I was walking down a street in Berlin in 2000 when I came across a parked Proteus C-Type.  It really was a stunning car and given that you will pretty much never see a real one on the road it was nice that someone was out and actually enjoying it.  Just in the way that Cobra replicas have not hurt the prices of the authentic cars, I am sure that the Proteus cars and the factory continuation ones will not harm prices of these very rare Jaguars. ... View more

Such a great story!  While living in the Washington DC area I often had the opportunity to ride my bicycle in the Maryland area, including many rides up Sugarloaf Mountain, which is a pleasant but not unduly challenging climb.  Apparently there was government interest in acquiring the property to build a summer residence for the White House occupant but Gordon Strong hated FDR so that went nowhere and the property that is now Camp David in the nearby Catoctin Mountains was bought instead.  Sugarloaf Mountain is owned by Stronghold, Inc., a non-profit set up by the Strongs in 1946 so that the property could be preserved and enjoyed by the public. ... View more

This is absolutely brilliant!  I enjoyed the retro 1970 Bronco Raptor, as well as the 1959 Cadillac Escalade featured in "Automobile."  More, please! ... View more

Could not GM have built Pininfarina-designed bodies somewhere in the US?  It seems like the solution of air-shipping parts to Italy, having semi-completed cars flown back and final assembly done in the US was the most expensive and complex way to do things.  It was not like the old days when Briggs Cunningham could have C3 bodies made by Vignale and shipped to his Palm Beach factory (well, little workshop) a lot cheaper (well, somewhat cheaper) than having them made in Florida or Michigan but those were entirely handbuilt and not mass-production like the Allante. ... View more

I think one of the Allante's problems is that it was designed to compete with the SL that was about to be replaced by a newer car from MB.  The R129 must have already been heavily in development as it came out in 1989. ... View more

This is a very cool-looking motorcycle but you have to wonder between this, boutique "lifestye" accessories, and speedboats just how much Aston Martin management has been diverted from a company in rather dire straits.   ... View more

I really enjoyed this look at some interesting Italian cars and we all have our favourites.  I would pick the 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 Coupe as one of the most beautiful cars ever. Nice to see the semi-forgotten Ferrari GTC on the list--unlike the Daytona it had power steering.  Re the lovely Miura, I have before me a copy of "Corvette from the Inside," by one-time Corvette chief engineer Dave McLellan, about five decades of Corvette development.  He writes about competitors' cars that GM bought in the 1970s to benchmark the Corvette and while the Porsche 928 had considerable influence on the C4, he also praised the Ferrari 330 GT and the Maserati Ghibli. But about the Miura he writes: "From it we learned how uncompromising, unreliable, and poorly constructed exotic cars could be." And: "The Lamborghini Miura offered exhilarating performance, but the high noise level and limited creature comforts made long trips tiring." ... View more

There seems to be a "Cars & Coffee" international organization based in Italy putting together events in Europe and here in Ottawa, Ontario there was a similar event which, to me, does not follow the spirit of cars and coffee activities as they are focused entirely on European exotics--if you don't have a Lamborghini or Ferrari or Bugatti you are not really welcome.  On the other hand, I have had a great time participating with my Corvette at cars and coffee events at The Elegance at Hershey, the Concours of America, and Amelia Island.  It is fun to hang out with other enthusiasts, check out some great cars, and yet not have to be there for the entire day.  Cruise nights are good for this too--let's hope we can get back to them soon! ... View more

A wonderful car indeed.  The cool porthole wheel covers were apparently not designed to be this way originally but in order to get the brakes to cool, the desperate people at Auburn (who were running out of money) simply put holes in the covers.  This worked and became a distinctive touch at the same time! ... View more