While many of us are breaking the bank to fill up 10-year-old clunkers that we can’t afford to trade in, take a moment to lust after the drive of your dreams in Media City’s take on the best of the car glossies.

Motor Trend‘s September issue introduces new, exciting updates on popular classics: the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe and the Chevy Camaro. While they are very different cars, both have been reimagined in very modern ways. The mag features lots of eye candy of both autos – big, glossy high-resolution shots of every angle. A piece on the new Chevy Silverado Hybrid pickup looks at some of the more advanced hybrid technology, and the article predicts an all-out revolution. Too often, though, the magazine’s praise for supercars like the new Porsche 911 and Audi R8 borders on sycophantic.

The Camaro is also heavily profiled in Car and Driver, lending credence to its popularity among auto enthusiasts. But the coverage relies on text without pictorial evidence of the car’s sublimity. The head-to-head comparison of the Ferrari Fiorano and the Aston Martin DBS is entertaining and provides a close look at two powerful, impressive vehicles. The remainder of the issue, though, is filled with formulaic reviews lacking any wittiness or personality.

Road & Track‘s review of the 2009 Mazda6 in its “first drive” section is one of the few bright spots in the September issue. Though the review labels it the poor man’s Lexus, it lays out all of the Mazda6’s advantages, including cost, style and convenient tech features, that make it a very attractive option. The issue is at its weakest when it goes into complicated technical details about the inner workings of the car’s suspension and state-of-the-art braking systems. A photo feature on the BMW M1 driving around Italy’s Lake Como feels contrived.

Regular readers of the New Yorker have grown accustomed to a steady diet of stories on Iraq and China. This week there is a standard serving of both. The magazine revisits the debate over the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy through the story of Maj. Alan Rogers, an African-American soldier and ordained minister who died in Iraq. Rogers was gay – a fact that went largely unreported while those close to him tried to figure out his wishes. The sensitive story explores the disconnect between Rogers’ public and private lives as well as the policy’s shortcomings. On the Beijing front, Editor-in-Chief David Remnick eschews Olympic athletes in favor of Chinese pianist Lang Lang, rumored to be “the focal point” of the games’ opening ceremonies. Part profile, part political dissertation, it reminds of the Great Wall: a rare structure, but long, winding and repetitious in style and substance.

Time printed three different covers for its Olympics preview issue, but we bet most people will be drawn to the one featuring 41-year-old swimmer and supermom Dara Torres. With her taut body gracing the cover, readers can’t be blamed for thinking they had picked up a copy of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue by accident. In general, the Olympics coverage sticks to the superficial and steers clear of politics. The mag profiles 100 Olympics competitors, ranging from NBA star LeBron James to Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang. If you’re able to look past Torres’ incredible abs to read the rest of the issue, the mag takes a trip to our endangered coral reefs and discovers that help is on the way from – of all places – the White House.

Newsweek also has China and the Olympics on the brain, but it tackles more serious subjects. An article by journalist and scholar Orville Schelle argues that bashing Beijing now would be bad, with the nation just starting to overcome its “history of humiliation.” Schelle suggests that protests against China, which he said has long suffered from an inferiority complex, could lead to a nationalist backlash. It’s hard to imagine that this rising powerhouse has been beaten up so badly over the years that it behaves like a wounded animal when cornered. Then again, the country did once proclaim a “National Humiliation Day.”

At a time when Americans are feeling the pain at the pump, BusinessWeek argues that there might be some benefit to more expensive energy. Obviously, this isn’t a popular viewpoint in these days of $4-a-gallon gas, but the magazine deserves props for pointing out that it’s time to address a host of ills brought on by two decades of cheap oil. The pub isn’t all smiles, however, about our energy situation. It acknowledges we’re in for a nasty shock this summer from electricity bills. Blame increasing prices of coal and natural gas, rising demand and an aging energy grid. Ouch!