Cars and Coffee, February, 2014

It was a cool-bordering-on-cold, windy morning, but the Cars and Coffee faithful were there in force anyway.  By the time I arrived at 7:30 the party was in full swing.

The first car that caught my eye on the British row was this nice Triumph TR-4.

I've seen this one before at the All English Car Show, but it's just one of those cars I never tire of seeing.

This tastefully pimped Mini Cooper S was nice, too.

* "tastefully pimped"....the ultimate oxymoron? *

While nothing at all exotic, I've always liked Audi TT's.  I think my name on the title of this one would look great!

This was your lucky day, Betina.  Look what I found for you....

A showroom perfect BMW Isetta 300.

Did somebody really drive this thing from Oregon to Texas?

One of the better hot rods for sure!  I think Tim "The Toolman" Taylor would approve.

The times, they are a changin'.

Now even the Korean car guys have reserved space.  Car clubs are always present at C&C, the most prominent usually being Lotus, BMW, Mini, Mustang, Camaro, and Subaru.

Oh yes, and the Corvette "comb-over" boys club, too.

I must give the Subaru WRX boy-racers high marks for their sense of humor.  :)

"If it's not leakin', it's empty"

Close, but no cigar.  If it had been blue, this could have passed for my first car.

It was a treat to see this '70-ish Lancia Montecarlo there.

It must have never gotten wet.  If it had, all you'd see would be a little pile of rust on the pavement and 4 tires.

Alfa Romeo Spyder....still on my Lust Bucket List.

I must admit, Ferrari's (458 Italia ^ ) can look good in "non-red", too.

Then again, why upset the ghost of Enzo (Mr. Ferrari)?

While not the newest or the most exotic, I still think the 599 ^ has the most class.  I love those thin "flying buttresses" off the rear glass.  They're both aesthetically pleasing and aerodynamically useful.

Nostalgia time....who wants a ride in my '56 (?) Cheeevy.  (Umm, maybe I'd better ask the owner first.)

The car that made Ralph Nader famous....the Chevy Corvair.  With the engine (and all the weight) in the back, it had a tendency to swap ends while in motion (not good for life expectancy), hence Ralph's book Unsafe At Any Speed.  He's been running for President (and losing) ever since.

Still, I think this is a great looking, very well maintained example.

There was a camera crew there interviewing some race car driver, but I was more impressed with this rig that allowed the camera to very smoothly glide horizontally.  Pretty cool!

And now, for my Show Favorite....

This immaculate Austin Healey 3000.

Achingly beautiful.

That's it....Cars and Coffee, February, 2014.  Hope you enjoyed.  :)

S

"Texas Dream Cruise" car show

Yesterday's intense heat and humidity didn't keep me or about a thousand other people away from a new car show in town, the Texas Dream Cruise.  They did a great job of advance publicity and had a good turnout of interesting cars, but otherwise they were obvious amateurs....ex: no marque organization, and worst of all, no vendors selling water.  (Or if they were there they were stuck off in some corner where nobody could find them.)  Luckily I took my own.  The Frisco FD was there hauling people like crazy on their little golf cart/ambulance rigs.  They'll figure it out.

Now, for the cars....

There seem to be a lot of British classics in North Texas, which suits me just fine.  This MGA was especially nice.

My kind of Christmas ornaments!

While it's not British Racing Green, this TR6 works just fine for me.  Except for the Gubment Baby Buggy Bumpers.

This Austin Healey Bug Eye Sprite wasn't the most authentically restored, but it definitely had the sweetest sounding engine.  And the owner of this fixed up this one....

....an early MGB for his daughter.  Lucky girl!  (Or is it an early MG Midget?)

A Jaguar XKE Coupe.  Doesn't it look like that hood just goes on forever?  And it's not a camera angle trick.  It really does.

The Italians had a substantial presence, too.  Here's a nice Fiat 124, complete with that gubment mandated locomotive-cattle-catcher front bumper hanging out there.  Ugh!

This Alfa Romeo Giulia GT makes all the area shows, but I'm impressed enough with it I'll offer it to you once again.

While conventional wisdom says Ferrari's should be red, I must admit sometimes they look good in Screaming Yellow, too.

Of course I found a Fiat 500.  ;)

A Fiat X19....with that darn bumper again!

How about something weird and wacky?

I love these little oddball micro cars.  This is an absolutely showroom perfect BMW Isetta 300.

Yep, that's all there is.

0 to 60 in....umm....NEVER!

How cool is this Ford Woody?

And it gets better....

There were lots of hot rods there, too.  This was probably my favorite.

Yikes!  Somebody paid money for this kit?  *gag*

Here's something you don't see every day, complete with matching fuzzy dice.  Exactly what color would you call that?  

"My udder car is a '57 Cheevy!"  :)

A Chevrolet Corvair, the car that made Ralph Nader famous after he wrote "Unsafe At Any Speed".  This one looks unsafe sitting still.

This is about the closest I could find to my first cool car, a '71 Camaro.  I believe this is an RS, where mine was an SS.  It was fast....

....but not as fast as this Sebring Daytona.  And finally....

....whatever happened to the "thrill of the chase"?  *wink*

Next Saturday....Cars and Coffee.  ;)

S