Tag Archives: German Cars

Cars We've Seen

Alpina BMW Z8 spotted in Carmel, CA

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Alpina BMW Z8 in Carmel, California

While out car-spotting during the insanity of Monterey Car Week, I came across this rare Alpina BMW Z8, also known as the “Alpina V8 Roadster.” Basically the Alpina version of the Z8 has been refocused into more of a boulevard cruiser instead of a hardcore M5 Roadster that the Z8 was originally supposed to be. Alpina Z8s only came with automatic transmissions, and the V8 engine was even detuned a little to 375hp.

This might sound lame, but it caters to a certain clientele. I certainly wouldn’t want this version over the standard Z8, myself, but BMW did manage to find 555 people worldwide who did. So what you get with the Alpina is a chilled-out version of the Z8 that is quite a rare bird. It certianly has its appeal.

Either way, this one managed to catch my eye in the midst of the madness in downtown Carmel, so I guess that says what needs to be said about this car’s appeal. Let us know how you like the Alpina Z8 in the comments.

-Nick

Car Shows, MoM Vlog

Supercar Sounds at Bucks County Exotics

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Naturally when attending a exotic car meet, you expect to capture some wonderful sights and sounds as people head out onto the open road in their fantastic speed machines. The folks at Bucks County Exotics definitely put on a good show. If you like the sounds of V8s, V10s and V12s, then turn up your speakers and enjoy the music from these wonderful supercars! Also, check out our photo gallery from the event.

-Nick

Car Shows

Bucks County Exotics Meet 5/2/2014

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Rossion Q1 at Bucks County Exotics
This Rossion Q1 and Ferrari 458 Spider were just the tip of the iceberg of awesome cars at the meet.

We were in attendance for the Bucks County Exotics meet last Saturday morning. I had a bit of an unexpected late night the previous evening, so it took everything I could muster to climb out of bed and drive over to Doylestown, PA for the meet. It is a cars and coffee style event, and many great cars show up each time, everything from hot rods to classics to supercars. Bucks County is a great area to enjoy driving fun cars, with lots of winding back roads cutting through the woods, and lots of scenic destinations to visit. It also happens to be a pretty affluent area, so everything seems to add up nicely to make an event like the Bucks County Exotics car meet possible.

Enjoy the photos and captions!

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Opinions

VW, we beseech thee, give us the Golf TDI Sportwagen 4Motion!

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Golf Sportwagen TDI 1

This may well be the perfect daily driver. It’s got wagon practicality, all-wheel drive safety and control, the wonderful fuel economy of a diesel engine, and the driving enjoyment of a manual gearbox. This is the new Volkswagen Golf TDI Sportwagen 4Motion, but the one you see here is just a “concept.” That means the corporate big-wigs may water it down quite a bit before it reaches showrooms, which would be most unfortunate.

The biggest question mark is the 4Motion all-wheel drive, a feature that is worth its weight in gold for those of us living in places where it snows. The bean-counters at VW may not think that enough units will be sold to justify offering 4Motion as an option, so they put this “concept” together to gauge if us Americans would be interested.  

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Car Shows

Highlights from the 2014 New York International Auto Show

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Lamborghini, Lotus, and Bugatti
Lamborghini Aventador, Lotus Evora S, and the obligatory Bugatti Veyron, of course.

We made it out to the New York International Auto Show to see some of the new cars that have come out recently. The industry has been very exciting in the last few years, as we move out of the global recession, with many great ideas taking shape, as well as a few that leave us scratching our heads.

Check out the gallery below, and let us know what you think of the new style we are trying out with some of our photos. Enjoy.

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Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Jay Leno drives the Porsche 918 Spyder

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Going off of the feature we did earlier today, it seemed prudent to share a recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage where Jay gets behind the wheel of the Porsche 918. Here’s to hoping we find a way to try one out for ourselves sometime, but until then enjoy this.

-Nick

Car Shows

Porsche 918 Spyder at Amelia Island

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Porsche 918 Spyder 1

During the festivities of the Amelia Island Concours weekend, Porsche had their new 918 Spyder hypercar  shown off prominently in the VIP parking section at the Ritz Carlton resort. Naturally it drew tons of attention from drooling spectators, as most of us Americans have yet to lay eyes on a 918 in person.

For those unfamiliar with the Porsche 918 Spyder, it is Porsche’s new flagship model. It utilizes a hybrid powertrain that nets 887hp at 8500rpm and will do 214mph, but get this, Porsche also claims it is capable of up to 78mpg if driven gently (not that anyone will ever want to do that). If, somehow, this is news to you, and you find your interest has been piqued, a 918 Spyder can be yours for the low, low price of just $845,000!!!

The more I learn about the 918 Spyder, the more I consider it my favorite among the current crop of hybrid hypercars, at least for road use anyway. We still don’t know which of the three is the “fastest,” but we do know that a 918 Spyder Weissach Edition made it around the Nurburgring in 6 minutes and 57 seconds, which certainly makes the 918 fast enough to get to work on time…. not that people who are buying this car have a boss to answer to. Until McLaren decides to just spill the beans on the P1’s Ring time, and until Ferrari stops hiding the LaFerrari from any form of objective scrutiny whatsoever, we will have to wait to see which one is “best.”

The Porsche is an incredible machine, though, and I think the fact that they haven’t held anything back about the 918 says everything that needs to be said.

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Car Shows

Highlights from the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance (Post 1950)

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Ferrari 330 P3/4 and Ferrari 335 Sport
Ferrari 330 P3/4 and Ferrari 335 Sport

Here is the second part of our highlight reel from the 2014 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. It includes everything from the magnificent Ferrari 330 P3/4 you see above to the brand new McLaren P1 and Lamborghini Huracan. Also featured are the best in show award winners, a Horch 853 and a Scarab Mark II. The cars at this year’s show were truly incredible, and we literally were shooting photos from sunrise to sunset.

Enjoy the photo gallery.

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Auto Idolatry, Car Shows, SHOWCASE

1938 Horch 853 by Voll & Ruhrbeck: Best of Show, Concours d’Elegance at the Amelia Island Concours

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This year, two awards for Best of Show were given out at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.  The best race car received the Concours d’Sport (a 1958 Scarab), and the best classic recieved the Concours d’Elegance.  The Elegance award went to this absolutely stunning 1938 Horch 853 Cabriolet, which came all the way from Sparks, Nevada, owned by Bob and Ann Brockinton Lee.  The silver-gray paint was immaculate and the restoration was top-rate.  The 853 was a car of the aristocracy of Europe for some time before WWII and is sought after today as a great example of German craftsmanship from the Thirties.  This one is one of only two ever bodied by Voll & Ruhrbeck, and was fully restored recently to an incredibly high standard.  The chrome was second to none, the accessories looked better than new, and no stone was left un-turned.  Despite the fact that I had other favorites and somewhat overlooked this car at the show on Sunday, I can see why the judges made their decision and I am inclined to agree about its high standard.  Enjoy the photos.  The Scarab will be posted to the site in the coming days.

Continue reading 1938 Horch 853 by Voll & Ruhrbeck: Best of Show, Concours d’Elegance at the Amelia Island Concours →

Cars We've Driven, Luxury Cars, Road Review, Used Car Gems

Nick’s new daily driver, a 2012 Volkswagen CC Sport

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Nick's 2012 Volkswagen CC

Those of you who routinely follow us, here at Mind Over Motor, may have noticed that my posts last week were a bit light. It wasn’t because I was nodding off, it was because I was going through the process of purchasing my new (but used) daily driver, this beautiful 2012 Volkswagen CC Sport.

I, like many car enthusiasts,  am seen as a sort of car guru by my friends and family, who often turn to me for advice on all things relating to automobiles. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back too much here, but they all know that I am quite well informed on many aspects of automobillia, especially when it comes to buying the right car.  So when I actually wind up signing papers on a car for myself, I always get a lot of questions as to why I chose the car I bought.

My purchase of this Volkswagen CC is the result of over a year of serious consideration, as well as many years of playing “what if” games on Auto Trader. Given that this blog is largely about documenting our lives as they relate to our passion for automobiles, I wanted to do a post that shows you, the reader, my thought process for the purchase of my CC.

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Car Shows

1971 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda at the New Hope Classic Car Show

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While waiting for the awards ceremony to start at the New Hope show this summer, I was “stuck” staring at a particuarly straight Mercedes-Benz.  I’ve always respected the 280SL Pagoda, as it was the second generation of the SL series, one of the most famous models that Mercedes-Benz has produced over the years.  Even in its final years of production, the Pagoda model was elegant as ever.  It’s an old favorite of mine and I wish more of them were at classic car shows.  This navy blue example with alloy wheels was a later model, and likely a 1971 model based on the presence of the alloys and whitewall tires.  The ski rack bolted to the hardtop looked very smart and set the navy blue paint off very well.  The entire package looked rather youthful and presented a nice alternative to the white example seen in one particular photo.  Enjoy the shots.
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Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Autocar pits the C7 Corvette against its European rivals

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The Corvette has always been an American hero, able to rival Porsches and whatnot in lap times and speed. However, by almost all counts, the Corvette was never on the same level in terms of its driving experience, when compared to the Europeans. The Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray is probably the best Vette yet in terms of driving dynamics, so Autocar decided to see how it stacked up directly to its fiercest rivals from across the pond.

Keep in mind, British journalists, especially, tend to be heavy critics of Corvettes. Maybe they feel threatened by such a great American icon, I mean, the Vette is basically “the George Washington of cars”, and that might bring up some of their cultural bad memories from the late 1700s. Either way, all pokes aside, the Brits seem to like the C7 Stingray quite a lot, and it seems it is finally able to take on the Europeans on their own turf.

Enjoy, and let us know what you think in the comments.

-Nick