genocide is over?