Autoblog

We've all heard of party buses, right? For some folks, even the best party bus isn't exciting enough. When Christine Morteh, in Miami, Florida, decided to start a party bus business, she offered open bar for $40, stops all along South Beach, and... girls in G-strings, lap dances, and for $100, oral sex. Well, that sex-for-money bit is called "prostitution," and even in Miami, it's illegal. Who knew? Undercover detectives took a ride on the big black bus, made sure everything was as illegal as promised, and then shut down the party. In addition to Madame Morteh, 75 employees and customers were arrested. The excuse "I'm just trying to get to Ft. Lauderdale, how many more stops is that?" apparently didn't cut it. Thanks for the tip, catgirlshyla!

[Source: Yahoo]

Click image for gallery of phonecam pics

Reader Ken Gesel did a double-take as he was waiting to pick up a friend at Miami International Airport. Amidst the merry-go-round of Crown Vics snagging fares coming out of Arrivals, there was something different. You can almost hear your favorite Sesame Street personality breaking into "One of these things is not like the others" as your eyes take in the 18-inch alloys, SS badges, and twin exhaust outlets. Yep, it really is an Impala SS taxicab, and Ken snapped off a few phonecam shots for us. Had we been walking out of the terminal, bags in hand, we'd have picked it over one of the garden-variety converted police Vics with black steelies. Next, we would have told the driver that that it was imperative he put that 5.3L V8 to work and get across the MacArthur Causeway as quickly as possible. After all, the sooner you get checked in to your hotel, the sooner you can get yourself to an outdoor table at Larios for some Churrasco and people-watching.

Thanks, Ken!

[Photos: Ken Gesel]

Team-mates and title rivals Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Homestead

We'll freely admit that we don't give NASCAR much coverage here at Autoblog. It's the most popular form of motorsport in America by far, but push come to shove, there just aren't any big oval-track racing mavens on our staff. The F1 fans among us couldn't help but take notice when the grand prix drivers started streaming in to stock cars, but beyond that....

[Source: AutoWeek]

We used to think L.A. had the most incidents of road rage per mile in the country, but when visiting the city of Angels last November for the L.A. Auto Show were surprised that it wasn't as bad as we were expecting. That's probably because Miami, FL was rated as the city with the worst road rage in the country last year. Well, Florida's hottest destination for nightlife has again been named the city with the most road rage for the second year in a row. The road rage-rating survey that tracks these things was commissioned AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based auto club, and conducted by Prince Market Research.

The full list of worst road rage cities can be found after the jump, but the usual suspects are present and accounted for, including New York City, Boston, L.A. and Washington D.C. Only 25 major metropolitan cities were included in the survey, so while there was no check box for "Most Courteous", those at the bottom of the list should be considered the most stress free driving environments. Bringing up the back of the pack, and therefore the city with the least road rage, is Portland, Ore. Not surprising, since Portland has taken very progressive measures to reduce the amount of auto traffic in its city center.

Thanks for the tip, emulous1974!

[Source: Yahoo! News]

During last week's ride and drive of Nissan's new Sentra SE-R, we were assigned instructors to ensure we didn't pull a Griffin and understeer one of their new rigs into a wall. There were several instructors from the local school on hand to give us a familiarization lap around Homestead, but there was one driver in particular that we wanted to catch a ride with.

Tommy Constantine campaigns a Nissan 350Z GT in the Grand Am Cup and in addition to being sponsored by the automaker, gets financial backing and, ummm, encouragement from Playboy. So much so that according to one of the PR people, it's a rare occasion that he doesn't come with two or three Bunnies in tow. Unfortunately, our time at the track was one of those rare occasions.

Regardless, we were able to grab a helmet when the rest of the journos were stuffing their faces with free grub and ride shotgun as Constantine flogged the SE-R within inches of its life. Just like many of the automotive epiphanies we've had over the years, this was yet another example why we'll stick to writing about cars and guys like Tommy gets to race them. Humbling? Yes. But we know where we fit in.

Check the video after the jump.

Perhaps its the fact that there are thousands of doddering septuagenarians plying area roads, but Miami, Florida has just been dubbed America's least courteous drivers. Or to put a finer point on it, they've got some road rage and rude driving issues. A new AutoVantage survey of 2,000 adult commuters in 20 major cities has concluded that Miami has the worst road etiquette. The Norwalk, Connecticut company's phone survey also found a lot of negative feelings in:

• Phoenix, Arizona
• New York, New York
• Los Angeles, California
• Boston, Massachusetts

And there must be something to the whole 'Minnesota Nice' thing, as Minneapolis topped the list of friendliest commuter cities. Other top finishers included:

• Nashville, Tennessee
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Seattle, Washington
• Atlanta, Georgia

AutoVantage questioned participants on everything from obvious displays of motoring anger (middle fingers, cutting off other cars, tailgating, etc.), turn signal use, talking on the phone, and 'driving too fast.'

[Source: The Associated Press via CNN.com]

(Top Tip, Evan!)

The new Mercury Milan VOGA is being introduced right now during Miami Fashion Week in order to help the Ford brand attract the Hispanic dollar. Camilo Pardo, who designed another car you might remember – the Ford GT, designed the Milan VOGA. While the Milan VOGA lacks the 500 horses of the GT, it does add a nice dose of style to the Milan. Unfortunately Mercury is only going to produce one VOGA, which will be auctioned off on eBay in June at www.eBay.com/Milan. In our eyes the stainless blue metallic paint, 3D Carbon exterior ground effects and larger wheels would make a nice trim package for the Milan (perhaps wearing something smaller than 20-inch shoes). The VOGA also gets capped with a stainless steel roof.

Rosalyn Sanchez, who you might know from such cinematic masterpieces as Boat Trip, has been tapped to present the car. The proceeds from the auction will help benefit MANA, a national Latina organization.

More pics after the jump...

[Source: FusionUnleashed]