Beautiful Sunday in OC - Enderle Center Million Dollar Car Show

Laura Jacobsen & Joy Loo

do you think this person is patriotic?

Just Another Saturday @ Cars and Coffee

It's been so long since my last visit to Cars and Coffee. Well, I must say, it was bitter sweet. It was great seeing all the old faces and beautiful cars but a little heart breaking to not be promoting Velocity there.

On May 16th, Laura and I went to Cars and Coffee to rekindle ourselves with the passionate OC car world. It's so funny how we both had different agendas... Laura was going to promote Hagerty, bringing awareness to the OC car enthusiasts. Since Velocity, she has landed a sweet gig. She attends all the car shows, meets and greets all that attend, and lets them know about Hagerty. And I went to Cars and Coffee to promote the Concours d'Elegance held at the St. Regis.

It turned out to be a great Saturday. We ran into so many old faces and was quickly reminded on how much we were loved!!!! One of the early morning patrons was Samuel Hubinette, aka "The Crazy Swede", a professional race car driver and Hollywood stunt driver. We stopped and chatted about how well his new Performance Driving Academy was doing. I think I might take him up on his offer to get behind the wheel and feel the hunk of metal pushed to the limits. Next classes are set for June 13th and 14th...

Every week there is a theme... as you can see it was Porsche weekend.

An Evening of Celebration - Baja 1000, Velocity, Blue C Advertising

Click below to see pictures from a the Baja 1000 co-sponsored Velocity event.

Velocity Magazine Ceases Publishing

December 11th, 2008, 5:29 pm

Velocity magazine, a bi-monthly magazine for Orange County auto aficionados, will stop printing after just seven issues because of the current economic troubles, publisher David Threshie said today.

The glossy magazine debuted in October 2007 and was flush with ads for high-cost watches, alcohol, auto accessories and collector cars.

It was one of the only magazines in the region to target and reach affluent male readers. But it arrived as the economy — and auto industry in particular — struggled with everything from gas price spikes to the housing bubble bursting to the credit crunch to the collapse of print media.

“It was on its way to being profitable but the severe economic downturn slowed its trajectory to the point where we had to make a decision: Suspend it until the economy rebounds or weather the storm,” Threshie said. “Our ramp up essentially stalled right after the mortgage and banking industries collapsed.”

The magazine’s Web site — www.velocitymag.com — will continue to appear. Threshie said he also plans to develop a national cable show that features the Orange County car culture.

“We are talking to several networks with the hope of getting a show together to air sometime after the first of the year,” Threshie said.

Threshie said he plans to revive the magazine when the economy recovers, but for now he will cut his advertising and editorial staff.

Velocity is independent of the Orange County Register, although Threshie is the son of the newspaper’s former publisher and is a former member of the board of Freedom Communications Inc., the Register’s parent company.

Jay Leno's Garage Tour

Tuesday, December 9th, the Velocity team, writers, TV spokeswoman, and friends battled their way deep into Burbank to visit Jay Leno's Garage. We had the great opportunity to see his personal collection... WOW! About 125 of the finest automobiles around! Pictures and video were not allowed but at the end of the tour, the ever so sweet Rosalie let us take this group photo.

   

Red Bull Drifting World Championship

In Long Beach on November 11, 2008, Laura Jacobsen, Genevieve Chappell & filming crew, and I attended for the inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship. The city of Long Beach hosted the parade of cars through the downtown area and a draw party at the local establishment, “Smooth’s Sports Grill”.

The special drifting track was at the Port of Long Beach and featured six (6) turns, a high speed right-hand entry that pushed the drivers into the 100+ mph range. Awesome to watch by the way... The course definitely pushed the drivers to their limits for the ultimate drifting competition.


32 of the world’s best drifters gathered on Saturday and Sunday at the Port of Long Beach to compete for the largest prize purse in drifting history. We caught up with Samuel Hubinette for a VelocityTV interview and to wish him good luck on the competition.

Unfortunately, Samuel, (2 time world champion) didn't take home the gold this time... first place went to Rhys Millen, $25,000; Teammate Daijiro Yoshihara and his Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO took home the 2nd place prize of $15,000 and the 2007 and 2008 Formula DRIFT champion, Tanner Foust and the Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z took home 3rd place overall and $10,000.

A fun time was had by all!!! Until next time... drift on baby!