1958 Eldorado Biarritz "Raindrop" prototype, and person car of Harley Earl in retirement, going to auction

Found on http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/04/06/one-of-two-remaining-cadillac-eldorado-biarritz-raindrop-prototype-heads-to-auction/

Land Rover now immortalized on currency

Found on http://www.retrovisiones.com/2014/07/malawi-pais-fierrrero/

Nitto's Battle of the Street is down to the final match, Porsche GT3 vs McLaren 650

I'm guessing that the McLaren wins. You'd think Nitto would know the L is capitalized in McLaren.

and check out the brilliant turn signal on the McLaren 570: http://jalopnik.com/the-mclaren-570s-has-the-best-integrated-marker-light-e-1695569716



Skip the first minute, then you'll see how uneven the matches were. The Lambo and GT R never stood a chance.

http://battleofthestreets.nittotire.com/

It is "Distracted Driver Awareness Month" and cops are getting into action (what do they do the other 11 months a year?)

Chula Vista, a district of San Diego, on the South side of the city, has it's own police force, and yesterday they waited until 4pm for rush hour to begin, and then they began looking into vehicles for texting, distracted driving via holding phones up to ears, and seat belt violations.

In 6 hours, they had stopped 140 cars, wrote out tickets to 65 people driving while on the phone, 45 for texting while driving, and 18 for vehicle code violations like tinted windows and non functioning brake lights, and 2 people for drivers licenses expired.

This was the first of a weekly effort in the month of April, to take one day a week to focus on doing their job relative to the traffic section of the laws they are supposed to be paying attention to. What they do the other 48 weeks a year, well, that wasn't a question that the news dept of Fox 5 asked.

The California Office of Traffic Safety, the California Highway Patrol, local police departments, the county sheriff’s department and other law enforcement agencies planned to ramp up their efforts to prevent distracted driving throughout the month.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/04/03/cops-ticket-110-drivers-in-6-hours-for-using-cell-phones/

So, once May begins, we can expect to not see as many cops paying attention to this aspect of their job again. After all, they are allowed to call and text, and operate the police car laptop while driving.

The only April fools day pranks to fool me... hey, we all seen crazier prices

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/2015/04/01/kidney-anyone-datsun-510-sells-for-247000/

Update on the NYPD asshole, Detective Patrick Cherry

Detective Patrick Cherry has been removed from the department’s elite Joint Terrorism Task Force and will be doing desk duty until he is officially transferred out of the prestigious division. “No good cop should watch that video without a wince,” Commissioner Bill Bratton said at a Wednesday press conference. “Because all good cops know that officer just made their jobs a little bit harder.”

“In that kind of encounter, anger like that is unacceptable,” Bratton continued. “In any encounter, discourtesy and obscene language like that is unacceptable. “That officer’s behavior reflected poorly on everyone who wears our uniform.”

Cherry has been the subject of a dozen prior CCRB complaints, going back more than 10 years, some for exhibiting the same sort of verbal abuse, a source said.

The officer was trying to park an unmarked car along the West Side Highway in Greenwich Village without using a blinker, according to statements made in the video. The Uber driver apparently honked at him and and made a gesture with his hand as he tried to park his unmarked car.
The car Cherry drives in the video does not belong to the NYPD, according to a police source.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/01/cop-that-berated-uber-driver-stripped-of-badge-and-gun/

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-investigating-video-officer-harassing-uber-driver-article-1.2167958

Top Gear pull the guys off the website, replace him with Stig

Yesterday was day one of not having a contract with Clarkson, May, and Hammond... so, poof. They are persona non grata on the Top Gear website http://www.topgear.com/uk/

Learned about this from http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/2/8333763/top-gear-website-removes-clarkson-hammond-may

Meanwhile over hear on BBC America

They are still on. I wonder if that is a marketing thing because it's BBC America, and not BBC2

Update on the NYPD asshole

CNN) — A New York police detective assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force with top-secret security clearance has been placed on modified assignment, and faces suspension, reassignment or loss of his clearance after an incident with an Uber driver Monday that was captured on video, officials said.

 Police Commissioner William Bratton on Wednesday said the detective was placed on modified assignment pending an investigation. Bratton, who called the officer’s behavior “unacceptable and discourteous,” said the detective was on duty at the time.

“There’s just no place for any public servant to use discriminatory or negative language,” he said. “Obviously, our police play a particularly sensitive role and need to show respect for all people.”

The findings will be presented to the board, which will make an official determination on whether misconduct was committed, Sachs said. The board will either refer the decision to the NYPD with a disciplinary recommendation, or decide to bring up the officer with administrative charges, with the decision presented to the police commissioner. CNN’s Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/04/01/video-shows-nypd-officer-berating-uber-driver/

Update on bicycles stolen from Naval Station San Diego Medical Center

These aren't ordinary bikes, some are made specific to the needs of vets with amputated arms or legs.
the adaptive bikes are much more than just recreational. They’re therapeutic for many veterans struggling with injuries.

Sandi Lehmkuhler of the Warrior Foundation/Freedom Station says, the theft was heartbreaking. “I don't know how to express this without being really cruel, this is like stealing one of our guy's wheelchairs or their crutches."

“We saw the story on the news and of course it made us angry and sad, and the story ended,” says Joe Getty "...we care about our vets in this country so Americans immediately chipped in and bought them new bikes. And they hardly missed a ride. So that's what we tried to do. I guess the audience felt the same way because we raised the money to replace the bikes (and more) in less than an hour. I'm proud of the KFMB and Armstrong and Getty audience. They did a really good thing today.”

San Diego listeners of the AM760 radio show donated 25 thousand dollars
http://www.sandiegojack.com/story/28698655/san-diegans-raise-25000-to-replace-stolen-bikes


Curt Schilling offered a reward to anyone that finds and returns the bikes “two tickets and two seats to ANY game in the country for whoever makes this happen… with travel paid.”
http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/04/01/curt-schilling-offers-reward-to-find-wounded-veterans-stolen-bicycles/

16 bikes stolen from combat wounded in San Diego

16 custom-made bikes were stolen last Tuesday from a storage unit at the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

They belonged to the Vets2Trails therapeutic mountain biking program that supports the PTSD program at Naval Medical Center San Diego

Anyone with information should contact Jamie Rihn at 910-382-2003 or by emailing jamier@ride2recovery.com

News from http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/03/31/16-custom-bicycles-stolen-from-wounded-veterans/

Update April 1st
http://www.sandiegojack.com/story/28698655/san-diegans-raise-25000-to-replace-stolen-bikes

San Diegans donate 25 thousand dollars on the AM760 radio show Armstrong and Getty

http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/04/01/curt-schilling-offers-reward-to-find-wounded-veterans-stolen-bicycles/
Curt Schilling offers reward of “two tickets and two seats to ANY game in the country for whoever makes this happen… with travel paid.” to anyone that finds and returns the bikes

Lots of kerfluffle about Top Gear, but why hasn't Jeremy Clarkson been interviewed? Or May, or Hammonds?

The UK newspaper the Telegraph reports that Richard and James did not sign to renew their contract with BBC2 for Top Gear, and so they are free agents. Jeremy is fired.

So why hasn't anyone gotten any statement from Jeremy in weeks?

His monthly column ran in this past months Top Gear magazine, but I can't find an online version of it, and it was written long before he punched johnny-never-heard-of-you.

Oddly, all 3 are contracted to do Top Gear Live events with a the BBC Worldwide and Brand Events consortium called Sub Zero.

The problem is that since Top Gear has fired Jeremy, the events can't be branded and marketing the Top Gear show, but have already sold out 4 shows this weekend in Norway.

Top Gear Live has a string of international events lined up this year, with the next under threat potentially Sydney in April and Johannesburg in June. The UK stops on the tour – Belfast in May, Sheffield in June and London’s O2 in November – have been guaranteed by UK promoter Live Nation.

Top Gear Live makes more than £11m in revenues annually and this year’s global tour is understood to have sold more than 100,000 tickets.

Newsflash:
The worldwide tour, previously known as Top Gear Live and fronted by Clarkson alongside co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May, will be renamed Clarkson, Hammond and May Live. The shows have been stripped of Top Gear and BBC branding.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/31/top-gear-tour-featuring-jeremy-clarkson-to-go-ahead-without-shows-branding

100 year old cross country race

https://www.facebook.com/centuryrace

https://www.facebook.com/groups/372875496234633/
http://www.centuryrace.com/

Cops in the news today 1) shot an unarmed motorist suspected of an expired inspection sticker in the back as he lay on the ground, zonked by her tazer 2)New Jersey cop DWI kills 2, driving against traffic plowing into a semi, one was a cop, one was his friend

Pennsylvania police officer was charged Tuesday with criminal homicide after investigators concluded she shot an unarmed motorist in the back as he lay facedown after a traffic stop over an expired inspection sticker.

Authorities accused Hummelstown police Officer Lisa J. Mearkle of shooting 59-year-old David Kassick twice on Feb. 2 without legal justification.

Mearkle had attempted to pull over Kassick for expired inspection and emissions stickers before he sped away. She caught up to Kassick near his sister's home where he had been living for a short time.

He got out and ran before Mearkle incapacitated him with a stun gun, held in her left hand. He was on the ground when she shot him twice in the back with the gun in her right hand, police said.
http://news.yahoo.com/pa-officer-charged-fatal-shooting-unarmed-motorist-165424205.html

The off-duty New Jersey police officer hired in 2008 who was behind the wheel was among four people in a car early Friday when he drove the wrong way on a Staten Island highway after a night at a New York strip club, crashing head-on into a tractor-trailer that killed another officer and a friend last week in New York City, he had previously had his driver's license suspended for driving under the influence, an official said Tuesday.

Officer Pedro Abad Jr., had his license suspended for seven months starting in October 2013, restored in March 2014, a judge found he refused to submit to a chemical test and was also driving under the influence, he had to use an ignition lock until September 2014.
http://news.yahoo.com/officer-behind-wheel-fatal-wrong-way-crash-had-185420604.html

just in time for easter, the Jeep Renegade has arrived at dealerships with dozens of easter eggs

not an easter egg, but the fog lights come on when you have the headlights and and turn the wheel, to light up the direction you are going toward. Notice the lights between the headlights and the foglights at the top of the bumper too

taillights with Gerry Can shape and the jeep grill in the center

the headlights have the jeep grill in the center

Jerry can X design in the middle of the D

the word Jeep in the seat fabric

the microphone for the phone system is the jeep grill

the Jeep grill design in the inside of the hatch

and the word Jeep under the package shelf

the military warning for areas that can't hold your weight, like the areo trim on the bottom runner

Jeep grill designs under the climate controls, and a topography map

also inside the center armrest storage compartment

and a Willys Jeep on the windshield

there are more, and different ones in the high dollar option trim level model, the Trailhawk

instead of the word Jeep in the seat material, it's a topography map

the Gerry can design in the cupholders

and best of all, the pushbutton ignition switch has the phrase "To new adventures!"

and bigfoot in the back window

Clarkson is not getting his contract renewed, the BBC has spoken. It expires March 31st. He's suspended until then anyway, so effectively, Top Gear goes on without him from now on

https://www.facebook.com/GlobalAutomotiveConnection?fref=photo

Whether Clarkson's co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond will remain on the show has yet to be confirmed. All three had their contracts up for renewal this year, with Clarkson's due to expire at the end of March.

Top Gear, one of BBC Two's most popular programms, will continue without Clarkson, who will now become the subject of a bidding war by other broadcasters, if Jeremy cares to stay in broadcasting, and if James and Richard care to renew their contracts, or possibly the 3 will want to renew their team with another show with another network.

The firing has nothing to do with style, opinions, popularity - or even his language on the show. It's about what stars are allowed to get away with off screen, a topic that's been top of the agenda for the BBC in recent months.

The corporation has had to overhaul all of its policies and attitudes towards bullying and harassment, and a long verbal tirade and a physical assault would have crossed the line for any member of staff.

Clarkson was suspended on 10 March, following what was called a "fracas" with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon, reported to have occurred because no hot food was provided following a day's filming.
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32052736

"the incident occurred on a patio area of the Simonstone Hall Hotel, where Oisin Tymon was working on location for Top Gear;  the physical attack lasted around 30 seconds and was halted by the intervention of a witness;  it is the case that Oisin Tymon offered no retaliation;  the verbal abuse was directed at Oisin Tymon on more than one occasion – both during the attack and subsequently inside the hotel – and contained the strongest expletives and threats to sack him. The abuse was at such volume as to be heard in the dining room, and the shouting was audible in a hotel bedroom;  derogatory and abusive language, relating to Oisin Tymon and other members of the Top Gear team, continued to be used by Jeremy Clarkson inside the hotel, in the presence of others, for a sustained period of time; It was not disputed by Jeremy Clarkson or any witness that Oisin Tymon was the victim of an unprovoked physical and verbal attack. It is also clear to me that Oisin Tymon is an important creative member of the Top Gear team who is well-valued and respected. He has suffered significant personal distress as a result of this incident, through no fault of his own."  http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/investigation-summary.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/JeremyClarksonFanPage
https://www.facebook.com/topgearukfanclub

Irwindale is getting bulldozed under to make way for another shopping center a year from now

It was sold in 2013...  so this was easy to predict

The 63-acre site, bordered by the San Gabriel Valley Freeway and Live Oak Avenue, has changed uses several times since the 1960s, when it was a quarry, mined for sand and gravel by Pacific Rock.

When the mining operation ended in the mid ’70s, it was converted into a 200-foot deep landfill of mainly construction waste for nearly 20 years.

It later became home to the Irwindale Speedway in 1999.

When Irwindale Outlet Partners, LLC purchased the property for $22 million in September 2013, the owner extended the lease with 211 Enterprises, which operates the Irwindale Event Center, on a year-by-year basis.

Romo said the existing lease will continue until the owner secures at least 65 percent of the outlet tenants.

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/government-and-politics/20150323/irwindale-speedway-likely-to-be-demolished-for-outlet-mall


Still on track are the final event of the national Formula Drift Series, the annual Mooneyes Holiday Party, Hot VWs Drag Days, and the El Camino Motorcycle Show

http://www.irwindalespeedway.com/speedwayschedule.php

http://www.irwindalespeedway.com/home_featured_stories.php?id=69

special edition Ford Mustangs auctioned annually for the EAA Young Eagles to get young people encouraged and interested in aviation

2009 Ford Mustang AV8R

2010 Ford Mustang AV-X10 "Dearborn Doll"

2011 Ford Mustang SR-71 Blackbird

Blue Angels Edition 2012 Ford Mustang GT

2013 Tuskegee Airmen "Red Tails" Special Edition Ford Mustang GT

2014 U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Edition Ford Mustang GT

2015 Ford F-35 Lightning II Edition Mustang

The unique vehicles produced by Ford are auctioned off in support of EAA Young Eagles which encourages young people to get involved in aviation:

2008 – Mustang AV8R, with cues from the F-22 “Raptor,” which helped introduce the glass-roof
       canopy and delivered a record auction contribution of $500,000
2009 – The AV-X10 “Dearborn Doll” Mustang was crafted in honor of World War II aircraft
2010 – Two automotive icons – the late Carroll Shelby, a former U.S. Air Force flight instructor, and
      Jack Roush, longtime P-51 pilot – collaborated for the first time to create the SR-71 Blackbird
      Mustang inspired by the legendary reconnaissance jet
2011 – The Blue Angels Mustang celebrated 100 years of United States naval aviation
2012 – The Red Tails Mustang paid homage to the Tuskegee Airmen, the courageous squadron of
         P-51 Mustang pilots who were the United States’ first African American military airmen
2013 – The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Edition Mustang celebrated the 60th anniversary of the
       U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/unique-ford-mustang-gt-celebrates-60th-anniversary-us-air-force-thunderbirds
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/06/blue-angels-themed-mustang-to-be-auctioned-off-at-eaa-airventure/
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/30/one-off-sr-71-mustang-sells-for-375-000-at-eaa-airventure/
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/19/ford-shows-off-av-x10-dearborn-doll-mustang-built-for-eaa-gath/
http://auto-kinesis.com/2012/07/ford-celebrates-tuskegee-airmen-with-red-tails-edition-mustang-gt/
https://dicksautogroup.wordpress.com/tag/eaa-airventure/
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/24/one-off-ford-mustang-av8r-to-be-auctioned-for-charity/