Fact: According to a report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), thieves have been taking Cadillac Escalades at a higher rate than any other vehicle. In fact, five of the ten most stolen vehicles are high-end SUVs.
Fact: Our favorite band name this year? "Camaro Hair" out of Oregon plays "energetic, engaging power pop, harking back to early-'80s New Wave" according to the Portland Oregonian newspaper. Their new album is entitle "Far From OK," which we guess means they're still nowhere near Oklahoma.
Fact: According to a report in the Rocky Mountain News, two brothers died when testing their modified Chevelle on the roads around a Denver warehouse district. Both men, in their 40s, died when the car hit a loading dock at more than 100 mph.
Facts And Rumors
FACT: William J. Faenza Jr., 35, was charged by police in Lehighton, Pennsylvania for allegedly driving 182 mph in his Lamborghini Diablo while drunk. The speed was calculated by timing the Diablo over a fixed distance according to a report from the Associated Press. Dang, we were hoping that some trooper in a really bad-actor Crown Vic had chased him down.
Fact: The Los Angeles Police Department confiscated its first two cars under a new municipal law that allows them to seize cars involved in illegal street races. "We're taking lethal weapons off the streets," Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo was quoted as saying by the Long Beach Press Telegram. "We're taking them and we're not giving them back." The disposition of the two cars, a '89 IROC Camaro and a similar '90 model, hasn't been determined yet. However LAPD Chief William Bratton has suggested crushing them in front of their drivers. Ouch.
Fact: Ford is spending at least $200 million to advertise the new F-150. This is supposedly the most expensive vehicle launch ever.
Fact: In August 2003, Toyota sold more vehicles of all types (cars and trucks) in the United States than did Chrysler.
Fact: Pontiac will call its '05 replacement for the Grand Am the G6.
Taste O' Trivia
The front fenders on the '70 Plymouth Superbird were actually from a '70 Dodge Coronet, not a regular Plymouth Road Runner.
Before it built an automotive Hemi V-8, Chrysler first used hemispherical combustion chambers on this XI-2220 experimental aircraft engine developed during World War II.
Comedian Sam Kinison was driving a limited-edition '89 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo when he was struck and killed by a drunk driver in April 1992.
On April 6, 2003, the Hostess Twinkie turned 73 years old. And it's still fresh!
The first car to win a NASCAR race was Jim Roper's '49 Lincoln. It won the very first NASCAR race, 200 laps of a 31/44-mile dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 19, 1949.
The '64 GTO used by GM on the runway of its second annual pre-Oscar fashion show in Hollywood was driven by Car Craft staffers across the country in the late-'80s "Americruise" feature. Surprisingly, they were dressed exactly how singer Jewel and actor Michael Chiklis are in this photo-even though there were no female writers on staff at the time.
The second car to win a NASCAR race was Red Byron's '49 Oldsmobile in a 166-mile race on the sand at Daytona Beach, Florida. Byron won two of the eight races held that year and took the first NASCAR championship.
Buick introduced its first "Century" in 1936, making it the oldest nameplate currently in use on a U.S. market vehicle. However, the Century name was not used from 1943 through 1953 or from 1959 through 1972.
An L.A. Kind of Thing