Cars and Coffee, May 2014....and the Cottonwood Arts Festival, too

My fellow motoring enthusiast friend and good all 'round guy Neil and I met up at 7:30 yesterday to oogle cars, as we do every first Saturday of the month.

It was a perfect Saturday morning to be outside looking at cars.  It was a lousy day to be trying to take photos of them....the sun was too bright and the shadows at that early hour too long.  Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

E-Type Jaguars are cool rain or shine.

Ditto for E-Type roadsters.

I'm not a big Lotus fan....they're rather fragile.  But this one, in this color, just exploded in the morning light.  I like the Tiger stripe effect, too.  (Listen to me, all artsy-fartsy!)

Umm....looks like they left the gate unattended for a few minutes and this snuck in.  ("Sneaked" in?)

Wonder if it belonged to this guy?

"Guy walks up and asks, 'Where'd ya get him?'
 The dog answers, 'Aww....I won him in a raffle.'"  :)

The German Goggomobil from last month was back.  Or maybe it never left?  Here's Neil standing next to it for size comparison.

This late model (2002) Acura NSX was a stand out.  We talked with another fellow we met there who bought one new in 1994 and uses it to this day as his daily driver.  He says it's rock-solid.  Try THAT with a Ferrari!

First you start with an overpriced SLR Mercedes, then you let McLaren have a turn tarting it up....to the tune of a cool $500K!

Pay attention kid.  Mother's Day is coming up and she couldn't be any more obvious with her hint.  Tell dad....or maybe that guy over there.  (Not sure what he's looking at behind those sunglasses.  ;)

Ahh....the Frenchies.  The Citroen SM was so far ahead of its time the rest of the world finally just gave up trying to catch them.  Unfortunately it's been pretty much downhill for Citroen ever since.

We visited with the gentleman in the background who also owns an SM and he shared lots of anecdotal stories about these odd eccentric cars.  Meeting people like him is what makes C&C so much fun.

This chopped custom began life as a 1950 Pontiac Chieftain.

Innit kewl?

My first car was a '65 Mustang, but it didn't look anything this nice!

Just FYI, this is the 50th anniversary of the Ford Mustang.

I'm pretty sure it didn't roll off Ford's assembly line looking like this!

There were only 6 Shelby Daytona's ever built.  This wasn't one of them.  This is a replica (kit), and a darn nice one.

I'm generally not a BMW fan, but I seriously looked at a 2002tii just like this back in 1971 (?).  I didn't buy it.  Now every time I see one I kick myself.  DOH!

It's a classic today.

I also considered a Porsche 911 at one time.  Then I could have afforded it.  Now....no way!  *banging head on wall*

A trivia question for you:  Has anyone ever seen an overflow vent hose (?) on a battery?  It left Neil and I both shaking our heads.

I hope that thing is strapped down tight.  If I ever see it on the freeway I'm gonna stay well back.

All I can say is....

And finally, here's a license plate I think many of these fancy car owners can identify with.

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

After C&C I picked up K and we went to the Cottonwood Arts Festival.  This was the absolute best art show I've been to.  It keeps growing and the caliber of the participating artists keeps improving, too.

K was too busy watching the gander that chased his lady out of the little pond and up into the crowd with....umm...."less than honorable intentions" to pose for my picture.

Besides checking out the art I always enjoy the people watching.  And the dog watching, too.

This was taken at the Southlake "Arts on the Square" show last weekend.  Our Tarrant County neighbors can't seem to get that "Old West" thing out of their system.  (Hey, I like cows, too, but I like mine served medium rare on a sizzling plate.)

That's all the art shows on our radar until the Fall.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, too.

S

Cars and Coffee, April 2014

A cool, cloudy early morning didn't deter the few thousand Cars and Coffee fans who came out to see interesting cars.  My friend Neil and I met there around 7:30 and were pleased with the offerings this month.

The first car I stumbled across as I entered was this Austin Healey 3000. 

It's a good thing K doesn't let me take my checkbook to C&C, never mind that my mad money account wouldn't buy even one of the wire wheels on this beauty.  (I could have a helluva nice head start before the check bounced, though.)

The Brits were well represented today by some other fine examples, too, like this MGB GT V8....

....and it's topless cousin, this MGB roadster.

But I've saved the best from Morris Garages 'till last, this 1961 MGA.

Listen up Joe H:  Rob the grandkid's piggy bank, mortgage the house, sell a kidney, whatever you have to do....the original (and still current) owner, a retired TWA pilot, is downsizing his lifestyle and is willing to part with this prized toy.

For a more-than-fair price of $26K you can relive your yout and once again own a MGA.  Wow, was this car nice!

On to something(s) German:  I still like this Z3M Coupe.  It was shunned by buyers originally, but I think its odd shape is interestingly quirky. 

Eat your heart out Winnebago.  THIS is Bohemian RV-ing at its finest!

 It also sported my co-favorite sign of the day.  :)

A couple of other, slightly hotter VW's caught my eye today too, like this R model (V6, AWD)....

....and this GTI.  (The Gen-7 model will be here in the States soon.)

How 'bout some new American muscle?  This is the new Dodge Viper, which sported the finest rear end I saw today.  (Or at least the finest that I'll admit to ;)  I wonder if Italian coachbuilder Zagato knows Dodge has pinched their famous "double bubble" roof design?

And in fairness, some old American muscle, too:  This really nice Plymouth Barracuda.  (Remember the Barracuda?  Remember Plymouth?)

Lots of Jeeps there today, too.  None, though, were any nicer than this classic Willys Jeep pickup.

It was wearing my other co-favorite sign of the day.  Beautiful rifle in the gun rack, too.  (Hey, this IS Texas :)

 Screw Mustangs!

THIS is the Ford I want!

 Here's some trivia for you:  This is a '50's vintage Goggomobil.

 It was built in Bavaria after WWII, I'm guessing to satisfy an urgent need by circus clowns to have a tiny car to climb out of.

 

In a more serious vein, this is a very rare Nash Healey, and a spectacular example it is, too!  It's the first one I've ever seen in the flesh.

 

This was an odd duck of a car, a collaboration between the American Nash-Kelvinator Co. and England's Donald Healey Motors (who later built my fave, the Austin Healey).

It was a Nash Healey that was driven by Clark Kent in several episodes of TV's The Adventures of Superman (when he wasn't wearing his leotards and leaping over tall buildings in a single bound).

I'll close out this month's C&C review with this cute little '50's vintage BMW Isetta 300 that the owner has nicknamed "Snail".

As it drove off you could almost hear everyone say in unison,

 "Look at that S-CAR-GO!"  :)

Hope you enjoyed Cars and Coffee, April 2014.

S