Fabulous Fords Forever Poster

The absolute biggest single make auto show on the west coast is the Fabulous Fords Forever show. It got started here at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center at Griffith Park in 1984. It has grown so big its since been moved to Knott’s Berry Farm. It is one of my all time favorite shows. Its about a lot of cars, fun people and celebrities. I had the chance to meet the legendary racer/builder Carroll Shelby two years ago, Henry Ford III last year.  Hell, I even absent-minded walked right into Jack Nicholson while I was all agog over the cars.

Every year there is a new theme to the show with new guests as well.  This year among the 2000+ cars, it will be celebrating 110 years of Ford Motor Company with a display of milestone cars. Additional features are 85 years of the Ford Model A, 45 years of the Torino and 20 years of SVT. They have cars registered from 13 states and Canada, covering 55 classes of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks, plus several displays of the latest from Ford and Ford Racing.

The guest of honor is the celebrated Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin, Jr., who will have his latest drifting Mustang on display along with his RTR Mustang stable.  Linda Vaughn will be in attendance with a team of legendary 1960’s drag racers of California fame. Meet and greets will be available with them.

Deets: Sunday April 21, 2013 from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Knott’s Berry Farm,8039 Beach Boulevard, Buena Park, CA 90620  MAP HERE 

No matter how cute and romantic it is DON’T POST IT ON YOUTUBE if its illegal

The full details of the arrests is on the KTLA website.  For the life of me I can’t imagine why they posted it on youtube and bragged about it on other social media.  It was just dropping clues as to where they can be found for the arrests.  I give these guys an “A” for creativity, a “C” for the idea to do it on a Sunday morning where traffic is light, and an “F” for getting caught.

No, I’m not talking a short term lease on an electric car, its on a gasser.  Suburban Simi Valley Ford is buying carbon offsets on any new car/truck you buy from them now through Earth Day (April 22, 2013).  They will purchase a 2 year carbon offset in your name from Carbonfund.org who in turn sends you a certificate for this purchase.

I talked with Mike Shell the leasing manager at Simi Valley Ford yesterday getting details on this program.  SVF is doing this because they want to leave a legacy and be a leader in helping to bring about an end to climate change.  So far since the Drive to Save the Environment Campaign started they have offset 1 Million, yes 1,000,000 pounds of carbon going into the air.  They hope that other dealers, including other brands will follow suit with this project in coming years. Read the rest of this entry →

Having survived one teen driver I’m getting ready to add another soon. The biggest fear for a parent is what if the kid makes a critical mistake driving that hurts themselves or someone else. Only so much a parent can do alone.  There are a lot of resources a parent can access to help them keep their kids out of harms way and DSFL-Driving Skills For Life is one such resource.

The program will be in L.A next weekend, March 2nd and 3rd at the Hollywood Park race track.  All the details you could want are HERE on the DSFL web site.  You can register your 15-19 year old HERE.

As if the links don’t answer all of your questions you can read the press release after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

I can’t take credit for finding this, spotted on facebook on a friend of a friends liking it chain of posts.  None the less it is a great view of Burbank to Toluca Lake in 1958.  Isn’t that sound track something else?  The turds at the Getty images won’t allow embedding, but you can view it HERE.

lexus lane transponder needed even for carpoolers

Yup, as I mentioned in a post a while back, the HOV to HOT lane conversion is coming to me in the San Gabriel Valley.  The 10 from Alameda/Union Station to the 605 will be the affected area.  The change becomes effective 2-23-2013 at 12:01AM.

The transponders aren’t cheap, and then again using the lanes isn’t cheap if you are not in a carpool either.  Yes, you are required to have a transponder in your car if you use the lane.  There is no $3.00 service fee charged if you use it at least 3 times a month.

Metro is so “convinced” you will love it they are running a contest that ends today to get you to sign up.  Enter HERE.

AAA offers discounts on the transponders if you purchase it through them. This deal is open only to AAA members. The offer is as follows: Receive 20% off the initial pre-paid toll deposit of $40. AAA members will pay $32 for $40 worth of toll credits. Maximum discount is $8 per new account set-up.

My question is why hasn’t the 10 from DTLA to SaMo or the 405 from say the 101 to the 10 not been hit with the Lexus Lanes as well?  Certainly they are as congested as bad or worse than the freeways chosen so far.

I spotted this on the Smoking Tire’s channel this morning.  Pretty awesome downhill boarding just outside the city limits.  Interesting to note that these guys had helmets on, much better than the yahoos I was behind recently on Laurel Canyon doing this WITHOUT helmets.

Smoking Tire for those of you who don’t know is owned by Matt Farah who runs Smoking Tire.com and was interviewed by me a couple of years ago.  Good guy, great cars and car reviews all taking place in and around Los Angeles.

Its New Years Eve here in L.A. and I read a startling statistic that there are nationally 25 deaths a day caused by drunk drivers over holiday weekends.  July 4th weekend here in L.A for example had 1,000 DUI arrests.   Please don’t be a stat tonight, rather have a great night and take public transportation.   You can even ride the trains for FREE from 9PM tonight until 2AM tomorrow (New Years Day).

If you drive and find yourself too tanked to drive call AAA if you are a member or not,  you can take advantage of their “Tipsy Tow“.  All you have to do is call them at 1-800-400-4222 and they will pick you AND your car up and tow you up to 7 miles.  Great service that can save you a DUI ticket or worse an accident.

I for one this year will be spending a quiet evening of family game night.  What are your plans?

Happy 2013 in advance.

Ford World 2012 LA Auto Show, click to embiggen

So much to talk about so will try to bring it down to a Reader’s Digest condensed version.  I will also try to bring you up to date as well as what you missed during Press Days which were this Wednesday and Thursday.

First of all, if you are looking for exotics fuhgetaboutit, there are none.  The entire class is represented by Galpin’s stock of Aston Martins.  Very nice cars, but not the boat load of Ferraris, Lambos and Rolls of years past.  That’s what happens when the L.A. show grows so big with a focus on green cars it alienated that fun bunch of fantasy cars. Read the rest of this entry →

It is one of my most favorite times of the year, but then again I’m a car guy so it may not rank as high for you.  Since the L.A. Auto Show moved out from under the shadows of the Detroit show a few years back to right around Thanksgiving the show has taken off in terms of international importance.  Even Detroit has begrudgingly noted our importance as an international show.  Actually our show kicks Detroit’s butt, been to Detroit and they have nothing on us, especially when you roll in all the tuners, customizers and other goodies found in Kenetia Hall.  That is something that Detroit completely lacks.

It starts Friday November 30 and runs through December 9 in the entire Convention Center in DTLA.  All the information you could want about the L.A. Auto Show can be found on their web site HERE.  That includes the ability to order tickets online and save yourself some line time waiting to get into the show.

I’ll be there for Press Days as well as a regular paying member with the fam this weekend.  Yes, for me its that big of a deal.

PS as of 8:30AM yet another article out of Detroit goes live about how important the L.A. Auto Show is and sets the bar for others in the US Auto Show circuit.

Following Frazgo’s November 9 post announcing the somewhat chagrin-filled arrival of toll lanes that have now turned a stretch of the 110 Freeway (and soon part of the 10 Freeway) into a Costway, I whatthehell’d it and decided to drink the koolaid and go get myself outfitted with one of the required tracking devices so my vehicular movements and non-movements could be monitored by 24/7 by the MTA and Caltrans, AAA via a combination of roadway implant receivers and suborbital satellites. Oops! Sorry!! My inherent schizoid-based distrust of any transmitters forced upon us by the government is showing. Let me zip that up. What I really meant to call the technology was “The completely harmless and entirely loveable Metro Expresslane FasTrak Transponder.”

Anyway, it’s not like I really need one. I’m rarely on the 110 and even rarer in its HOV lanes so my initial reaction was basically “fuck that bullshit” followed by about eight exclamation points.

Then my resolve weakened when the doomsday scenario occurred to me that there might come that anxiety-ridden day when I’m stuck southbound on the gridlocked Harbor coming through Exposition Park, 149 hopeless minutes away from a flight at LAX that’s leaving in 91 minutes. At that moment somewhere in a bunker deeeeeeeep under the city an MTA operative monitoring my biometric activity being sent via the chip embedded in the TAP card in my wallet smiled and told a failsafe colleague “We’ve almost got another one!”

Read the rest of this entry →

lexus lane aka HOT transponder

It was bound to happen here eventually, another money grab that gives privilege to the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.  The Harbor Freeway is converting from traditional carpool HOV lanes to HOT (toll lanes) both directions from Adams to the 91 Freeway on Saturday.   The toll paid will depend the time of day and congestion costing from 25 cents a mile to as much as $1.40 mile.

Motorcycles and legit carpoolers can still use the lane for free.  You must  have a transponder to use the newly christened HOT Lanes even if you are exempt from the tolls.  Transponders can be purchased from the MTA and select Albertson and Costco stores.  The MTA also charges a $3.00 fee per month for the privilege of having a transponder.

All the info you could want can be found via CHP Nixle and Metro Express Lanes web sites.

Have no fear SGV…you too will have Lexus Lanes coming after the first of the year for the 10 Freeway, both directions,  from Downtown LA to the 605.

france and italy car show poster, click to embiggen

If you have a soft spot for those quirky French and Italian cars this may well be the perfect show for you.  The France and Italy Car Show will take place this Sunday in Woodley Avenue Park.  It will feature a lot of vintage French and Italian cars.

It will be located on Woodley Ave south of Victory.  Its official time is 9Am to 2PM, I’d strongly urge folks interested to be there early as a lot of people start leaving well before the 2PM close time.  If they can start their cars that is…sorry for the snark but a lot of these cars will live up to their stereotypes.  They even have a Facebook page with more details.

Details: Sunday November 4, 2012, Woodley Avenue Park MAP HERE, Van Nuys, CA

Warning the video does drop the f bomb so it isn’t entirely safe for work.

This past weekend I braved the heat (102F at 1 pm) and attended Variety’s Power of Youth at Paramount studios.  This annual event acknowledges young entertainers for their charitable efforts.  This years honoree’s were The Jonas Brothers, Vanessa Hudgens and others.

This was a really fun event with several different corporations there to help with the event.  These corporations all had programs focused on our kids.  Ford was there with practical hands on demos that were a fun way to learn the dangers of distracted driving.  Allstate was there with their “X the Text” program where the kids could sign off on a car promising not to text and drive.  Sony was there hawking their PlayStation with hands on play time at their corner of the event.  Cartoon network was there with the stars of “Regular Show” Rigby and Mordecai were there for photo ops. Read the rest of this entry →

It happened at night when no one was looking.  A gas station was turned into a “grass station”, an urban oasis of sorts.  It was part of CODA Automotive’s campaign to bring about awareness of their all electric car that is on sale now.  So far CODA has set up an “Experience Center” in the Century City Mall, as well as an indy dealer, Martin Coda of Los Angeles on West Olympic in L.A.  I have to give these guys credit for bringing something fun to a L.A. neighborhood and getting me to notice.