Shady mechanics are using fraudulent liens to sell unwitting customers’ cars. There’s a new racket in operation among some less-than-ethical auto mechanics, and it could cost you your ride, right down to the spark plugs. A recent report on Sacramento, CA’s CBS13 exposed the increasingly common, highly illegal practice of mechanics faking liens or actually filing bogus liens against customers’ vehicles and selling them right out from under them. The story featured Daniel James, who says Sacramento’s MK Auto held his 1986 Ford Mustang for three years, calling every few months to explain that they were struggling to find a new engine for the classic car. Finally fed up, James with the ridiculous delay, James demanded his car back. That’s when a...

Steve McQueen’s 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross, identical to the one on which he famously rode shirtless on the cover of Sports Illustrated, is up for auction. Still feeling the rush of the Independence Day celebration? Nothing says “freedom” like hitting the open road on a vintage bike. And if you’ve got a little extra change (okay, a lot), you can take your next road trip on a motorcycle once owned by iconic actors Dennis Hopper or Steve McQueen. Mecum Auctions’ Celebrity Items Auction, set for July 26-27 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, features an array of vintage motor cycles, cars and trucks – and one giant goat head on wheels – owned by famous celebs or used in feature films and classic TV shows. Among the items expected to draw the...

Many American auto owners show their patriotic pride with amazing paint jobs. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of a sweet ride.” Well, something like that, anyway. This week, E3 Spark Plugs joins the rest of the nation in celebrating 237 years of independence. “Believe me, dear Sir – there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do,” said revolutionary badass Thomas Jefferson in a November 1775 sendoff to the British Crown. “But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America.” Eight months later, the new nation’s leaders would ratify the Declaration of...

Johnny Cash’s 1976 hit, “One Piece At a Time” is a favorite car song. Summertime means road trip time. Just the thought of hitting the highways and byways, your favorite tunes blaring from the radio, is enough to get your blood pumping. And we know you’ve got a few favorites that you love to sing along with. E3 Spark Plugs offers a few of our all-time favorite car songs to help pass away the hours behind the wheel: Cars by Gary Numan, 1979 Lowrider by War, 1975 One Piece at a Time by Johnny Cash, 1976 Drive” (Who’s Gonna Drive You Home?) by The Cars, 1984: Little Red Corvette by Prince, 1983 Drive my Car by the Beatles, 1965 Car Wash by Rose Royce, 1976 Kickstart my Heart by Mötley Crüe, 1989 Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys,...

The original Mustang 1 concept car is making waves again. The first production Ford Mustang hit the streets in 1964. But a full two years earlier, a prototype that never made it to the factory line made an appearance at the 1962 Grand Prix, where test driver and contemporary Formula One race driver Dan Gurney lapped the track in a demonstration with lap times just slightly off the pace of the F1 race cars. Half a century later, Ford officials are taking another look at the Mustang I concept and asking muscle car fans which design elements they’d like to see in the next generation of ponies. The Mustang I’s look was radically different from the first production model of the car that originally was named for World War II P51 Mustang fighter jet and proved Ford’s most...

Mechanic Audra Fordin calls bluff on her male counterparts in an undercover TV segment that shows shady treatment of women in mechanics shops. Women – What could they possibly know about cars? While the question makes us here at E3 Spark Plugs cringe, it’s one that guy-centric auto shops everywhere ask every day. And the answer often is an infuriating one. Producers with ABC’s new investigative consumer journalism show, The Lookout, focused their hidden cameras on reportedly shady mechanics in New York and New Jersey. If you’re a female car owner who may or may not know a spark plug from a shock absorber, what they uncovered is really gonna rev you up. The Lookout‘s Undercover Mechanics segment features real-life mechanic Audra Fordin, who just happens...

Ferrari’s tribute to late designer Sergio Pininfarina is headed to (very) limited production thanks to 3D aerospace technology. At first, we weren’t sure if it was coming or going. But the radically-designed Pininfarina Sergio introduced at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este definitely got our attention here at E3 Spark Plugs. Now, the one-time one-off concept car may be headed for production, albeit a very limited production. Word has it that a grand total of five Sergios may soon be available, each fetching a $2 million asking price. Created in tribute to the late Sergio Pininfarina, the legendary automotive designer who passed away last year, the Sergio is a super-sleek red and black speedster with completely custom body work, no windshield, an interior...

This guy just got schooled on drunk driving risks in a very visual way. There’s something to be said for the effective use of abject terror in getting across a public service message, as illustrated by a recent PSA produced using footage from a hidden camera in a British pub loo (that’s “restroom” across the Pond). We here at E3 Spark Plugs got quite the jolt when we first saw the video, and apparently so did a million others. The 52-second video which quickly went viral shows unsuspecting pub patrons, who presumably have already enjoyed a cocktail or two, wandering into a bar bathroom. While looking into the mirror, they’re suddenly face-to-face, literally, with the bloodied noggin of a woman smashing through the glass. While producers won’t say,...

Biker culture hit the Vatican City this past weekend as Pope Francis held a Blessing of the Bikes in St. Peter’s Square. He didn’t pop a wheelie when he rolled up to the Vatican in his popemobile, but Pope Francis definitely showed his cool side, greeting tens of thousands of Harley-Davidson owners at Sunday’s Blessing of the Bikes. In celebration of the iconic motorcycle maker’s 110th anniversary, leather-clad bikers lined the streets of Vatican City alongside habit-clad nuns.  Revved-up engines thundered throughout the Latin recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in a quintessential biker’s benediction as Pope Francis drove up the main boulevard to St. Peter’s Square, blessing bikes and bikers from his open-top jeep. The four-day celebration...

NASCAR racer Jason Leffler leaves behind a five-year-old son. The NASCAR community was dealt a heartbreaking blow last night when driver Jason Leffler was killed in a crash during a 410 sprint car race at New Jersey’s Bridgeport Speedway. Running second with just a few laps left, Leffler crashed into a wall, flipped several times and fell unconscious. He was quickly airlifted by helicopter to Chester, Pennsylvania’s Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead just after 9 p.m. Eastern time. A subsequent autopsy report listed the cause of Leffler’s death as blunt force trauma to the neck. Leffler began racing at age 12 and started his professional  career in the mid 1990s, racing midget cars in the USAC series. He quickly established himself as a...