As they say “Tis the Season”….well, here at motorfanatics, ’tis the season to be dreaming. Dreaming about fantasy shopping binges. Yesterday, Chris and I went for lunch..and after a quick bite to eat, we decided to do some window shopping. I quickly remembered the BRABUS showroom in Newport Beach, and we headed over. As we pulled in, it occurred to me that it had been a while since I looked in the window. BRABUS was gone, but there was a Rolls Royce Phantom staring out the window with a big bow on top, so we knew we’d still get to see some goods. Inside we found another ½ dozen rolling palaces, in various colors and configurations. All equally extravagant, and excessive. But in the back we found the cars more our style. Read the rest of this entry »

These are the stories that we live for as MotorFanatics.  After browsing most of my automotive news outlets for the day, I ran over to check on the British fanatic site Autoexpress…and was met with this little jem.   The concept and theoretical successor to the Ferrari Enzo…the code named, and jaw dropping Ferrari F70.  First thought..DAMN!   Seems that  Ferrari is getting tired of all these “Did you hear about the Veyron?” stories, and is working on something more than the 458 Italia.  Well aware that the Ferrari mad scientists are always mixing and experimenting, I knew that the day would soon be here when we could actually start looking forward to something tangible from Ferrari, and the start of the next chapter of the supercar wars. Read the rest of this entry »

Well as in years past when Maranello speaks, we listen.  Today was a pleasant one…receiving the email from the Ferrari PR machine that our speculations in recent months are right on track for this fall’s release of the replacement of the F430.  Ferrari dubs it the 458 Italia, with a sure to be screaming 562 hp engine that they say will be redlined at 9k rpms….yes, 9k.

At first glance, and traditionally not a big fan of the dancing horse,  Chris almost soiled himself.  “Now thats a Ferrari I would own.”  Yes, he said it.  I on the other hand would own as many as I possibly could afford to.  But the point of this post is just to let you all take a look.

[View with PicLens]

Continue for the official words .

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I would imagine, that back when transportation fantasies consisted of a healthy horse, and fertile hunting grounds…guys still stood around and said…”If you had 2 gold pieces and you had to spend it on horses, what would you get?”
Because, I’ve played that game since I was a kid, and I can’t imagine variations of the discussion ever not existing.  Its kinda like space….its always been there in some form…and it will continue long after we are all dead and gone.  So this morning, Chris and I had the conversation…and I just happen to have the transcript….

me:  So, if you had 300g’s and you had to spend it all on cars. what would your first purchase be?
Christopher:  it was given to me today?
me:  yep. you get a check at lunch.
Christopher:  FIRST
I’d go straight to the auto gallery and pay cash for that GT3RS
without thinking.  it’d be a reflex
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So yesterday, Chris and I made a trip to the post office…great right? Well, yes, it turned out to be a gem of an outing.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a sparkling 88 Ford Crown Victoria LTD.  No, its no supercar…and it doesn’t handle the canyons well…or really at all.  But it DOES have space…and plenty of it.  So after spending a few minutes talking to the old lady that owned it, we found out it only had 44K miles on it, and it had been driven to the gas station, the grocery store, and the car wash.  Thats it.
The little lady was so eager to tell us about her car, about how she could fit her mothers wheel chair in the trunk, no problem, and how she could still fit all her groceries in there as well.   Anyway, on the drive back to the office, Chris and I really starting thinking, that a car like that would be so fun to drive..because its not what everyone is doing.  Its not expensive, its not fast…and by commercial standards, its not cool.  But it totally is.
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So starting the day out with a walk through one of the best car garages that I’ve ever been in was a pretty amazing thing.   When I saw that the next stop was going to be at the Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing headquarters, I knew it was going to stay good.  So after lingering at Dave’s garage for as long as I could, I finally made my way over to the Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing building.  Once again the parking lot was filled with collector cars, but the real treasures where inside the building and upstairs.  There where old race cars that had been piloted by Al Unser & Mario Andretti and there was a Bronco that had been raced and won multiple Baja events.  Its hard to imagine a vehicle that could withstand multiple races down in Mexico…let alone one that could win the 1000 2 years in a row, and then the third year win the 500….that’s pretty impressive.   The vintage race cars where also incredible (speaking of vintage racing….Chris and I have some future plans along those lines) which sparked a little browsing online yesterday for some used Indy cars….THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!
Anyway, after spending about a half an hour at Vel’s Parnelli Jones, I headed to the last and final stop of the day, the private collection at Honda.  Inside they had samples of most of their historic landmark vehicles… as well as some legendary Honda Racing cars and motorcycles.  Now, I realize that we probably wouldn’t put an 1985 Accord in our personal collections but for Honda, we get it.  These are the cars that made Honda what they are today.   So have fun cruising the gallery…there are some pretty legendary vehicles in there.

One of the greatest things about living in Southern California, is the access to so many cars.  Now some may see the cars as a bad thing, and don’t get me wrong…traffic sucks.  But the benefit of having a gazillion people jammed into one area…is that there are literally millions of people who are motorfanatics, and the diamond in this situation is that many of them have the money to act on it.
As members of the automotive press, there are also many perks, and this last weekend was a great example of that.  We where invited to tour 3 private car collections on Saturday, the catch was that we weren’t allowed to know where we where going until that morning.  Unfortunately for my partner in crime, he was in Michigan doing among other things, testing his dads DSG transmission, and  driving their project car.  But you’ll read about that later.  Anyway, Chris couldn’t make the tour and the friend I invited to go with me, had a late night on Friday as well.  So I struck out alone to the address I was given, not knowing what to expect. Read the rest of this entry »

As MotorFanatics, we are many things. We are enthusiasts, we are participants, and I believe the most important part, we are dreamers.  We dream of roads and cars, and that day in the future where our dreams will be reality.  Maybe we already have our dream car and we are dreaming of later that day, or maybe the scheduled drive next weekend.  Some of us dream of a 69 Camaro or a 32 Ford and cruising the old strip.  Others dream of high priced exotics that many have never seen in person.  Whatever your dream, we all share the common bond that is the automotive fantasy.  While most of us will realize our dream in one way or another,  there are a few companies out there who have decided to make your automotive dreams their business.  I know, how intrusive.  Over the last few years, I’ve had a chance to talk to a few of these outfits, and they offer a pretty interesting option for MotorFanatics of all types.   About 2 years ago, I was put to the task of creating a video piece for myride.com on this subject.  So we decided to head up to San Francisco to check out one of these businesses that prey on the dreams of  so many, Club Sportiva.  Here’s the resulting video. If your not ready to commit to a video…we understand.  I’ll just say Gallardo, F430, and Golden Gate Park.
Last year I also made a couple trips to New York and once again, I wanted to visit some purveyors of dreams on the east coast.  Both Gotham Dream Cars, and The Classic Car Club of Manhattan caught my attention.

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We’re pretty lucky to have an office across the street from some silly rich guy’s car collection.  While some may argue that a car collection is a frivolous spend of money, we couldn’t think of a better way to blow a huge wad of cash.  Housed in a decent sized warehouse, we’ve seen everything from a Porsche 959 to a vintage racing Mercedes parked out front, and a little while back, on our way out to lunch Dan spotted a new Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione sitting out front.

On paper, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione might almost look like a let-down.  Don’t get me wrong, 444 hp, 12.4 1/4mile, 0-62 in 4.2 seconds all wrapped in a package that weighs about half of my GTI is appealing, but the quarter million dollar price tag makes the dream car status even more lofty.  So for 250g’s, I can think of many other super cars that are in the 8C’s performance territory and are more readily available (less than 100 8C’s will touch US soil) for maybe even less money.  But none look anywhere near as good.  Just look at the friggen thing, it’s unbelievably gorgeous and that’s why it lands on the wish list.

Seeing the thing in person, in the real world, it’s ungodly.  Simply breathtaking, it was immediately evident that it was a wish list car.  Now, it’s at this point where you probably expect me to word vomit some adjective rich jargon attempting to explain the styling and striking presence of this car.  Not here at MotorFanatics, we put together a video instead…it speaks FAR louder than words.  Enjoy.

There are certain things in this world that are just the best. The ultimate in their world. True, the best is often subjective, and for me, it seems to change all the time. But one thing that continues to just be the best at what it is, is the Aston Martin. No, not the fastest, and not the prettiest, and frankly not the right car for the majority of drivers. But they are always the BEST cars. Confused? well I lost myself a little on that stream too…so here’s the photos of the Aston Martin One-77, take a look and you’ll understand my spinning head.

For those that want the technical stuff…here’s the press release from the brits themselves. Read the rest of this entry »