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Around the Tracks: A drug-bust V8 Supercar is up for grabs, plus a cheeky Kia advertisement

Plus, a salesman costs FCA/Stellantis millions in employee discounts.


When we’re not creating it ourselves, the CarAdvice team spends a lot of time finding and consuming motoring content from all over the world.

Here’s a handful of the photos, articles, videos or social media posts that most caught our eye last week. Some of them are brand new, others have been online for a while.

Enjoy them – just not too much, okay?


This drug-bust Ford Falcon V8 Supercar could be yours

A Ford Falcon V8 Supercar, which was seized by police during a drug bust, is up for sale. The car was built by John Briggs Motorsport, based on the BA Falcon sold at the time. It raced in the 2003 V8 Championship, followed by the the Super2 series between 2005 and 2007.

The Falcon is being sold via Manheim as part of an online tender process, with the tender due to close on June 4. The car was seized back in 2019 as part of a large drug operation.


A salesman's employee discounts cost FCA US$8.7 million

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (now Stellantis) salesperson, Apollon Nimo, has been charged by federal prosecutors for organising a wire fraud conspiracy that cost the car manufacturer US$8.7 million (AU$11.2 million). Ouch!

It's understood that he orchestrated a scam of illegally selling employee discounts to non-qualified buyers.

FCA offers employees and relatives a five per cent discount, with Automotive News reporting most of Nimo’s sales came under the Employee Purchase Control Number program, making him the top salesman nationwide.


Bugatti creates a pool table valued at $300,000

Bugatti is a brand synonymous with luxury – and what says luxury more than a pool table worth $300,000?

The Bugatti piece brandishes CNC-machined, brushed and anodised aluminum sides, stainless steel ball pockets lined with leather, and titanium screws and nuts. Every pool table is bedecked by the official Bugatti logo, and a unique plaque displaying the product's build number within the limited production run.

Available accessories, offered for no extra cost, include a carbon-fibre wall cue with an integrated 13.0-inch display to keep track of scores, carbon-fibre cues with anodised and CNC-machined aluminium ends, and dimmable LED ceiling lights also made of carbon-fibre.


Dave Grohl collaborates with Ram to help sell the 1500 truck

Ram has kicked off a new ad campaign with Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl. He makes a brief appearance in one of two new advertisements, but narrates both, with a third ad debuting later this month.

The first two commercials, Rock Star and Overtime, focus on parents, family caregivers, coaches, and teachers helping kids overcome their struggles with, obviously, the Ram 1500 featuring heavily throughout.

The Foo Fighters’ music is also included in the ad campaign, featuring the opening song Making a Fire from the band's 2020 album Medicine at Midnight.


Kia turns leaked images into an ad campaign

Keen-eyed readers and fans might remember that prior to its reveal earlier this year, more than a dozen leaked images of the facelifted Kia Cerato found their way online, with our stories attracting close to 60 comments, and hundreds of shares.

Three weeks on, with the covers now officially taken off the updated small car, Kia Australia decided to find the funny side in its internal misfortunes, with CarAdvice's own Alex Misoyannis spotting this cheeky advertisement at a Sydney shopping centre.

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Emma Notarfrancesco

Emma has been on our television screens for over a decade. Most of her time in the industry has been spent at racetracks reporting at major motorsport events in Australia - from TCR and Superbikes to Porsche Sprint Challenge and Supercars. Emma has also hosted various MotoGP and F1 events interviewing the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Jack Miller. Having previously presented on an automotive show, she made her move to the Drive family in 2020. Fiercely proud of her Italian heritage, Emma is a coffee loving, stylish-black wearing resident of Melbourne.

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