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11 vehicles from Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas worth watching

This weekend will see the world's collector car crowds descend on Las Vegas, NV for one of the biggest shows on Barrett-Jackson's popular auction circuit. There are hundreds of vehicles up for bidding, ranging from a brand-new Lamborghini Aventador to a spattering of Art Deco classics and a huge swath of classic muscle cars.
While it's virtually impossible to assemble an inarguable list of the best cars coming during the three-day, 700-plus vehicle auction, we've sifted through the listings for this year's show - it was a tough assignment, we promise - and assembled a list of what we think will be some of the most interesting lots. We'll admit, it's a bit heavy on American iron, but if you browse BJ's listings, you'll come to a similar conclusion. Still, scroll down for our list of what we think will be the most interesting vehicles at the upcoming auction.

Dodge PHEV due in 2022 expected to be the Hornet

A relatively new saga involving hornets in the Pacific Northwest begins with the adjective "murder" and gets worse from there. A relatively dated saga involving hornets in the automotive industry begins with the name "Dodge" and is — or could be — much friendlier to plant and animal life. Last year, former Dodge parent company Fiat Chrysler trademarked the term "Dodge Hornet" for the first time. Two months ago, an Italian publication credited its sources with news that current parent company Stellantis will create a Dodge version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale (pictured) and call it the Hornet. Now, Mopar Insiders picked up on Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares sharing a roadmap of the 20 PHEV and battery-electric vehicles coming our way in the next two years between the company's 14 brands. Dodge merits a single PHEV entry in the 2022 column. MI says this will be the Hornet.      As FCA recast its U.S. lineups to give Dodge more focus and give Chrysler a reason to exist, Dodge lost the Caliber, Nitro, and Journey. The way this new report is put, and as we mused a year ago, the coming Hornet will replace the Journey — a space Dodge could do well to return to. Never given much love by the parent company, the Journey turned into a hoary old thing over its 13 years on the market, but sold in remarkable numbers to the end. According to Car Sales Base, sales increased nearly every year for the first nine years of the Journey's life. Even during the sales decline over the last four years of its production life, the Journey found 298,594 homes in the U.S. More than 12,000 zombie units have been moved off lots this year. A Dodge Hornet likely wouldn't offer the Wal-Mart rollback pricing the Journey was known for. Also, the Hornet would pack in just two rows, whereas the Journey offered three. Nevertheless, we're now talking about three vehicles sharing major internal organs; the Alfa Romeo Tonale leans heavily on the Jeep Compass platform and internals, and the Dodge is expected to be built at the same Naples, Italy plant as the Alfa Romeo. The economies of scale are there. As for powertrain, we know there's a Tonale PHEV coming, but it's thought to get its plug-in system from the Jeep Renegade 4xe that's based around the smaller 1.3-liter four-cylinder with either 190 or 240 total horsepower instead of the larger 2.0-liter engine in the Wrangler 4xe.

Florida Highway Patrolman seen watching YouTube in traffic

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating allegations of a trooper watching YouTube videos on his official in-car laptop while driving. Lee County Florida resident James Peebles caught the alleged offender during his morning commute in early April, NBC2 reported. After exiting I-75, Peebles said that the FHP cruiser rolled up next to him at a stop light where he could clearly see the trooper inside watching a car race on Youtube on an official FHP laptop. Peebles put his car in park and snapped a picture of the cruiser before continuing to work. Later that day, he posted the photo to Facebook where it quickly went viral. "It blew my mind," Peebles told NBC2. "Everybody's human though, so I do know that we all make mistakes." NBC2 contacted the FHP for a statement after speaking to Peebles. An FHP spokesperson told the station that troopers are allowed to use their laptops while driving squad cars when carrying out official duties such as "simple inquiries" and "reviewing the nature of incoming messages". Other Florida motorists, like Jim Kosmerick who was interviewed by NBC2 for this story, don't consider watching an old race on YouTube to be official FHP business. "It's not official business, there's no way you can convince me otherwise," said Kosmerick. The FHP says that they are now aware of this fast moving viral image, and that they are taking the issue very seriously. They state that an investigation into the matter is underway, and that troopers are expected to abide by department policy and lead by example. Related Video News Source: NBC2 Government/Legal Weird Car News Dodge Driving Safety Police/Emergency Videos Sedan distracted driving Dodge Charger Pursuit