a sheep in wolve’s clothing, the porsche 914 is actually a volkswagen in disguise. don’t believe me ? the 914’s birth certificate belly-button plate clearly reads “manufactured by volkswagen”. i have always referred to these as the “ice cream sandwich car” due to the horizontal, rectangular flat nature of the design. Volkswagen: There Is No Substitute.
the audi TT is a rare instance of a truly original ground breaking automotive design from an era of retro-this, retro-that PT cruiser and new beetle abominations. classic yet contemporary at the same time, the audi TT has a succinct and appealing germanic sensibility that is even more pronounced when painted silver. this example sports a great green/grey tone and has the smart sport package… truly a striking specimen!
(photo courtesy clive bullian) The Ferrari 308 GTB was introduced at the Paris Salon in October 1975. It showed a similar mechanical layout to the Bertone-styled 308 GT4, but was equipped with only two seats. The beautifully styled coachwork by Pininfarina incorporated some visual aspects of the fantastic Dino 246 GT. Early 308 GTB’s had a lightweight fiberglass body, in 1977 production changed to steel bodies. The powerful 3 litre V8-engine was equipped with four Weber carbs, which made the engine sound superior to all its fuel-injected successors.
(photo courtesy of clive bullian) like the porsche 911, the alfa romeo spider had an extremely long production run relatively unchanged. produced from 1966 thru 1993, the final year of production of the spider was almost like buying a brand new true 1960’s true italian sports car…. er, strike that… you actually WERE buying a true 1960’s sports car, and how cool was that ?? by the time the series 4 was produced, alfa romeo decided that in order to update the exterior, ground flairs and plastic bumpers were they way to go…. but still a very pretty car. i only wish that like porsche, alfa romeo decided to continue refining and updating the spider instead of scrapping it and unleashing the abomination they replaced it with, which was to purists, a spider in name only.
landing for the first time in jolly ol’ england i was semi-fascinated by all the cars and drivers on the “wrong” side of the road. with my nose pressed to the glass in one of london’s strange cabs enroute to london from the heathrow airport i spied a majestic sight: a pristine grey 993. it might as well have been a wayward leprechaun in a lush green land as i was so whelmed by the apparition.
i spied a curious 1996 volkswagen golf parked in and around the general vicinity of my work-place. upon the first sighting i assumed it was owned and customized by some wacky artist trying to assert his/her artiness as it is always parked by a cluster of fine galleries. the next time i saw it i decided on two things: 1) i need to do a bit of research (which these days counts as spending 15 seconds on google) 2) i had to have one. i quickly discovered these multicolor golfs were factory made limited editions of approximately 260 cars and came in 4 color variations…. you can tell the original color of each version by the roof and rear pillar colors…. this car was originally blue and then panels were switched at factory. if anyone knows of a good condition harlequin for sale with a manual transmission i have cash money waiting for an acquisition. (photo courtesy Chris Haak as i haven’t been able to capture my local harlequin in motion)
(photo courtesy of clive bullian) i’m not so sure ferry would approve. what is the panamera ? the easy answer is “porsche’s first 4-door sedan”. but really it is more……. in my opinion its another fatal step towards killing the porsche brand. the panamera didn’t have to be a potential brand-killer. porsche could have come up with a more original and graceful design…. not some bloated hyundai-esque variation on the holy 911 design. (memo to porsche: kill the cayenne and kill the panamera and do it quickly.) for the first panamera capture i was hoping for a more sexy photo, though upon further consideration, this photo is perfect…. the less you actually have to see of the panamera, the better.
for some reason the sighting of this lone ferrari 328 in paris reminds me of the masterful paul bowles prose le bapteme de la solitude. having purchased a vintage ferrari within the last year, i can almost equate the following passage with the experience of purchasing, owning and driving a ferrari… stupid, i know. there is something broken about a man who decides to buy a ferrari… a self destructive and nihilistic act… here it goes: “It is a unique sensation and has nothing to do with loneliness, for loneliness presupposes memory. Here, in this wholly mineral landscape lighted by stars like flares, even memory disappears; nothing is left but your own breathing and the sound of your heart beating. A strange, and by no means pleasant, process of reintegration begins inside you, and you have the choice of fighting against it, and insisting on remaining the person you have always been, or letting it take its course. For no one who has stayed in the Sahara for awhile is quite the same as when he came. Perhaps the logical question to ask at this point is : Why Go? The answer is that when a man has been there and undergone the baptism of solitude he can’t help himself. Once he has been under the spell of the vast, luminous, silent country, no other place is quite strong enough for him, no other surroundings can provide the supremely satisfying sensation of existing in the midst of something that is absolute. He will go back, whatever the cost in comfort and money, for the absolute has no price.”
the first generation honda prelude was a curious ’sports car’… merely a sports car in name as surely a true sports car cannot be created based on a honda civic and conjured together with a few stretches of sheet metal, a paper-clip and some chewing gum. most first generation preludes (1979-1982) have been resting in the bone yard for quite a spell by now. this example sported large diameter wheels and was in excellent condition…… a rare sighting of a car whose philosophical heritage at best can be traced to the volkswagen beetle derived karmann-ghia, but that is giving the prelude and honda a hell of a lot more credit than due.
relying exclusively on the iphone to shoot photos has its hazards and can produce random accidental results. i have positively identified the subject as a 1964 cadillac de ville based on forensic research of tail fins. this car was heavily modified complete with a sawzall convertible top and outrageous paint…… so i scrambled to to get my iphone ready to shoot. the iphone can have unpredicatble shutter speeds and though the car was in frame, by the time the shutter opened and closed we were left with just a tiny snippet of fin. but damn it all to hell, i do like it !
the 2001-2006 iteration of the mini cooper was a game-changing automotive break through. with uncanny performance, quality, design and of course the bulldog ‘wide stance’ this car was unlike anything offered before or since. BMW, in its infinite wisdom, recognized that the public was ready for a small high performance hatch-back ‘luxury car’. wait a minute, a hatchback ?? yes! a hatchback. a throw-back to the eighties and continuing in the path blazed not only by the original mini but also by the VW GTI and peugeot 205, this mini was definitely no chevette. who woulda thunk this was possible ? certainly not rover, bmw’s initial partner in the project as rover wanted an economy car, whilst BMW supported a small sporting car and finally prevailed and thank goodness they did !
this jaguar was spotted zipping around the Arc de Triomphe in paris france, which was a spectacular sight to behold….. it is amazing there wasn’t more accidents as the cars zip about seemingly willy-nilly with no lanes nor ryhme-reason. the series III jaguar xj6 is a very nifty car, i once owned a 1987 and from a design perspective it was uncanny inside and out. i shudder to think that many of these cars received chevy V8’s at the hands of misguided ugly americans thinking they were improving them.
(Spotted in portland on highway 26 east) When Alessandro de Tomaso acquired Maserati in 1976, he had ambitious plans for the marque. His plan was to combine the prestige of the Maserati brand with a sports car that would be more affordable than the earlier high-priced models that had traditionally made up the Maserati range. In fact, Maserati ceased making supercars like the ones developed under Citroën ownership altogether, like the Bora and Khamsin. The Biturbo was initially a strong seller and brought Italian prestige to a wide audience, with sales of about 40,000 units. Sales figures fell in subsequent years, until de Tomaso sold the company out to Fiat. It did not cure the problem. Biturbo is number 28 in the BBC book of “Crap Cars” and is Time Magazine’s worst car of 1984. (from wikipedia)
everyone has their own personal favorite iteration of the porsche 911, the only car i know of that can boast continuous production from 1964 to present, so there are a lot of versions to choose from. for me, i chose the 1994 964. why ? it is the most advanced porsche that still retains the classic porsche look, specifically the front cowls and upright head-lights. this is the quintessential 911 form….. updated, yet classic. i like this version so much that if i found a minty fresh 1994 964 2 with under 35k miles on it, i would be very tempted to sell my 2009 997 S and buy the 964. What Is Your Favorite 911 ????
the E39 M5 has been referred to as “the best motor car on the planet” ….. after owning a 1995 E34 540i with 6 speed manual transmission i can understand how such a claim was plausible and not simply hyperbole. the 540i was as close to perfection as one could expect from a manufactured good. i regret i have never driven a E39 M5 nor the monstrous E60 though i can imagine they are good…. very good. i considered purchasing a E60 M5 but after comparing performance, and considering timelessness, engineering and style i chose a 2009 porsche 997 S as it is a keeper for life where as the M5 will always just be a souped-up sedan, it does not have the pedigree and heritage of 60+ years of direct engineering & design refinement that the 997 benefits from eons of perfecting the 356 and 911…. plus there is something just really cool about having a rear-engined super-car.
