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Gumpert Apollo - Subtle it's not...

While driving home from a wine event recently my steely-eyed focus on driving was momentarily distracted as I passed by a tuner's shop in Century City. "Tuner shop" doesn't really do this place justice, seeing as how the tuner is Claus Ettensberger and the wheels he sells (and manufactures) can cost something in the neighborhood of the GNP of a developing country. This is the sort of virtual neighborhood where the security people drive around behind me to make sure that I belong there. Century City has no such restrictions, and since it was kind of late in the evening, I was allowed to gawk at the purty orange car radiating its speedalicious aura out through the showroom window.

The Gumpert Apollo is not particularly subtle. I mean, there are supercars and then there are SUPERcars, and Gumpert galls in that rarified category of >$400K+ automobiles that you rarely see anywhere, much less on the street. Pagani, Koenigsegg, McLaren, and Bugatti are other marques that spring readily to mind when one has become blasé about seeing yet another Ferrari 599 GTO or Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 parked at Neptune's Net on a Sunday afternoon. Some of these just plain ol' supercars lend themselves to a stealth treatment, but the Gumpert? With lines like these you might as well paint it orange because it's going to draw all sorts of attention wherever you go. Probably draws the attention of the local gendarmerie as well, but if you can afford a car such as this you can afford the Valentine One and/or the occasional ticket for going oh, 140 mph over the speed limit. 

Roland Gumpert was an Audi engineer so it's understandable that a modified Audi 4.2 twin-turbo engine powers this monster. A 6-speed sequential transmission puts its 750hp (in the Apollo S) to the ground remarkably efficiently and effectively, given that it weighs less than 2700 lbs. Carbon fiber certainly does wonderful things to "add lightness" to a car.  

The Apollo in any configuration is fast, setting a Nürburgring lap record at 7:11.57 back in 2009. The record has been broken by others, but what's a few seconds among friends? 

Cars on Flatbeds, Part 1

My first car was a 1973 Fiat 124 SC, so I early-on learned about the importance of flatbed towing vehicles. I subesequently drove a Ford Escort, a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL(sadly, not the 6.9 engine), and a 1973 Volvo 1800ES, all of which gave me ample opportunity to get to know the local auto club tow truck/flatbed drivers on a first-name basis. It wasn't until I moved to the 1999 Volkswagen GTI that I spent years without worrying how many service calls remained in my deal with AAA. 

I thought that maybe it was just me, but no, it seems that lots of people's cars see the back of a flatbed truck. Here are some shots that may be of cars being gingerly taken to the shop, taken to a new owner, or simply being transported from one place to another for one reason or another.

Here's a neighbor taking delivery of a "new" Mini Cooper. He said that it was a limited edition, custom built car that used the body of the original Austin Mini but was crammed full of the mechanical stuff from the current (BMW) Mini. Difficult to see how they could get it all in there, but it looks great!

Spotted this Ferrari (335 GT?) on the 101 heading south past the banana trees on the way toward Ventura and (presumably) a complete restoration. It doesn't seem to be what might be considered a 'barn find' but more along the lines of "an unmaintained car we found in an orthodontist's garage in Daly City' sort of find. I'm rather fond of these sorts of cars (probably goes back to my start with the Fiat 124 SC).

And it looks as if this Porsche 911SC "whale tail" is being carted off to a swap meet somewhere. Or perhaps it's being carted back from a swap meet....

Ferrari 365GTC/4 Redux

In my previous post, I wrote a bit about a Ferrari 365 GTC/4 that I saw in town earlier in the week. What are the odds that I'd see another one (red as well) driving up my street a few days later?
It's likely that this may be the same car as the earlier one (didn't get license plate info foreither car so there's no way to know for sure) but it's interesting to see two of these 2+2s so soon. I also like to think that it may also speak to the quality of the neighborhood that a car such as this comes to visit....

Ferrari 365 GTC/4 in Century City

While passing through Century City yesterday I saw this Ferrari 365 GTC/4 at a stoplight. While this may be the most unloved of all of the 365 series body styles, I've always been partial to it. This probably stems from an experience in back in the late 1970s where I followed one down the Pasadena Fwy into downtown. I was driving a supertakerish Pontiac Grand Ville and it was inspiring to watch the Ferrari smoothly whoosh through the curves, never needing to brake on what is the oldest freeway in the world, not to mention the curviest. Meanwhile, my efforts to keep the USS Behemoth in my own lane while trying to keep up with the Ferrari were a losing battle to say the least...

A lovely car in all respects except perhaps for repair costs. I've read that this model is even more nightmarishly expensive to maintain than the other 365s, but perhaps that is the price one pays for the extra seats in the back.  Or maybe it's because of the way the transmission is mounted (on the engine, not the axle as is the case in with the GTB/4 Daytona. Only 500 were built in 1971 and 1972, and they remain relatively affordable, as such things go. A very imformative website devoted to the 365 GTC/4 can be found here. The forum makes for some interesting reading.

A Noble Effort - Noble M12 GTO & Ferrari Fiorano 599 GTB

After my post a couple of days ago with the Ferrari Club meet, I happened to run across this pair of rocketships at a valet parking station at PCH and West Channel Road. 

It was fun seeing the Noble M12 GTO and the Ferrari Fiorano 599 GTB together. I've enjoyed the swoopiness of the Ferrari since its release and I've got an acquaintance in the wine world (Gabriel Lam) who has owned a Noble for several years. As can be seen in this photo, the size differential between these two cars is substantial - I seriously doubt that the Fiorano would even fit into my garage. The Ferrari's engine is almost twice the size of the Noble's, resulting in a little less than twice the horsepower (but only a little more torque) than what you get in the smaller car. Still the Noble is faster and more nimble in just about every category but for top speed; so it goes in the world of body weight, as there's about a 1000 pound weight difference between the Ferrari and the Noble.

This blog is not Consumer Reports; if it were the Noble would receive the highest recommendation (at least among the either/or sample of these two cars) because it delivers phenomenal performance numbers a reasonable price; nice condition Noble M12s pop up in Hammings and eBay in the $50K range, but a used 599 GTB will set you back somewhere in the range of $200K to $250K. And that's before you factor in servicing, mileage, and all of the other things that accompany the pride of Ferrari ownership.

However, this is definitely a case of "different courses for different horses". While the M12 is one of the great track day cars, my sense is that it might not offer as enjoyable a ride on a long drive (say, to Oregon or Colorado) as the Fiorano would. The Ferrari 599 GTB is definitely a machine for the grand tour (a "Gran Turismo Berlinetta" to be exact, named in honor of the Ferrari 250GT Berlinetta of the late 1950s) with great performance while the Noble is a trackday car you can drive on a daily basis. Both attract attention, likely from the people whose attention you want to draw. Both cars are admirable for each manufacturer's success in achieving their intended goals with these cars, so either purchase can be rationalized if you feel compelled to justify such a purchase. For my needs, desires, and driving conditions, I'd definitely opt for the Noble. Not that I'm presently faced with such a Solomon-like decision. Sadly, all the rationalization and justification in the world isn't going to put $50 in my bank account (much less $50K). But it's nice to see these cars out on the street...

Ferrari Club Visits Martian Ranch & Vineyard

 
   (Photo by Kathy Higgins)

The Ferrari Club dropped by the Terravant winemaking facility in Buellton, CA last week to taste through the recently released wines of Martian Ranch & Vineyard. Despite the rain, a good time was had by all as they tasted through the new winery's Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Syrah, and brand new 2009 Grenache. Afterwards, they motored off into the drizzle to visit other wineries and enjoy the central coast.

Personally, my favorite car in the lot is the 365 GTB/4 Daytona at the top of the photo. While it's not the last of the 12 cylinder, front engine Ferraris, it could easily be considered the last of the classic itierations of that combination.

Maybe it's just me, but the Martian Ranch truck seem really, really big (and really, really orange) compared to the Daytona? I suppose you can haul a lot more grapes in the back of the pickup than you can in a 456M...

Cars from this past weekend on PCH (and elsewhere)

The weather was nice this past weekend and I saw a number of interesting cars over the course of a couple of days.

The Acura NSX remains one of my all-time favorites. Not difficult to understand why. It's a great design that's aged well, and it starts when you turn it on. Mechanical reliability means a lot to me these days.

From the sublime to the (semi) ridiculous:

Third generation Mustang 5.0, painted sky blue and with some interesting wheel covers. Or maybe they're mags. Or something. It looked okay from a distance, but I've got to admit that it did a better job of waking me up early on a Sunday morning than the cup of coffee I was drinking as we walked by. 

As did this Mercedes 300SL that was moving down Olympic boulevard on Sunday morning with a trail of smoke behind it:
The two Priuii ahead of it are swoopy and aerodynamic and get much better mileage than the gullwing, but the Mercedes' motor sounded a lot better than the silence of the Toyota's hybrid engine and it appeared that the Mercedes-Benz driver was having a lot more fun driving the car than the person who was in the Prius getting from point A to point B. Go figure.

I've begun seeing the occasional Nissan GT-R on the streets. If you look at the numbers (power, speed, electronics) there's no better automobile value in the marketplace, even in the neighborhood of $85K. Here's one that was parked along the Carbon Beach stretch of PCH in Malibu where referring to it as an $85K neighborhood might be considered slander, as it might be construed as an indication that it's sorta middle class. They don't call it "Billionaire's Beach" for nothing... 
And a brand new GT-R from the top of Sepulveda Pass the other day:
The dimensions of this car are offputting and the overall look kind of reminds me of the Tarkus avatar off the Emerson, Lake & Palmer album of the early 1970s (no, I don't know why...it's just that way). The GT-R strikes me as if it might be kind of cold and calculating, but not necessarily soulless like say, the Prius. Can you put this much technology in a car and still leave room for some sort of a personality? I wouldn't necessarily think so, but I'd love to drive one some day and find out.

Finally, just a blurry shot of a couple of Ferraris passing by. Sometimes you just stick the camera up against the window and hope for the best. I think that Ferraris and Porsches are the most oft-seen cars along PCH in Malibu. The Lamborghinis are the most noticeable, but for sheer numbers it's amazing how many Ferraris and Porsches appear seemingly every time the sun comes out around here. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

So, me and Violetta were driving our Ferrari through the Plaza de la República...

...when this guy in a sports jacket leaps in front of the car to stop us and a tres-chic-quita in a red dress asked if we knew El Chueco personally and if we'd 'like our windscreen cleaned so you could get a better view of the massive, towering obelisk, if you catch my drift".

I replied that 1, we not only knew Fangio, but played bridge with him on a weekly basis, 2, proffering "windscreen cleaning" services has accompanying connotations veering on the prurient and could be considered impolite and unbecoming a lady in a red when such solicitation is directed toward a Ferrari-driving, bridge-playing couple parked next to an obelisk in broad daylight and 3, "drifting" won't be invented for at least another twenty years, if you catch my power slide.

The situation was growing uncomfortable to say the least, but fortunately, at that moment another schnook in a sportsjacket walked up and said, "Soy Allen Funt. ¡Sonrisa, you're en cámara indiscreta!" and we all made ha-ha chirrups at each other in the interests of avoiding further embarrassment.

I grew tired of keeping up with the witty repartee and decided the time had arrived to decamp. "¡You're nada pero el poor-man's Bob Saget!"I invected in the general direction of the camera as I stuck the car in gear and laid tracks (amid a plume of 12 cylinders-worth of oily black smoke) down the boulevard on the way to our tango lesson.

Anyhow, about the record...

There's precious little information about Argentina Today by Vlady and his Buenos Aires Orchestra, the real story behind the cover shot, or even Vlady himself. The album is mentioned somewhere in the June 9, 1956 issue of Billboard (I can't find the actual mention, but google says that it's in there) and the album cover indicates that Vlady (no last name given, leading me to believe that he might be considered the Montovani doppelganger of Argentina) was a well respected film and TV music composer and arranger and at one time a pretty fair pianist. Most of the pieces on this album would be considered "light classical", sounding as if there was more than a little Villa-Lobos influence in the arrangements, albeit without a big enough budget for a massive 'cello section. The recording quality is pretty good, in a high fidelity (ie: mono), orchestral sort of way. No bandonéons were hurt in the recording of this album - this was recorded during the pre-Piazzolla era in Argentine music. Given the approximate age of the album, it's likely that it was recorded right about the time of Juan Perón's overthrow in 1955 so it's unlikely that anything would have been recorded in BA that might rock the boat of the junta that had recently come to power.

Given the military's grip on the country at that time, who the heck was able to drive a Ferrari around town anyway? This is just one of those album covers that asks a lot more questions that it answers, including this closeup snagged from the back cover:

Pan American World Airways? What's Pan Am doing providing photos of cars and obelisks and the like for use on album covers, particularly WHEN THERE'S NOT EVEN AN AIRPLANE IN THE PICTURE??? Sheesh, this whole thing is just plain odd. But I like the shot of the car and the music's okay, despite it being kind of uninvolving and safe.

Ferrari 250 GT Boano, Mini Mule, and Jay Leno (sans car)

Just another Sunday morning in Malibu....what appears to be a Ferrari 250 GT Boano just driving along PCH by Pepperdine. I like the low roofline and the way that the lines are flowing without any hard edges. IIRC, there was a little bit of smoke coming from the exhaust, but that's to be expected in this era (late 50s-early 60s) Ferrari.

But the Pacific Coast Highway has some practical purposes, at least as a test drive for BMW's Mini Cooper. Here's a development mule on the road to greater reliability for the entire lineup:

 

And finally, car guy Jay Leno shooting one his man on the street interviews:

 

The first time I ever saw Leno work was back around 1977 when I accompanied Emory Gordy Jr. and other members of John Denver's band when the singer was guest-hosting the Tonight Show. Leno had opened for them for about month's worth of tours and needless to say, the band members knew his routine. They knew it so well, that while he was performing on camera for the show, the entire band (including James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, and IIRC Hal Blaine) was reciting the routine word-for-word along with him in the green room. I admired Jay's consistency as well as the musician's ability to remember every word of his performance. All that I recall of it was that he had something in there about getting finger burns after taking the Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Course. Boffo material in its day I guess....

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, A Remarkable Reception at Santa Lucia Preserve

The main raison d'etre for my trip up to Carmel during Concours weekend was to pour Torbreck at a private party held for the residents and guests of the Santa Lucia Preserve. If I ever find myself needing a second home, this is where I want it to be. It's a twenty minute drive to the ranch house from the front gate, and you need to make sure you don't run over any deer. Probably cherubs and unicorns too, it's so isolated and Eden-like. Although the skies were overcast on the coast, a few miles inland the weather was sunny and warm, perfect conditions for a automobile display and wine tasting.

Why not start out with a Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona? The Citroen SM parked behind it was pretty nicely done too, and its Maserati engine made it an appropriate fit for the parking space.

  Although there were some new Ferraris on display, I'm kinda fond of the 275 GTB styling. Fond enough that I didn't mind the smell of gasoline that permeated the interior. Its aromatics reminded me of the old school wines of Alsace.  

The Daytona was beautifully restored, on a par with the new Ferrari in the background. The Triumph TR-4 was way cool, looking as if it were actually driven on a regular basis.

 

This 1934 Riley MPH racer was one of the few British cars on display, but its sound and look certainly drew a lot of attention as it pulled onto the grass. One of twenty built, it grew more interesting (and less Jaguar or MG-like) the more time one spent exploring it.

What's not to like about a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL? It was accompanied to this event by a brand new Mercedes Benz SLS AMG. I'd be hard-put to decide whether I preferred the old gullwing to the new gullwing, but the Dallas-based owner of these beautiful cars decided not to have to make such a Solomon-like decision and owns both. And a Mercedes-Benz 300SC Cabriolet as well, just in case he can't decide between the two gullwings and opts for no top at all.

Speaking of perfect German engineering (and restoration), these immaculate Porsche 356s were sent over from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. Need I add that they were perfect in every regard, probably quite a bit more well sorted out than they were when they originally left the factory. Nice group of guys accompanying the cars too - it's a treat to run across mechanics and PR people who really seem to enjoy what they're pushing.

And speaking of interesting people, Rob Dickinson was there with a Singer 911 that was one of my favorite cars of the weekend. I know, it's "only" a modification of a restored 911 (enabling the lucky owner to hang onto their black CA plates) but this is an impressively thought-out piece of machinery that I'd consider owning one of these myself (assuming I win the SuperLotto or master my bank robbery technique- they certainly aren't giving these things away). I particularly love the work they've done to the interior.

 

There was also a swell Porsche GT3 RS being shown (photo below), but I'll wrap up the Porsche coverage with another oldie, this 356 that ran in the 2007 La Carrera Panamerica. Looks like a fun car for a fun race. The VW Van in the background would have made for a nice support vehicle for the race, although it might not be able to keep up with the rest of the team. Sure looked good though...

 

This was one of those events that were a lot of fun to work. The crowd loved the Torbreck wines, the food was amazing, and we got to look at a lot of great cars. But the evening wasn't over just yet. After the sun went down the crowd began to thin out and we hit the road. But not before stopping by the other party taking place on the Santa Lucia Preserve property, a welcoming dinner for the members of the American Bugatti Club. But that'll be in the next post....