Nick Ut / AP Posted on 06/20/2007 8:31:15 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Nick Ut / AP
Manuel Hernandez reacts after his car
and other impounded vehicles were crushed
at Ecology Auto Parts in Rialto, Calif., on Wednesday.
Southern California authorities crack down on illegal hot rods, street racing
RIALTO, Calif. - Charles Hoang winced when the whoosh went out of the tires. Daniel Maldonado took pictures with a digital camera as glass exploded and rained down to the ground.
The cars the teens had so meticulously souped up and tricked out were crushed Wednesday as part of a crackdown on illegal street racing in Southern California.
"That's my heart, my dream," said Hoang, 18, of Chino, who was surrounded by friends as his 1998 Acura Integra was put into a compactor. "That's my girlfriend, the love of my life. The cops can crush my car, but they can't crush my memories."
Authorities destroyed six vehicles Wednesday at an auto graveyard, hoping would-be racers think again after looking at the mashed machines. Illegal street racing is responsible for or suspected in 13 deaths in Southern California since March.
The thrill-seeking, adrenaline-pumping activity is rampant in Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles where rows of tract homes line wide streets that attract racers.
Nearly 1,000 people — drivers and spectators — have been arrested for investigation of street racing activities over the past two years in San Bernardino County alone. Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed.
Police said they have managed to reduce illegal racing and related fatal collisions, but know the underground hobby still thrives.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I had a ‘76 280 Z and I only lost one race. It was to an SVO Mustang turbo 4 that left me in the dust at 70MPH. Too funny considering it was basically powered by a souped up Pinto 4 banger.
All you had to do on the Z was adjust the fuel mixture (easy to do, since it had EFI and all you had to do was adjust the spring tension on the air intake door to make it run richer) and advance the timing until just before it pinged. That car flew. Of course to get smogged you had to put everything back to stock.
That is already covered by "receiving stolen property" statutes. I'm not a lawyer, but it's my understanding that even if you bought the stolen property in good faith, then you lose it.
Sez who?
The new Z06 is simply the best value for the money. Almost 200mph and I believe 505 HP. They rock. They also get good gas mileage if you keep your foot out of it.
Attention, Dr. Freud....
16.7 around town.
Harley noise is directly inverse to the size of the rider’s penis. The louder the pipes the smaller the rider’s ‘pipe’ is.
Is your SVT the one that comes with IRS?
Did you do any mods?
I’ve been looking at getting a Fox bodied Mustang GT to mess around with. I love Fords and those cars are easy to mod not to mention reasonably priced. You used to be able to get the 5.0 LX from the CHP but they’re all gone now.
Were their cellphones or carparts stolen?
Should we also burn down the home of anyone who smokes in their home as well?
Is smoking illegal?
How many more of our freedoms, rights and liberties are citizens willing to give away?
Driving is not a right. It's a state-licensed privilege. Is it also a right to street race a car full of stolen parts?
From the article : Illegal street racing is responsible for or suspected in 13 deaths in Southern California since March.
The less ricers on the road the better.
They want to modify a car, buy a Ford Roadster from 1938.
Does 16.7 mpg include punching from every takeoff ;)
I get better than that in my 6.0 liter V12.
What about on the freeway?
I drove a friend’s C5 and it got over 30mpg on the freeway.
I have a modified Lightning that runs low 12’s in the quarter. Not too many ricers can beat me. I love to put the fear to them. I always ask them, “Do you want to race my pickup truck?” I don’t get many takers.
You guys make me wish I’d never gotten rid of my ‘93 Saleen convertible.
wonder how many of those kids still owed money on those cars?
Exactly. DUI is responsible for hundreds of more deaths. So if one is convicted of DWI, I guess everyone here approves of confiscation and crushing of their cars too.
heh heh, just getting ready to post that.
Nothing may be more pathetic than a four cylinder “hot rod” where the owner has to put on a special muffler to get the car to make a buzzing sound.
Not every one, no. The biggest problem is that I spend most of my driving stopped at traffic lights or in expressways turned into parking lots like they do around here from about 3:30 until 7:30PM and from 7:00 to 9:00AM. Average speed since I got the thing has been 29.3 mph.
What about on the freeway?
The Z06 has a 7 liter engine. The only way to get more power out of an engine is to make it able to burn more fuel per unit time, and it uses a fair amount just sitting. Freeway is about 27 - a little more if you really nurse it. Regular C6 coupe burns regular gas and gets 17 town 28 highway.
27mpg for 505HP 427 small block is nothing to sneeze at.
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