Ford's latest concept for the Frankfurt show is the striking Iosis, a vehicle that the company says predicts its future "kinetic" design theme. "Get used to this - it is our future," says a European-crafted press release of the Iosis' curvaceous shape and dynamic proportions.

Now, while the name may be familiar to alchemists out there (for those still trying to turn base metals into gold, it's the last stage before becoming unbelievably wealthy), the design bears some of the hallmarks of Ford's empire. We can't help but think Mazda RX-8 when we see the Iosis' fender flares, rear deck and overall proportions. Then there's the double-pivoting, pillarless door system - like the RX-8's own setup of rear-hinged access doors for the backseat.

Technical delights include LED low-beam front lamps, rear brakes lights that intensify according to driver input, and carbon-fiber doors. No powertrain info has been released, but TCC will be in Frankfurt to pore over every inch of the Iosis starting on Sept. 12. Stay tuned for more.

TCConfidential has lagged in the past few days, and for a reason you'd not expect a Web site to suffer. But then, there's not been a hurricane like Katrina in recent memory for most of us.

A few years back, our Mike Davis wrote a piece on the human and vehicular losses that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Combined with the incredible suffering that followed, it seemed to be the defining tragedy of our time. But Katrina may change that, sinking a whole region into utter chaos for months.

The personal losses are steep. TCC En Espanol publisher Greg Sanchez' home is without a roof, thanks to Katrina, and he's without power still. On my side of the Gulf of Mexico, Katrina has devastated the city I have made my second home. Friends have been uprooted, if they were wise enough to leave town before the floodwaters surged back into the CBD and the near suburbs. The interstates through Mississippi are moonscapes now, utterly flattened by storm surge. A friend who reports for Mobile's NBC affiliate says from his city west, "most of it is gone." Hundreds are dead, the frightened and weak and tired left behind are resorting to looting, and New Orleans is months away from functioning like a city again.

Automakers have been generous in helping thus far, forgiving payments, donating cash, and giving away vehicles in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. GM will give $400,000 to the American Red Cross as well as 25 vehicles; Ford is allowing those who live in disaster areas to defer two vehicle payments and will match employee donations to the American Red Cross; and Nissan, which operates an assembly plant in mid-Mississippi, will donated 30-day leases for 50 Titan trucks to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Nissan's plant had closed prior to the landfall of the hurricane and has not yet reopened.

But it's not enough. Estimates for damages from the storm are ranging from $9 billion to $26 billion. Donations to the American Red Cross are not just needed, they're critical at this stage of the recovery process. They will help put volunteers in the area to dispense medical care, food and potable water, and will help the evacuees try to resettle outside the coast until the states and FEMA figure out how to begin a massive recovery effort.

And once they're ready for you again, you can help the gulf coast get back on its feet by coming down for a visit. Make plans now to drive down for Mardi Gras in February, even if gas is $3.50 a gallon by then. Or to visit Mississippi's Delta or Vicksburg. Or the incredible Robert Trent Jones golf courses in Alabama. And maybe then, we'll be able to put Katrina into the history books where she belongs.

It was one of the worst pieces of statuary ever erected in greater Detroit (and that is saying something considering the Joe Louis fist downtown). In 2001, Ford, the UAW and Visteon agreed to fund a daycare centers for UAW workers. The statue here went up in the first center in Sterling Heights. The three preposterous looking life-size statues are of then UAW chief Steve Yokich, Bill Ford and Visteon CEO Pete Pestillo. Visteon, facing financial hardship, says it will stop its funding of the centers, citing low participation rates by workers. Just 1% of 8,000 eligible families use the centers, says Visteon. Ford says it will keep its funding up. But if the project goes bust, will the UAW erect Yokich at its headquarters? Will Ford put Bill’s likeness up at Dearborn headquarters alongside Henry Ford II’s or at The Henry Ford Museum? And just who the hell will want a life-size statue of Pete Pestillo?—Jim Burt

They're back, and Benz is hooking up with the Rolling Stones to promote the new R-Class crossover. Now, while we're morally bound to keeping all the punchlines to ourselves (we're not so young either), the best one emailed to letters@thecarconnection.com wins a bunch of free car stuff just for making us giggle.

The second turnaround plan in four years at Ford should, by all geometric principles, put the company back right where it was in 2001. But trust us when we tell you no one in Dearborn is waxing nostalgic for the days of Nasser. (Jac, not Gamal Abdel.) Salon game of the week: which Ford brand will be first to be cut loose?

The Sierra Club backlash against the Bush Administration's proposed new CAFE fuel-economy regulations already has begun. In other unsurprising news: Courtney Love is still a huge mess.

Smart move of the week: VW turning to Chrysler to spin off a minivan that it can sell Stateside. After cancelling a new Microbus, the most logical new product idea it's had since the New Beetle, VW management lost much of the market-savvy credentials it won in the early 1990s. Putting Wolfgang Bernhard in charge was a huge step to restoring it - and his courtship of his former Chrysler colleagues, if true, is an admirable example of ego-free leadership.

Since it seems to be all about celebrities and cars this week, we'll remind you that His Holiness and Kinky Friedman don't have much in common, except a desire to work with Willie Nelson.

Honda's Civic is about to hit the streets - and TCC is bringing you the first review of the new sedan and Hybrid, and coupe and Si models next Wednesday. Those who want to camp out in line for tickets should report to TCC HQ to get a wristband before Saturday afternoon. No cutting line allowed, limit of six tickets maximum.

What with all the exquisite classic cars, dinner parties, vintage races, high-dollar auctions, champagne cocktails, and world-class golf, the Pebble Beach Weekend may have finally jumped the shark with its newest charity event, Dollars for Delages. ("Give what you can - it could save the owners of these Thirties classics from going without a set of matching vintage-leather luggage.")

So the writing is on the wall for the Lincoln LS - no big surprise, given the car's sales have slumped like a Mars bar left on a car dash in summer heat. Ford told workers on Monday at the Wixom assembly plant that LS production is ending early next year, leaving the plant to build the Town Car and the Ford GT.

Now, while the end probably means the death of the Wixom plant and also, the death of rear-drive-only sports sedans at Lincoln, I'm hoping that it also means the end of the latest phase of me-tooism in Detroit. The odd notion circulated that, if we graft on another car company's enviable image, we'll prosper.

The LS, as good as it was, was a copycat. Nevermind the fact that the LS handled pretty well and had a real V-8 engine - its wanna-BMWness oozed from every conservative line. It sold something north of 50,000 units in 2000 with the help of heavy incentives - but did it convince anyone, after a huge investment, that Lincoln really was the domestic version of the German sports sedan?

I put the Pontiac Solstice in the same category. Exactly what about a four-cylinder, two-seat roadster screams Pontiac? It sounds more like a Miata, and it sounds like the pie-in-the-sky rebranding dreams of GM's current management.

I say let car brands be what they will be. Ford's had lots of success buying Volvo and letting it be Swedish. I bet they'll have more success by replacing the LS with a Volvo-derived sedan with an all-wheel-drive and a Yamaha-made V-8 drivetrain, so long as they dress it up in a sharply chiseled American profile. The best example of success in today's auto world is the Chrysler 300/Magnum because they look and sound like American cars.

Honesty - it's not just the best policy, it's damn good marketing too.