Brazilian race car driver and “Dancing With The Stars†champ Helio Castroneves was acquitted Friday of most charges that he worked with his sister and lawyer to evade more than $2.3 million in U.S. income taxes.
A federal jury acquitted Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion but hung on one count of conspiracy. The jury also acquitted Katiucia Castroneves, 35, who is her 33-year-old brother’s business manager, on the tax evasion counts but also hung on the conspiracy. Michigan motorsports attorney Alan Miller, 71, was acquitted on all three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy. The jury deliberated six days after a six-week trial.
Castroneves, speaking in his native Portuguese, expressed profound relief.
“I just want to thank God, and my fans, and all of the people who prayed for me,†he said outside the courtroom, still fingering a rosary… Details
So you want the ultimate Fast & Furious movie souvenir and head over to eBay to find it. There, to your shocked surprise, is one of the Camaros used to portray the “F-Bomb”, up for bid at a starting price of $18,000. And, wow, one of the Buick Grand Nationals used in the opening fuel truck hijacking scene is available, too. Dig a bit deeper and there’s one of the Hammer replica 1970 Plymouths, and a 350Z and old Chrysler Imperial from the movie, too. How did all these cars wind up on eBay, for sale from the same source: the Volo Auto Museum in tiny Volo, Illinois?
“We got rid of all the cars that couldn’t be reasonably fixed,” explains Fast & Furious’ Picture Car Coordinator Dennis McCarthy. “Anything that was worth fixing, we saved and is still owned by Universal. All those cars are out doing promotional appearances all over the place. We got rid of all the junk.” … Details
Reports surfaced earlier on Thursday that General Motors was considering axing its GMC and Pontiac brands, but a top GM exec says that is not the case. GM has already announced that it will be selling or winding down three of its brands by 2012 – Hummer, Saab and Saturn – but says it will focus on its four core brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, moving forward.
Mark LaNeve, GM’s head of sales and marketing, called the earlier reports of the demise of GMC and Pontiac “unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue.†LaNeve says  … Details
Did you know that the German Politician, Adolf Hitler, also the leader of the popular Nazi Party, was once an avid fan of car racing? Now as you know he was one, you might well know his favourite racer too. Well, it was Hans Stuck. And for all those who already know this prodigy, news for you would be some thing else.
Bonhams & Butterfields, that operates as an auction house in the United Kingdom, is delighted to offer for sale by auction one of the most charismatic Grand Prix racing cars ever built, the 1939 Auto Union D-Type with rear-mounted 3.0-liter twin-stage supercharged V12 cylinder engine. Touted to be the motor sport equivalent of the “Holy Grail”, the 1939 Auto Union D-Type is the only model of the car to have stayed intact to date…Â Details