The cars and bikes thread!

[skywatch]

Car Week part 3.1
Concours d’Elegance
Pebble Beach CA, Sunday 18 Aug 2024




The featured topics at the Concours this year included the history of the Packard company, an expanded collection of Preservation Class, where the cars are entirely original parts, paint, upholstery, even tires in some cases! (One of these won Best of Show.) I didn’t take any pictures of the antique cars this year, for several reasons (The crowds were large around these, by the time we got there, and Mrs. Skywatch was getting a bit dizzy in the bright sun.)


However, two topics interested me quite a bit. First, the history of the Maserati company with the collaborations of coachbuilder Pietro Frua. Those were soooo pretty. Among my favorite unobtainable works of mechanical art. Only one Frua photo, this 1955 Spider





But one of my favorite Maseratis at the show was this 1957 Zagato Berlinetta, first built for racing, but then re-built a year later to become the fastest street car at the time.





Most of my photos came from another special topic at this year’s show: Wedge-shaped concept cars. Alphabetically:


1973 Aerovette prototype, supercharged engine with gull-wing doors.





1979 Aston Martin Bulldog, which reached the podium in its class.







1972 BMW Turbo, showing many new safety and efficiency features that BMW later rolled into their production.




1966 Canarra Roadster - a one-of-a-kind design built on a Chevy V8





1970 Ferrari Modulo, very much a “flying saucer” shape








To be continued

[skywatch]

Car Week part 3.2
Concours d’Elegance - wedge cars
Pebble Beach CA, Sunday 18 Aug 2024




1984 Honda HP-X built by Pininfarina





2023 ItalDesign Asso di Picche electric concept car





1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero Bertone, another winner in its class. An incredibly low car at 84 cm tall, the driver gets in by lifting the front windshield.







1991 Mercedes Lotec C1000, a one-off built for Sheikh Ahmed Maktoum of Dubai, capable of 268 MPH top speed.





2017 Ken Okuyama KodeO, made by the only independent custom coach builder in Japan





1960 Plymouth Ghia - Jetsons, here we come!





And finally, United Nude LoRes from 2016, deigned by Rem Koolhaas by increasingly simplifying the lines of a Lamborghini Countach. To get in, the driver has to lift up the entire one-way see-through plexiglass chassis. Worth noting that Koolhaas was invited to consult with Tesla on the design of the Cybertruck, which I will admit personally that I find to be one of the ugliest cars ever made.

[mlcor]

Awesome posts, @skywatch, thank you for taking the time. A couple of comments:

1. Some beautiful classics in there.

2. I think it's great that some of those classics get to stretch their legs instead of being stuck in a 23 car private garage for the rest of their lives.

3. With a couple of those wedges, it's hard to tell whether they're comin' or goin'.

4. The Ford Falcon brought back memories for me--we had a '64 Falcon with a three on a tree (look it up!) that my father added a passenger side lap belt to (the color didn't quite match), and that my brother and I later repainted with a roller. Not a compound curve on that baby.

[skywatch]

Awesome posts, @skywatch, thank you for taking the time. A couple of comments:

1. Some beautiful classics in there.

2. I think it's great that some of those classics get to stretch their legs instead of being stuck in a 23 car private garage for the rest of their lives.

3. With a couple of those wedges, it's hard to tell whether they're comin' or goin'.

4. The Ford Falcon brought back memories for me--we had a '64 Falcon with a three on a tree (look it up!) that my father added a passenger side lap belt to (the color didn't quite match), and that my brother and I later repainted with a roller. Not a compound curve on that baby.

1. - Absolutely! I only took a few pictures of the hundreds I could have done. So. many. lovely. machines..

2. - I ADORED watching these old beauties getting to stretch out on the track. What really surprised me though, is that these drivers were not fooling around. They were really racing, as fast as they good go while still being careful not to scratch the priceless art they were driving. The '50s racing class race was going well above 100 MPH on the straights, with lap times around 1 minute 40 seconds ... and they're 70 year old cars!

3. Indeed, the wedges were a blast to see, and way quirky.

4. My first car was a 1963 Chevy Malibu with 3-on-the-tree manual and even a choke. I was rather comfortable with it. That Falcon - so much fun! It held its own with the big boys, except some problems with control at highest speeds.

[tribe125]

That’s my favourite too. It’s crankily lovable through 21st century eyes, but god knows what impression it made in 1957.

I like Maseratis. Maserati is such a great word, and I understand they’re always a bit compromised in some way or another. A perfect way to waste money if you’ve got that kind of money to waste. I was once at a funeral when someone turned up in a Maserati. It was too wide, it was too loud, and it took two of us to help him manoeuvre it out of a tightly packed car park. I mean he must have had another car, but no, he came in the Maserati. Made me smile, though.

[mlcor]

2. - I ADORED watching these old beauties getting to stretch out on the track. What really surprised me though, is that these drivers were not fooling around. They were really racing, as fast as they good go while still being careful not to scratch the priceless art they were driving. The '50s racing class race was going well above 100 MPH on the straights, with lap times around 1 minute 40 seconds ... and they're 70 year old cars!

Well, the good news about those older cars is that their limits were fairly low, and an expert driver can tell when you're approaching them. The bad news is that some of them could get away from you in an instant (snap oversteer, for instance) if you're not an expert...

[geoffbot]

Blimey. That's... Whatever'a above supercar royalty right there. And yeah, amazing to see them being tracked!

[Samanator]

First shout out that I see Fuzzy B here. Hope your back?

For those of our European friends Luga Seca is famous for the cork screw which is one of the trickiest elevation changes in racing. The elevation change includes some very quick tight radius back and forth turns to the bottom. On Superbikes and MotoGP bikes both tires usually leave the ground when you crest the hill. It is one of the more technical tracks in racing. It's also caused many Oh Shit moments in four wheel vehicles.

Thanks so much Richard. The pictures are excellent. I see many things from magizines there from when I was a kid. It kind of explains what happens to some of the show cars that haven never gone to production like the Aerovette.

[Raza]

Grrr... let's hope the website behaves a bit better with a shorter post. It has been muting my photos as "attachment" so I hope they are at least showing up for those who click.

Car Week part 2
Ferrari Collectors Club GTG
The Barnyard, Carmel CA, Saturday 17 Aug 2024


The Ferrari club meeting is probably our favorite event of Car Week, because it’s so relaxed. They meet in the parking lot next to a little craft brew pub that we enjoy, so we got there early and watched the cars pull in while sipping a pint and nibbling on barbecue flatbread. To my tastes, the quiet cars sing the prettiest songs. I like the quirky ones too.




My favorite, 1960 Dino


Attachment 130756

The 246 Dino GT/GTS is what I consider the most beautiful car of all time. I prefer the models without the headlight covers, though. Utterly gorgeous still.

[happyscrappyheropup]

Great pics @skywatch. I prefer the covers @Raza