I saw a Polaris Slingshot today.
Saw a 1970-ish black AMC Javelin. Looked perfect. Also some kind of newish Camaro that seemed to be a special edition, maybe a Lingenfelter or Yenko (are they still in business?) It had a fancy paint job and lettering and sounded fantastic. Got a quick glimpse as it came the other direction on a two lane road.
Driving home from a friend’s house this morning I passed a repair shop that had these two beauties for sale.
1966 Chrysler 300M in great condition with a 383
1968 Nash Rambler American 440
I came across this animation of all the Mustang bodies through 2015.
Saw a really old Chevy Suburban. I’d guess early 60s. Looked to be restored or very nice original.
Later, a gorgeous '67 Chevelle big block. Marina Blue, my favorite color for that era Chevy.
Want to see how cars looked when WWII broke out? Here is a 1941 Plymouth Special De Luxe 4 door. Check out the suicide doors.
Spotted yesterday in Tracy CA.
A favorite of mine, the Lotus Elise. The Lotus concept is to make cars small, light, and nimble. That mission came from its founder, Colin Chapman (1928-1982). As he liked to say, “Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.“
Spotted today in Mountain View CA. This one looks like a Series 3 S Club Racer. The Lotus logo has Colin Chapman’s initials, ACBC, for Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.
First released in 1996, the Elise was named after Elisa Artioli, the granddaughter of Romano Artioli who was chairman of Lotus and Bugatti at the time of the car’s launch.
The Elise was produced from 1996-2021 and built in either the UK or in Malaysia. It succeeded the Lotus Elan, and was itself succeeded by the Lotus Emira.
The Series 1 was produced 1996-2001.
The Series 3 was produced 2001-2011.
The Series 3 was produced 2011-2021.
I love the Elise. It was a huge improvement over the Elan, which has been known to quickly burn to a crisp. I haven’t set eyes on an Emira yet. I can’t wait.
I haven’t seen the Lotus Emira yet either. From an image search it looks more Ferrari or McLaren like, which is a little disappointing but I’ll reserve judgment until I see one IRL.
I love the proportions on the Elise and am glad it finally became importable into the US.
I saw an Aiways U5. It’s a Chinese branded all electric. Very squarish for an electric car.
I saw one yesterday, interesting styling. Definitely stands out.
Yes they are, & a very special day for them tomorrow. (HINT: not every car is named after a \day)
I saw two interesting cars yesterday, well not so much the vehicles as the license plates that I was a bit shocked got past the censors
VT - YO MAMA
MA - MOERON
Regarding styling I would agree. Albeit I have heard mixed reviews of their performance, ranging from some calling it a half-assed attempt to copy the Miata, to other saying they actually prefer it to the 3rd gen Miata that would have been its competition at the time. I guess that goes to show how subjective these things can be.
But on that note, I took my Miata on a Sunday drive up to the little foothills town of Foresthill, CA yesterday. There were a few interesting cars out and about on that lovely spring day:
- When I stopped at a gas station to pee a first generation Mercury Cougar pulled up to the pumps. First generation Mustangs are so common I don’t consider them all that interesting, but Cougars are less common (and therefore more interesting).
- Something that looked like a Lamborghini Huracán parked at the overlook by the Foresthill Bridge, although I’m not 100% certain of my id on that one.
- My second Rivian sighting.
A Ferrari F355 on my walk around the lake waiting for my car inspection.
Technically, it was yesterday, while I was driving up to my parents’ house in Green Bay; I saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile on I-94 in southeastern Wisconsin.
I had one of the first batch of Elises sold in the US, having been on the waiting list from a year before it was even formally announced.
Here’s a fun fact: you can lock the doors with the button on the fob. You can lock the doors with the key. But if you’ve locked the doors with the fob, you cannot unlock them with the key and vice versa.
Another fun fact: the body is essentially two pieces, a front and a rear clamshell. They’re made by injecting a fiberglass slurry into ultra-polished molds. Because of this, the fiberglass can be very thin and light because it requires no gel coat as per traditional fiberglass construction. Think of this as you learn that because of the extremely small production volumes, the car was given a Federal waiver and was not required to have bumpers. So if someone like my wife backs into this car, even a tap, the bodywork cracks and the entire front or rear must be replaced at the cost of many thousands of dollars.
This wasn’t a major disaster for me as this was at the height of success for Lotus, so spares were easily ordered. A couple years later, when like clockwork Lotus was circling the drain, the wait for the parts could easily be a year.
*I understand that now techniques have been developed to facilitate repairs to the fiberglass. Part of the resistance was because for quite a while, Lotus insisted there was no safe way to repair the bodywork as it was an integral component of the crash structures. Insurance companies eventually wised up to that.
That’s a 2005 Elise with Sport Package wheels. Lava Orange.
Thanks @Pork_Rind but please do tell us, what was she like to drive???
I saw a VW bus someone had chopped to make into a sort of pickup truck. I’ve always liked the buses so I consider this a real shame.
The Type 1 and Type 2 came in a pick up model, was it one of those?