IN THE NEWS

            For a complete list of 2009/2010 tours, packages and to register, visit www.motogrouptours.com, call (813) 864-6377 or e-mail george@motogrouptours.com

CAMARO AUCTION FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Chimera Customs in Palm Harbor along with the St. Petersburg-based duPont Registry will be taking one of its Pro-Touring 1969 Camaros to the October Barrett Jackson Auction in Las Vegas for a good cause. The car will be auctioned off and 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Florida Suncoast Affiliate of the Suzan G Komen for the Cure.

According to PJ at Chimera Customs, here are the car’s specs: 1969 Camaro RS; 650 hp; 555 Edelbrock crate engine built by Pat Musi; Tremmec TKO 5-speed; strange-built 12 rear-end 3:73 gearing; tubular sub-frame connectors; control Freak tubular upper and lower control arms; QA-1 coil-over suspension; Hotchks front and rear sway bars;  Hotchks 2’’-drop multi leaf rear suspension; Caltrac bars; A/C; P/S; 4-wheel disc SSBC;  20-inch rear and 19-inch front custom-made 3-piece Forgiato wheels; Cobra carbon-fiber front bucket seats; and a complete JL Audio sound system.

Chimera is at 37650 U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor. For more information, call (727) 939-1014, e-mail pj@chimeracustoms.com or visit www.chimeracustoms.com

28TH ANNUAL MUSTANG, SHELBY AND FORD ROUNDUP SET OCT. 24

                                                 Story provided by Mustang Club of Tampa

The 28^th annual Mustang, Shelby and Ford Roundup will be held Saturday, Oct. 24. Hosted by Mustang Club of Tampa, Bill Currie Ford and Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), the event will be once again at the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa. Portion of the proceeds of the show will be donated to MOSI’s Kids In Charge program.

The roundup will be from 8 a.m. to 4: p.m. with check-in running 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Everyone interested in Ford vehicles is invited to attend and there is no charge to simply view the cars.

The show includes classes for all years of Mustangs, Shelbys and Ford-powered cars and trucks. Two free tickets to MOSI are provided to each vehicle and vendor participating in the show. Additional tickets to MOSI are available for $5 each to show registrants. Pre-registration through Oct. 17 is $25 per vehicle; vendors $25 per 10-by-20 space; and car corral is $15 per vehicle; day of show registration is $25 per vehicle.

For more information, call Chris Meyer at (813) 961-3223, Mark Morley at (813) 891-1304 or Frank Cossota at (813) 376-8979, e-mail info@mustangcluboftampa.com or visit www.mustangcluboftampa.com

BRANDON FORD HOLDS 2010 NEW CAR PREMIERE EVENT

                                                                        By NITISH S. RELE

                                                                        editor@motoringtampabay.com

On May 27, Brandon Ford unveiled not just the 2010 Ford Mustang and Ford Fusion but also the all-new Taurus. In fact, Brandon Ford was the only dealership in Florida to host the special 2010 New Car Premiere Event that had the 2010 Taurus on display.

Present at the event, which included a raffle, test drives and food, were Ford Motor Co. Taurus and MKS Marketing Manager Pei-Wen, Ford Motor Co. Group Marketing Manager Steve Ling Dealer Principal of Ford Paul Levine.

Brandon Ford is at 9090 Adamo Drive in Tampa. For more information on these vehicles and the rest of the 2010 Ford lineup, call the dealership at 1-888-405-1052 or visit www.brandonford.com

Look out for our detailed test-drive reviews of the 2010 Mustang, Fusion and Taurus on our Testing 1,2,3 page in the near future.

MONTHLY CRUISE-IN IN ZEPHYRHILLS

The fairly new Zephyrhills Saturday Nite Cruise is held the fourth Saturday of every month. Organized by Main Street Zephyrhills, the 4 to 8 p.m. car show is held in downtown at U.S. 301 and State Road 54 west on Fifth Avenue. There is no entry fee. On the agenda are food, music, 50/50 raffle and lots and lots of cars. The next car show will be Saturday, June 27. For more information, call Main Street Zephyrhills at (813) 780-1414 or e-mail mszi@verizon.net

MONTHLY DADE CITY CRUISE-IN UPDATE

Motoring enthusiasts, here is an update on the monthly Dade City Cruise-in. The event is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 6 in downtown Dade City. However, there will not be a cruise-in in July because of the Fourth of July weekend. The monthly event will resume on Saturday, Aug 1. For more information, call the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce at (352) 567-3769, e-mail info@dadecitychamber.org or visit www.dadecitychamber.org

GO RVING’S ‘TAILS FROM THE ROAD’ VIDEO CONTEST TAKES OFF

                        Story provided by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association

With the summer travel season rapidly approaching, GoRVing — the authoritative source on all things RV — is reaching out to RVing aficionados, video gurus and everyone in between to participate in its first Internet video contest, hosted on Facebook.

According to a survey conducted by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, half of the nation’s eight million RV owners travel with their pets. With these furry, winged or scaly family members in mind, the “Tails from the Road” contest asks contestants to create a positive, humorous video featuring a pet traveling in an RV. The video must be no more than 1 gigabyte (GB) in length and five minutes in length, and can even be shot from Fido’s or Polly’s perspective. 

The Go RVing contest is designed to celebrate the fun, freedom and flexibility that some 30 million RVing Americans enjoy and is open to anyone with a video camera, access to an RV, a pet and an idea. Entries will be accepted from June 1 until July 10.

Selected video submissions will be posted on Go RVing’s Facebook page for thousands of RVing fans to see. Videos will be judged by the Go RVing Facebook community when voting begins on July 13 and continues through Aug. 2.

The grand-prize winner of the “Tails from the Road” contest will receive $1,000 and a Motorola Motonav GPS and will have his or her winning video featured on GoRVing.com, Go RVing’s Facebook fan page and YouTube. A second-prize winner will receive $500. Prize winners will be announced Aug. 5.

For complete contest details, visit GoRVing.com. 

2010 RIDEMAKERZ MUSTANG IS HERE!

                                                Story provided by Ridemakerz

It’s affordable, light and highly stylish, and car enthusiasts – especially Mustang lovers – will want to be the first to customize one and take it for a test drive. Just as the original Mustang was advertised as “the car to be designed by you,” the 2010 Ridemakerz Mustang is – literally – designed by you.

Ridemakerz has introduced the 2010 Mustang so that it can be customized by anyone either in one of 12 Ridemakerz shops or online at www.ridemakerz.com, where kids from 6 years of age to 106 build and customize modern day model cars and trucks known as Ridez. The 2010 Ford Mustang ride is 1:14^th scale – about the size of a football – and puts down a 0-60 (feet) run in 5.3 seconds with its rear-wheel, battery-powered radio-control chassis or the manual free-wheel chassis powered by the forearm muscle of the customizer.

The base price for the Ridemakerz Tidal Power Blue or Raven Scream Black Mustang is $26 and $29 for the Flamehawk Red. Ridemakerz also is offering limited editions of their Ridemakerz 2010 Ford Mustang GT for $32 and, fittingly, only 2010 are available. Each model includes a stock body, stock free-wheel chassis with stock wheelz and treadz.  Accessories for the Mustang start at $2 and are interchangeable with other Ridemakerz rides. Remote control is an additional $25.

For more information, visit www.ridemakerz.com

NEW EAGLE ONE PRODUCT MAKES CAR WASHING EASIER  

One way to economize these days is to wash your own car or truck. Eagle One has made it easier and faster to do with its new Easi-Dri Car Wash.

Developed with new sheeting action technology, the innovative product requires no hand drying, which will save you time and effort.

Easi-Dri features a proprietary polymer that sheets the water off the surface as you rinse and leaves the finish shiny and spot-free while it protects the wax finish.

The product comes in a 64-ounce bottle with a suggested retail of $5.99. It is available at leading auto parts retailers. 

For information, visit www.eagleone.com or call 1-800-432-4531.

FERRARI TAMPA BAY OPENS

                        By Motoring Tampa Bay staff

            Ferrari Tampa Bay recently opened its doors. At 2420 Tampa Road in Palm Harbor (just west of U.S. 19), the 27,000-square-foot facility is the first in North America carrying Ferrari cars only. After all, Florida is the third largest market for Ferrari North America, accounting for more than 12 percent sales in 2008.

            The cars featured at the Tampa dealership are the new Ferrari California, F430 Coupe, 612 Scaglietti, F430 Spider, 599 Fiorano and the 430 Scuderia.

            The dealership general manager is Chris Warren and service manager is Bruce Brown.

            For service appointments or sales questions, call (727) 784-3377, e-mail cwarren@ferraritampabay.com or visit www.FerrariTampaBay.com

TIRE KINGDOM OPENS IN WESLEY CHAPEL

Tire Kingdom has opened a new store in Wesley Chapel. Besides tires, of course, services offered are brakes, batteries, shocks, struts, CV joints, air filters, belts/hoses, tune-ups, alignments, oil changes, radiator service, scheduled maintenance services, etc.

Matt Labus is service manager at Tire Kingdom, 27629 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Wesley Chapel. The store is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For information, call (813) 907-5640 or visit www.tirekingdom.com and tell Matt we at Motoringtampabay.com recommended his fine place.

HEACOCK CLASSIC PRESENTS AWARD TO MILLER 122

Heacock Classic, a division  of Heacock Insurance Group, presented its annual award for the most historically significant race car to a 1923 Miller Special 122 Supercharged owned by A. Dano Davis – a car that went on to also win the Concours de Sport award at the 2009 Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance.

Harry Miller produced this “122 inch” model in 1923 and it was powered by a straight-eight, twin-cam, dry-sump engine. With this magnificent machine, the Millers dominated American racing for the next two years, winning the 1924 Indianapolis 500 race and continuing on to be quite competitive well into the 1950s. The 122-cubic-inch Miller supercharged engine developed more than 200 horsepower and Millers set numerous land speed records over the years.

“To me, the Miller 122 represents the pinnacle of American craftsmanship,” said Heacock Classic President Ford Heacock III. “The car is a work of art; it is like the Bugatti of America.”

Ford Heacock III was specially chosen to present the “Race Car” award, due to his background and passion for high performance automobiles. As a native of Sebring, his grandfather, Ford Heacock Sr., was the first local chairman of the Sebring 12 Hours of Endurance sports car race.

Known as one of the nation’s most ground-breaking vintage automotive events both in design and innovation, the 14^th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, held March 13-15, attracted more than 250 cars from seven countries to fill out the 10^th and 18^th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island.

Heacock Classic is a division of Heacock Insurance Group, Inc., based in Sebring. Founded in 1922, it is a full-service independent insurance agency. Today Heacock Classic is one of the leading collector car insurance organizations in North America. For more information, visit www.heacock.com

350Z CLUB POKER RUN NETS $4,350 FOR ALL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

About $4,350 was raised for All Children’s Hospital during the recent Run VI Charity Event held by the 350Z Club of Florida. “We had 96 cars show, 82 ran the event, and the best time was only 15 seconds off our average,” organizers say. “Everyone had a blast, and we raised $4,350 for All Children's Hospital. That’s pretty good considering current economic conditions.”

            For more information on the club, e-mail info@350Zclubofflorida.net or webmaster@350Zclubofflorida.net or visit www.350zclubofflorida.net

WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT SMOKING CAR ROUND-UP

First- and second-place winners pose with their trophies at the December Smoking Car Round-up & Golden Horseshoe Car Show held by Smokin A's BBQ in Tampa. The round-up and car show is held the fourth Saturday of each month at Smokin A's BBQ, 3643 W Waters Ave. (corner of Dale Mabry Highway and Humphrey Street). For details, call (813) 933-7665 or visit www.smokinasbbq.com

RESTORED COIN-OP KIDDIE RIDES AVAILABLE

                          Story provided by KRUSA                                     

For any motorhead, a car kiddie ride makes a great addition to the home, office or garage. It is an iconic and themed piece of décor and amusement ride combined.

Kiddie Rides USA in Denver restores these nostalgic icons. KRUSA is the only stand alone kiddie ride company left in America. They sell these kiddie rides to diverse customers – doctor’s offices, homeowners, corporations for branding purposes, car dealerships, grandparents, collectors, etc. 

For more than half a century, kiddie rides have captured pop culture in miniature. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of different kiddie rides molded into all shapes, sizes and cartoon characters over the years. They are equal parts 60-second amusement ride for kids and nostalgic American icons for adults. 

With the vast array of rides created over the years, it is surprising just how fitting a ride can be for someone’s specific interest. At Kiddie Rides USA, they often customize rides to be even more personal. For example, they recently “branded” a horse with a gentleman’s initials – a monogrammed kiddie ride. They’ve painted rides to look exactly like high-priced prized stallions and to make miniature replicas of cherished automobiles and boats. An Oklahoma Sooner fan asked to have a covered wagon customized into a “Sooner Schooner.” 

For more information, www.kiddieridesusa.com