1978 Cadillac Fleetwood / Coupe Deville Radio Bezel on 2040-parts.com

Former auction-house owner Kruse facing Pennsylvania theft charge

Former auction house owner Dean Kruse surrendered to northern Indiana authorities last week to face a theft charge in Pennsylvania, where he is accused of failing to pay a man $38,000 for selling an antique hearse. The Associated Press, citing The Herald Republican of Angola, Ind., said that Kruse, 69, was released Aug. 31 from the DeKalb County Jail in Auburn, Ind., after posting a $5,000 bond.

Is this the new Lexus RC F Coupe?

Is this the new Lexus RC F Coupe? These could be Photoshops based on the Lexus LF-CC – which previewed the new IS – but they do have the feel of being real, and if they are then Lexus is delivering up an RC Coupe that’s pretty faithful to the LF-CC Concept and which promises to be a real competitor for the BMW M3. Under the bonnet of the RC F is expected to be a 5.0 litre V8 delivering around 455bhp and 400lb/ft of torque, complete with cylinder deactivation for more frugal running when you’re not wringing the neck of the V8, and mated to an eight-speed auto ‘box with flappy paddles and three driving modes.

'American Nitro' is back!

"Seventies drag-race mayhem is back!" bills "American Nitro," a schlocky drive-in exploitation film whose only quote of praise, from a dog-eared period issue of "Car Craft," reads, simply, "SPECTACULAR CRASHES!" Director Bill Kimberlin says that he made "American Nitro" in 1979 as a response to Tom Wolfe's influential 1965 essay, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby." "I was just getting out of high school in a small town in Northern California when Wolfe's book came out," he said. "Nitro came about as my response to the car culture I was exposed to in the small valley town of Boonville, Calif. Instead of 'American Graffiti,' I made 'American Nitro.'" A fitting comparison, in fact, considering Kimberlin later worked for George Lucas at ILM, starting with" Return of the Jedi." Now the movie is being released on DVD for the first time -- beware of bootlegs, warns the website -- and digitally remastered, while retaining the explosive charm and goofy narration of the 1979 original.