California Legacy Plates

The California DMV has an awesome program which will enable you to order reproduction 1950 (yellow and black), 1960 (black and yellow) and 1970's ( blue and yellow) style number plates for your car or bike registered in California. This was created as California Vehicle Code Section 5004.3 and was added by Assembly Bill 1658 (Gatto), enacted in the 2012 Legislative session.

For the program to be implemented and for the plates to be made, at least 7500 of the style of plates need to be ordered and paid for. The plates can be put on any vehicle and is not part of the YOM program, which is for 1972 and older vehicles only. Currently the most popular is the black and yellow plate which has 5383 orders.

I would like the blue and yellow plate for my 74 vehicle, since the DMV and YOM program currently will not allow me to put the original blue and yellow plates that came with the vehicle originally to be re registered to the car. I hope that we get to 7500 in the Blue and yellow plates, or the DMV changes the YOM program to enable all cars with blue and yellow plates originally issued, to be able to re register if you have the original plates.

The DMV website says that they have until January 1st 2015 to get the required 7500 paid orders of any one type of plate to start the program, so time to get cracking and order your legacy plate, or one as a gift for your friends and family.

 Assemblyman Mike Gatto of Los Angeles 43rd district came up with this bill and I like it.

@CA_DMV @MikeGatto #CaliforniaLegacyPlates




 

World premiere of #PorscheMacan plus #Porsche918Spyder at 2013 #LAAutoShow

Porsche always has a very nice stand at the #LAAutoshow and this year they outdid themselves with the world premiere of the Macan and US premiere of the 918 Spyder. I was not overly excitable when I heard about the just released Macan, thinking it may be to much of a Q5 lookalike, until I saw it in person. I was wrong. The #PorscheMacan has been designed very well, is pleasing to the eye and is going to be a popular addition to the Porsche stable setting the benchmark for the compact SUV market.

 Both the Macan S and the Macan Turbo are powered by twin-turbo V6  engines.

 

For the US market, the Macan S will have a base price of $49,900, will come with all wheel drive and 7 speed Porsche Doppelkupplung PDK transmission and a 3.0 liter, 340hp engine with 339 lb-ft of torque. With the optional sport chrono package, you will be able to blast from 0-60 mph in 5.0 seconds to a top speed of 156 mph. Not bad for the base model.

 

The Macan Turbo with a base price of $72,300 will have the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), adaptive sports seats,  Leather package, navigation and BOSE surround sound in addition to the S and will also have the PDK transmission. The engine is 3.6 liter with an output of 400hp at 6000rpm. 406 ft-lbs of torque and the optional sport chrono package propel the Macan Turbo to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, with a top speed of 164 mph.

 

Both the S and Turbo have 19 inch wheels, so I am not sure how you'll be able to go hay bailing in the Macan ( not sure you can get a tow package anyway ) , but it will certainly be a street warrior.

918 Spyder

The US premiere of the electric hybrid 918 was at Los Angeles. The 918 is to be built in limited numbers and will quickly be snapped up by collectors and speculators. This race hybrid has, 4 wheel drive, a 4.6 liter V8 which revs to 9150rpm and has 608 HP and 2 electric engines with a combined output of 887 hp. The 918 Spyder with all engines ago will launch to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and is capable of a 0-60 mph run of 7 seconds in full electric mode. The 918 Spyder also is capable of a sub 7 minute run on the Nurburgring, which puts it in the legendary category. Look for it at a charging station near you.

Formula 1 season 2013 and 2014

So Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull has wrapped up his 4th F1 championship, joining Alain Prost and surpassing Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Sir Jackie Stewart and Aryton Senna who all won 3.

The 26 year old, shall he win a 5th, will tie Juan Manuel Fangio and will be two short of all time champion Michael Schumacher who blitzed to 7 championships over his 20 year career in F1.

Red Bull has quite the team. They have mastermind designer Adrian Newey, who seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to creating a winning car, youngest championship winning team boss Christian Horner and of course the access to the all important funds to make the team go. Red Bull Racing had income of $285.4 million and expenses of $284.4 million in 2011. The revenue came from prize money ($88.8 million), sponsors ($59.7 million), and the remainder from Red Bull. Expenses included $112.8 million in research and development and $82.7 million in salaries for 605 employees.

Vettel's current team mate Australian Mark Webber is retiring at the end of the year to go racing Porsche's. His replacement is fellow Ozzie Daniel Ricciardo who is being promoted from Red Bull's feeder team Torro Rosso.

For 2014 the engines in the pinnacle of motorsport are going from the current 2.4 liter naturally aspirated v8's to a 1.6 liter turbocharged v6 which should shake the field up and make 2014 a very exciting year.

Rumor is the Mercedes has the engine to beat....Time will tell.

Kimi Raikkonen is leaving Lotus and retuning to Ferrari for 2014 to replace Felipe Massa who is going to Williams. It was rumored earlier in the year that Nico Hulkenburg who is a great driver was off to Ferrari, but Kimi who won his championship with Ferrari in 2007 beat him to the seat. Nick Hulkenburg is tipped to be favorite to replace Kimi at Lotus, if the team can get their budget together.

Full run down of the 2014 season and who goes where is here.

We have the final race of 2013 this coming weekend in Brazil....... I wonder if Sebastian can make it nine wins in a row, of if Mark Webber will retire with a win?

Los Angeles International Auto Show 2013

We are off to the LA Auto show with our camera's and note pads. We will be reporting back to you with all of the latest information and worldwide vehicle debut's as they happen. Watch www.autoreports.blogspot.com for the latest information as it happens this week.

2013 Holden HSV Gen-F GTS

Holden will be responsible for producing the most powerful vehicle in Australian history when the 2013 HSV ( Holden Special Vehicles ) GTS hits the showroom floors this September.

The GTS will be powered by General Motors LSA 6.2 liter V8 supercharged engine that has been in the Cadillac CTS-V and Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 for the last few years. It will put out about 430kw, or 576 hp and should be capable or low 4, high 3 second 0-60 MPH runs. The engine produces a lot or torque and has been known to shred tires in the wrong ( or right ) hands. Magnetic ride suspension which is a GM invention and adopted by amongst others Ferrari, will be on the GTS, so it will also be a brilliant handler.

The 2014 Cadillac CTS has just been released and I suspect that the CTS-V which is in the works may well be powered by a twin turbo V8 with even more hp that the HSV. Time will tell.

 2014 Cadillac CTS

Well done HSV and GM. Onwards an upward.

2014 Corvette Stingray

The 2014 Corvette Stingray is one sexy vehicle. GM appears to have struck a home run with the C7.

Due to be released at the end of 2013, the standard engine will be a 6.2 liter V8 producing about 450hp allowing the Stingray to sprint from 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds.

The Stingray will be released as a coupe and a convertible, both looking very Ferrari like, which isn't a bad thing in my opinion.

Both will be available as either a 6 speed automatic, OR a 7 speed manual, taking a page from the Porsche playbook. A 50/50 weight distribution is something reminiscent of a BMW and the engineers at Chevrolet have spent some quality time in creating a classy cockpit that has more of a European flair than previous versions of the Corvette which were sometime a bit bland.

Magnetic selective ride will be available with the Z51 performance package allowing for crisp handling creating a recipe that will bring the Corvette Stingray back into the desirable sports car category.

Who's telling what sort of power the Z06 and ZR-1 will produce..... Supercar.

China F1 preview

Looks like Ferrari and Massa have made some progress for the China F1 which will be held this weekend.


After the excitement of the Malaysian F1 with hearing problems and insolence from some of the drivers, I am looking forward to watching some serious rivalry unfold this weekend.

Keep an eye on Kimi also.

Cadillac gassing it up?

According to this write up, Cadillac is looking to become a global player again and launch new models including a BMW 1 series competitor and a flagship model.

I hope that the new CTS-V based on the yet to be released 2014 CTS includes a station wagon as I would like one. Time will tell???

Nevada approves license for driverless car.

Where is K.I.T.T? Knight rider was onto this in 1983..... Good thing Google is catching up.

Wonder what the look on the face of the opposing driver / passenger will be when they first see one of these experimental vehicles in action?

2013 Mercedes Benz SL65 AMG

With  a fresh restyle the 2013 SL65 AMG is a powerhouse. The output of the twin turbo V12 engine is now 621 HP ( up from a meager 604 HP ) at 22 PSI and the hard top convertible will sprint from 0-60 MPH in 3.9 seconds. Top speed is limited too 186MPH.

On top of it, the weight of the car over the previous model has decreased by about 250 lbs and fuel consumption has decreased. With a price tag north of $199,000, you best like the way it looks!

Formula 1 2012

Who's ready for the Malaysian F1 this weekend?

If you are into F1 and fancy yourself as a manager, go to www.f1grandprixmanager.com and sign up. It is not too late to win.

Welcome back to Kimi Raikkonen.... I am expecting good things from him this year...

Shizen

Shizen Houzen : One way to ruin your gardening experience. Hope they didn't look up!!!

ACT NZ

ACT NZ's sole MP John Banks is voted in as the Leader of the party today.

This seems logical.

www.act.org.nz

Worlds fastest unmanned plane Falcon HTV-2

This plane is to be launched tomorrow from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

Military link here

#awesome

Aloha

Conservatives win majority in Canada

Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative party (right leaning) in Canada has secured a majority in the house of commons as of yesterdays federal election winning 157 seats. It is also only the second time ever that the Conservatives have been voted in 3 times in a row. This may come as a shock for some, but logically a very smart choice for Canada. Woo Hoo.

The Liberal party (Left leaning) Previously headed by Harvard Professor Michael Ignatieff was dealt a crushing blow, winning only 34 seats. The liberal party is now not only without a leader, but is ranked the 3rd party in the house and is not the official opposition. Bugger for them...

NDP (very left leaning) headed by Jack Layton created an orange tide and made major gains. Congratulations to Mr Layton who after what seems like a lifetime in Canadian politics is now going to be the leader of the opposition winning 102 seats. Also under NDP Cananda's youngest ever MP was elected last night at the age of 19. The newly elected MP will go from working part time at a golf course to an annual salary of about $157,000 CAD per year. Talk about a quick turn around. Lets hope that the NDP can remain stable.

The highlight of the Canadian federal election for me is that Quebec separatist party BLOC QUEBECOIS got decimated in Quebec by mainly NDP and their Leader Gilles Duceppe has resigned, hopefully never to ever be seen again in politics of any kind.

While I am excited by a Conservative majority, I am more excited that the Bloc Quebecois got virtually wiped out and while the Conservatives played a part in that by securing a majority, I'd personally like to thank NDP party and their rather straight forward charismatic leader Jack Layton for delivering the fatal blow. It is now (for the next period of time) safe to predict that there will be an election in Canada in 4 years time and not before and that the good folks of Quebec realize that being part of Canada is something to be proud of.

Well done Canada.

Bin Laden DEAD

Osama Bin Laden is dead. USA has his body. He was killed about a week ago in Pakistan. The announcement was not made until DNA results had come back confirming that the cadaver was him.

Rodney Hide resigns as leader of ACT

Hon Rodney Hide MP for Epsom has resigned as the leader of the ACT party. His replacement is likely to be previous National Party leader Don Brash. I would personally like to thank Rodney for his service. He has worked hard and honorably and deserves credit. We may not have seen the last of Rodney Hide just yet.

Obama releases long form Birth Certificate. Trump takes the credit...

Today President Obama released his long form birth certificate (attached), proving that he was indeed born in the USA. Possible Presidential GOP hopeful Donald Trump takes credit for this. It has been rumored that Trump inferred that if President Obama was to actually release his long form birth certificate, as he has done, that The Donald would release his tax returns which I must say would be interesting to see. There will be naysayers who claim that the birth certificate is a forgery, but really, it is time to accept that the President was born in USA and get onto fixing more important things like the economy, the wars, health care and looking after the Veterans who I think could do with some more assistance.

The 2012 US Presidential race is certainly going to be interesting.

Quiet Riot @ Brixton Southbay February 3rd 2011

I had the privilege of going to the Brixton Club in Redondo Beach last night to watch one of my all time favorite bands...... Quiet Riot.

We got there a little early, but managed to get a booth right by the stage which was a bonus. The opening bands were very good and when it was their turn Quiet Riot ROCKED.

The previous lead singer Kevin DuBrow sadly passed on in 2007 and it was thought that the band was over, but no..... Along came new lead singer Mark Huff, who with the blessing of the DuBrow family, has managed to take the reigns and do it well. He sounds very similar, in fact if you didn't know you might not be aware that the lead singer has changed. I look at it like he is the Brian Johnson to Bon Scott and AC/DC. Bon is missed, but Brian managed to take it to another level. I think that Quiet Riot is going places with Mark Huff as the lead singer, he even has the rock star look. 

Frankie Banali who is the drummer took the microphone 1/2 way through the performance and made a moving tribute to Kevin DuBrow upon which time Mark and the boys played Thunderbird with excellence.

They played all of the brilliant songs. Slick Black Cadillac, Cum on feel the noize, Metal Health, Ma Ma we're all crazy and the list goes on. It was a very brilliant show. I thoroughly recommend watching Quiet Riot live and if you get the opportunity to go to the Brixton in Redondo... Do it.......

 

For those of you in NZ. Quiet Riot is to be playing at the Powerstation in Mt Eden on May 2nd... DON'T MISS THE SHOW. Rock on Quiet Riot.....

Mark Huff ( Lead singer of Quiet Riot ) and I February 3rd 2011