Had you heard that the Natl Highway and Traffic Safety Admin was trying to discourage bikers from attending Bike Week in Fla, and Rolling Thunder in Va? Yes.

the NHTSA‘s Motorcycle Law Enforcement Demonstration Program provides states with federal funding for traffic checkpoints that stop only motorcyclists. The checkpoints allow law enforcement to inspect motorcycles and determine if they meet state standards ranging such as noise levels, tire conditions and handlebar lengths.

Very focused on discriminating against bikers. Yes, their bikes are too damn loud. Agreed. But so is my 69 R/T. I know it, so do they, yet we still thumbs up each other on the freeway over how damn loud each other are. Yup, I haven't grown up yet.

Good news, a couple senators and house of reps congressmen have gotten bills in place to see if this NHTSA nonsense can be made illegal

http://blog.motorcycle.com/2014/03/07/industry-news/new-bipartisan-senate-bill-ban-funding-motorcycle-checkpoints/

B 24 being restored in Australia for 19 years is now taking longer to restore than it's hanger building will last, and needs a new hanger to finish restoration

Full story at http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/b-24-liberator-restoration-australia-home.html

Quirky fact, it was being used as a chicken coop in Moe Victoria in 1995 when found 

Russian tank graveyard found by a young guy with a camera

once a tank repair facility, then it became redundant and the tanks became obsolete, and the broken tanks were never moved

Story at http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/462850/Amazing-pictures-of-hidden-Soviet-tank-graveyard-in-Ukraine-taken-by-plucky-teenager

Perfect Isetta's selling for 40 thou at auction

more about them, and photos from http://mycarquest.com/2014/03/all-three-bmw-isettas-sold-at-the-gooding-auction-at-amelia-island.html

American LaFrance is done. Closed the doors, turned off the lights.

The company's roots go back to 1832 as a firefighting equipment maker. It began building steam-powered, horse-drawn fire engines in the era before the internal combustion engine and merged with LaFrance in 1903 to become one of America's leading fire engine builders. Unfortunately, the 21st century was not been so kind to the company. Freightliner bought it in 1995 and production was moved from North Carolina to South Carolina, but it was sold again in December 2005. After declaring and emerging from bankruptcy in 2008, American LaFrance moved to a smaller factory in Moncks Corner, SC, in 2013

info from http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/07/american-lafrance-fire-engines-closed/
and  http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2014/02/farewell-to-american-lafrance.html

Once the colossus of the American fire apparatus industry, American LaFrance LLC (ALF) abruptly closed its South Carolina plant on January 17 --the sad end of a storied dynasty extending back 114 years (182 years if you include predecessor companies that trace their roots back to 1832). The American-LaFrance Fire Engine Company of Elmira, New York, was founded in 1904.

The legendary nameplate now joins other once-revered names like Maxim, Pirsch and Ahrens-Fox in the pantheon of U.S. motor fire apparatus history.

The Corvettes are getting pulled out of the sinkhole

found on, and all the info, videos, and more photos at http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/03/04/recovery-crews-lift-1962-corvette-from-national-corvette-museum-sinkhole/

Fiat declares 93 Vipers must be crushed, they aren't street legal, and donated to schools for educational programs (never heard of a race car being give to a school before!)

those hoods are roughly a 18 thousand dollar part. Carbon fiber... true fact



Automotive professors and students at South Puget Sound Community College were in shock Tuesday after being notified their $250,000 pre-production Dodge Viper SRT must be destroyed within two weeks.

Steven Glasco, vehicle donations coordinator at Chrysler, confirmed that the complete collection of the educational donation Vipers nationwide must be crushed. He would not comment further on the numbers of vehicles or why the decision was made.

Chapman said he was told by a company official that the destruction of 93 vehicles is the result of two educational Vipers that “got loose” and were involved in accidents, costing parent company Fiat millions of dollars.

Car companies regularly donate damaged, non-street-legal, or unsellable vehicles to high schools, colleges and tech schools to be used for training students. SPSCC has about 20 donated vehicles in its auto shop.

Part of the contract with the donated Viper reads that it will be destroyed if the company orders it to be.

The 1992 Dodge Viper is the fourth produced by the company.

Chapman admits the Viper has limited educational value — few mechanics will ever have to work on such a specialized vehicle. But it is a prized promotional tool for the auto program, which displays the car at high schools and auto shows around the state.

“Everybody wants their picture taken with the Viper,” professor Bob Riggin said. He said visiting teachers and dignitaries often get to actually drive the car when it’s strapped down to the shop’s dynamometer. “This car belongs in a museum, not in a crusher,” he said, adding that Jay Leno had unsuccessfully tried to purchase the Viper for his personal collection.

Scot Keller, chief curator at LeMay-America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, said he would love to have a prototype Viper at the museum “These are magnificent cars,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want a Viper?”

But, having been a GM executive himself for many years, Keller said he knows that trying to rescue this one would almost certainly be pointless.

“I’m an enthusiast but also a realist,” he said. “In this case, I feel somewhat obligated to protect the industry. It’s easy to say, ‘Those doggone people in the industry.’ But having sat in a number of meetings on issues like this, I see the other side.

“It’s heartbreaking if you love cars,” Keller said, “but it’s the only thing companies can do to keep the cars from getting out there and people potentially being harmed in them because they are not up to standards.”

Found on http://www.theolympian.com/2014/03/04/3016193/rare-sports-car-at-spscc-must.html thanks to Dave!

Christmas delivery intercepted by cops for some unknown reason. 40 boxes in xmas wrapping paper containing pot, 20 pounds total

A Miami man was caught trying to bring a green Christmas up to the folks of Pennsylvania. Randy Jesus Valdivia, a 38-year-old resident of Surfside, wasn't driving a sleigh, but instead a 2014 Dodge Caravan. On Thursday afternoon, police pulled over the vehicle for displaying "criminal activity indicators" in a small town near the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

According to the Centre Daily Times, police were suspicious of the several wrapped Christmas presents in the car. Valdivia gave the permission to search the car. The police just couldn't wait until Christmas and opened the present early.

Inside the wrapped boxes they found sealed plastic bags of marijuana. Forty of them in fact. All in all Valdivia had about 20 pounds of pot wrapped as Christmas presents. The street value was estimated to be about $160,000.

Valdivia was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver.

Valdivia had previously been charged with possession of marijuana in Miami-Dade back in 2003, but those charges were ultimately dismissed. Charges of grand theft and assaults back in the '90s were similarly dismissed.

info from http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/12/miami_man_caught_with_160k_of.php

My question, what tips cops off that a 2014 Caravan on a freeway is suspicious?

Valdivia is not white, is it possible that Pennsylvania cops are trained to consider Spanish heritage a “criminal indicator?"

After running a check on Valdivia’s license and registration, the police came up empty handed -- he was clean.

Yet, before letting him go, officers asked him for permission to search his vehicle. Unfortunately, the man consented to the search, which led to officers ripping open the Christmas presents where they discovered 40 vacuum-sealed bricks of weed -- valued at $160,000. http://www.hightimes.com/read/pot-smuggling-jesus-busted-pa

So, nothing in the report says erratic driving or breaking ANY traffic law, and the license plate checked out legal. So why pull him over? Even his drivers license came up clean. 

Comeback Motors in Argentina is making exact replicas of the 1916 Indian board track racer

for more: https://www.facebook.com/carlosfabian.macinskas

investigation in New Orleans finds traffic court judge seasoned traffic law violator (surprise!)

An investigation by WWLTV in New Orleans found that several traffic court judges and clerks were using illegal license plates and lights on their taxpayer funded cars. Yes, they get free cars.

 According to the report, five taxpayer-funded cars had been outfitted with blue emergency dashboard lights, which is a violation of state law.

 Judge Jones III also had another piece of equipment on his car that was a potential traffic violation: A plastic cover over his license plate that reflects flash cameras like those used to collect tickets for driving violations. Using the plastic cover is another violation of state law.

Found on http://autos.aol.com/article/traffic-officials-illegal-plates/

New Hampshire city attorney sues parking meter feeders, they are cutting into city revenue by preventing the meter maids from writing tickets

The city of Keene, N.H., has sued a group that feeds change into parking meters that are about to expire, saying members are harassing parking enforcement officers.

The group calls itself "Robin Hood of Keene." Members walk city streets with rolls of dimes and quarters to feed the meters. WMUR-TV reports the city accuses the group of interfering with officers' work. It asks them to stay at least 50 feet away.

The group records its time outside and posts videos online, sometimes showing members following the officers.

The city says one officer suffered stress, anxiety and heart palpitations from the group's actions. Group member Garret Ean says he's not trying to cause any medical problems. He says he tries to keep a good demeanor with all the parking meter enforcers.

Found on http://autos.aol.com/article/parking-meter-new-hampshire-keene-police-robin-hood/

A Saudi Arabian Muslim told a Saudi news outlet that driving does damage to women's ovaries and pelvises, and that by driving they risk giving birth to children with 'clinical problems.' (WTF is the brain damage among men in Moslem?)

According to CNN, Sheikh Saleh Al-Loheidan told the Saudi news website sabq.org that medical studies have shown driving to affect women's ovaries and pelvises.

"We find that for women who continuously drive cars, their children are born with varying degrees of clinical problems," Al-Loheidan said.

Al-Loheidan's comments were made in reaction to Saudi Arabian activist attempts to organize women to defy the Kingdom's ban on female drivers. Over 12,000 women have signed up on the site Oct26driving.com, declaring their intention to defy the ban on Oct. 26.

"Since there are no clear justifications for the state to ban adult, capable women from driving. We call for enabling women to have driving tests and for issuing licenses for those who pass," the petition states.

NBC reported that while no law specifically prohibits women from driving, the notorious government sanctioned religious morality police arrest female drivers based on religious edicts.

found on http://autos.aol.com/article/driving-likely-to-damage-ovaries-says-saudi-cleric/

Though the honest scorn and derision is completely my own. Go ahead, declare a religious WTF against me, see if I give a damn, I'm not going back to the sandbox... Australia is much more my style. 

New TV show on Discovery called Rods and Wheels

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/rods-n-wheels

A vintage railcar diner in Virginia is finally getting some publicity, built in 1954, reopened in the 70's... then in the 90's bought by a waitress who worked there for 7 years, and still owned and ran by her

The Exmore Diner was originally a railcar brought down to Exmore from New Jersey by the Diner's first owner in 1954. The Diner closed in the late 50s, then reopened in the 70s under new management. Evelyn Pruitt, who worked as a waitress here for seven years, bought the Diner in 1989. Today the Diner is a family run operation employing her son Sean and daughter-in-law Crystal.

Info from http://www.exmorediner.com/index.htm photos from http://retroroadmap.com/spot/exmore-diner-vintage-diner-eastern-shore-virginia/  via http://dd20century.tumblr.com/post/72762357797/a-visit-to-the-exmore-diner

Rose lake is a Porsche grave... it once was a sinkhole that swallowed a Porsche repair shop in Winter Haven Fla

30 years ago in Winter Park, Florida, under a German car repair shop, asinkhole opened up taking five Porsches and a Datsun pickup truck with it.

Ralph had heard that a sinkhole opened up earlier in the day near the repair shop where his Porsche 911 was in for service, and he wanted to see if the news had picked up on the story. About as soon as the television came on, he saw the back of the repair shop crumble, revealing his Mexico Blue 911, and then seconds later watched as the 911 plunged into the widening hole.

 “Well, that’s what happened to your car!” one of his friends said, and turned the television off.

The sinkhole started forming late that Friday evening and rapidly spread the next day, captivating the nation. It eventually became the largest natural sinkhole that people saw form, and gobbled up at least one residence, part of the town’s pool, parts of two streets, a Datsun pickup truck with camper, and five or six Porsches.

most of the cars were removed from the pit, but two Porsches weren't, and are still down there. A 928 was owned by a guy that a year later was busted for drugs...Stories have circulated that one of the cars retrieved from the sinkhole was full of cocaine. Fritsche said he never heard anything of the sort, but a year later, the owner of another car that fell into the Winter Park sinkhole – realtor Bob Govern, whose 1979 Porsche 928 was retrieved with Fritsche’s 911 – was sentenced to 45 years in prison for helping run a $300 million marijuana ring. “I wish it had just gone down the hole,” Govern told the Orlando Sentinel in 1991.  Really? I'm not surprised that a real estate guy in Orlando in 1981 with a 2 year old 928 was busted for drugs, are you?

photos from and information found on http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/02/12/sinkhole-81-the-day-the-earth-swallowed-five-porsches/

Connecticut has found a new way to tax the drivers... snowy car tickets.

State Police are aggressively ticketing drivers who ignore Connecticut's new "ice missile" law, which requires motorists to remove all snow and ice from their vehicles.

Since the law took effect Jan. 1, state police have issued at least 230 tickets to truckers and motorists who were driving snow-covered vehicles. At $120 per summons -- the fine is $75 plus $45 in various surcharges -- that amounts to $27,600 in tickets in a month and a half.

If snow is on a vehicle and it comes off, you're responsible," Vance said.

Vance could not break down the number of tickets issued to motorists and truck drivers, who face the added burden of clearing snow from tall trailers not easily accessible from the ground.

According to the law, drivers must "remove any accumulated ice or snow from such motor vehicle, including the hood, trunk and roof of such motor vehicle, so that any ice or snow accumulated on such vehicle does not pose a threat to persons or property while the vehicle is being operated on any street or highway of this state."

The law was passed in 2010 but implementation was delayed to Jan. 1, 2014, to allow the public to become aware of the regulation and for trucking companies to develop ways to remove snow from big rigs.

If snow falls off a passenger car and damages another vehicle or causes an accident, the operator can be fined $200. Commercial drivers face a $500 fine.

Found on
http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Ice-missiles-snowball-into-cash-for-state-5243274.php

And that is my news for the day

A movie about the Targa Florio is coming

the early Targa Florio Race story that is being told by the upcoming movie Pistons, Passions and Sicilian Pleasures and the publication The Belle Epoque of the Targa Florio Races, a new book written by David Biggins and Antonio Lombardi

The first Targa Florio was organized by Italian enthusiast Vincenzo Florio in 1906. The race at that time was a three lap event over a 92.7-mile circuit on the island of Sicily. Alessandro Cagno in an Itala won the event, taking 9.5 hours to finish, while averaging 29 mph for the run: Carlo Graziani was second in another Itala, and Paul Bablot in a Berliet was third. Florio a prominent Sicilian had previously initiated the Coppa Brescia held in Italy and first run there in 1900. It was renamed the Coppa Florio in 1905 after he offered the initial prize money and a trophy for the race.

Found on http://theoldmotor.com/?p=112112

Vauxhall launches four new special edition models

VAUXHALL has launched new, more lavishly-equipped versions of no less than four of its models.

The company said this week it has launched the new twists on the Corsa, Astra, Astra GTC and Insignia, called simply the Limited Edition versions, which include up to £2,000 worth of what were previously optional extras as standard.

The cheapest version, based on the Corsa, has a starting price of £8,995. To find out more about the Limited Edition range go to www.vauxhall.co.uk

The real world stars of the 2013 Geneva Motor Show

YOU'D be forgiven for thinking the Geneva Motor Show has been packed with millionaire motors, given the amount of shiny new supercars that have been grabbing the headlines.

The Swiss show is one of the biggest dates in the car calendar for new models and announcements, and while the Alan Sugars and Kanye Wests of this world can gorge themselves on a smorgasboard of new Ferraris, McLarens, Porsches and Astons, there's also scores of stunning new arrivals which are aimed firmly at real world motorists.

Take, for instance, the new estate - sorry, Tourer - version of Honda's Civic, which you'll like because it's reliable, roomy and reasonably priced but I like because I think it looks as good as it does. There's also confirmation there's a new Civic Type R on the way, which is great news for hot hatch fans who aren't taken by the new VW Golf GTi, which was also unveiled at the show.

Renault, meanwhile, are eyeing up a slice of the sales cake currently enjoyed by Nissan's Juke, with the new Captur proving to be a high-rise, smartly-styled spin on the firm's recently reinvented Clio. It'll have tough competition, however, with Peugeot trying a similar trick with its new 2008 model.

Ford are hoping to find their feet at the show with the Ecosport, a small off-roader which uses the company's clever Ecoboost engines and slick styling which the Blue Oval are hoping will help it repeat the success the model has already enjoyed in South America.

There's also a lot of fans of al fresco motoring which has been newly unveiled too, including the convertible version of the Toyota GT86 Life On Cars touched on a few weeks ago, and the Cascada, a full-sized four seater which Vauxhall are hoping will win plenty of fans.

Oh, and there's the new V8 version of Jaguar's F-Type, the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever produced, a replacement for Bentley's Flying Spur, McLaren's successor to the F1, the imaginatively-titled P1, a new Porsche 911 GT3 and the LaFerrari, the fastest, most powerful Ferrari to date.

Not that any of you real world motorists would be interested in any of THOSE, of course...

McLaren unveils new successor to F1 supercar

 

IF YOU liked the McLaren MP4-12C then you'll love the stunning new supercar its creators have come up with.

The McLaren P1 - which luckily has a slightly less confusing name than its smaller sister - is being billed as the spiritual successor to the company's F1 supercar of the 1990s, which held the honour of being the world's fastest production car for more than a decade thanks to its 627bhp BMW Motorsport V12 and its slippery, Peter Stevens-shaped body.

Ron Dennis, exectutive chairman of McLaren Automotive, said: "The McLaren P1 will be the result of 50 years of racing and road car heritage.

"Twenty years ago we raised the supercar performance bar with the McLaren F1 and our goal with the McLaren P1 is to redefine it once again."


There's no official word on the car's performance - the old F1 could shoot to sixty in 3.2 seconds, before heading onto a top speed of 241mph - but expect it to be significantly quicker than the smaller MP4-12C, which can already hit 207mph thanks to its 592bhp twin-turbocharged V8 engine.

At the moment the P1 is being presented as a "design study" but the company has already said it expects a production version to be unveiled within the next 12 months.