Buggatti runs out of red, but keeps the cash
Barry Zekelman paid the full $1.55 million price up front on a 2009 Bugatti Veyron, but days after Bugatti told him they weren’t building one, he demanded a refund. Eight months later he’s filing suit to get his money back
After placing his deposit of $427,935 on the $1.55 million vehicle, he paid in full last December. A few days later he was sent an email by the selling agent in Troy, Michigan he would not be receiving his 2009 Bugatti Veyron in Italian red, ever, they weren’t making any more. To add insult to injury, Bugatti offered a 2008 model in place of his ordered 2009. At this point Zekelman decided he’d had enough and demanded his money back, and has gone on demanding for eight months with no satisfaction. He’s had to file a lawsuit naming Bugatti, who’s kept his cash in their coffers for the entire time, and is seeking a complete refund and all court and lawyer fees. This isn’t the kind of thing you ever expect to hear about the buying process of the most exclusive supercar in the world. [Jalapnik/Topspeed]
Papa John Gets His Camaro Back After 26 Years
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 25, 2009; 8:21 PM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With the help of a $250,000 reward, the founder of the Papa John’s pizza chain has finally reunited with the muscle car he sold years ago to help keep his family’s business afloat.
John Schnatter sold the gold-and-black 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 for $2,800 in 1983. The money helped save his father’s tavern in Jeffersonville, Ind., and he used the rest to start what would become a worldwide pizza business.
But he still missed his beloved Camaro and spent years searching for it. He created a Web site on the search, held promotional appearances and eventually offered $250,000 to whoever found it.
It turns out he didn’t have to leave Kentucky, where the pizza chain is based in Louisville. The car only changed hands twice from the original buyers, ending up with Jeffery Robinson in Flatwoods, about 165 miles to the east.
“When I first saw it I still wanted to look it over to make sure it was the car even though I knew it,” Schnatter told The Associated Press. “That kind of hit me emotionally. I was kind of numb.”
The original buyers of Schnatter’s car heard about the search when he appeared in a TV interview before an NFL game this month. An online search led them to the car blog Jalopnik, which has followed the search and tipped off Papa John’s.
Robinson, who bought the car about five years ago for $4,000, recently delivered the Camaro to Schnatter, earning the $250,000 reward. The original buyers will get $25,000 for their help tracking it down.
Schnatter says it looks very much the same as it did when he sold it in 1983, but with a larger motor and fatter tires for drag racing.
The car will be displayed at the company headquarters in Louisville, replacing a replica Schnatter commissioned while he searched for his original car.
In honor of the reunion, Papa John’s planned to offer all Camaro owners a free pizza at stores on Wednesday.
Dodge Cummins Diesel – Test Drive (Burnout Redemption)
Alrighty then, we’re getting the hang of this. This past Saturday was quite a treat. John brought his Dodge Cummins Diesel for Washabaugh to take for a spin. On-Air, John gave Wash a hard time about his weak burn out in the Challenger last week.
Wash took the truck to get cleaned up for it’s review and suddenly realized he was in the heart of The Silver City Corridor (red light district) without any gas. And worse, he couldn’t find any Diesel. You’ve got to be kidding me! I bet he was scoping out a new Pho restaurant on Mockingbird – Pho Shizzle.
Wash LOVES this truck. And he was dead set on shedding the 30K millionaire stinch that caused his epic burnout failure in the Hemi Challenger R/T.
Burnout magic! @2:27 if you’re wanting to jump straight to it.
I was so amazed I actually crossed in front of Wash to get a better angle. Risking life & limb for the Real Deal. Thanks to God for sparing me, and Wash for maintaining steady pressure on the brake. Crazy!
We hope you like this one. We are already gearing up for next week’s.
Give us some feedback. What cars & trucks would you like to see?
Be sure to check out more videos as they are posted on the Real Deal listeners site. http://www.johnclaywolfe.com or https://wolferadio11.wordpress.com
And be sure to tune into 7am-9am on www.1053thefan.com on air on on stream, to get The Real Deal on the auto biz from John Clay Wolfe.
Jack Ingram leads the pack at Wolfe Dance part II
By Lana Sweeten-Shults
Friday, June 6, 2008-Times Record News
You might call him the alpha male of the rockin’ country pack.
Or you might just call him Jack Ingram, Texas’ own country rocker, who just walked away with the Top New Male Vocalist award at the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony just three weeks ago after years of scratching his way to the top.
Expect Ingram to do a little more scratching in the rocking country vein when he headlines Vernon’s Wolfe Dance June 14 at the Santa Rosa Arena — the second time he’ll do so for this second annual convergence of Texas music in Vernon.
He’ll be joined by opening acts Twister Cain, Brazos Stone, Eddy Raven and Johnny Cooper, as well.
The Wolfe Dance came about in 2007, when Ingram set about to fulfill a promise he made to Vernon auto dealer John Wolfe, an old college buddy of his. Wolfe was in the hospital recovering from a serious car accident in 2004.
“I told him when he gets rehabbed up and walking again from his paralyzing accident in 2004, we would play Vernon, so this is it,” Ingram said before the Wolfe Dance in 2007.
At the time, Ingram had just released a new CD, “This Is It,” and was in the midst of promoting that CD on a tour. Normally, he might not have been able to fit in a stop in Vernon, but he made an exception for his old friend.
As it would turn out, “This Is It” would become the breakthrough CD for Ingram, though he has been working in the music business for more than a decade with his share of disappointments. He has bounced between independent and major labels (even appeared in a dancehall scene in Sandra Bullock-Harry Connick Jr. film “Hope Floats” and appeared as Lee Ann Womack’s love interest in her video “I Hate Myself In the Morning”), but he could never find the magic formula.
“This Is It” was the magic formula. It debuted at No. 4 and then unleashed a number of hits or Ingram, including his first No. 1 hit, “Wherever You Are,” along hits “Love You,” a cover of Oklahoma hard-rock band Hinder’s song “Lips of an Angel,” and a duet with Sheryl Crow called “Hold On.”
He appeared on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” CNN and was even named Esquire Magazine’s Best Country Artist in 2007.
But “This Is It” would launch itself right there at Vernon’s Wolfe Dance, about a week before the CD’s release.
Wolfe and Ingram met when the two were students at Southern Methodist University in the early 1990s. Ingram was studying psychology — a field he jokes that’s pretty close to being a musician, if you consider all the soul-searching involved in both. But he also decided back then that maybe music might be his calling.
“I owned a bar when I was 19,” said Wolfe. “He and I were at SMU together, and I opened a college venue at TCU called The Plaid Pig … Every Thursday night was Jack Ingram night for about two years.”
Other on-the-rise bands like Better Than Ezra and Deep Blue Something would also play The Plaid Pig. Wolfe, after developing a relationship with these bands, would become a promoter for a time.
“So Jack and I have been doing shows together for a long, long time,” Wolfe said.
Although the two would go their separate ways after college, they always kept in touch over the years.
In fact, Ingram had a hit about seven years ago called “Flutter” that got to No. 14 on the charts. Wolfe thought, “Oh good, Jack’s finally going to take off,” but then he was eventually dropped by his label, Sony, at the time.
“He was still a struggling musician just four years ago … I told him, ‘I still believe in you so much, I’m going to give you a car to drive, a demo. It’s going to help you now because your name is not that big yet, but it will help me when your name is big,” he said.
Wolfe’s prediction was right, and he predicts the same big things for Johnny Cooper, who is also playing the Wolfe Dance.
Last year’s concert was such a success that Wolfe decided to bring it back again this year.
While Ingram and two other Red Dirt acts took the stage in 2007, the music event will offer even more musical choices this year, with Twister Cain, Brazos Stone, Eddy Raven and Johnny Cooper each taking hour-long sets.
Ingram will take time out from spending part of the spring touring with Martina McBride.
Eddy Raven has a string of hits to his name, from “Sooner or Later” to “Island,” “You’re Playing Hard to Forget,” “I Could Use Another You” and “Operator Operator.” He has also written hits for everyone from Johnny Cash to Kenny Chesney, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, the Oak Ridge Boys (“Thank God for Kids”) and Roy Acuff (“Back in the Country”).
Johnny Cooper, meanwhile, saw a lot of success himself with his CD, “Ignition” and hits like “Texas to You.” He was also nominated for the Best New Artist award at the recent Gruene With Envy Awards.
Twister Cain and Brazos Stone will also bring their country rock sound to the Wolfe Dance.
About 4,500 attended the Wolfe Dance in 2007, which was the reason for moving the concert from Wolfe’s dealership to the bigger Santa Rosa Arena. He’s hoping by bringing in Eddy Raven, who should appeal to older country music fans, that the Wolfe Dance will reach a wider audience.
Wolfe is putting a lot of resources into making this concert feel like a Dallas event, he said.
“It’s fun for me to come back and finally have the big shows I always wanted to have,” said Wolfe about his return to music promotion. “I think this one is going to be a humdinger.”
Arts and entertainment editor Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at (940) 720-3462 or by e-mail at ShultsL(at)TimesRecordNews.com.
Just the facts
What: The Wolf Dance featuring Jack Ingram in concert
Where: Santa Rosa Arena
When: 5 p.m. to midnight June 14
Tickets: $20 in advance and $25 at the gate. Tickets available at Wolfe Ford-Dodge, Cavender’s and at the gate.
Etc.: No coolers. Beer and food concessions at the event. Parking is $5. Bring a chair if you want to sit on the arena floor.
Information: http://www.gowolfe.com
Wolfe Dance schedule
5:15 p.m.: Twister Cain
6:15 p.m.: Brazos Stone
7:15 p.m.: Eddy Raven
8:45 p.m.: Johnny Cooper
10 p.m.: Jack Ingram
By Lana Sweeten-Shults
Friday, June 6, 2008
By Lana Sweeten-ShultsFriday, June 6, 2008-Times Record News
You might call him the alpha male of the rockin’ country pack.
Or you might just call him Jack Ingram, Texas’ own country rocker, who just walked away with the Top New Male Vocalist award at the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony just three weeks ago after years of scratching his way to the top.
Expect Ingram to do a little more scratching in the rocking country vein when he headlines Vernon’s Wolfe Dance June 14 at the Santa Rosa Arena — the second time he’ll do so for this second annual convergence of Texas music in Vernon.
He’ll be joined by opening acts Twister Cain, Brazos Stone, Eddy Raven and Johnny Cooper, as well.
The Wolfe Dance came about in 2007, when Ingram set about to fulfill a promise he made to Vernon auto dealer John Wolfe, an old college buddy of his. Wolfe was in the hospital recovering from a serious car accident in 2004.
“I told him when he gets rehabbed up and walking again from his paralyzing accident in 2004, we would play Vernon, so this is it,” Ingram said before the Wolfe Dance in 2007.
At the time, Ingram had just released a new CD, “This Is It,” and was in the midst of promoting that CD on a tour. Normally, he might not have been able to fit in a stop in Vernon, but he made an exception for his old friend.
As it would turn out, “This Is It” would become the breakthrough CD for Ingram, though he has been working in the music business for more than a decade with his share of disappointments. He has bounced between independent and major labels (even appeared in a dancehall scene in Sandra Bullock-Harry Connick Jr. film “Hope Floats” and appeared as Lee Ann Womack’s love interest in her video “I Hate Myself In the Morning”), but he could never find the magic formula.
“This Is It” was the magic formula. It debuted at No. 4 and then unleashed a number of hits or Ingram, including his first No. 1 hit, “Wherever You Are,” along hits “Love You,” a cover of Oklahoma hard-rock band Hinder’s song “Lips of an Angel,” and a duet with Sheryl Crow called “Hold On.”
He appeared on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” CNN and was even named Esquire Magazine’s Best Country Artist in 2007.
But “This Is It” would launch itself right there at Vernon’s Wolfe Dance, about a week before the CD’s release.
Wolfe and Ingram met when the two were students at Southern Methodist University in the early 1990s. Ingram was studying psychology — a field he jokes that’s pretty close to being a musician, if you consider all the soul-searching involved in both. But he also decided back then that maybe music might be his calling.
“I owned a bar when I was 19,” said Wolfe. “He and I were at SMU together, and I opened a college venue at TCU called The Plaid Pig … Every Thursday night was Jack Ingram night for about two years.”
Other on-the-rise bands like Better Than Ezra and Deep Blue Something would also play The Plaid Pig. Wolfe, after developing a relationship with these bands, would become a promoter for a time.
“So Jack and I have been doing shows together for a long, long time,” Wolfe said.
Although the two would go their separate ways after college, they always kept in touch over the years.
In fact, Ingram had a hit about seven years ago called “Flutter” that got to No. 14 on the charts. Wolfe thought, “Oh good, Jack’s finally going to take off,” but then he was eventually dropped by his label, Sony, at the time.
“He was still a struggling musician just four years ago … I told him, ‘I still believe in you so much, I’m going to give you a car to drive, a demo. It’s going to help you now because your name is not that big yet, but it will help me when your name is big,” he said.
Wolfe’s prediction was right, and he predicts the same big things for Johnny Cooper, who is also playing the Wolfe Dance.
Last year’s concert was such a success that Wolfe decided to bring it back again this year.
While Ingram and two other Red Dirt acts took the stage in 2007, the music event will offer even more musical choices this year, with Twister Cain, Brazos Stone, Eddy Raven and Johnny Cooper each taking hour-long sets.
Ingram will take time out from spending part of the spring touring with Martina McBride.
Eddy Raven has a string of hits to his name, from “Sooner or Later” to “Island,” “You’re Playing Hard to Forget,” “I Could Use Another You” and “Operator Operator.” He has also written hits for everyone from Johnny Cash to Kenny Chesney, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, the Oak Ridge Boys (“Thank God for Kids”) and Roy Acuff (“Back in the Country”).
Johnny Cooper, meanwhile, saw a lot of success himself with his CD, “Ignition” and hits like “Texas to You.” He was also nominated for the Best New Artist award at the recent Gruene With Envy Awards.
Twister Cain and Brazos Stone will also bring their country rock sound to the Wolfe Dance.
About 4,500 attended the Wolfe Dance in 2007, which was the reason for moving the concert from Wolfe’s dealership to the bigger Santa Rosa Arena. He’s hoping by bringing in Eddy Raven, who should appeal to older country music fans, that the Wolfe Dance will reach a wider audience.
Wolfe is putting a lot of resources into making this concert feel like a Dallas event, he said.
“It’s fun for me to come back and finally have the big shows I always wanted to have,” said Wolfe about his return to music promotion. “I think this one is going to be a humdinger.”
Arts and entertainment editor Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at (940) 720-3462 or by e-mail at ShultsL(at)TimesRecordNews.com.
Just the facts
What: The Wolf Dance featuring Jack Ingram in concert
Where: Santa Rosa Arena
When: 5 p.m. to midnight June 14
Tickets: $20 in advance and $25 at the gate. Tickets available at Wolfe Ford-Dodge, Cavender’s and at the gate.
Etc.: No coolers. Beer and food concessions at the event. Parking is $5. Bring a chair if you want to sit on the arena floor.
Information: http://www.gowolfe.com
Wolfe Dance schedule
5:15 p.m.: Twister Cain
6:15 p.m.: Brazos Stone
7:15 p.m.: Eddy Raven
8:45 p.m.: Johnny Cooper
10 p.m.: Jack Ingram
Friday, June 6, 2008
Dealers making money again….smells like Nirvana
Stats are for geeks, so if you want the stats goto one of the geek sites. However, if you want to know what’s up…Here’s the skinny…
I am in the car business, have been for years. During which time I’ve learned to judge a dealer’s financial statment by both their undertones and buying habits. When dealers start stealing each others sales staff, running auction prices to the moon, and constantly making jokes=Business be good. (more…)
Ten Most Traded-In And Purchased Cash For Clunkers Cars
from Jalopnik
As the Cash For Clunkers program begins to screech to a halt we again take a look at the most traded-in, most purchased vehicles and other fun stats.
According to the latest stats provided by the Department of Transportation, as of this morning there were 489,269 vehicles traded in with a dollar value of $2.038 billion out of a total available $2.875 billion for cars and non-Class 3 trucks. However, there’s a fear this number doesn’t reflect the total number of deals because many remain to be processed, which is why the feds decided to end the program Monday night at 8:00 pm.
Despite the deadline, dealers are already being told not to agree to more sales unless the paperwork is already in order. There’s also a strain being put on dealers who, though profiting from the bill, have fronted a lot of money on the assumption of being paid by the government, when in reality less than 10% of the reported deals have been repaid. In fact, both GM and Mazda are reimbursing dealers until the Federal government cuts them a check so they’re able to maintain enough cash to stay in business.
The most traded-in vehicle is still the Ford Explorer 4WD and the most purchased vehicle is now the Toyota Corolla, replacing the Ford Focus. For the list of the most popular trade-in vehicles click on the Explorer, for the list of purchased vehicles click on the Corolla.
AM radio will be a buggy whip
Example of Non female & Non alternate lifestyle burnouts…
Wash (the Real Deal test driver) has been living in uptown district in Dallas too long and his performance last Saturday proved it. (see challenger review above this post) This is a motovational video for Wash on how to get his burn out on like he did before he started hanging out at Snookies.
New ZR1 taunting Lambo Murcielago
(autoblog)
On Monday we shared a very nifty video of the lads at Autocar and a fire-breathing Blue Devil corvette chasing something around the hill route at Millbrook. Obviously, speculation was rampant about what sort of car had the camera strapped to it. Some folks went ahead and checked out Autocar since it was their video, others simply guessed. Results: Some of you were right! Others, very wrong. But, like the good parents that we are, Autoblog loves all of you equally. Moving on.
I’m going to go a little inside baseball for a moment, so bare bear with me. Yes, Autocar revealed that the chase car was indeed a Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce about two weeks ago. Trouble was, the clip wasn’t on YouTube, meaning that we couldn’t share it with you here on Autoblog. A questionable decision, but a decision, nonethelss. Anyhow, look – a Chevy Corvette ZR1 chasing a Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV around a track!!!
This really is an unbelievable video. First of all, you got two of the hottest cars in the world. Second, the Lambo should be a bit quicker than the ZR1, right? It has around 30 more horsepower, weighs about 60 pounds less and has AWD, allowing it to exit corners more quickly. Plus, the Lamborghini has a factory driver at the helm while the Corvette is being piloted by (gulp) an auto journalist. Only thing is, well… watch for yourself, after the jump. One more thing – not counting the “joke’s on you, rich people!” Reventon, the LP670-4 SV is Lambo’s most expensive vehicle and the ZR1 is (obviously) Chevy’s. Can you image a race between the two brands’ cheapest vehicles? Aveo vs. Gallardo LP560-4 strikes us as very funny.
REAL DEAL AUTO BLOG 
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