At our weekly show what ya brung downtown there were lots of interesting cars, but what stuck out for me was a blue, Gen2, Corvair Monza, a car I always thought was a solid contender for best looking American car, ever. Similar, with the same wheels, but not in the darker blue that, like black, accentuated every curve. Styling was not as groundbreaking or influential as the Gen1 (European stylists swooned over–and stole–its high beltline, Nader got a career out of its swingaxle rear), but a very pretty car, and a gas to drive. Gen2 got the full IRS, and with 140 horsepower it was faster than a Corvette on tight, backwoods roads. Please note that these cars were intended to counter the VW Beetle, and while the Monza was more along the lines of a Mustang in trim, the base models looked about the same.
Wow, there were only 120 LaFerrari cars sold in the US.
I’ll have to remember to come back to this thread over Labor Day weekend. I live very close to the site of the annual collector car auction in Auburn Indiana. Tons of old cars in every category and many of them get driven (or trailered) around the area. Auburns, Cords and Duesenburgs were built locally so always a few of those tooling around.
I saw what must be the only remaining non-rusty Triumph TR-7 this weekend. It belongs to a Canadian racer who really, really knows how to drive this thing well. The headliner on it said RMP Motors.
'61 Impala. Seafoam green.
Triumph TR7: The Shape of Things to Come.
Hey, that’s the car my parents almost died in! 60 years later, Dad is still leery of seatbelts; he was thrown clear of the car, and the driver’s side roof crushed into the body. It was one of the rare crashes in which not wearing a seatbelt saved a life. Had he been, I probably wouldn’t be here.
Today my Four Seasons Atlanta walk by had a Mercedes Benz AMG GL55 as the highlight.
A showroom-condition, blue 1951 two-door Chevrolet hardtop Deluxe Powerglide that looks like this one. All the side windows were down.
I was next to it in the lane to the right, but I couldn’t follow. The driver turned left on a green arrow.
About an hour later, a Monte Carlo, I think a ’70, passed me going in the other direction. It was gleaming bronze and looked like it rolled out of a time machine.
Yeah, that was pretty amazing to see them together. But really, that didn’t even scratch the surface of what all was on display and racing there at Laguna Seca. It was a mind blowing few days.
A 1961 or 62 Corvair station wagon, off-white and in what appeared to be fairly good condition. There weren’t many of these wagons made, so this bland looking car is probably worth a few bucks.
I know a guy who has an orange 1980 TR-7 and it’s in pretty nice shape. Uncomfortable as hell and no power at all but I gotta admit, it’s a cool looking car.
Back in the day I owned. TR-8. Basically a TR-7 with a 3.5L V-8 shoehorned into it. It was actually a great car. Gold convertible with tan plaid interior.
A late 50’s Triumph TR3, in yellow, parked near Harvard Square.
IIRC the TR-8 came out a few years after they had released the TR-7.
Back in the day I owned a 1979 Fiat X1/9. People scoff at Fiat reliability but I bought mine new and put 90,000 trouble-free (well, almost…) before my brother took it 10s of thousands of miles further. That was a fun car, and I liked the targa top feature of open top motoring with a hard roof for security.
The X1/9 handled like a slot car, like a go kart (but with maybe a little more power).
Everyone thought it was a TR-7, though. So much so, I considered a special plate: NOT A TR7
I got a call to pick up some fast food for my son at his work. I parked next to a beautiful yellow and black '69 Super Bee. I always thought they were Challangers, but the owner told me it is a Coronet. I know it is stereotyping, but I was surprised that the owner was a middle aged Asian woman.
Then on my way to drop it off I got passed by a black 911 Carrera S Cabriolet.
After dropping the food off and driving back I saw a real Duesy… no really… it was a Duesenberg. I’ve seen them in car shows and museums but never on the road. I was looking at it trying to figure out exactly what it was and the owner saw me, smiled and said “It’s a real Duesy isn’t it.” (we both had our tops down and I couldn’t even hear it running). I don’t know enough about them to give many more details other than it was a two door convertible with gorgeous side pipes and seemed like it was about 300 yards long. I do know it wasn’t a boat tail. Normally I would have suspected a replica, but there was a big car show in town today and they normally have a handful of Auburns, Cords, and Dusenbergs.
This looks pretty close but not exact… http://www.victorycars.com/carimages/duesenberg%20spdstrRondrside1.jpg
All of that was within 30 minutes and about a mile or so from my house.
The Corvette show is in town, so I’ve seen every vintage on the road every day this week.
The British motor car club was in my area today, I saw every model of
RR, Jaguar , Woserly, Morris… MG…
There was three sports fields…
There was a very new RR which impressed with the height of the luggage (boot,trunk) and bonnet … Like it was a Hummer not a passenger car …
Great verbal pun too. Duesy/doozy
A yellow '57 Chevy two-door hardtop. He pulled up beside me at a light, and when I smiled and nodded, he gave me an ugly glare and turned his head away.
I asked Og to have him wrap it around a tree and bend its A-frame so it would cost him a million dollars.