Cars and Coffee, July 2013

I think we're in the summer doldrums.  It wasn't that hot yesterday morning, but it was uncomfortably muggy, the kind of muggy that makes you just wanna stay inside.  Still there were some diehard car aficionados like me who ventured out to see and be seen.  Some highlights:

The British contingent was rather skimpy this month.  I did see a few that turned my head, though, like this Aston Martin Vantage in the right color.  (That would be British Racing Green.)

Ditto for this modern-but-old-looking Morgan.

But what happened here?  This is a right-hand-drive Morgan with a back seat (why?) and this ridiculous looking tarp canopy.  And that color!  *gasp*

Not to worry, however, as this nice Jaguar E-Type saved the day for Her Majesty's Empire....

....with an able assist from his E-Type Coupe chum.  (Leave it to the Brits to re-define "hatchback".)

The Germans were present and in fine fettle, showing off this classic 30's era BMW 327 (?).

Kudos to whoever restored it.

And at the other extreme....

....was this little BMW Isetta 1300.  These little micro-cars are turning up more at shows here.  Wonder where they've been before now?  This one was a 3-wheeler and was actually tagged as a "Classic Motorcycle".

It adds a whole 'nuther dimension to the term "Spartan", doesn't it?  Love the little gear shift sticking out the side panel.  Haha!

How about a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of BMW Z-8's?

Raise your hand if you've ever seen one of these?  (I haven't.)

It's a 1986 Renault (French) Alpine.

And for something American I offer you this very nice Ford Model A (?).  This one was blue.  I thought Henry Ford said "You can have any color you want as long as it's black"? Maybe not the original color?

  
Or you could have this V-10 Dodge Viper in Wallflower Green.  "It'll pass everything but a gas station."

Bazinga!  Fiat 500 Abarth.  Nice wheels.

But my personal favorite of the day was one of the aforementioned BMW Z-8's....

It's hard to believe this is a 13-year-old design!

Think it will ever depreciate enough for me to afford it?  (Short answer:  NO!)

Back home later I tried to tell Luke about everything I'd seen, but he didn't seem too interested.  I guess he isn't a "car guy".

Enjoy the rest of your day.  ;)

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.  ;) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Auto Show debrief

Yesterday my friend Neil and I had a good time at the Dallas Auto Show.  We rode the light rail to the convention center, avoiding all the traffic and parking hassles....easily worth the few bucks it cost, and we arrived ahead of most of the crowd.  Much to my delight and surprise the show was NOT dominated by Bubba trucks.  I was rather disappointed that there weren't any wild concept cars.  None.

Of course I was immediately drawn to the European exotics:

Like this 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish.

Of course I ordered mine "Well Equipped".

After gawking at this more proletarian Vantage ($150K) for a while I was invited inside the velvet rope and assigned my own personal advisor, Aaron Stephenson IV*. Before long I had one of his high-dollar catalogues and was calling him "Biff" and picking colors and accessories.  He's probably still waiting for me after I excused myself for a rest room visit.

Maserati Gran Cabrio

McLaren MP4-12C

The new, soon-to-be introduced Jaguar F-Type.

I didn't say there weren't ANY Bubba trucks there.  This was some kind of "wrap" treatment you can cover your truck with enabling you to hide from ducks and deer and such.

I'm not a big Range Rover fan, but I must admit the Evoque ($58K) was rather impressive.

There were some vintage oddities stuck over in one corner, like this Datsun 2000.  It was quite a screamer back in its day....

....as was this '71 Datsun 240Z.  As a college student I lusted for one of these.  ('Course, I lusted for all kinds of things back in my college days. ;)  As I didn't have $34 dollars back then, much less $3400, it became another of my lost loves.

Awwww, my little Fiat 500 Abarth.  Innit cute?  One of these days I'm gonna convince K it followed me home.

One thing I took away is that cars are getting ridiculously expensive.  A decent BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, Infinity, etc, is just more than I want to pay for wheels.  They're for those who want a "look at me" experience.  Or Lottery winners.

What I found was that Subaru and Mazda in particular have some quite good cars at very reasonable prices....mid-upper $20's.  Even Volkswagen's are getting pricey, although the new GTI @ $33K still seemed like a good value.  Chrysler products seemed way behind the curve, and poor GM seems to be in a continued slow decline.  Ford, however, had some good small world-class cars worth looking at.

The Geneva or Frankfurt or New York show it wasn't, but all things considered the Dallas show was worth the effort to attend.  Oh...and the "booth babes"?  Not a disappointment, either.  ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On today's "to-do" list?  I asked K if she wanted to go to the Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade and Alcohol Soiree, but she said she'd rather take a bullet to the head.  I guess that's a "no".   At this point I'm just hoping for lunch out.

Have a great weekend everyone.

S

*not his real name

Cars and Coffee, September, 2012

With a high temperature forecast for 100 degrees later on in the day, I was at Cars and Coffee at 07:30 while it was still nice out....80 degrees, blue skies, light breeze.  This being Labor Day weekend undoubtedly hurt attendance a bit, but it was still a good time.

One of the local Lotus clubs brought out a nice group....

....as did the local BMW 2002 Owners Group.

A nice group of vintage Corvettes showed up, too.

Nothin' like a Chevy Nomad for a fun Saturday night at the drive-in.  It was nicely presented, too, complete with a period ice chest and a drive-in movie speaker.  The only thing missing are fogged up windows.  *wink*

Today would have been a nice day for a spirited drive in a nicely turned out Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite.  

I still think a Jaguar E-Type is one of the most beautiful cars ever, but when they had to slap on these grotesque 5 mph bumpers to meet some stupid government mandate, it ruined it IMO.

An *ahem* attractive young lady brought her beautiful, if unusually colored, BMW Z3 M.  This color was European spec only, but after begging the factory for a month they finally agreed to paint one for a US customer.  (This lady is the second owner.)  Paired with this orange interior it is, understandably, a one-of-a-kind.  I must admit, though, it actually worked well.  Or maybe it was the owner that worked well....I dunno....

This same Ferrari FF has been there two months in a row, suggesting it isn't one of Ferrari's most popular models, at least not in Dallas. Now if they want to discount it about 99% I could probably be presuaded....  :)

I'll leave you with a choice of what I think looks like one of the funnest little cars out there today, the Fiat 500 Abarth.  Whatdoyathink?  Black or white?

Only because of the Texas sun I'd probably choose white.  Somebody help me break the news to K.  ;)

S