Cars & Coffee 4/7/12 - Porsche Tribute

Click here for full gallery

Coming a couple of days after the death of Ferdinand A. Porsche, the turnout of great Porsches was to be expected, but after looking at 911s for decades and not seeing much beyond a Beetle on steroids, seeing so many generations of them together made the differences more obvious.

Check out the tails alone and you'll see a huge variety of aero treatments from clean, to ducktail, whale tail, GT, fixed, variable, etc. You'll also see labels ranging from a simple 911, to 911S, 911E, 911T, Turbo, Turbo S, Turbo Carrera, Carrera, Carrera S, Carrera RS, GT3, GT2, GT3 RS, GT2 RS, 2.4, 2.7 and on and on.

Besides the Abarth that was justifiably mobbed all morning, the other non-911 highlight was a low-slung blue jewel wearing a license plate that read "BUTZI S," Ferdinand's nickname. This was the 904 prototype that belonged to Butzi himself. We've seen it countless times at Cars & Coffee and its predecessor, Crystal Cove, but today it held much more significance.

Other highlights of the day might have stolen the show on any other weekend - the Dino gathering that included half a dozen 206/246 models, the Dino convertible showcar that would become the Fiat Dino, and a few 308GT4s as well, a Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo II, Mercedes SLR Roadster, Luigi,  Isetta 600, Subaru BRZ, Spyker C8, Vector Avtech WX-3R, Lotus Elite racecar, Italias, Scuds, Stradales, Gallardos, a Countach, Dan Gurney, Reeves Callaway, and more. Check out the gallery for the rest.

Cars & Coffee - 3/10/12

Orange you glad you came to Cars & Coffee? Lots of orange cars today, highlighted by the Rosso Dino Enzo and Rosso Dino and Black Veyron of Gerald Barnes. So many other great cars, unfortunately the place was so busy it was hard to move around. Apparently somebody decided it would be fun to print C&C in the Register as a Thing To Do this weekend, complete with map. Douche. Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Cars & Coffee - 9/3/11: Vettel's Red Bull F1 car

Link to photos

VETTEL'S F1 CAR!!!

Cars & Coffee – 3/26/11

No rain! Chrysler was in town for their annual Spring fling thingy so they showed up with a full row of recent Dodge and Chrysler show cars and production versions of the new Charger, Challenger SRT 462 and 300. The 300 really looks nice with its less-square corners and new style grille, and the Charger is just screamin' out for a big ol' "01" on the door and a Confederate flag on the roof. SEMA tuners, you have your orders.

Not to be outdone, Porsche brought over two RS models - the wicked quick, track-focused GT3 RS, and the even more insane, turbocharged GT2 RS. With 620 hp under the rear lid it is the most powerful road-going Porsche ever. This is the car that Porsche-expert/photographer/videographer/racer Jeff Zwart will be tackling Pike's Peak in this year, aiming to better his rear-drive production car record. For good measure he even brought his 906 today. This is quite possible the lowest car to ever show up at C & C.

And speaking of classics, teenage fantasy cars were littered throughout the lot today. Front and center sat Tony Noble's Lamborghini Countach 5000S droolmobile. Everything about this car is excessive, and awesome. The rear tires are 345/35-15s, which means the wheels are practically square. Need I say more? An F40 and Testarossa slipped into the back corner, and a quick cruise up and down the aisles  uncovered other high school dream cars like the Lotus Esprit, Ferrari 355, Lancia Scorpion, Audi Coupe Quattro, Corvette, 911, etc., etc.

One of the most fun cars at the show today was the Ford Focus V8. I can't speak to its handling or performance, but gosh you have to admire the kind of ingenuity it takes to pull something like that off.

Direct link to pics

Cars & Coffee – 12/11/10

Foggy morning but a great turnout today. It looked like a lot of groups showed up with a good sized cluster of Miatas, BMWs, British roadsters, T-Rexes, Ariel Atoms...and of course the usual Porsches, Corvettes, etc. The gang from Edmunds.com was even there this morning with their long-term fleet.

Two V12 Vantages, a DBS and a Vanquish were joined by the old Virage in representing Aston Martin. A Turbo S coupe and cab, GT3 RS, GT3 RSR and GT2 highlighted the newer Porsche contingent, although an eggplant Panamera captured our attention with the smell of burning plastic. A couple of undercar photos showed nothing obvious – probably just skipped a step in the PDI and we were smelling the exhaust tip coating that should burn off pretty quickly.

Another Panamera was parked alongside an old Rolls Royce, showing the evolution of 4-door luxury sedans. In fact there were several interesting pairings this morning – The Hennessey Ford GT next to the 599, a Pantera and another Ford GT, a 412 and a Maranello, a giant old Bentley Continental R and the Virage, a Super Duty Trans-Am and a late-model GTO, a 356 and the GT3 RS, and so forth.

With such slick roads from the fog, it was a bit surprising to see so many cool bikes today as well – everything from Rob's French military Indian to Frank's Ducati 999. But as usual, thankfully, the sun came out just as it was time to go.

If you've been wanting to make it down to Cars & Coffee but haven't been able to drag yourself out of bed lately, try to make it next week. Although they were tight-lipped about it, those in the know said we might get an early Christmas present.

Link to photos

Cars & Coffee – 12/04/10

Toys for Tots week brought plenty of toys, Marines and people in the Holiday spirit – and quite a few incredible cars. The Pantera guys and gals were once again at the head of the class with a half dozen De Tomasos packed to the gills with toys, but the featured Woodies also did a pretty good job of bringing some holiday cheer for those less fortunate.

Classic Beetles, GT40s, Alfas and Aston Martins were plentiful on this overcast and cool day, and the Superformance range looked exceptionally hot in that light. That new Mustang Coyote 5.0 looks incredible in the Cobra, and the Perana is just amazing.

Other standout vehicles included the gorgeous pink and black Studebaker, Exige Club Sport and Sport 260, GNX, SLR, Murcielago Versace, Datsun 1600, Pro Street Vega, 458 Italias, Audi R8s, Diablo VT, satin widebody M3, Citroen SM, CLK Black Series, Imperial, Avanti, two 2CVs, black and red Austin Healey 100M Le Mans, Viper ACR, and the Z3 M Coupe racer.

Link to pics