Car Shows:
Hot Rod Reunion 10/11/08 - Once again Jaime and I got up Saturday morning and headed out to a fantastic car event. This time it was up near Bakersfield, California to Famoso Raceway for the 2008 Hot Rod Reunion. NHRA Vintage Drag Racing with open pits, Hot Rod car show, swap meet and huge vendor area made this a show to put on your calandar every year. Awesome event. We'll definitely go again next year, but this time we'll be more prepared for the cold evening and pine bench bleacher seating.
Monterey Historic Races 8/16/08 - Saturday morning Jaime and I decided to try to go see the Monterey Historic Races. One of Jaime's favorite cars would be there (Toyota 2000GT). Checked the website and they'd only be selling tickets at the gate now. They suggested booking your hotel early because "they fill up fast", but we decided to chance it anyway. Worse case we could sleep in the HHR right? (would have been a good plan except that we forgot blankets and pillows).
At about noon we headed out. Drove up the 101 and the 1, all the way up the coast to Monterey. Stopped at a few interesting beaches and hit some heavy fog about 100 miles South of Monterey. We arrived in Monterey at about 9PM and stopped at the first hotel we saw. As we were heading into the building we past a Lamborghini Miura just sitting there in the parking lot like it was just a normal car. How crazy!
Booked a room and headed downtown for some late dinner at an Indian restaurant. Along the way we passed a car auction. It was about 9:30PM, moisture in the air. You'd expect the old duffers to already be in bed, but not in Monterey! Current bidding was at 1.3 million dollars! The whole lot of unidentifiable cars was fenced off from the on-lookers. You could go into the fenced area for a mere $40. Gack! No thanks, I have Indian food that needs to be put into my belly.
After dinner we were heading home when we passed another parking lot full of lights and this time, some cool cars that we could identify. We stopped to take a closer look. The Russo and Steele car auction had just ended and they were parking all of the cars in the garage. We were able to wander around and take photos. Some cars were still for sale because they didn't hit their reserve. That burgandy and gold Lamborghini Miura got up to 2 million dollars, but it's reserve was set at 2.2 million. It was still available! Now's my chance!
Sunday morning we stopped at Trader Joe's and Peete's Coffee for breakfast and snacks, then headed to Laguna Seca. Paid $55 to the local boyscout troop to get in, and got to wander around the pits all day while the cars ran on track. The place was absolutely stuffed to the gills with amazing cars. I couldn't believe it. We stayed until the last group was out on track and then headed home.
PI Holiday Car Show 12/02/07 - Pantera International Holiday Car Show. The Pantera's interior is still in the living room, so we couldn't take the Pantera to the car show this year. So we did the next best thing, we took the Monster Miata and Viper instead. Once again, Jaime's Miata proved to be a huge hit. It beat out the likes of an Eleanor Mustang replica, some Lamborghinis, some hot rods and even my Viper by winning the first place trophy for the "Best Non-Detomaso" car there!
C&C 11/24/07 - Cars and Coffee show. Rick, Jaime and I took our cars down to the Saturday morning show again. We were eager to show Jaime's miata off since the addition of the fender flares, proper hood scoop, new wheels and tires. Jaime's car took all the attention away from the Viper and Rick's Pro Street Pinto (which usually gets all the attention). Saw a new Audi R8 at the show, as well as the 1000hp Bugatti. Other cool gems at the show were an old Ford with a 427 SOHC motor that sounded fierce, and a little old "Siata" that had a two liter V8 engine!
C&C 06/23/07 - Cars and Coffee show. Some cool/unique cars showed up today. My personal favorite was a nice Austin Healey kit car stuff with a Corvette LT1 engine. Also saw a nice old Ford Cortina daily driver that had a Mazda Miata engine in it. Would be a great commuter. :)
Viper Club - The Viper Club of America's SoCal chapter organized a breakfast run. Vipers from LA, Orange County and San Diego met up in Huntington Beach for breakfast. Then they cruised down PCH, and inland to a winery to do some wine tasting. Jaime and I joined up for the morning, gawked at the huge parking lot full of vipers (over 40 showed up), and then opted to head out instead of partaking in the $21 per person breakfast buffet. Can you blame us? :)
C&C 04/28/07 - Highlight of the show was Chip Foose and his Hemisfear coupes! I know these were at Sema and whatnot, but to see Chip and his cars as a random, free Saturday morning car show is awesome. Sometimes it's good to live in SoCal.
Panteras at Irwindale 04/21/07 - The Foothill Pantera club arranged for a Pantera day up at Irwindale Raceway. If you arrived in a Pantera, you got free admission, special parking and a few parade laps around the track before race night begin. Was a good bit of fun. We caravanned up and back with a couple other local Panteras. Only downside was that it was a bit cold and threatening rain so the spectator turnout wasn't as huge as it was the last time I went with the Cobra club.
C&C 04/07/07 - Got up in time for the car show this morning. Drove down with Pinto Rick and hung out for a while. Saw the usual handful of nice cars, including a Porsche Carrera GT, an awesome old Road Runner, a Lotus Europa and more.
C&C 03/17/07 - We're so lazy. Our first car show attendance this year! The highlight of the show for me was the Superformance Daytona Coupe. I've seen it before but it always puts me in awe.
C&C 12/30/06 - Our neighbor Rick, Jaime, Dad and I all took a car down to the car show. Rick has a stunning Pro-Street Pinto. Dad drove the Pantera, Jaime drove her newly licensed Monster Miata and I drove the Viper. More cars there this morning than I've ever seen at any of the shows. Parking was scarce!
C&C 12/06/06 - The Ford GT was the featured car of the show. Must have been 25 examples there. Awesome. Also saw an Orange Ferrari Enzo and it's brother, the million dollar Maserati MC-12 (only 50 of these in existence). Not to mention the Saleen S7 and Saleen's new Boss 302 Mustang. Rough life waking up to these kind of cars every Saturday morning.
Pantera International: Holiday Party
C&C 10/21/06 - The Irvine Company shut down the Crystal Cove Saturday morning car show. Ford stepped up to plate and volunteered to host the show on their campus. This is the first "Cars and Coffee" car show. Saw lots of Crystal Cove regulars, plus a bunch of new faces as well. Not bad for a first show!
Donut Derelicts 08/26/06 - Another amazing show that happens every Saturday morning in SoCal. This one takes place in Hungtington Beach in front of a donut shop. Hot rods and muscle cars are the focus here.
Crystal Cove 07/15/06 - One of the most amazing car shows in the world happens every Saturday morning in Crystal Cove, California. The show lasted three years before the Irvine Company shut it down. The focus is primarily on exotics, although you're likely to see anything there.