Evan Lysacek, the U.S. figure skater who just took the gold medal in men’s figure skating, is a car guy. Specifically, he’s got a jones for all things British and currently drives a Range Rover. A Range Rover that he was going to trade in on a Bentley before he saw the light; as soon as his promotional schedule allows, he’s going shopping for an Aston Martin DBS .

I’d be the first to tell you that I don’t understand figure skating. First, there are no motors involved, no laps and no clock to beat. Scoring is completely subjective and requires years of in depth knowledge; others may see beauty and grace, but I see I guy in a frilly Lycra costume cranking out spins and jumps on the ice. Still, mad props to Evan Lysacek for his accomplishment in beating Evgeni Plushenko, the Russian deemed by many to be the world’s best. Even more props to Lysacek for being a car guy and not a poser; anyone who chooses an Aston Martin over a Bentley is OK in my book.

Source: Yahoo Sports

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who drives a Toyota Prius, recently told a group of people of an unexpected and unintentional acceleration problem he experienced. Remember the Prius is not currently under recall. This makes Wozniak believe that, “This is software. It’s not a bad accelerator pedal.”  Now Wozniak is not the first person to bring up the idea of the possible software problem. Two former administrators for the NHTSA, Ricardo Martinez and Joan Claybrook, believe that there is some electronic glitch causing all of Toyota’s problems. Many other independent saftey experts are also saying the same things. But its Wozniak’s expertise in software and programming that packs the  biggest punch in this claim. The computer guru has also stated that he can duplicate the acceleration problem over and over at a certain speed while in cruise control. Its important to take into account that cars in the Toyota fleet  have a gas pedal that isn’t actually connected to the engine mechanically, but the engine actually relies on software input from the gas pedal to relay acceleration information. This makes the possibility of an electrical or computer error much more likely. So whether Toyota is trying to cover some bigger problem by doing a quick and easy “fix” we will soon find out, but for the time being, it makes us think.

Rumors on the internet allege that P. Diddy presented his son with a brand new Maybach for his sixteenth birthday. The keys were handed over during a taping of MTV’s “Sweet Sixteen” reality series.

I had to buy my first car. With my own money, and nobody filmed it for posterity. Since P. Diddy’s son will probably wad the car in the near future anyway, look for a one owner, slightly used Maybach with a salvage title to appear on eBay by the end of the year.

Let’s hope P. Diddy included some seat time at a Skip Barber school for his son as well. Maybe I’m just jealous, but I’m thinking a 6,000 pound car that scoots to 60 in five seconds may be a bit much for a new driver to handle.

Celebrating over 500 years since a slightly confused Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of native peoples to disenfranchise, in a few hours a group of legendary Maserati’s will lead the 65th annual Columbus Day Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York City. After completing the parade route, the pack of Italian supercars will come to rest between Madison and Fifth Avenues before the Columbus Citizens Foundation where they will remain on display until the charity raffle later this week or until one of New York’s finest defaces the vehicles, whichever comes first.

In an effort to stay one step ahead of the media blitz launched by fellow Detroit automaker, GM, Ford has launched a new marketing campaign involving the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, relatively unknown comedian Mark Malkoff, and a 28-day road trip. It sounds like the campy plot to a Nickelodeon movie, but Ford’s goal is not to see how many painful eye rolls it can elicit in one sitting but rather to showcase the Fusion Hybrid’s astounding fuel efficiency. According to the press release, Malkoff’s lofty goal is to see how many mayors east of the Mississippi he can convince to hand over the keys to their cities while using Ford’s hand-free SYNC system to keep all 10 of his fans updated on his progress via Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.

“Mark came to us with the idea, and we loved it,” said Jeffrey Eggen, manager, Ford Car Experiential Marketing. “It fits in well with our strategy to raise awareness of our new Ford vehicles by getting real customers behind the wheel and letting them tell their own story.”

If James Glickenhaus gets his way, NART, Ferrari’s North American Racing Team, might be making a comeback. If you don’t know the name, you probably know about his custom Ferrari P4/5, a rebodied Ferrari Enzo one-off that he commissioned from Pininfarina. Now Glickenhaus has dropped to the media that he wants to build another P4/5 car, a “competizione” version, and take it racing, reviving the idea of an American Ferrari team running factory-supported World Sportscar Championship-type cars for the first time since 1973.

Tonight on the series premiere of the The Jay Leno Show, self-avowed petrolhead and Jay Leno will debut the closest thing we filthy Westerners will get to Top Gear’s “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment. Furnished with a Ford Focus BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) courtesy of the Blue Oval, Leno’s “Green Car Challenge” will put his celebrity guests in the driver’s seat and unleash them on NBC’s private track. Sound like a snooze-fest? Possibly, but don’t let the buzz-killing verbiage fool you. Although the words “electric vehicle” aren’t usually synonymous with “stellar performance,” Leno’s Focus BEV is a one-off version of the 5-door Euro-spec Focus ST specially equipped by the experts in Dearborn to meet the demands of track life. The Focus BEV’s 141-hp magnetic electric motor delivers almost as much torque as a V6 Mustang (236 lb-ft), and many of the suspension components were lifted from the STi-fighting Focus RS.

Anyone want to film another Blues Brothers movie?

What do you do when your state is so far under water it makes the Mariana Trench look like a kiddy pool? You hustle, baby. Someone at Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office came up with the brilliant idea of having the celebrity Governator sign 15 of the more than 500 used state vehicles up for auction so as to raise additional money. As of Tuesday, the highest bid on a signed car was for a 2003 Civic Hybrid at a steal for $5,500! But if that doesn’t suit your fancy, there are vans, Crown Vics, and even ex-CHP BMW motorcycles to choose from. Sick of the state of the state? Put your money where your mouth is and pony up for the greater good!

There is simply no way to properly introduce Bullitt.

For those who have seen it, you already understand why it’s so good: the gritty depiction of San Fransisco’s underbelly, the mystery, the drama, and quite possibly the greatest car chase scene of all time between a ‘68 fastback Mustang and a menacing black Charger. For the rest of you, you indeed have my sympathies.

Following the jump, there is a brilliant, albeit short, 10 minute video giving you a behind the scenes look at how Bullitt was brought to life in Steve McQueen’s image. The thing to remember about this movie is the fact that it was made in the pursuit of portraying reality–the dark, dirty, uncanny truth within the story. The chase scenes were real, having predated CGI and special effects technology. The locations were real, such as the architect studio where McQueen’s on screen girlfriend worked, and even some of the “actors” weren’t actors at all–such as the hospital scene, portrayed by real surgeons and nurses.

If you’ve already seen the movie, you’ll probably get more out of the video than those who haven’t. But who knows, this just might whet your palette enough to get you off your ass and into Blockbuster.

There’s also the epic car chase scene included for your enjoyment and drooling purposes.

Come live vicariously through us as we, the most prestigious automotive blog in the world, grace the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with our stately presences. We’re sure to be the star attractions – forget the live unveiling of several never-before-seen new cars, and the endless rows of priceless works of automotive art sprawled out on the golf course greens like so many unobtanium sandtraps. Surely Jay Leno and the other celebrities will probably manage to jostle themselves into the photos of our expert appraisals of the class frontrunners, but we won’t be too upset. We’ll take a break from being the life of the Concours every so often to update you, our faithful readers. So check back often, and follow us at http://twitter.com/ridelust and in our Pebble Beach live coverage to catch all of the latest updates.