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Watch the 2,000-horsepower Banks Freightliner jump five cars

Mike Ryan does amazing things with the Banks Freightliner. And with Pikes Peak still half a year away, Ryan settles for practice in the Long Beach docks in "Size Matters 2." He weaves the semi in and out of boxes, does donuts in the same tight radius as a matte-black 240SX (driven by stuntman Daniel Leavitt, who ironically shares his name with a reckless driving attorney in Virgina), and dodges even larger trucks. (No Dodges, though there's the Freightliner connection.) All the elements of Ken Block's Gymkhana videos are here: the screeching electronic music, the moody industrial setting, the gratuitous slow-motion.

Brian Wilson to perform at Petersen fundraiser

The annual Petersen Automotive Museum's fundraising event on May 7 promises to be fun, fun, fun when Beach Boy Brian Wilson and his band take the stage. The rock-'n'-roll icon is scheduled to play for an hour as part of the museum's largest charity event of the year, proceeds from which benefit the 501(c)(3) institution. The Beach Boys had a lot of car-themed hits, including "409," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." (AutoWeek trivia: The Deuce Coupe featured on the cover of the album of the same name belonged to Clarence "Chili" Catallo, whose son, the successful and powerful advertising executive Curt Catallo, once was a lowly editorial assistant at AutoWeek).

July 25: Plugging in while surfing

Went surfing, 33 miles away. 33 plus 33 is 66. Should have been within the range limits of the car but I used up nine kWhs on the first leg of mostly freeway driving, which suggests I wouldn't make it home.