Valley Monkey Has 37 Unpaid Photo-Enforcement Tickets

DPS Believes that Dave Vontesmar is the "man behind the mask" in 37 photo radar photos

​If you live in the Valley of the Sun, you probably have a trick or two to avoid getting busted by  the speed cameras we all love so much. Some people just know exactly where they are, some buy devices to mask their license plates, and one man, police say, resorted to wearing a mask.

The man, according to police, is Dave Vontesmar.

Police say Vontesmar is the man behind the mask in at least 37 photo-radar tickets, where the driver can be seen wearing a mask to hide his identity.

Vontesmar says it's not him, despite being the owner of the car, but police disagree. 

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Dave Vontesmar, seen here, is believed by DPS to be the man behind the mask, responsible for at least 37 photo radar tickets

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"Our officers actually conducted surveillance on him and observed him putting the mask on just prior to the photo-enforcement zone. So obviously, he intended on speeding through the zone and was covering his face intentionally,"DPS Lieutenant Steve Harrison tells 92.3 KTAR. "He had two masks. One appeared to be [of] a monkey, the other one appeared to be [of] a giraffe or some type of gazelle design."

Vontesmar tells the Arizona Republic that he is refusing to pay the tickets

"Not one of them there is a picture where you can identify the driver," Vontesmar said. "The ball's in their court. I sent back all these ones I got with a copy of my drivers license, and said, 'It's not me. I'm not paying them.' "

Harrison says this is no laughing matter

Umm, yes it is.There's a guy cruising around town evading police by wearing a monkey mask; if that's not a laughing matter, what is?

Actually, he is not evading police. They are not policing. Cameras are not public servants. 

Here's an idea; maybe DPS officers should go back to actually pulling people over, like in the old days. It may be difficult to nail this driver by claiming -- through speed-camera pics -- that he must be the man behind the chimp get-up.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2009/09/valley_monkey_has_37_unpaid_ph.php

Veedub

Moto Trivia

The OP is a Russian Lada Niva. The screwdrive thing is also Russian; a
Zil. The 270 degree reverse parking is a Mistubishi Lancer Evolution,
and looks like its a scene from Jackie Chan's Who Am I? I love
4chan.org

Chevette-O-Rama!

Easily overlooked among all the Nashes and Willys of the Brain Melting Colorado Junkyard were the many Chevettes scattered across the landscape. The owner of the BMCJ has had a soft spot for Chevettes for many years, and he has acquired dozens of the little Opel-designed subcompact. Here's a few that I photographed during my visit.

With the smell of wildfire smoke in the air and the ground choked with prickly-pear cacti, the mid-apocalyptic environment of this place made simple, rear-drive econoboxes seem quite sensible.
There's this Limited Edition Chevette four-door, featuring… luxury?

Yes, luxury.
How about a snazzy Chevette GT?
The steering wheel and instrument cluster look of the Chevette GT appear very Vega GT-ish.

The Chevette Scooter was the stripper low-cost version, for those who wanted basic transportation a (small) step above a moped.

No collection of Chevettes is complete without an example powered by the same diesel engine used in the I-Mark Diesel.

Here's a selling point for the Chevette that became less relevant as the Malaise Era ground on: "If you drive a foreign car, you could find yourself in foreign territory!"

By 1984, the best GM's marketing wizards could say about the Chevette was that its design hadn't changed during its run.

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Original Page: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/07/junkyard-find-high-plains-chevette-o-rama/

20-mile electric range Ford C-Max Energi

When announcing the Focus Electric's 105 miles per gallon equivalent, for example, Ford made sure to note that it beats the "Nissan Leaf by 6 MPGe while also offering more motor power, passenger room and standard features. Customers can make more use of this efficiency with Ford's faster charging technology that can recharge Focus Electric in about half the time of Nissan Leaf." With the C-Max Hybrid, Ford said it would get better mileage than the Toyota Prius V. Today, Ford is revealing more details about the C-Max Energi Plug-In Hybrid, and the press release says it offers "nearly double electric-only range of Prius."

Not bad at all, but not quite enough to sway me from the efficiency of a diesel, or even a motorbike as a low-tech daily ride. The cost for the technology is still too high for me to jump in feet first. 

What does that mean, aside from some numerical chest puffery? Ford says the electric range of the Energi PHEV will be "more than 20 miles" and that the car's full-tank-of-gas-plus-electricity range is 550 miles. On top of that, the C-Max Energi is expected to get 95 MPGe (Ford expects its Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid to get 100 MPGe). It may not be saying much, but Ford also says that the Energi has a "maximum electric-only speed projected to top that of Prius plug-in." The C-Max Hybrid will be available this fall with a base price of $25,995, including destination and delivery.

Oh, by the way, Ford would like you to know that that price is "$1,300 lower than Toyota Prius V."

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Original Page: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/22/ford-c-max-energi-will-have-20-mile-electric-range-get-95-mpge/

A Van Down by the River

If you have to live in a van down by the river, get a Sportsmobile...

Dry Camping

The LR3 does great pulling a big trailer down trails not meant for loads this big. As long as we have clearance, the Rover does just fine.