] Hybrid cars are hot, but not as hot as their owners, who
] complain that their gas mileage hasn't come close to
] well-advertised estimates.
]
] Today's the Day. Pete Blackshaw was so excited about
] getting a hybrid gasoline-electric car that he had his
] wife videotape the trip to the Honda dealership to pick
] up his Civic Hybrid.
]
] But after a few months of commuting to his job in Cincinnati,
] Blackshaw's hybrid euphoria vanished as his car's odometer
] revealed that the gas mileage he was hoping for was only a pipe
] dream. Honda's Civic Hybrid is rated by the EPA to get 47 miles
] per gallon in the city, and 48 mpg on the highway. After nearly
] 1,000 miles of mostly city driving, Blackshaw was getting
] 31.4 mpg.

Wired News: Hybrid Mileage Comes Up Short

] When BMW dealers start selling the new Mini convertible
] in Europe and the U.S. this summer, the cars will be
] delivered to customers with the top down and a seal that
] is broken when the roof is raised for the first time.
] Buyers will be asked to sign a mock contract committing
] them to keeping the roof down as long as they can -- to
] stay true to the Mini convertible's open-minded spirit.
] "It will spark contests to see how long owners can go
] before breaking the seal," says Jack Pitney,
] vice-president of Mini USA.

BMW's Mini Just Keeps Getting Mightier

] DETROIT (Reuters) - What day is it? Don't ask the driver
] of General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac Grand Prix.
]
] Due to a software glitch, the computer display in the
] 2004 model year Grand Prix shows the wrong day of the
] week, Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson said on Monday.
] Engineers overlooked the fact that 2004 is a leap year,
] with an extra day,
]
] "Somehow or other, the fact that this was a leap year got
] missed," Hopson said. "We are working on a solution."

I wonder if they fixed the glitch on the software engineers paycheck.

Yahoo! News - GM to Fix 'Leap Year' Software Glitch in Pontiac

] Maybe he wanted to be a NASCAR driver. But first, he
] needed a set of wheels.
]
] Police say Feliphe Ramos, 18, stole a 2004 Infiniti G35
] with the keys left in the ignition Wednesday, drove it to
] Homestead-Miami Speedway, barreled past security guards
] who tried to flag him down, ripped through the closed
] gates and took to the track.
]
] Then he put the car through its paces. Round and round,
] the would-be racer tore through the turns, testing the
] gray, four-door car at speeds exceeding 100 mph before
] finally stopping, sometime around the fourth lap.

Joy ride driver pulls a fast one

] A teenage boy posing as a banker duped an Ohio car dealership into delivering
] a $123,000 BMW to him at his high school, police said Thursday.
] The boy was 16 in early January when he ordered the 12-cylinder 2004 BMW
[ 760Li with "black sapphire metallic" paint and a heated steering wheel and seats.
] He told Midwestern Auto Group that his bank would confirm the wire transfer,
] authorities said.
] After completing and returning paperwork that was mailed to his home, the teen
] called the dealership pretending to be a banker confirming the transfer, police
] said.

So I wonder if he got some when took her out on the date? :P

CNN.com - Teen accused of BMW scam - Feb. 12, 2004

] Valencia, Spain - Williams Formula One team unveiled a
] radical new car on Monday which they believe will finally
] smash Ferrari's dominance in 2004.
]
] Team chief Frank Williams admitted they had fallen short
] last season when Michael Schumacher claimed his sixth
] world title but was confident the Williams F1 BMW FW26
] chassis and new BMW P84 engine would give Juan Pablo
] Montoya and Ralf Schumacher the edge when the season
] starts at Melbourne in March.

Williams unveil Ferrari-beater

On May 4th, the Gumball 3000 will rally in Europe.
The event follows a 3000 mile route that begins in romantic Paris
(France), and travels south via Biarritz (France) and the Pyrenees
mountain range to Madrid (Spain) (see David Beckham), en route
to Marbella’s Golden Mile (Spain) before crossing the Mediterranean
Sea into Africa to Marrakech (Morocco). After partying with the
King of Morocco and negotiating the Sahara Desert the route then
returns to Europe heading to Barcelona (Spain) to catch the Formula
One Grand Prix before finishing with a major party in Cannes
back in the South of France. For those of you wishing to party
for another week the famous Cannes film festival begins the following day.

What is in store for the 2004 Gumball 3000

At Long Last: Federalizing the Porsche 959 has been a long road. Now, at least, it can be traversed.

Bill Gates at last can drive his Porsche 959

Troy Irving's 18-year-old Dodge Caravan has a heck of a sound system: 72 amplifiers -- you got it, 72 -- and 36 big 16-volt batteries to put out the 130,000 watts of power needed to rumble his nine 15-inch subwoofers.

To put that into perspective, the most powerful production-car audio I know of is the $230,000+ 2003 Aston Martin Vanquish's 1,200-watt system. Irving carries $80,000 worth of audio alone, in a vehicle that is worth, admittedly, slightly less than the Maybach. Must be fun to ride down Main Street with the windows rolled down, right?

CNN.com - A car stereo that can kill you? Cool

Having difficulty finding that SUV with 3 DVD players, six TV screens, a PlayStation 2 and vibrating seats?

Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs to offer his own line of Lincoln Navigators beginning Aug. 1.