People are always asking me, “Jim, column after column is chock full of such interesting info; where do you get all that stuff from?” (Well, it did happen once.) For those of you who really do care, here’s the scoop. Many columns start with a visit to one of our local dealerships, where I borrow a car, drive it and spew forth my opinions using manufacturers’ literature and the internet for factual info. Five or six years ago, at the beginning of this venture, driving the new cars was more than half the fun of this job, but over the past year or so I’ve found some manufacturers’ Web sites to be as, if not more, entertaining. Some of them really put a lot of time and effort into their media pages—the pages accessible only to registered journalists via a user name and password—as well as their public pages.

A large part of the fun (for me, anyway) is checking out some of the overseas sites, where you see a lot of vehicles which aren’t available here. Here are a few of my favorite public sites, which can be accessed by anyone:

• citroen.com—This quirky French manufacturer over the years made some of the most unusual-looking (to American eyes) vehicles to hit our shores. A bit too unusual, I guess, as they haven’t been imported here in ages. The home page gives you a choice of French or English, so it’s easily navigable. There are fascinating links to Citroen’s history, glimpses into their future via the “concept cars” button and, of course, you can check out their still-quirky lineup (including the C6 pictured above, which is my current monitor desktop background) by clicking “product.” Impress your friends by viewing it all in French!

• fiat.com—Another European manufacturer which failed years ago in North America, Fiat offers a wide range of vehicles which would probably do well here these days, what with the price of gas being what it is. Again, a very easy site to get around, there are links to Fiat worldwide (need the phone number for your friendly Jordanian Fiat dealer?) and a lesson in Fiat’s design philosophy—or you can check out a career possibility in Fiat engineering. And, of course, while you’re there check out their product line and concept cars. Who knows, someday they just might be back.

• alfaromeo.com—Speaking of the Italians, this is one which is actually rumored to be returning to North America soon. One neat thing about these international sites is that you can view them in different languages by clicking that country’s button. Okay, so maybe it’s tough figuring out just what they’re trying to get across to you on, say, alfaromeo.gr (the official Greece site), but it’s fun guessing where you’ll end up each time. Once again, you can trace the marque’s history, follow its racing/rallying program and gather enough information to start your own newspaper column.

• vw.com/companyinfo/worldwide.html—Choose a country from the global map and check out some of the VW models you never see here, such as the Fox in Iceland (vw.is), the Multivan in Russia (vw.ru) or the CrossFox in Mexico (vw.com.mx). While you’re at it, check out the US site at vw.com and click on the “Gypsy Cab Project” link. It’s a video story of a guy who’d never been to New York who spent two weeks behind the wheel of a new Rabbit that was painted up like a cab, who drove people around for free. Make sure you read the City Driving Directory.

Other places to visit: ford.com (click on “to global sites”), gm.com (click on “gm worldwide”) and toyota.com (click on “about Toyota” then “Toyota worldwide”).

Now get out there and waste some time!