Users in our Roadrunner forum note that Time Warner and their ISP subsidiary Roadrunner have been playing around in the car sales business (see TV commercial) for a few years. While it's certainly normal for companies to branch out into other fields (Comcast just bought Fandango, after all) it's a little strange to see that their car sales website, BeepBeep.com, simply re-constitutes the Roadrunner ISP logo and privacy policy.

It's worth noting because it demonstrates how wide of a net ISPs are casting into the content arena in order to avoid being dumb-pipe providers who just (gasp) sell bandwidth. Time Warner is probably trying to get maximum mileage out of their Looney Toons properties but still, you'd think a company that large could afford a slightly original design.

Note that Cox is engaged in a similar push via their GoScoutAutos.com and GoScoutHomes.com web properties. Somewhere there's an angry mid-level manager, concerned Cox missed out on some synergy by not using their Digital Max character to hock condos and Volvos. Will we ever again see broadband providers who simply sell -- bandwidth? Would you pay for a provider who simply offered a skeleton connection (no portal, e-mail, security services support)?