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Jay Leno's Dodge Challenger raises $585k for USO in Scottsdale

Of all the metal moved in Scottsdale, AZ, this holiday weekend, the one you see here was hardly the most expensive. But it's noteworthy for another reason: despite being a relatively humble, second-hand 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, raised an impressive $565,625. That's because, first of all, it belonged to Jay Leno, and secondly because the proceeds were going to the USO. Leno donated the modern muscle car from his collection to benefit our men and women in uniform, and was on hand to present the car on stage at the Gooding & Company auction, along with USO president J.D. Crouch II and former Army chief of staff General George W. Casey, Jr. After frenzied and patriotic bidding, the gavel ultimately dropped at $360,000, accompanied by over $200,000 in additional contributions, bringing the total amount donated to the USO to over half a million. Commendable though it was, of course the Challenger didn't garner the highest bids at the auction. A 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider sold for $7.7 million and a 1968 Ferrari 330 GTS fetched $2.4 million. A rare 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Series I Coupe Aerodinamico sold for over $4,070,000 – which, according to Sports Car Market, is the most ever paid at auction for a 400 Superamerica. And a 1966 Porsche 906 Carrera 6 also sold for a record $1.98 million. Featured Gallery Gooding Scottsdale 2015 News Source: Gooding & CompanyImage Credit: Jensen Sutta, Mike Maez/Gooding Celebrities Dodge Ferrari Porsche Auctions Classics dodge challenger srt8 gooding ferrari 400 superamerica

Man crashes car through store window, says he needs a beer

Police body cameras captured a chaotic scene at a Cleveland-area convenience store after a man drove his car through the front of the store and barricaded himself in a walk-in cooler. According to WJW, the Convenience Mart in Rocky River, Ohio, had just closed in the early hours of May 7 when a black Dodge Challenger barreled through the security bollards at around 40 miles per hour and crashed through the front window. Police arrived to find the car parked in the store with its hazards on, the store clerk trapped beneath debris, and no driver. The clerk told officers the driver got out, told the clerk that he needed a beer, then wandered into the walk-in cooler. Officers found the driver barricaded inside the cooler. A tense standoff ensued with the agitated, confused man, who dared the cops to shoot him. Police learned he was suffering PTSD-related issues from his military service and job with the Federal Protective Service. "The conversation he was having with the police was deranged, consistent with somebody who was going through a mental crisis," RRPD Chief Kelly Stillman told WJW. Eventually, an officer was able to use a taser on the man, who put up a fight but was eventually subdued. He faces charges that include DUI and reckless driving. Thankfully, the store clerk escaped relatively unscathed. His life was saved by a deli case that absorbed the impact of the car and sheltered him from falling debris. "Had the car been over a couple more feet, he was hurt, it could have been serious bodily injury, even possibly death. I mean that's a four, five thousand pound automobile coming at 30, 40 miles an hour. He was lucky, very lucky," said Chief Stillman. Related Video News Source: WJW Auto News Dodge cleveland challenger

Detroit's new fleet of donated police cars have safety issues [w/video]

In a show of generosity in mid-August, Detroit's business leaders donated $8 million to the Police Department and Fire Department in order to buy 100 new police vehicles and 23 EMS ambulances. But now officers have discovered - and complained - that the police vehicles have glaring safety issues, Deadline Detroit reports. It is not made clear what models of the fleet vehicles - which include police versions of the Ford Taurus, the Chevrolet Caprice and the Dodge Charger - are affected by the safety issues.
Officers reportedly have complained that the Plexiglass partition separating front-seat officers and back-seat prisoners is easily breached, and that the front passenger seat is installed too close to the dashboard. Prisoners who manage to writhe out of their handcuffs can bend the Plexiglass and reach into the cockpit, and sitting too close to the dashboard can render airbags more dangerous and make officers more vulnerable to injury in a crash.
Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, received the complaints and reportedly said the vehicles would get safety updates addressing the issues. But Deadline Detroit reports that it checked some of the offending police cars and, as of the last few days, they hadn't been updated.