another shot of the lovely ferrari testarossa spotted on august 25th….. this time with the experimental tilt/shift miniature faking iphone application. whaddya think ?? yeah or neah on the miniature faking ?? i’m leaning towards NO.
this nice austin-healey was spotted in vancouver, canada. shortly after this sighting i became aware of the TiltShift app for the iphone which makes the subject in the photo (ideally) appear as a miniature and/or model. the rules for the photos featured on this site strictly prohibit any manipulation of images… they must appear exactly as the iphone naturally captures the image. but i am entertaining the notion of allowing the use of the TiltShift app as the only exception…. therefore i am breaking the rules just this once as a test….. what do y’all think ?
before lee iacocca’s ‘K’ car, traction control, anti-lock brakes and power-every-thing they made solid, simple and interesting american cars like this 1968 dodge dart convertible which was spotted lumbering home from the forest grove concourse d’elegance. this shot conjures up images of an andrew wyeth-esque world where time ran along a more simple line.
the aston martin db5 is the most famous aston martin car due to its use by James Bond in Goldfinger (1964). although ian fleming had placed Bond in a db mark III in the novel, the db5 was the company’s newest model when the film was being made. the car used in the film was the original db5 prototype, with another standard car used for stunts. two more modified cars were built for publicity tours after the film’s release. in january 2006, one of those cars was auctioned in arizona for $2,090,000. the same car was originally bought in 1970 for £5,000 from the owner, sir anthony bamford, by a tennessee museum owner. the other car is located in the netherlands in the louwman collection museum, and this car was mainly used for promoting the movie.
its kind of tricky for the un-initiated to not be dismissive of ferrari’s and their owners….. after all, at first glance they appear to be flamboyant toys for over-grown boys. even i find myself leaning towards this type of prejudice on newer ferraris. though now i have real first hand appreciation of ferrari’s since i recently took delivery of a 308 gtb and have drank the ferrari kool-aide. the stiff tractor-like clutch, the manual steering, the manual brakes, the gated-shifter combined with growly engine sounds and nimble handling equal an uncanny visceral driving experience that has to be experienced to truly understand the allure. it was fitting that i spotted this testarossa gracing the streets this morning as i am now armed with the proper appreciation to realize it was a special sighting….. truly a beautiful car.
continuing the theme started below by the geo metro festooned with trucker smoke-stacks, it is the perfect time to unleash this unholy low-riding creation to an unsuspecting world. spotted parading down interstate 5 on august 8th, this is the automotive equivalent of walking around with your jeans half-way down yer arse and your under wear showing…. you know the look. sometimes i am filled with wonder as to the extent the human race will go to to be deliberately ridiculous in the 21st century.
photo and testimonial provided by mark ford: i was on the freeway when this fairly new geo metro driven by two honyaks with their hats turned backwards entered the roadway and cut across two lanes of traffic. it looks like they bypassed the catalytic converter and ran basic steel exhaust pipe out behind both doors and up the sides of the car and over the roof line… the car had a ‘hole in the muffler’ sound upon acceleration and when I pulled up next to the driver for a closer look, he gave me the ‘rocker’ hand sign…. priceless!
as we live a life of ease, every one of us, has all we need… sky of blue, and sea of green…. and a yellow submarine… so we lived beneath the waves… In our yellow submarine.
you don’t see very many authentic classic mini-coopers prowling the mean streets of these united states, and when you actually do see one, if you are like me, you are struck by how much more ‘mini’ they are compared to the new-fangled versions proffered by bmw. this photograph is a nice juxtaposition of a huge brutalist abandoned building that displays just how mini this car is as well as a symbolic visual aid to foist commentary upon our gentle readers as to the state of the usa in the 21st century….. (too large, neglected by the owners and forgotten by the citizenry).
the famous, distinctive, and durable design of the porsche 911 is notable for being rear engined like the porsche designed volkswagen beetle it is based on. the 911 was air-cooled from 1963 until the introduction of the all-new Type 996 in 1998. Since its introduction 46 years ago the 911 has undergone continuous development, refinement and evolution…… always improving on the basic concept which has remained essentially unchanged throughout its lifespan. it is safe to say that the porsche 911 is the only car being built today with such a pure and un-interrupted lineage…… it is refreshing to drive a car that has received such extensive refinement. the thing about striving for perfection is that as technology evolves, ultimate perfection becomes a moving target which will never be achieved…… that porsche is so committed to building a perfect car is a refreshing testament in this day of soul-less cars.
municipal fuzz. city heat. bacon. bobby. dogs. old bill. pigs. flat foots. woodentops. blue meanies. boys in blue. bulls. filth. tha folks. the man. heavies. rashers. rollers. uncle blue. tire biters. whoop-whoops. it doesn’t matter which term you prefer for your local law enforcement, all i know is that i love the mondrian style graphics on this london police cruiser and if i got pulled over by a 5 series sporting such stylish test-pattern embellishments it would make a bitter pill taste just a wee bit sweeter.
beetles, transporters, karmann-ghias & type III air-cooled volkswagens were the coolest cars ever built. they had an irresistible combination of austerity, functionality, affordability, quality, and were ingeniously engineered & designed. these cars appealed to people with brains: professors, hippies, architects, college kids, beatniks, enlightened suburbanites, frugal housewives, design conscious proletariats, etc. an air-cooled volkswagen was not merely an automobile, it became a physical manifestation of ideology, culture, equality and hope for a better world. perhaps the only similar galvanizing product that exists today is the iphone & apple computer…. yet these fall well short in the charm department compared to a minty fresh 1963 vw beetle.
this shot is ostensibly of the new camaro in the lane ahead, though it is also a nice shot of the nether-regions of my 1970 mercedes 280se. the new camaro is a very well executed design and the quality seems good, though i notice that american and japanese cars seem nice when they are new, but after a few years the designs look crude and the cars themselves are falling apart. contrast this with my 1970 mercedes which is about 40 years old and still looks and drives new…. the fact that the design has stood the test of time is really just the ‘icing-on-the-gravy’.
i discovered paris was stocked with a pretty amazing variety of fine classic automobiles prowling the rues….. it seems the french value keeping older classic cars on the road. the xj6 has always been a favorite from a design perspective. the exterior design is quite accomplished whilst the interior has an old-school high-society lounge quality with a genuine wood dashboard, high quality leather seating, air-craft style gauges and a satisfying number of secret agent style buttons to push.
continuing with a second example of the peculiar distortion that can occur when using the iphone for fast motion photography, this bmw was captured merely seconds after the mercedes below. the elongated hood conjures images of an old tex avery cartoon car…. if you squint closely you can even spy a rascally wolf behind the wheel.
one of the more esoteric qualities of shooting moving subjects exclusively with the iphone is that interesting distortion is produced under certain conditions. this passing mercedes benz 450sl was captured in a fleeting moment and the surreal depiction appears as a one dimensional card board cut-out….. yet in actuality it is steel, rubber, glass and man.
this voracious street-cleanin’ caterpillar was spied prowling the streets of paris france. its mandibles are fierce and rumored to be loaded with Perrier. these creatures secrete a hypnotic substance reducing their human operators to mere tranquilized slaves who live only to serve the caterpillar’s needs…… the operator in this photo appears to have fallen victim as witnessed by the tell-tale vacant and obedient stare.
