Fulfill your need for speed on a lazy Sunday by checking out the Petersen Automotive Museum's newest exhibit. NHRA: Sixty Years of Thunder takes on the colorful history of drag racing. The Petersen has put together a collection full of the dragsters, funny cars, altereds and more that were the product of the American desire to go as fast as possible, as dangerously as possible. A must-see for any car junkie.

Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; $10; www.petersen.org

-- Daniel Siegal

Not driving? It’s all the rage.

On Sunday, L.A. enjoyed a surreal day of automobile-free streets -- well, 7.5 miles of them. CicLAvia, in its inaugural spin, closed down a route from East L.A. to Boyle Heights, leaving an open road for cyclists, rollerbladers and casual Sunday strollers. Don’t believe us? Read a recap of the event here, or scroll through photos at LAist for proof that the city doesn’t require a zombie Apocalypse to be bike friendly.

Speaking of zombies, Google just unveiled the terrifying fact that it's been hijacking its own fleet of Priuses, eliminating the need of a driver by controlling the cars with computer brains. Sure, there is a human in the seat, ready to pounce on the brake if need be, but the recent unveiling of the program has people wondering how far off automated vehicles really are -- and why the company is spending millions in shareholder dollars on robocars. Google's official statement described 140,000 miles of road testing, including routes “from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard.”  None of the Googlebots were at fault in any accidents, but that's probably because the computers weren't Twittering, texting and eating a burrito while navigating, like most Angeleno drivers.

- Alie Ward

 
Photo:  Cyclists ride along Spring St. in downtown L.A. on Sunday. Credit: Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

Carol Agay loved the retro-style wire bike basket that came with her new yellow cruiser, except that her keys and cellphone kept falling through its holes. So the Costa Mesa resident came up with a fashionable but practical solution: a basket liner that kept her items secure while she was riding.

And she included drawstring handles so that off the bike, the liner could be transformed into a handy tote.

So many female bicyclists stopped her to ask about the invention that Agay transformed it, again, into something else: a business.

Her Couture Cruiser liners are now sold in about 200 stores nationwide, including the Dick's Sporting Goods chain and online at Target.com. Continue reading >>

Eco-conscious travel is about to become a lot easier. Beginning as early as January, electric cars will be available at the nation's two largest auto rental companies. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, North America's largest car rental firm, unveiled plans last week to offer about 500 Nissan Leaf all-electric cars, initially at dealerships in Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland and Seattle.

The announcement came a few months after Hertz, the world's largest car rental company, said it planned to offer Nissan Leafs next year at a handful of locations in the U.S. and Europe, including New York, Washington and San Francisco. A fully charged Leaf has a range of about 100 miles.

Hertz and Enterprise already offer hybrid models such as the Toyota Prius. But some questions about renting electric cars have yet to be answered. For example, representatives for each company say the price of renting a Leaf will probably be higher than the rates for traditional gas-burning vehicles. But they have yet to announce exact rates.

“The details are still being worked out,” said Lee Broughton, director of sustainability for Enterprise.

Perhaps a bigger concern for travelers who rent electric cars is whether they would have to pay a penalty for returning the vehicles with depleted batteries.

It is a key question because fully recharging a Leaf takes up to eight hours at a charging station and 20 hours from a standard home outlet.

If travelers don't have time to recharge an electric rental car before returning it, the rental firm must take the vehicle out of service to recharge it. Enterprise and Hertz representatives said they were still working out a solution.

-- Hugo Martin

Photo: A Nissan Leaf electric vehicle on display at Santana Row in San Jose. Enterprise and Hertz plan to offer the vehicles as rentals. Credit: Masaru Oka / MCT

On Saturday, Scion hosted Unlock the tC Grand Finale, an event at Santa Monica's Barker Hangar that featured a final competition to win a Scion tC, plus live music by the Spits, dubstep DJ sets, free haircuts, installation art and plenty of cars on display.

See more photos after the jump...

TRANSPORTATION ISSUE: On Oct. 20, 2009, super passenger girl, a.k.a. La Superpasajera, defeated the Highway Devil, Rail-Dracula, and the Bus Slasher in a showdown in front of the Los Angeles County MTA headquarters. The goal of the colorful protest was to shine a spotlight on the 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which proposed 14 permanent fare increases over the course of 30 years and bus service cuts.

The demonstrators were not a loose band of actors looking for a new stage. They belong to a powerful political group that fights for progressive civil rights, environmental responsibility and a first-class public transportation system. They have a voice and demand to be heard. They are the Bus Riders Union.

Continue reading after the jump...

TRANSPORTATION ISSUE: The 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championships is often a grueling showcase for the world's toughest bikes and riders, but the July event in Canmore, Canada, was something special. Greg Martin, a 37-year-old firefighter from Ketchum, Idaho, won the single-speed division (and came in fifth overall) on a bike that didn't have a chain. It used a smooth, silent, carbon-polyurethane belt.

With dedicated chain rings required to match the studded belt, this Carbon Drive system from Gates, a leading motor-vehicle belt supplier, isnt' cheap. But the system offers a number of benefits over teh chain. It's lighter; doesn't use grease; requires no maintenance; won't break, stretch, rust or fall off; and best of all, it offers a pronounced improvement on "engagement" -- the millisecond it takes for the bike to react to your pedaling forces.

Both of the reviewed bikes (reflecting categories that are best suited to belt-drive) delivered an instant reaction.

Read our reviews, after the jump...

TRANSPORTATION ISSUE: Don't like how that person ahead of you is driving? Try to control yourself, then let the blogosphere know about it.

We've all been at the receiving end of someone with a bad case of road rage — in L.A., it's practically a daily encounter. Fortunately, several internet sites have popped up to help address the issue. Instead of being spiteful and vindictive behind the wheel, now drivers have the option to vent (or whine, depending on your perspective) about asinine commuting encounters online. Sites like Platewire and Zapatag give users the outlet to post the license plate of the offender along with a blurb about the offense. My own site, L.A. Can't Drive, tackles these issues on a more localized level, with user submitted photos and captions.

Repressed road rage is a universal experience, says Zapatag founder Ryan Ozawa. “Everyone rails against anarchy and abuse on public streets, but feels powerless to do anything about it,” he says. Well, now we can rail on the web with anecdotes, photos and videos and commiserate with other drivers.

Continue reading after the jump...

TRANSPORTATION ISSUE: We've all seen them: the blue signs announcing a nearby electric-car charging station. Follow the arrows, and most of them lead to old technology. Many don't even work.

But that's about to change, and change quickly, as the first mass-market electric cars — from Nissan, General Motors, SmartCar, Ford, Fiat and other manufacturers — hit U.S. roads this winter.

Continue reading after the jump...

Poised to open in late 2011, the X Train will be shuttling Angelenos to the land of debauchery, gluttony and revelry and back again. But they won't be doing it hungry.

Rick Moonen, a finalist on “Top Chef Masters” and owner of RM Seafood, will be conducting the X Train's food and beverage program. The X Train will make its 51/2-hour L.A.-to-Vegas run on already laid tracks, and Moonen says that once papers have been signed and additional funding is in, it'll be full speed ahead. He anticipates a New Year's Eve maiden voyage.

Moonen is working on his part of the project with two young chefs from RM Seafood, Adam Sobel and Gerald Chin, who have together formed Trifecta Hospitality Concepts.

“We're going to have a sit-down sushi bar car. We want the food to be so good that people get on early. We might do something like a dim sum cart of some sort because it's immediate,” Moonen says. “It won't necessarily be fine dining. I don't think we'll open up with something that fancy.” In Moonen's classic childlike fashion, he wants to name the dining car Chew Chew.

It'll be affordable, he says, with beers closer to $3 than $10. He hopes to have beers and wine on tap as well, to save space.

There are, of course, logistics to be handled. For instance, how will the staff be accomodated when not on the train? How will they prepare Moonen's style of cuisine in the closed quarters? Moonen isn't sure where the chefs will reside yet, but he does plan to use combi ovens to convert the traditional train galley into a modern, 21st century kitchen. He hopes utilitarian use of space will cut down on waste, and plans to use environmentally safe, recyclable materials for serving the meals.

In addition to the restaurant on the locomotive, he hopes to transport some of L.A.'s local produce to fuel a farmers market in Las Vegas. He'll also be using some of that produce at RM Seafood.

But the train isn't the only business venture Moonen is contemplating. “I really want to open something up in Union Station. We've been working on the train project for a year and a half now and it just seems natural.” That restaurant is still in the idea stage, but Moonen considers L.A. his second home and has hopes to set up shop here soon.

-- Krista Simmons

Photo: Chef Rick Moonen. Credit: MGM Resorts International