Quick Shifts

Each week I bring you the top stories in the auto industry along with my commentary or sometimes amusing thoughts about the craziness that goes on in the world of cars.   

Stories you’ll find today:

• Ferraris, Lambos, and Lies: The Vegas Couple That Spun a $57 Million Supercar Scam.
• Concrete Cadillac: Chicago’s 1957 Time Capsule on Permanent Display. 
• When Your Lamborghini Adventure Turns Into a Felony. 
• Now You See It, Now You Don’t – The Disappearing Car Door That Couldn’t (with video)

Ferraris, Lambos, and Lies: The Vegas Couple That Spun a $57 Million Supercar Scam.  A Las Vegas couple decided to play their own version of “Fast and the Furious,” but instead of racing supercars, they allegedly raced to the bank with investor cash in a high-stakes, high-dollar hustle. Authorities say these turbocharged masterminds orchestrated a $57 million scheme so slick it could make a Ferrari’s paint job look dull by comparison. The pitch? They claimed they’d buy luxury rides like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches—basically anything with a badge fancier than a house cat’s collar—then flip them for tidy profits. Investors, probably imagining themselves behind the wheel of some rare Italian thoroughbred, forked over cash like it was going out of style. But when it came time for these investors to take a victory lap in their supposed profits, they discovered the only thing the couple was flipping was their trust. Authorities allege the couple didn’t bother picking up any actual cars, let alone flipping them. Instead, they spent the money on living large—because what’s the point of grifting if you’re not going to spend like a sheikh in Monaco? At some point, though, investors realized their “investment vehicles” were more like “invisible vehicles,” and the only thing moving fast was their money out the door. As the feds finally caught up with this speed-fueled Ponzi scheme, the couple now faces a laundry list of charges including wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. Basically, all the ingredients for a spicy prison sentence. Their supercar dreams might be over, but at least they’ll have plenty of time to swap stories in the big house—where the only luxury vehicle they’ll be driving is a rolling cart of bologna sandwiches. In a town built on high-stakes games and poker faces, these two might have thought they were the ultimate bluffers, but it looks like their luck just ran out at the final table.

Concrete Cadillac: Chicago’s 1957 Time Capsule on Permanent Display. You know you’re in Chicago when the local landmarks include a 1957 Cadillac permanently encased in concrete like a modern-day pharaoh’s chariot, and no, this isn’t some avant-garde art installation. Back in the 1980s, garage developer Joe Stein decided to entomb his family’s classic Caddy in the top floor of a parking structure at 60 East Lake Street. Legend has it Joe’s father once owned a car just like it, and what better way to honor the old man’s ride than to turn it into a literal monument? So they poured the concrete around the pastel pink Series 62, sealing it up like King Tut’s tomb—except this one’s got tailfins. The car is still there, suspended in its final parking space, a half-exposed Cadillac caked in cement, peeking out like it’s trying to escape the world’s most confusing art project. Locals and tourists alike have made pilgrimages to see this curious concrete capsule, and opinions are split: some call it a touching tribute, others say it’s an automotive hostage situation. Either way, the 1957 Cadillac’s days of cruising down Lake Shore Drive are long gone. This permanent parking job has turned the car into Chicago’s weirdest automotive landmark, a slice of mid-century Americana preserved in stone for future generations—assuming they ever get around to asking why there’s a classic car stuck in a garage wall like it lost a game of automotive freeze tag. Sure, it’s not the most practical use of a perfectly good Cadillac, but in a city that’s home to giant reflective beans and deep-dish pizza debates, a concrete Cadillac just feels like another charming oddity to add to the Windy City’s curious collection.

When Your Lamborghini Adventure Turns Into a Felony. In a story that might make Fast & Furious screenwriters do a double-take, a Dearborn, Michigan man found himself on the wrong side of the law after allegedly turning a rental Lamborghini Huracán into his own personal drive-by theater. According to authorities, this particular rental escapade involved more than just tearing up Detroit’s streets—it involved shooting a gun out of the window of the Italian supercar, which definitely was not listed as an option on the rental agreement. Witnesses reported the man was cruising through Detroit’s east side in the flashy Lambo, seemingly living his best “GTA in real life” moment. Unfortunately for him, the police didn’t find his new hobby quite so thrilling. They pulled him over, arrested him, and now he’s facing multiple charges. And let’s be honest, that’s one rental fee you probably can’t just slap on your credit card and forget about. The suspect reportedly had a 9mm handgun and fired off several rounds while driving—thankfully, no one was injured, though his chance at getting that security deposit back is now firmly in the “not a chance” category. Here’s a Car Pro tip for the rest of us: while it might be tempting to mix supercar glamour with Hollywood-style antics, the legal consequences are very real. Besides, it’s tough to look cool in a mugshot, no matter how sweet your rental car was. So next time you feel the urge to live out your action-hero dreams, maybe just stick to the arcade. Or, better yet, keep your hands at 10 and 2 and your shooting confined to Call of Duty. It’s cheaper, safer, and the only risk is losing your Wi-Fi connection.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t – The Disappearing Car Door That Couldn’t.  Remember that wild disappearing car door idea from the mid-2000s? Yeah, it was called the Disappearing Car Door (catchy name, huh?), and it looked like something straight out of a Bond movie or maybe a fever dream from a frustrated minivan designer. The idea was simple in theory: instead of doors swinging out like barn doors or going all show-offy like gullwings, the doors would slide down and vanish under the car itself, turning the side of your car into a gaping welcome mat. It sounded futuristic and promised to solve the age-old problem of cramped parking lots and door dings. But reality, as always, had other plans. Developed by a company called Jatech in 2006, the disappearing car door was a jaw-dropper at shows and a YouTube sensation in the early days of viral car videos. They even demonstrated it on a sleek Lincoln Mark VIII, adding a dose of luxury to the mechanical magic. Trouble is, while disappearing doors might make for a sweet party trick, engineering them to actually, you know, disappear was like trying to juggle flaming swords blindfolded. There were issues with sealing the cabin from water and road grime, the nightmare of maintenance and reliability, and the sheer “what if this thing breaks and strands me inside?” factor that made automakers run for the hills. So, while we’re still stuck opening doors the old-fashioned way, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. At least your doors won’t go AWOL while you’re stuck at the drive-thru, or worse, drop you into the street like a magician’s trapdoor. In the end, the disappearing car door was a flash of brilliance that vanished as quickly as it appeared, a reminder that not every futuristic idea belongs on the road.

If you never saw the video, here it is, and I bet you wish your car would do this!