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

Cars and Coffee, April 2013 + 1st art show of the season

This was the first Saturday in April which means....Cars and Coffee!   

The parking lot was already rapidly filling up by 7 AM when I arrived.  

As usual about a thousand cars were there, 500 being your typical Mustangs, Corvettes, and Camaros.  However, there was only ONE of these....the biggest mobile meat smoker ever.  I've seen some small smokers (grills) on trailers that aficionados take to BBQ cook-offs, but this thing was ridiculous!  I didn't hang around it to see if they fired it up and cooked for the crowd or were just showing it off.

A concours Mercedes 300 Roadster....sooo nice!

A Dino 246.  This was a Ferrari in all but name.  It was meant to be an entry level Ferrari with 6 cylinders, the more powerful 12 cylinder models carrying the magic Ferrari name.  It was named by Enzo Ferrari to honor his late son Alfredo, better known as "Dino".

Here's a 50's era Ferrari ___....I can't remember the number.  Anyone help me out?

Remember this odd duck from a couple months ago?  I met the owner today and found out that it was actually commissioned by a hunting lodge in Maine to carry their guests and equipment around the property.  And all this time I thought it was just some wacko's project to get him out of the house.

The Ford Model A (?) Club was well represented.

Oooooohhh!  I ache....

While I'm not a big fan of Corvettes, I must admit this '59 (?) was impressive.

Believe it or not this used to be a '49 Mercury.  Ya' think the original owner would recognize it?

A "keeper" Austin Healey 3000 Mk III.  But it really needs to lose that rear tail light on the boot lid. 

An original Toyota FJ, arguably the best off-roader ever, is an icon today.

The plot thickens:  K really wants a convertible.  I really want a Fiat 500 Abarth (the souped-up model).  Today I learned they're now making a convertible version of the Abarth.  Maybe we could share?  I'm thinking 90/10.  ;) 

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After the car show I picked up K and we went to the area's first art show of the year in Fairview.  It was small, but what the heck....it was free.

We're already plotting on how best to piss-off the HOA if/when we find a suitable site to build a home on.  I think a couple of these 6-foot-tall steel pink flamingos in the front yard should do it.  *zing*

 

We stopped in to a cool little coffee shop for a relaxer while we were out where I saw this interesting dropped-ceiling.  *save for future reference*  How do you think it would look suspended over a soft-contemporary kitchen?

After that....home to watch a taped rugby game on TV.  That was my Saturday.  Not too shabby, huh?  Hope you had a pleasant day, too.

S

Cars & Coffee, February, 2013

Today being the first Saturday of the month meant all the cool cars in town congregated in Plano for Cars & Coffee.   The weather was perfect and the sky was clear and sunny, which felt great but played havoc with camera angles/shadows.  I arrived at 7:15 to a full house, and during the two hours I was there more cars kept coming and coming and....

(You can click on any image to enlarge.)

I'm guessing there were at least 1,500 cars there on display, with 2 or 3 times that many people viewing.  Display parking became totally gridlocked.

There seemed to be an abundance of specific-make car clubs attending, such as Lotus. Unfortunately for me, except for the Evora ^ I'm not much of a Lotus fan.

It must be a redneck thing.  Can anyone explain to me why you'd do this to a perfectly good truck?  

Being the oddball that I am I'm drawn to oddball cars, too, like this Citroen DS.

Being an Alfaholic, you can imagine how much these Alfa Romeo's stirred me.

An Alfa Romeo Giulia (GTA?).  Oh, be still my heart!

Look!  It's a Lamborghini....no, it's a Transformer....no, it's a....

The best paint job seen today....REALLY nice!

My favorite license plate of the day (on a Shelby GT 500).

My least favorite license plate of the day (on a Chevy "Fiberglass Coffin").

Why?

Would you believe they wouldn't take my check?

Now what are the odds all four shocks would go bad at the same time?

A Bentley Continental.  Shhhh....if you listen carefully you can hear it depreciating.

And finally, proof that money can't always buy good taste....

(Ouch!  This one's gonna get me in trouble!)

....while at other times it definitely can!

Hope you enjoyed  :)

S