Cars and Coffee, August 2014

This was First Saturday Cars and Coffee and it did NOT disappoint!  As per our usual arrangement I met up with my friend Neil at 07:30 at the site.  The weather was partly sunny (is that the same as partly cloudy?) and the temp was in the low 70's....absolutely unheard of for Dallas in August.

The crowd was HUGE....cars on every row were double and sometimes triple parked.  I right off spotted this Morgan that was a newbie here....

Oh....that color combination was wonderful!  And how is it that English leather smells so much better than American leather?  *Ding!  I get it now....that men's cologne from years ago....English Leather*

Remember this little odd looking French Panhard from last month?  It seems in the month between the two shows it has found a new owner....to none other than renowned funny guy and supremo car dude Jay Leno.  Right after the show today it was going on a transporter for shipment west.  *Bye little friend*

At the other end of the exotic scale was this brand new Lamborghini Huracan, named after a famous Spanish fighting bull from the 1800's....

 ....hence the license plate.  (Actually all Lamborghini models are named after famous dead bulls.)

We overheard someone say there have been only 100 Huracan's made (so far), with 11 being in the US, and only 2 in Dallas.

Here is the other.

Innit kewl? 

 So was this '46 Ford.

Somebody please help me out here: What is this gizmo on the dash of the Ford pictured above? It appears to say "Fulton" something, but I can't make it out.  Any of you graybeards have a clue?

As interesting as all the cars were, I think the highlight of my day was meeting some interesting people, like....

The Bird with the bird....

...and Jeff Kraemer, shown here beside his custom built 1957...umm...er...  *embarrassed*

I think Jeff could give that "The Most Interesting Man In The World" beer commercial guy a run for that title.  Jeff is from Lake Charles, LA, but moved to Carmel Valley, CA when he accepted employment there.  Living close to the Laguna Seca race track he became interested in vintage car racing.  He is now retired and living in the Dallas area to be close to family, but still has his intense interest in cars.  It was a pleasure meeting you, Jeff.  :)

Ditto for my new buds Mario and Emily.  They are the proud owners of this new Russian Ural sidecar motorcycle.  They were impressed that I knew the manufacturer of their steed was Ирбитский мотоциклетный завод. *I hope I spelled that right...wink*  They were really super fun to talk with.  We agreed to meet again next month and share more of our mutual oddballness.

I looked and looked, but I couldn't find my friend Joe an MGA.  He had one as a yout, and I think he still wets himself thinking about it.  Sorry Joe....maybe I can make next month a Depends moment for you.

I did find you this MGB, though.  That's the best I could do.  ;)

And finally, check this:

As I was leaving I spotted this ^ parked in the lot with us peasants.  Anyone know what it is?

That's right, it's a Hudson Hornet.  Check out that license plate.  Get it?  Funny man, the owner is.  :)

Hope you enjoyed Cars and Coffee, August 2014.

Peace....out.

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

"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