By Kyle Munzenrieder Thu., Dec. 29 2011 at 12:43 PM

The Chevrolet Corvette is a proud icon of the American motor industry. It is not built to be a crash barrier for drunk drivers, yet that’s exactly what happened at Tropical Chevy in Miami Shores earlier this month. In the early hours of December 14th a drunk driver lost control while driving down Biscayne Boulevard and crashed into a row of Vettes.

The incident happened at about 3 a.m., and the driver rammed into the first in a row of Corvette Grand Sports. According to CorvetteBlogger.com, the driver didn’t suffer any serious injuries, but we can’t say the same about the sports cars.

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​Amazingly, this isn’t the first time a driver has rammed into cars sitting on the Tropical Chevrolet lot. Back in 2007, a driver speeding down Biscayne Boulevard at about 125 mph lost control, went airborne, and landed atop a row of Chevy SUVs. Ironically, the speeding driver was behind the wheel of a Corvette.

January 12, 2012|From Rachel Garrett, CNN

Add a new one to the irate reactions triggered by incessant ringing of a cell phone: bringing one of the world’s great symphony orchestras to a dead stop in mid-performance.

In a disastrous meeting of an old classic and new technology Tuesday night, the New York Philharmonic was performing Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony — a haunting piece some say the composer wrote as he faced his own death — when a cell phone started ringing in the audience.

Classical music fans were quick to light up Twitter and blogs later with details of what happened in the storied performance hall.

“After the last climax, the movement begins to wind down, toward that sublime last page of the score where music and silence are almost indistinguishable,” former classical singer Michael Jo wrote of one moment when the phone began to ring.

“In other words, just about the worst possible moment,” Jo wrote on his blog.

Jo was seated in a box seat on the right side of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and could hear the cell phone ringing in the front row on the left side of the stage. He described the phone going off throughout the whole performance but most noticeably at the beginning of the final movement, a particularly emotional part of the symphony.

Jo said Thursday that the most extraordinary thing was that the owner of the phone, an elderly man, did not even move.

Others bloggers said perhaps he could not hear the phone or was too embarrassed to claim the ringing intrusion as his responsibility. The phone rang for three to four minutes straight, leading Jo to believe that it was some kind of an alarm going off rather than a regular phone call.

Jo said New York Philharmonic conductor Alan Gilbert reacted to the intrusion by stopping the music. He didn’t melodramatically fling his arms down; rather, he merely dropped his hands, which alerted the musicians to stop playing, according to Jo.

Then, the only sound in the great room was the “Marimba” ringtone of the cell phone, Jo said.

Gilbert turned his attention to the owner of the phone, who was seated on the front row, and asked, “Are you finished?”

When there was no reply, Gilbert said, “Fine, we’ll wait,” and placed his baton on his music stand, according to Jo.

After a few more rings, the phone was silenced.

But that was not the end of the excitement, Jo said.

GM says the generous decision was made to add “to an unmatched set of experiences available to Corvette owners”, while also marking the beginning of Corvette Racing’s 2011 American Le Mans season.

Owners have a year from their car’s delivery (or sale) date to sign up and use their two-day driving school pass at either of Corvette’s official outfits – Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving near Phoenix, Arizona or Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pick up a 638-horsepower ZR-1, though, and you’ll get the benefit of one extra day at school.

Student’s have to pay their own travel, accommodations, and food bills, but nonetheless, it’s a good value when you crunch the numbers. Bob Bondurant’s High Performance Driving two-day classes start at $2325, while Ron Fellows’ Level 1 students usually shell out $3695.

Source: General Motors

Check out our 4 videos on You Tube to see how it operated.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CorvetteMikeCa?feature=mhee

Corvette Mike

1133 N. Tustin Ave, Anaheim, CA 92807

This is why Corvette Mike warns people about deals that sound too good.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on December 29, 2011 released the following:

“6 indicted in $4 million Internet scam involving bogus online vehicles sales Fraud scheme used well known websites that offered vehicles for sale

LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury has indicted six foreign nationals on charges related to an Internet sales scheme that allegedly defrauded Americans who attempted to purchase automobiles and other vehicles on the Internet through websites that included eBay Motors, Auto Trader, Yahoo Auto, Edmunds.com and Craigslist.

The 24-count indictment, which was returned Wednesday afternoon, alleges a scheme in which vehicles were offered for sale on various legitimate websites. Money was subsequently collected from victims across the United States and supposedly put into escrow accounts with PayPal and eBay Motors. The money was then siphoned from the accounts, with millions of dollars being sent to Europe. Not one vehicle was delivered to the hundreds of victims who lost more than $4 million during the 3 1/2 years the scheme operated, according to the indictment.

The charges are the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Secret Service. Several other state and local law enforcement agencies provided substantial assistance during the investigation, including the Costa Mesa Police Department.

The indictment alleges conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, nine counts of wire fraud, eight counts of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of money laundering. Additionally, the indictment seeks the forfeiture of property and money illegally obtained through the scheme, including more than $4.2 million in U.S. currency. If they are convicted of the charges in the indictment, the defendants would each face sentences that could total hundreds of years in federal prison.

Those charged in the indictment are:

• Corneliu Stefan Weikum, 37, a Romanian national who resides in Berlin and is currently in federal custody in Nevada;
• Yulia Mishina-Heffron, 23, a native of Yekaterinburg, Russia, who is in federal custody in Nevada;
• Sergej Bugaev, 38, a Russian national and resident of Berlin, who is currently in state custody in Orange County;
• Alexander Brem, 34, a native of Kazakhstan who resides in Berlin;
• Marina Talashkova, 24, of Yekaterinburg, Russia; and
• Rihards Avotins, 21, a Latvian resident.

“As more people use the Internet to conduct everyday transactions, we are increasing our efforts to protect consumers from fraud artists committed to taking hard-earned money from consumers who are increasingly comfortable doing business in cyberspace,” said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. “This case demonstrates our ability to track down even the most sophisticated fraud artist who attempted to hide behind false identities and the perceived anonymity of the Internet.”

The indictment alleges a scheme in which members of the conspiracy offered vehicles – including automobiles, motorcycles, motor homes and boats – for sale on various websites. After the purchase price was negotiated through telephone and email communications, co-conspirators emailed fraudulent invoices to the purchasers. The fake invoices appeared to be from eBay, Edmunds.com, PayPal, and Google Checkout, and the documents often bore the names and logos of these legitimate companies. The victims were instructed to wire the agreed-upon purchase price into bank accounts they thought were related to the escrow companies, but had in fact been set up by members of the conspiracy who often used false identification to open the accounts. The fraudulent invoices falsely represented that the funds would not be released to the purported sellers until the purchasers had received and approved the purchased vehicles, and victims were further told that they had the option of returning the vehicles at the seller’s expense within a week of receiving and inspecting the vehicle.

Despite receiving the purchaser’s funds for the vehicles, the indictment alleges, the defendants did not provide any vehicles to the victims.

“Unfortunately, countless consumers fall prey to sophisticated Internet fraud schemes like this every year and most of them will never get their money back,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles. “While Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work closely with its enforcement partners here and overseas to aggressively target this type of crime, Internet shoppers must also take steps to protect themselves. Before buying anything online, shoppers should check to be sure their money is going to a legitimate account and always remember, if the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

According to the indictment, Weikum monitored the fraudulent bank accounts to determine if victims had deposited the funds. Once money was sent to the fraudulent bank accounts, the money was withdrawn – primarily in cash – and the money was delivered to Weikum and Mishina. Weikum and Mishina allegedly wired the money from the United States to other countries, mailed the funds in concealed packages to Berlin, or concealed the funds in personal carry-on luggage while traveling to Germany.

At least 110 bank accounts were opened to fraudulently receive proceeds derived from the Internet sales scam, according to the indictment. From Sept.4, 2007 until Oct. 5, 2010, victims deposited at least $4 million into the fraudulent bank accounts.

“The defendants conducted a scheme intending to defraud the everyday Internet shopper,” said IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Leslie P. DeMarco. “The IRS will continue to use its resources to trace money received from fraudulent Internet schemes. Internet consumer safety is a concern of the IRS and we will do our part to combat this modern-day fraud.”

Joseph Beaty, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service Los Angeles Field Office, stated, “Cybercrime, including this kind of Internet sales scheme, has evolved significantly over the last several years. Cooperation between law enforcement allows us to focus our resources and respond quickly to uncover and prevent criminal activity such as this type of financial fraud.”

The fraud charges alleged in the indictment each carry a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The money laundering charges alleged in the indictment each carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Weikum and Mishina are in custody after being charged last year in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Nev. Weikum and Mishina were previously indicted on charges related to bulk cash smuggling, structuring cash transactions and false identification documents. The Nevada indictment alleges, among other things, that Weikum attempted to conceal $1.1 million in U.S. currency in his luggage as he traveled to Germany in October 2009. Weikum and Mishina are scheduled to stand trial in the Nevada case Jan. 24.”

We’re looking forward to this great event.  Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all!

SAVE THE WAVE

Ever since Corvette No. 00001 first met Corvette No. 00002 on the road, their drivers saluted each other with waves. Today, unfortunately, this grand and glorious tradition is wavering. There’s one item of standard equipment that comes as a pleasant surprise to every new Corvette owner. It’s the instant wave of recognition he receives when he meets one of his ilk on the road. The first time it happens, he is taken by surprise. He immediately thinks: (1) he has been mistaken for Sterling Moss; (2) His lights are on; or (3) He has just been given the bird. Soon, however, the new Vette owner anticipates, indeed even relishes, en- countering other Vettes as he drives. During this period, he experiments with his waves, running the gamut from the gaping “yoo hoo” to the ultra-cool “two- finger flip.” He perfects his timing, making sure he affects neither the too- eager, too-early wave, nor the jaded “oh brother” too-late variety. Determined not to be one upped, he even develops a defense mechanism for non-wavers, usually settling on the “Wave? My hand was just on the way to scratch my head” approach. (This is especially useful when you’re not driving your Vette, but you forget, and like a dummy, wave anyway.) Indeed, one of the most perplexing problems facing a would-be waver is what to do when driving next to a fellow Vette owner. Passing him going in opposite directions is one thing. Greetings are exchanged, and that’s that. But what happens when you pull up next to a guy at a light, wave, nod, smile and then pull up next to him at the next light, a block later? Wave again? Nod bash- fully? Grin self-consciously? Ignore him? Or take the chicken’s way out and turn down the next side street? If you’re expecting an answer, you won’t find it here. Sad to say, some questions don’t have any. Girl-type Corvette drivers also have a unique problem: to wave or not to wave. The miss or misses who borrows her man’s Corvette for the first time is immediately faced with this quandary. Should she wave first and look overly friendly, or ignore the wave and look like a snob? Most ladies who drive their own Vettes prefer to suffer the latter rather than take the chance of being misread. For this reason, all girls are excused for occasionally failing to return a well-meaning wave. So are new owners who are still learning the ropes. There is no excuse, however, for the guy who refuses to return a wave, not out of ignorance, but of arrogance or apathy. While this type of behavior is the exception to the rule, it seems that a few owners of newer models [ remember, this was 25 years ago, 1969 :^) -- Phil ] refuse to recognize anything older than theirs, while some others simply won’t wave, period. Boo on them. These ding-a-lings don’t seem to realize that they are helping to quash a tradition that had its beginnings back when most of us were still driving Tootsietoys. And besides, in this era of mechanized anonymity, we need to save all the human relationships we can. What to do about the problem of non-wavers? Well, in the movie “The Hustler,” Fast Eddie had his hands broken for not playing by the rules. But, maybe this is going just a bit too far. Maybe the solution is to cure these guys with kindness. So, take a look at these drawings and pick a wave you like. Then, the next time you pass a fellow Vetteran, make sure you use it. And the next time. And the next. Who knows? If you don’t succeed in getting some of these hard-noses to wave back, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve started a lot of them thinking. And that alone is worth a wave. [ Unfortunately, my ASCII art is far below that which would be required to recreate the cartoon characters demonstrating the different waves, so you'll just have to imagine them ;^) ] [ Man shown with steering wheel in left hand, right arm straight up, mouth open! ] The Gaping “Yoo Hoo!” – Good for waving at Vettes on the other side of divided highways, in medium-to-heavy traffic. Not much good for anything else. The Two-Finger Flip – A move that can say “Hi.” Or “Wow!” Or “Victory.” Or most anything else, depending on the action of the giver, and the reaction of the taker. The Four-Finger Pop-up – One of the classics. Palm grasps top of wheel, while fingers are extended snappily. An inscrutable expression helps the total effect. [ Man with hands a 11 and 1 o'clock, thumbs around wheel, all fingers up ] The Eight-Point Spread – Broad, expansive and outgoing. The hand action is reminiscent of Al Jolson at his best. The Pointer – Sort of a wink, a click and a “bang, you’re dead!” combination. Can also be used to draw attention to a pursuing traffic cop, in which case, you are dead. The Wiping Swipe – Sort of a “Hi, guys.” Primarily given by patronizing father-figure types. The Topper-Tipper – A rarely seen, but eloquent gesture. Can prove embarrassing when the tipper wears both a hat and a toupee. The Right-Handed “Hi-G’Bye.” – A desperation move, given only at the last minute. Hand shoots straight skyward, occasionally scrunching fingernails or knuckles in the process. The Near-Futile Head Jerk – A last resort, when you think you’ll be snubbed, but aren’t; or when you think you haven’t been daydreaming, but have. [ Rear view of man, left arm dangling out the window. ] The Last-Minute Left Elbow Grope – Another desperation tactic, usually seen only in rear-view mirrors. Has all the grace and finesse of a peg-legged man in a forest fire.

Do you like cars?

Do you like classic cars?

Do you love to see very unique and rare cars?

Do you want to help people this holiday season?

Car enthusiast,

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then Corvette Mike in Anaheim, CA. has the event for you. It is our second annual Car Show and Food/Toy drive to be held on Saturday December the 17^th. This is a free event and open to everybody. If you would like to help and have any non-perishable items or unwrapped toys you would like to donate, we will be happy to collect it and make sure it gets distributed to families for the holidays. Last year we had people offer to donate money and this year we will be able to accept these donations also (cash or checks).

Cannot make the date but still want to help? You will be missed, but the family’s can still get your help; just stop by anytime before the 24^th of December to drop off your donation.

As we strive to make this event even better than last years, we have worked extra hard to acquire some very special and rare cars to show, like a very rear Jaguar XJ-220, a Black/Black 1969 factory race tune 560hp L88 Corvette (1 of 2), 1991 Lamborghini Diablo, 1967 Red/Red 427/390 factory side pipe with only 22k original miles, 1970 Jaguar XK-E convertible and many more surprise cars. And then there will be our customer’s very special cars! Have a car you want to show off? Bring it in and get a special parking space on a first come first parked basis!

Corvette Mike will provide free beverages and finger snacks for your enjoyment, but please no eating or drinking to close or inside the cars.

When:    December 17 (Saturday)

Time:   10:00am – 2:00pm

Where:  Corvette Mike, Anaheim

1133 n. Tustin Ave.

Anaheim, CA. 92807

Dress:   Casual

RSVP:   Not required, but nice.

email Neida at: Info@CorvetteMike.com

Thank you,

The Corvette Mike team.