Category Archives: 7. Miscellany

Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance 2013 – Part 2

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Today’s segment has a sample collection of Italian machinery on display at the Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance 2013.  There were many.  They were all very impressive.  For some reason, these really stood out for me…

When I was in my teens, I remember walking into an exotic car dealership and in the main showroom was a brand new, street-version of the famed Lancia Stratos.  Much to my amazement there was a full rally spec version at the Concours.  For some reason, this car just amazes me – it must have been something else to see this machine driven at 10/10ths under the skillful hands of Sandro Munari.

There were some really cool Lamborghinis – the Miura is just stunning.  Somebody had a very unusual Alfa Romeo built on a Viper chassis.  And some other unusual examples…

Update: My friend Michael Y, sent me a little more info about the blue Alfa Romeo Zagato TZ3 Stradale in the gallery below.  “Bellezza necessaria” is what the article states, indeed I agree.  There is no denying this is indeed “la bella maccina” as opposed to what a Viper looks like – don’t get me wrong, Vipers are awesome but there is no comparison.  It’s powered by the Alfa 8C Competizione’s 4.2-liter V8 and has a six-speed sequential gearbox. At only 850 kg (1874 lbs) powered by 414 horsepower.  If you want to read more about the Zagato TZ3 Stradale, CLICK HERE.

Finally, a Ferrari 512…

Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance 2013 – Part 1

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This past weekend, I had a chance to take a quick trip to sunny Florida and attend the famed Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance.  This was my first-time visit and if you have anything resembling a “bucket list”, you must put this event on it.  It is an amazing overload of automotive porn.  Needless to say, I endured a mild case of priapism and no, it was not due to a blue pill.  Instead, I blamed the four-wheel works of art on display.  What a day!

As if that was not enough, shortly after we crossed the main gate a formation of old War Birds flew by.  Followed by a B-25 Mitchell flying at tree-top altitude.  What can I say?  What a way to get such a car show started.

I took many pictures that will take me quite some time to develop in my digital dark-room.  So, let me get started with the first thing I saw after I claimed my admission ticket:

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Behold the new 2014 Stingray Corvette.  Holy shit on a cracker!  I have seen pictures of the new Vette but believe me, they make it no justice.  You must see this shark in the flesh – it is stunning.

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And finally, one of the derriere…

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Now that is what I call a bad ass.

The good looks are not only skin deep.  The legendary LT1 engine RPO makes a comeback – this time being even more powerful than ever.  I can’t wait to see the real-deal on the street…

As mentioned previously, I have many pictures to sift through and edit.  I have plenty to keep me busy and I hope to have them on this blog as fast as I can get them ready.  So please stay tuned…

Jim Clark – a True Legend of F1

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Interesting thing Twitter…  You can subscribe to pretty much anything and if you pay close attention you can learn quite a bit.  It is up to you to figure out the diamonds from the lumps of coal.  I am knee-deep in F1 “stuff” and among my favorites is one Peter Windsor – he has an awesome blog and you can also follow him on Twitter (@PeterDWindsor).

Well, Peter Windsor had a diamond of a tweet with an awesome picture of Jim Clark driving a F1 car in 1968.  The picture captured by Windsor’s school buddy Paul Hobson and shows Jim Clark amazingly taking his F1 Lotus through a turn at “The Farm” pushing the envelope.  Here is the picture:

Jim Clark 1968 at “The Farm”

March 4 was Jim Clark’s birthday, which makes this picture so special.  At any rate, I’ve stared at this picture all day long today.  I’ve been to the Louvre, El Prado among many other pretty awesome museums where I have just sat there with a stupid look on my face imagining what “might have happened” after staring at a masterpiece.  Well, this picture falls in that category.  Seriously.

Thank you Peter Windsor for sharing.  This is absolute perfection – a real gem!

Volkswagen Beetle Subaru Engine Swap

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Standing a few feet away from this white Beetle one would have no idea what lurks behind the flawless white paint.  Turns out this is an excellent example of a Volkswagen Beetle Subaru engine swap.  The interior is equally as clean as the exterior and check out that awesome rollback top, which incidentally is not original to this body shell.  It was grafted in from an older donor car.  The wheels are also very special – they feature a five bolt design and from what Steve – the owner – told me, are quite rare.

This Beetle’s nose is a little unusual (see pictures above).  For starters, it has a nice heater mounted in front of the firewall.  Second, there is a Griffin radiator (similar to the one in bowtie6).  But wait a minute!  Beetle’s aren’t supposed to have heaters that keep you from freezing nor do they have radiators.  What is this all about?

Turns out this virtually unassuming bug is powered by non-other but a Subaru boxer engine.  This is the four cylinder variant and it has been bolted by means of an adapter plate to the beefed up Volkswagen transaxle.  According to Steve – the owner, who also built the car – the coolant lines are routed through the former heater ducts.  Once he wired it all up, the Subaru engine fired up and Steve told us this bad boy will smoke tires in first and second gear.  He said it is extremely quick and gives him some awesome gas mileage too.

Here is another shot of the engine.  What is so remarkable here is the whole package just “fits”!  Steve told me he had to make some alterations to the firewall and there is a small cut around the edge of the trunklid opening near the rubber seal.  That had to be done in order to gain access to the oil filler cap.

And one last picture…  This is what the interior looks like.  Oh and both the hood and trunk lid have been treated to the same cool pinstripe work as the dash.  Overall this is one hell of a nice Volkswagen Beetle.

2012 Euro Auto Festival – bowtie6 will be there!!!

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Howdy folks!

Good news tonight…  Finally!!!

  • Performance issues are now a thing of the past.  I’ve had this blog moved to a load balanced hosting plan and we should be noticing some much improved load times.
  • If you have any issues please let me know:  [email protected] – and I’ll see what I can do to fix it.

The next thing I wanted to let you all know is that bowtie6 will be at the prestigious 2012 Euro Auto Festival at BMW’s Greer, South Carolina assembly plant this weekend.  You can read more about the festival by clicking here. The last time I registered to show my car was there was in 2009.  Incidentally, bowtie6 won First Prize in the TR6 class that year.  🙂

If you have never attended the Euro Auto Festival, you need to make a point to be there.  There are many, many cool cars in attendance and the venue is amazing.  The BMW Zentrum is there and you will see a huge collection of amazing cars.  Among them, my friend Michael’s highly tricked out Volvo.

Michael has turned his Volvo into a real powerhouse and basically created a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  It has a highly tweaked Ford Mustang engine in it (oh dear, I said the “F” word!!) and many, many cool enhancements.  I promise I’ll have a full article (or two) here soon with more details about Michael’s ride.

This year’s “marque” is MercedesBenz.  According to the AccuWeather this weekend should be sunny and very nice.  So I plan to have the digital Canon with me and I’ll try to take as many pictures as I can. Stay tuned and I’ll try to put together a nice gallery of shots.

If you happen to be there please come by the Triumph section and say hello.   bowtie6 is downstairs in the garage right now, all gussied up and ready to go.  I have actually taken the hard top off and installed my soft top back on.  This top was custom made in the UK for me several years ago and it is a little “different” from the standard soft tops:  it lacks the side windows.  Click on the “About” menu option to see what it looks like.  At any rate, I hope to see you there!