Category Archives: Car Shows

Photo galleries from places we’ve been and events we’ve attended

Car Shows, Opinions

The BMW i8 is Proof of Progress, and I Love It!

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BMW i8 Amelia Island 1I saw my first BMW i8 out in the wild the other day, but only for just long enough to be awestruck, and then it was gone. While I didn’t manage to get a photo of that silver one on the road, I do have the photos from the i8’s first viewing at Amelia Island last year.

I must admit that I have love for everything that the BMW i8 represents, and I don’t think BMW could have executed this plug-in hybrid sports car any better. I remember in Monterey this year, we saw one parked in front of a restaurant, right next to a green McLaren P1. Which car drew the crowd?… The i8.

In fact, the most memorable part of that night was when I spent 10 minutes trying to convince a group of people that the i8 wasn’t a concept car, but was, in fact, on sale. They kept saying BMW would never make a car that looked so radical and actually expect to sell them. I had to pull out my phone and show them the i8 on BMW’s website, complete with its $136,000 base price. At that point, they finally believed me, and were wowed.

The BMW i8 is in the same price range as the higher-end Porsche 911 Carrera models, but BMW has given it the head-turning exotic appeal of a Pagani or a McLaren P1. The i8 looks like nothing else on the road. It even has show-y gullwing doors so you can make a grandiose entrance, or so you can’t get back into your car if people park on either side of you. Yes, that wonderful supercar idiocy is present and accounted for in the i8.

Performance wise, the i8 isn’t really a supercar by modern standards, but it’s plenty fast to have a lot of fun with. 0-60 takes 3.8 seconds, the 1/4 mile goes in 12.4 sec, and it tops out at 155mph. The kicker is the fuel economy. Where a Porsche 911 Carrera S can manage a respectable 29mpg, Motor Trend saw an Average of 45mpg in the BMW i8.

Put in 2004 terms, the i8 has the performance of a Ferrari 360 with the fuel economy of a Toyota Prius. This is progress people.

Enjoy the pics!

-Nick Walker

BMW i8 Amelia Island 3BMW i8 Amelia Island 5BMW i8 Amelia Island 6BMW i8 Amelia Island 2BMW i8 Amelia Island 7BMW i8 Amelia Island 4

Car Shows

1970 Dodge Charger R/T at the 2015 Boca Raton Concours

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1970 Dodge Charger R:T Front 2

When it takes someone 13 years to restore a car, it’s going to be something special. I am a huge fan of the second-generation Dodge Charger–and so is the rest of America. From the General Lee (of late Seventies fame) to the 1970 Charger hero car with the gargantuan supercharger poking out of the hood (thank you to The Fast and the Furious), this is a car that refuses to go out of style. The 1970 model was the final year of the Coke-bottle styling, and it has a few features that distinguish it from its earlier neighbors. Continue reading 1970 Dodge Charger R/T at the 2015 Boca Raton Concours →

Car Shows

Pagani Zonda F (Horacio’s Own) at The Quail

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Horacio's Pagani Zonda F at The Quail

I could say that I have many “dream cars”, but none quite so much as the majestic Pagani Zonda F. This really is “the one” for me, above all other cars.

The Zonda is fast as hell, but there are many faster cars out there. It is extremely expensive too, worth a few million, but one with enough money could always spend even more. But when it comes to being special, when it comes down to the fine individual details that add up to make something that is truly magnificent, a Pagani has no match.

Continue reading Pagani Zonda F (Horacio’s Own) at The Quail →

Car Shows

1934 Duesenberg SJ Rollston Limousine at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours

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Duesenberg SJ Limo Front Left

Duesenbergs and Pebble Beach go together like Los Angeles and celebrities. They are genuinely made for one another. Last summer at Pebble, there was a class of five Duesenbergs competing for class prizes. The one here, a 1934 SJ Limousine with coachwork by Rollston, was not an award winner by the book, but has a history for the books, like most Duesies. Continue reading 1934 Duesenberg SJ Rollston Limousine at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours →

Car Shows, Opinions

The Lincoln Continental: Grandpa Irving’s Lincoln, No Longer.

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Lincoln Continental Concept Front Angle

Lincoln hasn’t been making dramatic, sexy, or even remotely attention-grabbing cars for some years now. In fact, all of their products since the LS was taken out behind the barn have been rebadged Fords. 9 years of nothing but rebadged Fords and mediocrity. Finally, though, there is hope from the land of Town Cars, Mark Series, and Zephyrs. The new Continental concept is a genuine breath of fresh air from Lincoln–it’s not a reskinned Ford with a toupee. Continue reading The Lincoln Continental: Grandpa Irving’s Lincoln, No Longer. →

Car Shows

Our Highlights From the 2015 New York International Auto Show

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NYIAS 2015 Empire State Building

We went to the 2015 New York International Auto Show this past weekend to get up close with all of the cars we’ve been hearing so much about and commenting on in the last few months.  NYIAS is always a fantastic time, but this year was the best it has been in 10 years. The show is a bit of a tradition for us to do with our friends, and this year we chose to forgo the press days so we could go with the group. I’ll admit up front that we didn’t get to everything that was at the show, but we had a blast with everyone. Here are our highlights and opinions on the cars we saw.

Continue reading Our Highlights From the 2015 New York International Auto Show →

Car Shows

1954 Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe At Hershey

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Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe The Elegance at Hershey

Following up our Corvette Rondine spot is another Italian-American beauty, this 1954 Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe. This is one of the cars that stole the show at The Elegance at Hershey last year, and I certainly had to pick my jaw up off the ground when I caught my first glimpse of it.

Styled by Italian designer, Ghia, this Desoto Adventurer II is a one-off concept car done as a design exercise. The idea was to make a European-style grand touring car on an American platform… too bad they only made one. Beneath its swooping lines Adventurer II is based on a the Desoto Firedome Sportsman, and gets its power from a 276ci (4.5L) Hemi V8. It also has a 2 speed transmission, which is quite exotic today.

The car was fully restored in 1988, and now appears at concours events like The Elegance at Hershey. This was stunning car in a beautiful venue, and we’re glad we can share it with you all. Enjoy!

-Nick Walker

Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe At Hershey Elegance Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe 6 Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe at Hershey Rear Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe Rear View Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe Interior Desoto Adventurer II Ghia Coupe Front

Car Shows, SHOWCASE

1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 at the Boca Raton Concours

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1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Front 1

Grabber Green might be one of the best colors Ford put on the Mustang in the early Seventies–and they couldn’t sell it.  The Boss 302, a homologation special for Trans-Am racing, was a screamer of a car–the small-block V8 Ford developed was capable of winding up to 6,250RPM, quite high for the time, especially for an American V8.  A four-speed manual, special suspension, and all sorts of racing goodies rounded out the package under the skin, with plenty of trim pieces to make the package tasteful.  Unfortunately, they only sold it for two years.

In 1970, the Boss improved a bit–the new look of the ’70 model Mustang gave the Boss 302 a reskinned and more mature look.  The stripes were unchanged, and the offer of a few new colors made sure people kept on buying them.  When all was said and done, the changes did indeed pay dividends–after only selling a bit over 1500 units in 1969, Ford moved more than 7000 of these in 1970.  Unfortunately for those of us who love bright green, not many left the factory in Grabber Green–only 352 were painted that way, and according to the placard, only 111 were equipped with the manual gearbox in that color.  Therefore, this Hurst-equipped Green Monstah is a seriously rare machine.  Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 at the Boca Raton Concours →

Car Shows, SHOWCASE

1956 Cadillac Eldorado at the 2015 Boca Raton Concours

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1956 Cadillac Eldorado Front Angle

Elvis Presley might be one of America’s greatest icons–and he was a Cadillac man. So is Ralph Marano, the well-known and well-respected car collector based in Union County, NJ. He brought a few cars to the Boca Raton Concours this year–and while I’ve become familiar with his excellent collection of Packards (which were featured at Amelia Island last year), I wasn’t as aware of his taste in Cadillacs.

This 1956 Eldorado might be one of the best mid-Fifties Cadillacs I’ve ever laid eyes on, with a gorgeous, deep shine on all panels and an incredible reflection across the chrome. This pink Cadillac is 100% original–and has only 27K original miles. Thanks to the polish, it looks like it should share space on the showroom floor with any other new car, it’s just that stunning. Wayne Carini was more than happy to talk about it, and I found him doing a short feature on it just as I was taking my pictures. Enjoy the photos of this large and in-charge American classic. Continue reading 1956 Cadillac Eldorado at the 2015 Boca Raton Concours →

Car Shows

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale at Amelia Island

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Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale at Amelia Island

We, regrettably, did not make it down to Amelia Island this year. But our photographer friend down there, Nathan Corry, did make it over on Saturday to get some shots, and he has been kind enough to let us use them.

The car you see here is a 1968 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, and it is one of my all-time favorite automobiles. I still have yet to actually see one in person, though. So when I say photos of this one at Amelia this year, I was extra pissed that I couldn’t make it this year. Naturally, when Nathan offered to let us use his photos, my first question was, “OMG DID YOU SHOOT THE ALFA TIPO 33?!!!!” Nathan had, and here are his beautiful photos of it.

I consider the Alfa Tipo 33 Stradale to be the first incarnation of what we all know today as the “hypercar.” Hypercars sit above the level of mere supercars in their technology, performance, or sheer exotic appeal, and they usually cost obscenely more than an obscene amount of money.

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale was the road going version of Alfa’s Tipo 33/2 racing cars. It shares the same advanced 2.0L V8 as the racing versions, but the engine was detuned from 270hp to around 230hp in the road car. That engine revved all the way up to 10,000 RPM, and it sent power through a 6 speed transaxle gearbox. The Tipo 33 also still only weighed just over 1500lbs in road form, with the same basic suspension as the racing Tipo 33/2. It could see 160mph, and go 0-60 in 5.5 sec, fast numbers today, but in 1967 it was the record holder for the standing kilometer. So all in all, the 33 Stradale was a technical masterpiece in it’s day, literally a racing car for the road.

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Wheels at Amelia Island Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Amelia Island 7

Adding to it’s advanced technical design, the Tipo 33 Stradale was also arguably the most exotic car in the world in 1968. It was the first road car to feature gullwing doors, which featured a unique curved glass window as well. It’s price in 1968 was close to $20,000, or a little more than the price of a Lamborghini Miura. But with only 18 examples built, each Alfa Tipo 33 Stradale is worth many millions today, probably tens of millions. So if you love modern hypercars like Paganis and Koenigseggs, then recognize this stunning Alfa as the “Original Gangsta” that it is.

I firmly believe the Tipo 33 Stradale is one of the most beautiful road cars ever built, and it happens to be a technical masterpiece too. You can find more info about it in a previous article I wrote. I still look forward to the day I get to see one in person, but I’m thrilled that Nathan was able to supply us with his photos so we can share this one with you. Check out his photography portfolio and his services on his website.

Also, if you’re reading this, and you own a Tipo 33 Stradale. I’d be happy to buy your car from you, provided you can accept my everliving soul as payment.

-Nick Walker

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Amelia Island Exhaust Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Rear
Alfa Romeo Badge Tipo 33 Stradale 1967 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 at Stradale Amelia Island Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Amelia Island 2

Car Shows

Slammed VW Karmann Ghia at Festivals Of Speed, Amelia Island

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Slammed VW Karmann Ghia Festivals of Speed

This slammed Volkswagen Karmann Ghia managed to draw people’s attention away from all of the exotics at Festivals of Speed, Amelia Island. When it comes to slammed cars, I am only a fan of some, but this is surely one of them. This Karmann Ghia was extremely well done, and it really popped with its sparkling brown-orange paint job.

Karmann Ghias are such high-style items these days, and I do think being slammed adds to that appeal. I wish Volkswagen could find a way to bring this sort of style back into their modern cars, but I know that is unlikely.

Enjoy the photos of this lowered beauty!

-Nick Walker

Karmann Ghia VW Badge Slammed VW Ghia Festivals of Speed 3

Slammed VW Ghia at Festivals of Speed Amelia Island Slammed VW Ghia Interior Slammed VW Ghia Wheel

Car Shows

Audi LMP Cars At The Radnor Hunt Concours

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Audi R10 TDI LMP Race Car

Audi brought two of their diesel LMP racing cars to the Radnor Hunt Concours this year. With all the emphasis on making supercars into “racing cars for the road”, why haven’t we seen a diesel supercar yet? I mean over the last decade Audi has dominated the 24hrs of Le Mans with these TDI prototype cars.

We’d sure love a diesel Audi R8?

-Nick