Car Nerd Heaven - MeilenWerk, Stuttgart

Located in a series of re-purposed airplane hangers is Stuttgart's MeilenWerk.
A very cool space that includes facilities for classic and exotic car sellers, auto storage, exotic repair and the V8 Hotel.

Even the parking lot has many interesting vehicles:
Hanger, populated with a different sorts of flying machines:
New Morgans:Ferrari repair shop:
So much for German precision:
Parking facilities for those who can't/won't keep their cars at home.

Renault Alpine

Type 34 Karmann Ghia convertible

dream collection - Citroën DS convertible, BMW Z8, M-B SLS, M-B 190SL,
Aston Martin DB3, race-prepped M-B AMG SLR
for Steve
for Keith (and the farm)

Jaguar E-Type dash, looking upon a Fiat Dino

clean, low km R107 - 6 cyl + manual transmission. yes please...

DKW truck

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
Riley
Riley rear

a diminutive Lotus Eleven, with the adjacent Fiat 500 towering over

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't fit inside this tight cockpit

And the car I'd most like to take home as a souvenir...
...this 1954 Lancia Aurelia B20/GT2500. Moretti hardtop:

fuel filler capsteering column drilled for lightness

it can be yours - only €128,000

A special thanks to Alex for showing me this place.

Down On The Street - Hamburg Edition

Frugal Frenchies found on the street in Hamburg's St. George area.

First up, a Renault R4 - the first one of these frogs that I have seen in the flesh.
According to the Wikipedia entry, the R4 (or Quattrelle) was Renault's answer to the Citroën 2CV - a basic, efficient front-drive family car.
Exposed hinges? Slider windows? Crude styling? Absent of virtually all creature comforts? All of these "attributes" can be found in the R4. Even the idea of interior door panels may have been too deluxe of a feature for the R4:
Still, it might be fun to bomb around a European city in. Or better yet, on some unimproved French farm roads.
Parked less than a kilometer from the R4, a Citroën 2CV was poking out from a parking spot (next to a neat Euro-market Civic hatch).
Although far from perfect, it was in much nicer shape than the last 2CV that I spotted in the Oceanside harbor parking lot.
I'm guessing by the more-finished grille treatment that this 2CV is probably decades newer than the yellow beast in Oceanside.

Given my choice between the Renault and Citröen, there's no question that I'd take the latter home with me.

Down On The Street

I happened upon a goddess while driving around the wild streets of Carlsbad this afternoon.

shot with the "finger partially obscuring the lens" app

One of my all-time favorite cars, as well as one of the cars that I will own before I'm dead, this Citroën DS is a "Safari" version. Station wagon to us 'Muricans.
I'm generally a fan of the wagon variant of just about any car, but in this case, I prefer the classic sedan's more-graceful appearance. For reference, see this post from January 2010. However, the sedan doesn't have this cool integrated roof rack:
While far from perfect, with dried-out weather stripping and evidence of a budget respray, it's a true "ten footer" car. Still it's in far better condition than the last two Citroëns I've spotted in Taipei and Oceanside. It'd make a fun addition to my fleet, especially for beach runs with a couple of longboards strapped to the roof. And who doesn't love a car with covered headlamps, complete with a swiveling feature.
The seats offer legendary comfort. I've heard tales of owners reading books while sitting in their garaged DSes as the thrones are the most supportive seats in the house.
If the owner is out there, and willing to part with the DS Safari for a song, your cash awaits...

fin

Down On The Street - Taipei Edition

As a dyed-in-the-wool car geek, I love checking out some of the local rides. Run-of-the-mill cars that blend into the surroundings by locals can be fascinating to me, like this Citroën C15 spotted in Taipei.
Similar in size and function to the VW Caddy (known to Americans as the Rabbit Pickup), this Gallic soldier now seemingly serves as a storage shed for a local shop. Looks as if it hasn't moved in quite some time.
Still, I'd take it off their hands if there was even the most remote chance that I could register it in California.

Down on the Street - Oceanside Harbor Edition

Riding with my buddy Graham the other week, we came across this little frog sitting in the parking lot at the Oceanside harbor.
Why it's a Citroën 2CV (aka "deux chevaux"). France's post-war economy car. It makes a VW Type 1 Beetle seem like a luxury car in comparison. Check out some of the details:

Bolt-on lighting:
3-lug wheels (appropriately wrapped with dry-rotted Michelins):
Fold-down windows:

also note the metal frame seats with rudimentary padding

Riveted-on roof panel:
A two spoke wheel that looks like it was taken off a tractor:

that's still one more spoke than you'll find on a DS steering wheel

It appears that this little Franco import has spend considerable years in the salty air. Just check out what remains of the circa-1963 front plate:
The tinworm has been chewing away at the fenders too:
Hey, it's for sale!
Not that I have any desire to own this, unless the owner is realistic about it's value (I'd pay $200, tops, for this little rustbucket deathtrap). I greatly prefer the DS, one of my all-time favorite cars.

But it's still interesting to see it out in the wild.

Fin