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The road to Big Sur

Last week I had the opportunity to head to Carmel and Big Sur to work an event that was part of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. I'll be posting more shots over the next couple of days, but here some from the drive up along the 101 and the first day of visits:

Just south of Santa Maria, this Porsche GT-3RS appeared as a fast moving dot in the rearview mirror. He was moving right along around 90-100 mph, a pace either gutsy or foolhardy, given the thoroughness the CHP uses on that stretch of the road.

While in San Luis Obispo, I came up on this beautifully maintained Jaguar XKE:
The driver looked kind of familiar, probably one of my mother's friends.

Around Greenfield I passed the first (of many) transporters I saw that day. I don't know if this was headed to Pebble Beach or not, but this pile of metal looks like it's got lots of potential, given enough time and/or money:

Upon reaching Big Sur, we stopped at the Post Ranch Inn. After seeing some nice cars (Mercedes SLRs, old Alfas, etc) at the Highlands Inn and Nepenthe, the parking lot at the Post Ranch Inn was a nice way to get into the "ho-hum, it's just another Ferrari" mode:
This brought to mind the "Top Gear" episode from a couple of years ago where they debate the merits of the Ferrari F-40 vs. the Ferrari Enzo. Me, I'd be happy with either...FWIW, I'd also be just fine with the Porsche GT-3RS (the same one that passed me earlier that morning) or the Aston Martin. 

The real stunner had pulled in next to us in the lower parking lot. Possibly an early 1950s Ferrari 212:
It was immaculately detailed - I'm not sure I would have been comfortable leaving this in the gravelly parking lot, but maybe the owner has other, more serious cars to drive than this one.

I loved the look of the dashboard:
and the curved backside strikes me as walking a tighrope between awkward and elegant.
After viewing these cars, we reluctantly got back into the SUV we were driving and headed on down the hill to the next stop.

Australian Autos

I just returned from a trip to Australia and while in Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne saw some interesting vehicles.

We were picked up from the airport and taken to breakfast. As fate would have it, this Reflex Silver VW R32 happened to be parked in front of the breakfast place in Balmain. One of 200 of these imported into Australia, this car was (literally) the mirror image of my R32.  

Caught this Nissan Skyline GT-R booming by us in Sydney: 

....as well as this purple car that looks like it might be a heavily modded Skyline, but who could tell? Do pimps drive sportscars? 

Here is a Holden Ute with a body style so cool that it would be a shame to toss tools (or sheep) in the back and scratch the paint. It seems so practical that I wonder why GM doesn't bother bringing it over to the USA. If they can rebadge the Minaro and call it a Pontiac GTO), why not move the steering wheel over to the left side and bring this one back as an El Camino?

This Sydney hearse would be a stylish way to go for one last ride:

A bit of charm from a befinned Wolseley 24/80 spotted in St Kilda outside of Luna Park and the Palais Theatre (apparently the first in line to attend the upcoming Boz Scaggs/Michael McDonald concert):

This Ford Anglia in Melbourne's Fitzroy appears to be a heavily modified E04A and was beautifully done up:

On Sunday, we came across an old Austin Cambridge at a gas (ahem...petrol) station in Nuriootpa. It was in immaculate condition, being driven by an older gent and his wife. He brought her a popsicle of some sort but with the level of restoration (or perhaps maintenance) done to this car, I sure wouldn't have attempted to eat anything inside of it.

 

And what automobile travelogue would be complete without the obligatory weird art vehicle? Not this one....

And if we're going there, how about the required "flashy Italian sports car parked in front of the café" pic? I can only imagine what a Lamborghini costs in Melbourne. The state taxes are extortionate and are added on top of the import duties. A friend in Sydney paid around $90K for an Audi TT last year so the Lambo's got to be somewhere arund the price of a house in Bakersfield. Given the choice, I might opt for the car, but I don't need to be moving to Bakersfield just yet.

Finally, Melbourne has more than its fair share of two-horsepower transportation options:

A Couple of Photos from Vienna

I was in Austria in mid-June and got some shots of a few interesting cars while there:

This Smart Roadster is so much better looking than the rolling boxes on sale now here in the USA. I hadn't seen a fastback version like this before, but I like the look a lot. (Here's another from earlier this year that I rode around in while visiting Australia)

On the other hand, if a boxy Smart car its good enough for Niki Lauda (and Lauda-Motion mods), it should be good enough for me, right?

This Porsche (or replicar) had a low-frequency note in its exhaust that seemed as loud as the sounds made by Blue Whales (although they'd be kind of raspy Blue Whales):

And finally, proof that even the most mundane econo-car can look racy when shot with the wrong camera setting while passing through a tunnel:

So THAT'S why the seat seemed to be moving....

This was on the sign on the seat in front of me on a recent LAN Chile flight to Mendoza: