All posts by ndubs77

Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

This 1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Model took Best in Show at Misselwood

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1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Misselwood 22

I knew this unbelievable 1914 Rolls Royce Alpine Model would win Best in Show the moment it pulled up to the preview for the Misselwood Concours. There were tons of stunning cars there, but this thing had that “pop” that separates the royalty from the mere aristocracy.

This Rolls is pre-war, but we’re talking pre-World War 1. That’s right, this magnificent automobile existed when men were still riding into battle on horseback. It’s one of just 4 Rolls Royces assembled in the US before the onset of The Great War, and it remains as grand a Rolls as any since.

This car’s body and chassis, separated in 1983, were just reunited in 2015, and a lot of work was put in to bring it to the beautiful condition you see here. It totally took my breath away, and I shot literally hundreds of photos of it. What’s even better is the owner told me he drives the car around 5,000 miles per year on various rallies. He said concours events are a secondary concern to actually using and enjoying the car. You gotta love that, it’s a concours winner and it’s not a trailer queen.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how it’s supposed to be done. Enjoy the gallery of this immaculate Rolls Royce, and you can find a little more info on it at the bottom.

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Cars We've Seen

RENNtech SLR McLaren at First Class Fitment

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Renntech SLR McLaren at First Class Fitment

This rare, and very fast, RENNtech SLR McLaren was on display at First Class Fitment. It’s a local car, and I have the pleasure of seeing it around on the streets fairly often.

Always awesome seeing it up close!

-Nick

Cars We've Seen

This BMW Isetta 300 gave my day some hot pink style at the Lane Motor Museum

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BMW Isetta Lane Museum 1

Hot pink and yellow, now there’s some style for your Monday. This BMW Isetta 300 immediately caught my eye when I walked into the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Who wouldn’t want to take this thing for a ride?

Enjoy!

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Auto Idolatry, Automotive Lifestyle, SHOWCASE

Chris Harris pits the AMG GT R and the M4 GTS against the 911 GT3 RS

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Cars We've Driven, Exotic Supercars, Luxury Cars, Sports Cars

Lexus LC 500 Review: Lexus Has Finally Found Their Form

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Lexus LC 500 Review 8

Luxury isn’t about needs, luxury is about wants, or rather, desires. Practical concerns come second to delivering a highly remarkable experience. A luxury object is an art form, and it must appeal deeply to human emotion, even at the expense of being practical or being objectively inane.

The upscale part of Toyota, Lexus has always been extremely focused on delivering on practical concerns. They have the best reputation for build quality in the entire industry, and their cars have always been solid. A Lexus has always been a nice and dependable way to get around, but they never really rose above being just a well-polished transportation appliance. They never evoked any sort of deep carnal desire, or had a sense of occasion that made you want to go out and drive just for the hell of it.

Since 2008, Lexus has been taking serious steps to spice up their brand and make themselves a player in the true luxury segment. It’s a marketplace where people want something genuinely special, not just a Camry fitted with leather and wood. Lexus needed to define their own unique experience, and boy have they made moves in the years since.

This is the new Lexus LC 500, and it just might be the best GT car you can buy for $100 grand.

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Koenigsegg CCX at the Greenwich Concours

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Koenigsegg CCX Greenwich 13

This incredible 245mph hypercar was tucked away in the Manhattan Motorcars booth at the Greenwich Concours.  I wish it had been out on the show field for better photos, but it’s always a special occasion when you see a Koenigsegg in person.

Enjoy the photos!

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Cars We've Seen

1957 Porsche 356A Cabriolet at the Misselwood Concours

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Porsche 356A Cabriolet Misselwood 1

Check out the color combo on this 1957 Porsche 356A Cabriolet. Forest green over tan leather with a magnificent white steering wheel.

I see a lot of Porsche 356s at these events, and I often don’t pay them much mind unless they are a unique color combo. This one was a fine example.

Enjoy the photos.

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Cars We've Seen

1934 Packard 1104 Convertible at the Misselwood Concours

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This incredible Packard is one of those cars that fits exactly the style we imagine when we think of pre-war cars. It looks like it’s straight out of The Great Gatsby.

Enjoy the gallery of this classic machine!

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Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

The mighty little Autozam AZ1 at the Misselwood Concours

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Autozam AZ1 Misselwood 10

When you tell someone you drive a turbocharged mid engined sports car with gullwing doors, they may expect you to roll up in a Pagani Huayra. Imagine the look of surprise on their face when you roll up in this, an Autozam AZ1, instead.

It’s part of an interesting Japanese segment known as a kei cars, or “light cars.” The segment included other passenger vehicles like vans and such, but the Autozam AZ1 was a kei sports car.

Autozam was sold as a sub-brand of Mazda, but the AZ1 had a turbocharged 657cc Suzuki engine under it’s hood. It makes 64hp and 63 ft/lbs of torque, but that’s not actually too bad in a car weighing only 1,500lbs. It’s the gullwing go kart of your wildest dreams.

Despite being a small bite of awesome today, the Autozam AZ1 was not successful in its day. It launched in 1992, right as a recession was taking hold in Japan, and the AZ1 was seen as too expensive for its market segment. As a result, only 4,392 Autozam AZ1s were built, making it the rarest of the kei sports cars out there.

It certainly has a lot of flavor, and who doesn’t love those gullwing doors? It’s a proper bite sized exotic!

Enjoy the photos!

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Cars We've Seen

I loved the shift knob on this Morgan 3 Wheeler

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Just got back from a fun, but exhausting weekend in Boston at the Misslewood Concours. Check out this immaculate Morgan 3 Wheeler that showed up. I loved its wooden shift knob.

-Nick