By Stephanie Porteus

HotRodHoney

New York is no different from any other state when it comes to changing up the old license plate every 10 years or so. However, this year’s change has many people furious.

The first plates I remember putting on my car were the Miss Liberty plates. The Miss Liberty plates had a red Statue of Liberty pictured in the center against a white background. These looked pretty good on most cars since they were white, though some people found them rather plain. Read more…

Continue reading "New York License Plate Drama" »

By Stephanie Porteus

HotRodHoney

From the state which took the title back from New Jersey last year for America’s worst drivers, (everyone loves New York!), here’s a look at the most common traffic laws that I see people simply ignore everyday. Read on…

Continue reading "Driving School 101: New York Edition" »

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

I’d like to preface this blog by saying that anyone who follows what I am about to say will have my full support. For those of you who don’t know, I am a New York native. I was born in lower Manhattan, grew up in Brooklyn and have lived all over the boroughs. Most people have preconceived notions about what it’s really like to live in and or around the big city, but in reality they have no idea. New York is a tough place, it wears you down and makes you hard. Living space is not measured in acreage here, it’s measured in square feet with a population density so tight that the borough of Queens could kick the shit out of the state of Rhode Island.

Living here means co-existing in close quarters. Parking is on the street and if you have a driveway or garage then you hang on to them like they’re gold bars. I happen to have both, but unfortunately my driveway is shared with the house next door. My neighbors are dirty, rude and inconsiderate. Truthfully I’d like to simply nuke them off the block but since most people would frown on a having a tactical nuke in such close proximity to them I needed another plan. As of late I have been compiling a list of devious, underhanded and lets face it, downright dirty pranks that should push my filthy neighbors over the automotive edge. I know others out there share my pain which is why this step by step list is being made available to the general public. Continue reading at RideLust.com

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

A pack of the wildest street racers east of the Mississippi shut down a New York interstate for some illegal drag racing. Using their own vehicles as a road block and I-95 as their drag strip, the street racers line up and blast down the road at amazing speeds while traffic waits behind them completely clueless as to what is going on!

The freeway heist works based on the fact the traffic behind them thinks there is an accident or some other typical traffic jam causing the delay. By the time the last set of racers runs, traffic resumes as normal and everyone is clueless as to what happened. The only evidence left behind is the half inch thick rubber patch, a spray painted start line, and the infamous YouTube video. To learn more about how street racers shut down interstates, visit Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

Spyker Cars, the boutique car company from Holland, produces some of the coolest vehicles on the road today. From the first look at a Spyker you realize that you are in the presence of something special. These are not cars that are made for the masses, but automobiles that are constructed for the connoisseur. Continue reading after the jump.

Continue reading "NYIAS: Spyker C8 Aileron" »

Thanks to overpopulation, and some motorists’ inability to treat cyclists and pedestrians courteously, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be exiling all vehicle traffic from a 7-mile stretch of some of Manhattan’s busiest thoroughfares for three Saturdays this August. The "Summer Streets" experiment, during which a chunk of Manhattan (including the iconic Park Avenue) will be open only to cyclists and pedestrians, will likely involve a lot of the obnoxious, folksy, litter-bugging activities that tend to occur when the appropriate amount of car traffic isn’t present to keep these groups in check. It seems to me that you’d already have it pretty bad if you’re a car enthusiast in Manhattan, what with garage space costing as much as some apartments do elsewhere, and the antics of Bloomberg, who seems determined to take NYC down the same car-hating path as London. But if you can’t even drive your own car on the roads that your taxes build them for, what’s even the point? I’ve driven in Manhattan and don’t find it half as bad as some places I’ve been, like the diabolical car trap that is Chicago. But this sure makes me glad I don’t live there.

Frontier Airlines has an all-new fleet of planes with cute animals painted on the tail. And I have to admit, the squeaky-clean Airbus 319s I flew in yesterday were pretty spiffy. But you know what would have been super-cool? Getting home from Detroit in less than 14 hours. Anyway, here’s the news:

• BMW is sending its Hydrogen 7 sedan on a world tour, and while the idea of cars which only emit hot air and water is pretty cool, it’d be nice if this example got more than 5 MPG. Does it really need a V12?  Auto Observer
• Can having too many choices be a bad thing? Ford seems to think so, and it’s easy to see why. After all, should there be 100,000 different ways to configure a Focus? Probably not. Automotive News
• There’s nothing SFW about this story, so be warned. Over the weekend, a tape of FIA boss Max Mosley participating in a sadomasochistic, Nazi-themed orgy surfaced, and it’s even more ugly than it sounds. If that’s possible. Jalopnik via News of the World.
• The strike at American Axle has gotten even uglier. The company is now placing help wanted ads to fill positions left open by striking workers. Will this standoff kill the company’s American plants? Detroit News
• Smart has hired a Detroit native to run the brand’s USA operations. Think his high-school buddies will still talk to him? Freep

So I’m back home after a great few days the Big Apple, and I have to say that city makes Seattle feel like a strip mall. But that said, it’s my strip mall, and I love it. Big time thanks to the General for treating me far better than I deserve while I was there. Here’s the news:

• This year will mark the 60th anniversary of Lotus, one of my favorite manufacturers. Is there any point in the company’s history where the brand has been in a better position?  World Car Fans
• Bob Lutz has said that initially, the General "won’t make a dime" on the Volt. Given how much it’s costing to develop this car, that makes perfect sense. Is anyone really surprised? Wired
• Ever wonder which states have the highest car ownership cost? Well, here’s the breakdown. New York Times
• Ok, now this is really getting ugly. The strike at the American Axle has lead to a 6% rise in unemployment benefits across the nation. Now, I hate math, but I know that when you’re talking about the United States, 6% of anything is a big number. Freep

Right now, I’m cramming trying to get ready for the New York International Auto Show, and I’m super-stoked. The only bad part? I have to sleep on the plane. Hey, nobody said this was going to be easy. Here’s the news: 

• Nissan’s GTR has a history of winning races where it debuts, so the fact it took the checkered flag at Suzuka yesterday isn’t terribly surprising. But the brass still has to be stoked. Autoblog
• Looks like Mercedes-Benz might shut down Maybach. The uber-luxury marque hasn’t been performing against chief competitors Rolls-Royce and Bentley, and has sold only 10% of what M-B thought it would. That said, will anyone notice it’s gone? World Car Fans
• Tata is almost done buying Jag and Land Rover, and now the company is adding staff in Detroit. Who knew the company would actually have a presence in the Motor City? Freep
• Since everyone in Seattle is pretty clueless about driving in the snow, I’ve seen some pretty stupid snow-related behavior. But nothing like this. English Russia

Early next week, Rob and I are headed to the Big Apple for the New York International Auto Show. We’ve basically been chained to our desks since returning from SEMA, so we’re both looking forward to getting out of the office. Along with all the general gawking, blogging, and picture-taking we’ll be doing from the show floor, we’ll also be hobnobbing with honchos from GM and Hyundai, and meeting some of our comrades from other automotive blogs. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing the new GTR and Jag’s XF in person, picking up some Engrish-laden Chinese press kits, and of course, soaking up some nightlife. What do you want to see?