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Win One of Eleven Free 1-Year Subscriptions to Motor Trend from Adam’s Auto Advice

Following the success of my Baltimore Auto Show ticket giveaway (and the marginal success of my carseat giveaway) I have decided to do another giveaway. What am I giving away? A total of Eleven Free 1-Year Subscriptions to Motor Trend magazine! That is a $50 value that you can get for free! Sounds awesome, right?

What do you need to do to win a Free Subscription? It is as simple as 2 mouse clicks. A “Like” on Adam’s Auto Advice Faceboook page and a follow on my Twitter feed. That's less than 3 seconds of work for enjoying a whole year of Motor Trend.

Well, you also must leave a comment below to inform me you are interested in winning a free Motor Trend subscription with a valid email address. Please include funny car stories, adages or maxims, or just a fun reason why you need or want a Motor Trend subscription. Still that isn't much work to enjoy a great publication all year long like Motor Trend.

For additional chances to win make sure to Share, Tweet, ReTweet, Email, etc. this Motor Trend giveaway. If you noticed I have Shareholic installed on this website for easy sharing. If you want to be even more ambitious you can become a Facebook Friend, add me to your Google+ Circle, and also include Adam’s Auto Advice Google+ Page.

I think you get the idea and this is similar to my ticket giveaway to the Baltimore Auto Show. Follow me on social media to get a chance to win, but your chances increase the more social media platforms you follow and share me on. Good luck and I hope there will be a lot of happy people getting these Motor Trend subscriptions!

Now for the nitty gritty of the contest. Contest ends March 28th, 2012 and winners will be announced the following day via a post on Adam's Auto Advice. Please allow 6-8 weeks for the first issue to arrive. This giveaway is only open to residents in the US. Each address or household is eligible for one subscription. Adam's Auto Advice is not affiliated with Motor Trend or it's subsidiaries. This website and the owner and operators are responsible for issues not being delivered or other crazy things that could happen with a magazine subscription.

The History of Harley-Davidson

Harley Davidson Iron 883

Harley-Davidson is an interesting brand with an interesting history. William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson grew up living next door to each other, and eventually became friends. Each man participated in America's industrial revolution during the early part of the 20th century, working in a local manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Harley and Davidson worked together with Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson, to put a uniquely designed internal combustion engine on a bicycle, and thus the famous Harley-Davidson brand was born.

Harley-Davidson helped create the history of the motorcycle and has a special place in the motorcycling world. Based in the heart of the country, Milwaukee Wisconsin, Harley-Davidson contributed to the war effort during World War I, dominated motorcycle racing in the early 1900s, and quickly grew to become the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Surviving the great depression, Harley-Davidson went on to again contribute to the Allied war effort during World War II.

Harley-Davidson is well-known in American culture, history, and movies. Motorcycle riding represents a freedom and joy that few other things can give you. That is why riding is such a coveted experience that is sought after by many, but enjoyed by few.

Harley-Davidson supports motorcycling culture in many ways. An important part of that culture today is safety, and the motorcycle enthusiast must ensure his or her safety and protection in all aspects of riding, including motorcycle insurance. (Don't skimp out on insurance, because you will be sorry when you really need it!)

Lots of people enjoy riding motorcycles, including myself and many people I know. Many will continue to do so for many years to come.

Revenge of the Electric Car a Fascinating Documentary

Revenge of the Electric Car

Today I got something pretty cool in the mail, “Revenge Of The Electric Car.” It is the sequel to the 2006 documentary, “Who Killed The Electric Car?” Revenge Of The Electric Car follows the 4 men who have essentially led the resurgence of the electric car. Famed car executive, Bob Lutz; Co-Founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk; A man who builds his own electric cars, Greg ‘Gadget' Abbott; and CEO and President of Nissan and Renault, Carlos Ghosn. Each has made a different contribution to developing, designing, and building electric cars. I watched some of the movie today and found it interesting, but won't give too many details. You will have to wait for my review!

Top Gear America… Will it Work?

What do Survivor, American Idol, Big Brother, and The Office have in common? Well, like many popular American TV shows they are remakes of popular British TV shows. Now you can include Top Gear on that list.

Never heard of Top Gear? The BBC program happens to be one of the most popular TV shows on the planet. The irreverent, crazy, and wildly fun BBC series featuring Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond is shown in many countries around the world. The show follows these three friends who are crazy about cars. They go on car adventures, such as a race between a car and bobsled, a race between a climber and car, a race between a Bugatti Veyron and an airplane, a challenge to cross the English channel in homemade amphibious vehicles, a drive to the North Pole, etc. They do a segment called, “Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car,” where celebrities get into a Suzuki and race around a track, then have their times posted on a board against other celebrities. Sometimes they might even review a car.

Originally Jay Leno, who is a car nut, was approached to do the American show. He would have made an excellent host, but in his article in UK’s The Sunday Times entitled, “I hope we don’t ruin TopGear,” Leno discusses why many believe the American version will never work.

“I like the show just the way it is. Jeremy and the guys are extremely talented … I think it would be impossible to recreate or live up to the standards of the British show.

I don’t think you could be quite as freewheeling with your opinions as you can on the BBC, because sponsors pay for the programmes. Sponsors would be unlikely to embrace any criticism.” (March 30, 2008)

Leno is right. Will it be possible for sponsors to put up with criticism of their products and still advertise on the show? It’s telling that the show is airing on the History Channel. Originally the show was slated to go on NBC primetime. The History Channel is far from primetime.

The BBC version is an extremely fun show to watch, even for non-car people. It’s yet to be determined whether this new American version will be of the same caliber. Few sequels and remakes are. They have done remakes of the show in Germany, Russia, and Australia. The American version will be produced by BBC Worldwide so it will retain some of character of the original.

America is a car-obsessed culture, and we are highly dependent on our automobiles. The show could work well. Those other TV show remakes are still on the air (except the Russian version) and are quite popular. Maybe the producers will find what Americans audiences will like to see and will strike a chord, but it will be challenging.

The hosts will be professional driver Tanner Foust, comedian and actor Adam Ferrara, and racing analyst Rutledge Wood. The American Top Gear is going to be airing Sunday November 21st at 10/9C on the History Channel. Fortunately, I don't have cable.. so I can't watch and be disappointed.