Heritage Classics of Hollywood

For someone who loves cars, driving along Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood or Beverly Hills can be an amazing experience. At first your head is snapping left and right to get a better view of the latest exotic you just cough in your peripheral vision, Lord knows we can spot them better than any change a woman can do to her hair. Saturation comes with time however and dime-a-dozen Aston Martins no longer impress, and frankly neither does anything with less than sixteen cylinders. That is how I felt by end of day two of my trip, until I saw the brightly lit Heritage Classics dealership and nearly plowed my Suzuki rental into the G550 in front of me. … Continue Reading

Roadside America Miniature Village

Are you looking for a way to spend a day with your family that is different? Maybe you are looking to relive your childhood travels with your parents and grandparents. For this let me introduce Roadside America in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania.

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Roadside America is collection of images taken out of everyday life of rural United States as seen by one man. Those images were then recreated by him in a series of highly detailed miniature scenes.

Where in Lies Your Touge?

Touge (v.) – Japanese term referring to an advanced state of driving within a mountain setting. Its main purpose is that of a hill climb or descent.

Kinkou (n.) – Japanese word meaning natural balance, as adherent to our entire way of life.

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Finding Automotive Treasures

Life is strange in many ways. When it comes to desires, be it true love or the perfect cup of coffee, they are seldom found down the street from our homes. It gets worse when it comes to cars as the element of price adds further frustration. A quick EBay search will result in the ’73 Carrera RS you’ve been lusting for and all you need to buy it is to sells everything you own.

Finding desirable classic automotive memorabilia is never easy. EBay is great for parts, even rare ones such as speaker grills for my ’88 M5. Craigslist gives you all the local clunkers you may want, but what if you don’t know what you’re looking for? Where do you shop for the stuff you don’t know you need?

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Elvis’ Cars

Pop culture would have you believe that The King drove only in big pink Cadillacs. After a recent visit to Graceland I was pleasantly surprised that this could not be further from truth. It turns out that Elvis was quite the carguy and his wealth allowed him to purchase some exotic and rare machinery.

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BABE Rally Volvo, the Prequel!

Remember the Volvo 245 from the BABE Rally spotted by a friend of mine some time ago? Through the miracle of internet I was able to connect with the previous owner of the car, the rally participant himself. Turns out the car has a very colorful story, albeit with a bland ending.  Sean was nice enough to write me a book of an email about the car and their adventures with it during the BABE Rally. Sean has also provided a ton of pictures not only from the rally but also from the preparations and their drive back to New York.

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The sad part is that Sean actually really liked the Swedish wagon but has reluctantly, and regrettably, decided to sell it. The new owner, who is a semi-internet-famous-carguy, decided to use it in an online video show. Having seen part of the video, I found it trying to mimic one of the TopGear races but failed miserably. The show was neither entertaining nor funny.

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Expedition to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert

My whole family likes to travel. Both of my parents have been all over the world. My wife and I met in China (no, neither one of us is Chinese) and since then we have traveled together to India, Costa Rica, and all over Europe. When I was 13 and my brother 3, our parents packed up our ’84 Buick Regal sedan and drove cross-country for a period of almost four weeks. When I was 20 I spent five weeks in Southern Africa riding around in a Land Rover 110 TD5 ( I need to find and scan the pictures from that trip). In the summer of 2009 my mother, her husband and my sister-in-law along with a group of thirteen other people spend four weeks in southern Russia and Mongolia, and here is a bit of car-related photo-journalism from this trip. … Continue Reading

Quick Look at the Monticello Motor Club

The recent Jaguar event I attended was held at the Monticello Motor Club, which a new private race facility located in Monticello, New York.  It is a lot more than just a track, one can think of it  a country club for car lovers. The idea behind MMC is combine a race track with the luxuries and amenities of an exclusive club.

Laid out over 175 acres, the focus of MMC is the 4.1 mile track which can be divided into three sections allowing for 12 configurations. The track has over a mile and a half of straights, 22 turns, and substantial elevation changes. Extras include two pit facilities and a skip pad area. Safety is addressed with generous run-off room and almost F1-like fencing and barriers. The track was not designed for spectator racing per se, but rather for more private gentlemen races (think Ferrari Challenge), along with the usual schools and various driving events, including winter events.

In addition to just the use of the track, membership perks include track-side car storage  in climate-controlled garages with general maintenance services, instructors, and a car rental programs which will feature not only the latest and greatest in exotics but also open wheel and vintage racers. Once completed, the Club House will offer a restaurant, day spa and a number of other similar amenities. … Continue Reading

Cars of Paris

French cars; some say they’re ugly, some say they’re beautiful, all agree that they’re unreliable. However, there is something about them that makes you want to look. These pictures were taken in March of 2007, my wife’s and mine last trip before the birth of our daughter. Selected for your viewing pleasure are not only pictures of cars in Paris, but also the environment in which they’re in. … Continue Reading

Cars (and other vehicles) of Cuba

Do you think your ’02 Chevy Tahoe with 170k miles is at the end of its life? Try driving a ’55 Suburban that you inherited from you father. This is a gallery of car pictures from Cuba, where the only way to have a car is to keep the one you have running. Here are 70 images of what you could be driving if you were born in Cuba. … Continue Reading

Spotted: Unimog

I’ve spotted this awesome looking Unimog in Boston’s Government Center after the recent MBTA trolley accident. I might as well add the Unimog to my favorite vehicle list. … Continue Reading