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Car Shows

2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Gallery 1

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Amelia Island Concours Hans-Joachim Stuck Porsche 962

Here is our first round of highlights from the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. There were so many incredible cars, of various eras, present that it’ll take a few of these galleries and numerous individual features to cover them all.

Racing legend, Hans-Joachim Stuck (pictured above), was the guest of honor. He rolled up during the award ceremony at the wheel of the Porsche 962 in which he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was epic!

Best in show awards went to a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Town Car with some fancy coachwork (see below), and also to a 1952 Pegaso Z-102 Cupula Coupe, which was my personal favorite car at the show, as well. The Pegaso had a unique color scheme of bright yellow with red-wall tires and a pea green interior, and it’s striking curves and crafted details definitely made it the sight to be seen.

Enjoy this first highlight reel, and stay tuned for much more to come!

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Car Shows

2017 Ford GT at Amelia Island

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2017 Ford GT Amelia Island 2017 Ford GT Amelia Island 2

The new Ford GT was on display at the Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island this weekend. It’s one hell of a machine in person. We can’t wait to see what it can do on the move!

-Nick

Car Shows

Amelia Island 2016 Preview

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Amelia Island 2016 Jaguar E-Type

We’re currently on our way back from a truly phenomenal weekend at Amelia Island. We attended the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Cars and Coffee, Festivals of Speed, and the unveiling of Lamborghini’s new PoloStorico program. We also got behind the wheel of many different tasty cars for reviews to come. It was a crazy, exhausting, and extremely fun weekend, and there is tons of great material that will come from it, so stay tuned!

Here is a quick preview of the automotive festivities.

Enjoy!

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Car Shows

Friendly’s Old Bridge Meet, March 5 2016

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1966 Chrysler Newport
I don’t go to nighttime car meets that often, only because I’m not a big part of the scene in my local area. Luckily, it seems that the scene is more noticable south of my area than it is near where I live, and the Old Bridge car guys organized a great meet right by a good friend’s house. This meet had a little bit of everything, from a restored 1966 Chrysler Newport to a Buick Grand National, to a Hellcat, to a pair of very loud (and rather fun) old ex-police Crown Vics. Much fun was had, even though I couldn’t get dinner at Friendly’s due to the line and the fact that the Old Bridge PD shut it down after about 3 hours. I’ll definitely show up to the next event, and hopefully the Miata’s top will be replaced after the rear window exploded. Enjoy the short selection of photos from the event.

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Car Shows

1968 Chevrolet Chevelle SS-396 at Lead East 2015

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1968 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 Front//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

When it comes to the second-generation Chevrolet Chevelle, I feel that the ’68 is overlooked. Despite being the launch year, it’s not known for any dealership-modified specials (such as the Yenko in 1969) or the Hemi-eating LS-6 engine (such as the 1970), or even being the last of the era (the ’71-72). These were handsome intermediates for the era, and certainly looked a bit more upscale than the offerings from Plymouth and Ford during the same era. The fastback roofline looks very crisp, even though it blunts rear 3/4 visibility somewhat. Continue reading 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle SS-396 at Lead East 2015 →

Cars We've Seen

Rice-ified Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible spotted in Hollywood Beach, FL

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Riced Out Camaro//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

My family, thanks to my tutelage and insistent urging, send me pictures of cars all the time. For some reason, all of them notice Camaros, both the good ones, the bad ones, and ones like this–uglies. Someone did a nice job painting this Camaro convertible candy apple red–then they messed up, and messed up big time. It’s got Lambo doors, which are only good on where they came from (and only can be excellent on a Countach). It’s got wheels on it that scream early-2000s rap video, and a roll bar that looks like it came out of a JC Whitney catalog. It’s a fantastic example of why parents need to keep their children in school and off the streets, because they might run into a car like this and flush their life down the crapper. Oy vey.

Spotted by: Susan Lazar

-Albert S. Davis

Car Shows

1951 Packard Patrician 400 at the 2015 Radnor Hunt Concours

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1951 Packard Patrician Front 1//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Due to the phrase “Fabulous Fifties”, everyone seems to think that all cars sold in America during the first full decade after World War II had loud paint, snarling V8 engines, towering tail fins, and lashings of insane chrome. The opposite, in fact, was true, especially in the years preceding 1955. In fact, most cars were notably understated, and still used muted colors and drab interior schemes as the cost was lower. Of course, a Packard could be drab in color and muted in trim, but the cost would most certainly not be low. This Patrician 400, looking quite stately in black, has a custom interior designed by Dorothy Draper, so the interior was not “drab”. Packard offered this series as its flagship in 1951, and 9,001 orders were taken–mostly in black. It’s not as flashy or as obvious as the equivalent Cadillac or Lincoln of the period, but it does not need to be. Continue reading 1951 Packard Patrician 400 at the 2015 Radnor Hunt Concours →

Car Shows

This 1971 Plymouth Hemicuda is a Mean Green Muscle Machine!

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1971 Plymouth Hemicuda Concours of America 2

The Plymouth Hemicuda is my favorite car from the Muscle Car era, bar none. It has the perfect engine, Chrysler’s 426ci Hemi V8, the perfect gearbox, a manual with a pistol-grip shifter, and it is the perfect color, bright middle finger green.

The Hemicuda has the brash audacity that I look for in a muscle car. It speaks loudly and carries a big stick. Too many muscle cars were soft-spoken “sleepers,” which is cool in some ways, but I much prefer the blunt honesty of the ‘Cuda. It doesn’t beat around the bush with petty small talk, it just says “Get the hell out the way!”

I’m generally a non-partisan guy when it comes to automotive brand loyalty, but I must admit that Mopars are my favorite of the old-school muscle cars. They had a fantastic lineup of engines, of which the Hemi was king. But even past that, Chrysler cars just had that flavor that embodied the very spirit of the American Muscle car. The Plymouth ‘Cuda is the crown jewel for me, but I always love me a Road Runner, a Charger, a Challenger, etc too.

Seeing a ‘Cuda like this turns me into a little kid every time, and this one was absolutely ideal. We saw it at the Concours of America, just outside of Detroit, MI. Naturally the Motor City area has the cream of the muscle car crop, and I have yet to be disappointed when visiting.

Enjoy the gallery of this bad mutha!

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Car Shows

1932 Ruxton Model C at the Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance

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Ruxton at Radnor Hunt Concours 1

Ruxton built unique front-wheel-drive cars in the early 1930s, although they were only able to actually produce cars for a few months. The company was plagues with mismanagement through its entire conception, and wound up fizzing out as the Great Depression Took hold, causing financial strains across the board.

The cars themselves were bold and beautiful. They sat much lower than most of their contemporaries thanks to the lack of a driveshaft running underneath the car. Many Ruxtons featured striking gradient-striped paint jobs, like the one you see here.

We saw many Ruxtons the last time we were at Pebble Beach, this one included. It was a great pleasure to see it again this year at the Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance.

Enjoy the photos of this beautiful car!

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Cars We've Driven, Cheap Fun Cars

2015 Ford Focus ST Review, Al’s Take (Grade: A)

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Ford Focus ST Front 1

The Ford Focus has been on my radar for longer than we’ve been running this website.  Back in 2011, the first car I drove to review for the website was a 2011 Focus SE sedan and I thought it was a massive step in the right direction for Ford’s compact entry.  A few short years later, the ST launched–and we all rejoiced that Ford had thrown its hat into the hot-hatch ring, creating yet another choice for less than 30 grand. It’s taken some time for me to get around to it, but a few weeks ago, I took this 2015 model for a spin around Old Bridge–and learned a lot about what Ford’s doing to stay relevant in this super-competitive market. Continue reading 2015 Ford Focus ST Review, Al’s Take (Grade: A) →

Car Shows

Highlights from the 2016 Philadelphia Auto Show

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Philly Auto Show 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

The Philadelphia Auto Show was lively this year, with many of the newest releases on display.

I must admit that I am completely in love with the blue Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio you see above (it’s stick too). I also got my first look at the new Fiata (124 Spider), Cadillac XT5, Honda Ridgeline, and the oh-so-sleek Volvo S90. I also got a good look at the new Toyota Prius, which was regrettable on the eyes.

There are a lot of great new cars to be excited about!

Enjoy the gallery.

-Nick

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