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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....

BMW Mules/Biggest Loser Marathon

Sometimes you just want to go to the hardware store but then events conspire against you to make it just a little more difficult than it should be. Take Monday, for instance....lots of traffic on PCH, people driving slowly in the fast lane to get a better glimpse of the water. Can't blame 'em, but I was in a hurry. It was just past Sycamore Cove where I spotted the BMW mule convoy:

These cars are out regularly, testing new innards for BMW. The bodies are taped-over (or maybe taped together at this stage) but it's the telemetry inside that matters.

There's usually 3-6 cars driving along at any given time. I suspect they drive a regular route to better get information on how a particular car's system holds up over time. It's all kind of mysterious but necessary. I would think that testing cars in this area is a little easier than say, working Death Valley, but maybe it's a fun job.

At the end of the above stretch of road, things came to a halt. They were filming a marathon for "The Biggest Loser" TV show and it was ending at Sycamore Canyon. The crew shadowing the contestants was sizable and mainly driving Priuses (Priui?)

Note the Highway Patrol presence, both in cars and on motorcycles - there were lots more where these came from...  Here's a shot of another runner with Mugu Rock in the background. In general, it's not a car commercial unless it's got Mugu Rock in it somewhere (at least not a California car commercial).

All in all, a slight delay in my travels is a small price to pay to live so close to such glamour. Right. I just hope that filming TV shows, movies, educational film strips, whatever brings enough money into the area (and to the State of California) that it justifies the hassle and irritation it cause the locals. At least the CHP officers are probably making some overtime money...