A former race car driver has lost his appeal to force the return of his Porsche, which is on display at an Indiana museum.

An appeals court in Chicago upheld the lower court’s decision not to give the Porsche 935 K3 back to ex-racer Reginald Whittington, the Associated Press reports. Whittington listed the car’s value as more than $75,000.

Whittington filed the case in 2004, claiming that the car was a loan – not a gift as the museum argued – for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

The court said no record of transfer exists, as the transaction was validated by a “handshake deal.” Without clear records, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Whittington’s behavior after the transaction “was more consistent with the car being a gift rather than a loan.”

The five-time Indianapolis 500 and 10-time NASCAR drove the Kremer Racing Porsche 953 K3 in an endurance race in France, which he won with his brother in 1979.

On Monday, the American Academy of Neurology released new guidelines to help family members conclude when it is appropriate to take driving privileges away from relatives who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

While admitting that no one source of information is capable of determining when a senior citizen should stop driving, lead guideline author Donald Iverson and his colleagues found that a specific dementia test and the input of family members are the two best ways of making an informed decision.

After scrutinizing more than 400 studies, the investigators determined that families should identify relatives as unsafe to drive by utilizing the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, which can be accessed through any personal care physician.

They also stressed that family members should trust their instincts and not rely on driving tests. One study that the team examined found that as many as 76 percent of people with dementia can still pass driving tests, even though they are at a elevated risk of getting into an accident, according to Health Day News.

“As a doctor, I absolutely have to rely on the family’s observations,” said David Knopman, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic.”The brain supports the capacity for insight into your own actions or capabilities. That is critically eroded in patients with Alzheimer’s.”

Over the years, consumers have viewed used cars as an excellent means of keeping costs down when shopping for a new car. According to a new release from noted customer advocates Consumer Reports (CR), not only are used cars more affordable, they may also be more reliable.

In its Annual Auto Survey, CR found that 5-year-old vehicles have about one-third fewer problems than their newer counterparts, and that only around 1 percent showed any kind of major engine or transmission problems.

The best value for automotive shoppers was found to be 2- or 3-year-old models. These vehicles are seen as just on the other side of the steep value depreciation curve that all cars go through, and contain many of the most modern safety features, according to the Hartford Courant. Three-quarters of the owners surveyed reported no problems over the previous year of ownership, with the most common problems being relatively minor issues, such as squeaks and rattles with power windows and locks.

“That means that buying used,” writes the news provider, “isn’t the gamble [shoppers] might have thought, especially if [they] steer clear of trouble-prone models.”

The New York International Auto Show has a history of being one of the most exciting and transcendent public events in the area each year. With record-setting crowds and a plethora of innovative technologies on display, the 2010 show was no different.

Unfortunately, last weekend’s event was marred by a string of violent incidents that occurred not far from the Javits Center soon after the show concluded.

According to the Associated Press, hundreds of young men reportedly left the auto show and were caught brawling in the streets in midtown Manhattan late Sunday evening.

New York Police Department chief spokesman, Paul Browne, said that the mini riot resulted in 54 arrests, mostly on charges of disorderly conduct. Brown also noted that four people were shot during the melee and several alleged gang members were taken into custody. He added that those who were arrested were a bunch of “young men looking for trouble.”

It is still unclear whether the people who fired the shots were among those locked up for the evening. None of those who were injured are considered to be in life-threatening condition.

The high number of arrests may have been due to the fact that local police were on special alert, as this is not the first time that violence has broken out after the auto show.

In 2005, approximately 80 gang members of the Crips and Bloods engaged in a massive fistfight inside the convention center during the event. One year later, nearly 200 “rowdy teens” in the area created enough trouble that “the NYPD raised the white flag and told Times Square businesses to close for their safety,” according to The New York Post reports.

Unfortunately for the organizers of this year’s event, the riot spoiled what commentators called the best show in the six-year history of the car expo.

“We had an amazing crowd, a very family-oriented crowd,” said auto show spokesman Chris Sams. “The type of person who makes an auto show great, people listening to the presenters.”

Officials with the auto show also noted that the riot broke out nearly a mile away from the event, and that there has been no confirmation whether all of those who were arrested had attended the expo.