Cool and interesting cars that caught our eye either at shows or on the street.
If you love cars, then you have to love old Alfa Romeos. The Tipo 33 was a legendary racing platform for Alfa Romeo, and this Tipo 33/2 lit up the track at Laguna Seca this past summer. Such beautiful lines can indeed be functional for speed.
Enjoy!
-Nick Walker
I took extra time to take particular photos of some of the more interesting Cadillacs at the Boca Raton Concours this past winter, and the effort paid off. The first car I took a closer look at is sitting right here–it was in the back of the program, parked amongst its peers from the Fifties and Seventies. This ’68 Eldorado was the second year of the new-shaped model, an innovation machine on wheels of its time. Cadillac took their first stab at front-wheel-drive with these beasts, and laid on the swagger and chrome as if it was going out of style.
The late Sixties Eldorado is a snake charmer. It’s a massive car–the 120-inch wheelbase underpins a car that stretches out to 221 inches total–that’s less than 8 inches shorter than a new Rolls-Royce Phantom SWB. Despite being FWD, the engine is still laid out front-to-rear, a unique arrangement that Cadillac would use until 1985. Powering the beast is a 472 cubic-inch V8 hooked up to a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission–but the real jewel of the Eldorado, especially this one, was its condition. Shining paint, and gorgeous interior appointments, are the norm at a Concours–however, the real prize was inside the interior. This one happens to have an 8-track player, a novelty in the late Sixties, and a telephone. Bluetooth not required, nor needed. Enjoy the photos of this luxurious beast. Continue reading 1968 Cadillac Eldorado at the Boca Raton Concours
While perusing through the field at the Bonhams Auction at the Quail Lodge, we were stopped in our tracks by this incredible 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio. Red and Black is one of my personal favorite color combinations on a car. That mixed with the swooping Art Deco lines of this vintage Bugatti made it just perfect.
This Type 57 was actually pretty powerful back in its day, with a 170hp supercharged inline-8 engine. If a Bugatti represents the utmost in luxury automobiles today, it was surely just as true back in the pre war era.
This stunning Type 57 Stelvio was coach built by Carrosserie Gangloff of Colmar, France. And what a magnificent job they did with it!
This Bugatti is exactly the sort of thing I look for in an Art Deco era luxury car. It has all of that swoopy style you could want, and it had some high technology and performance for its time. You can get more info on this car here.
Enjoy the photos of this immaculate machine!
-Nick Walker
The Mercedes SLS AMG is quite a beast of a car with it’s snarling 570hp 6.2L V8. It’s actually quite a nice sports grand touring car as well, and it will always draw a crowd with its epic gullwing doors. We caught this gray SLS AMG out prowling the streets of Carmel, California during Car Week this summer. Great car!
-Nick
On my first full day in Boca Raton a few weeks ago, my first order of business was to take the rented Camaro convertible I had and drive around, getting some sun and getting in a bit of time on the golf course by my grandmother’s apartment. Later, I took the Camaro for some sightseeing at Mizner Park, the high-end shopping district a mile or two away from the beach. While I was there, sightseeing cars was the order of the afternoon, especially once I saw a few Ferraris parked outside the shops on the street. One was parked outside a high-end jewelry shop, while the other was parked outside a coffee shop down one alley. The one outside the coffee shop had a dark gray finish which showed up green in the sunlight–combine that with the palm trees and stone flag streets, and the Ferraris look like they belong as if no other car does. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading A Pair of Ferrari 458s spotted in Boca Raton, FL
Tatras are machines of wonder and amazement, despite not being an exotic by definition. The rear-engined design dates back to the Great Depression, and they were quite radical. Eight cylinders mounted behind the rear axle, air-cooled, and styled as if in a wind tunnel, they were ahead of their time in a few ways. When the Nazis invaded the Czech Republic in the 1930s, production slowed until the war was over. Unfortunately, they were never sold in the USA–as the company produced cars from behind the Iron Curtain.
The 603 series was very popular with high-ranking officials in the USSR, and even Fidel Castro sported one (painted white, for some reason). They were sleek, had classy styling, and distinctly American motifs everywhere. Some of those motifs included contrasting roof/body color combinations (like the red and white on this particular example), lashings of chrome down the sides and around the windows, and heavy, chrome-plated bumpers. This particular car even included a bed, which could be set up by simply folding the front bench seat back. The general public was not able to purchase cars like this in the Soviet Union–these were reserved, similar to the GAZ Chaika, for high-ranking public officials and Communist Party members. This particular car hails from the Lane Motor Museum of Nashville, TN and was for exhibition only, but still looked stunning amongst its peers–as the Tatra model series was a feature at Pebble Beach last summer. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1958 Tatra 603 Aerodynamic Saloon at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours
While perusing the incredible machines at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, I came upon this very rare Jaguar XK-SS. Formerly Steve McQueen’s own Jaguar XK-SS, the car is now owned by the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA.
The XK-SS is a fascinating automobile, literally a street legal racing car. When Jaguar had finished racing the legendary D-Type in 1955 they had 25 unsold D-Type chassis left over. They decided to turn those Le Mans-winning race car chassis into road cars for sale to private customers. A fire at the factory destroyed 9 of the 25 chassis, but the remaining 16 survive to this day, and are each worth a fortune.
It is always incredible to see an XK-SS in person, it is a most proper Jag. See Steve McQueen in the car below.
-Nick Walker
This past weekend, I found myself getting a small tan in sunny Florida, while my cohort in the Northeast froze like a Popsicle. 80 degrees, plenty of sun, and low wind make great bedfellows with classic cars on a golf course, and with palm trees abound, the 2015 Boca Raton Concours was a sure thing. This was the first time I’ve attended this show, and I was suitably impressed.
Now in its 9th season, this show is very close in terms of timing to Amelia Island, but takes place much further south, just 60 miles north of Miami. The show is held on the grounds of the Boca Raton Resort and Club, one of the best establishments in South Florida. The show was on the golf course and featured Cadillac products, as well as anything related to the Ford Mustang, to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Best of Show was a familiar face and a familiar car–the same car that won Best of Show at Greenwich last summer, a stunning Minerva owned by Joseph Cassini, won the prize at Boca this weekend. Please enjoy this gallery of fine automobiles–features will be coming very soon of a stunning Ferrari 275 GTB NART Spyder, as well as a few gorgeous old Mopar muscle cars. Enjoy, all! Continue reading Highlights from the 2015 Boca Raton Concours
The folks at Singer Vehicle Design used the Quail to showcase their newest engine available in their custom 911s. It’s a 4.0L Flat Six, and produces a mighty 390hp. In a car weighing only around 2,600lbs, that is quite a good amount of power. In terms of power-to-weight ratio, the new 4.0L Singer actually bests the current Porsche (991) 911 GT3. But unlike the new paddle shift only GT3, the Singer offers drivers the essence of the traditional 911 driving experience.
Because the Singer 911 is basically an old-school 911 that has been made brand new, I actually prefer it to new Porsches overall. Having said that, though, I should point out that you could have four 991 GT3s for the same money as a single bespoke-built Singer 911. But that isn’t my point. What the Singer proves is that there is still a demand for the old-school Porsche driving experience. That is something Porsche should really consider when developing their new products.
PDK is a great gearbox, it really is, but it dulls the driving experience. In the real world, sports cars are about fun, not lap times or performance numbers. And if I’m going to have a special car to drive on sunny days, why on Earth wouldn’t I want to be as immersed in the experience as possible?
That total immersion in the driving experience is what the Singer 911 offers. And the Singer does it in a manner that these new PDK-only Porsche models cannot ever hope to match. I don’t care how fast the new GT3, Turbo, or GT2 911s are, if they’re only available with PDK, then I’d take a Singer any day.
-Nick Walker
We spotted this intense Lamborghini Gallardo LP-570-4 Spyder Performante parked in Carmel, CA during Monterey Car Week. The Spyder Performante is the convertible version of the Gallardo Superleggera that I was so impressed by on the track a while back. That same hardcore experience without a roof would be unreal, and I’ve even seen a few of these fitted with a manual gearbox — so we can all add that to the list of things to covet in life.
I thought the the fighter jet gray showed off this Gallardo’s exotic lines quite well. And the audaciousness of those bright orange brake calipers still gave it the amount of flash that a Lambo needs. It was a stunning machine!
-Nick
While out in California this summer, I had some wonderful quality time with this stunning black Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. It was parked all by it’s lonesome self, yes in a handicap spot, at the Pebble Beach Lodge. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When you find one of the fastest cars on Earth all alone with your camera, set up some nice photos.
For those with fuzzy memories, this German-engineered beast boasts 1200hp from an 8.0L W16 with four turbos. Bugatti set the production car speed record in it at 268mph, but all customer cars are limited to the snails pace of 258mph so the tires don’t disintegrate. Even though the Veyron Super Sport weighs over 4,500lbs, it can still sprint 0-60 in 2.5 sec, 0-100 in 4.9 sec, and the 1/4 Mile in 9.9 sec @ 146mph. It is a marvel of engineering to be sure, and seems to be an exception to the laws of Newtonian Physics.
While flash colors do look great on the Bugatti Veyron, the black on this one gave it a nice sense of class. I also really loved the chrome wheels and trim because it really made the details “pop.” All in all, this Bugatti was a stunning car, and I’m glad I got a nice chance to shoot it. Enjoy!
-Nick Walker
Ah yes, Florida. The land of sunlight, warm temperatures, and lots of rich people who love to buy nice cars. Okay, I’m not talking about all of Florida. I’m talking about a place I’ve been to so many times I practically lived there for a week every year as a little kid–Boca Raton. My paternal grandparents have lived there, more or less, since I was born, and my maternal grandmother lives there half the year. This makes going down there for a Concours event far easier than it does for, say, Amelia Island or Pebble Beach. For the first time in its history, this website will be providing coverage of the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, held at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, right in town. This year’s featured marque at this event will be Cadillac. Stay tuned for the best from Boca, as only MoM can bring you. Continue reading Mind Over Motor is Headed to Boca!
Mind Over Motor 