Down On The Street

Spotted in Rancho Santa Fe during a little Saturday morning road ride was this Italian gem:

It's a 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale in impeccable condition, still sporting Roma license plates:

While the front end and front wheel arches are lovely, my favorite part of this specimen is the fastback rear light and how it effortlessly blends in to the decklid:

Nicely recessed back panel too.

And found on the rear decklid were these badges:

 The simple and clean interior is a speciale place indeed:

Massive wraparound on this windshield.

From what I've read, a nicely restored example such as this are worth about $150k. And for as much as I love the lines of this coupe, I can think of a whole fleet of cars (and bikes) I'd start my collection with before this.

Down On The Street

What I think is a genuine Porsche Speedster.

It's always difficult to tell with these, as they are frequently reproduced on shortened VW Beetle chassis. And why not - they're quite similar under the bathtub body. And with a VW repop, you get most of the experience for a fraction of the cost. And you won't cry as much if somebody dings it up.

This is the part that leads me to believe that it's a real-deal Speedster:

A Karosseriewerk Reutter badge on the front passenger-side fender. They were one of the original Speedster body producers. This company later evolved into automotive seat (and more) supplier Recaro. 

Real or repop, I'd happily place this in the garage.

Down On The Street

Or, rather, down in the strip mall parking lot. What looks to most like a venerable W201 "Baby Benz" is the factory hot rod version, the vaunted 190E 2.3-16.

The 190E 2.3-16s were originally designed for the World Rally circuit, but then Audi's formidable quattro shook things up with unmatchable and all-conquering all wheel drive. Knowing that their new platform would be soundly trounced by their rivals in Ingolstadt, Mercedes re-focused their efforts and decided to go after the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) instead.

BMW's celebrated E30 M3 was created as a direct response to the 2.3-16 and had much altered bodywork covering the acclaimed S14 four pot.  With the M-B, the cosmetic changes from a standard W201 are subtle. Lower body cladding, a trunk lid spoiler and (possibly) a lower ride height separate this from the lower spec 190s. Under the hood, the 2.3 liter engine received a Cosworth-designed 16 valve alloy head, boosting power by 30-49 HP over the standard engine, depending on the market. The US-spec cars had 167 HP/162 lb-ft of torque, which certainly doesn't sound like much, especially considering that our eight year old Subaru wagon produces essentially the same power.

This one is in great shape and nearly perfect to me. I'd just replace the blinged-out chrome-plated alloys with a set sprayed in the correct factory silver. Apparently the owner knows what a special car he/she has by the personalized plate:

I'd love to have one of these in the garage someday, preferably alongside a Porsche-propelled W124 500E of similar vintage.

Down On The Street

Spotted in the village of Rancho Santa Fe this morning (the same place I shot these cars months ago), was this unassuming Porsche 356.

Get a little closer and the details start to emerge. Like fog lamps integrated into the bodywork:

A beautiful Continental Badge:

And a 1500 SUPER-adorned engine lid 'round back:

It's a 1955 356 1500 Super Coupe. Equipped with Porsche's first true racing motor - 1488ccs with an output of 70 HP. This example underwent a meticulous three year restoration and is perfect in every sense of the word.

"beehive" taillamps

The photos do not do the color justice. A subtle sand beige over red. It's also equipped with a sunroof.

Check out the vintage rally stopwatches on the glovebox  lid.

According to the owner, this car participated in rallies from new, which explains the timepieces and axillary lamps. If I could ever manage to afford a 356, I'd want it to look exactly like this one. Well, I might swap the chromed wheels for a set painted silver or body color.

Down On The Street - Hamburg Edition

I spotted this rare Japanese-market "kei" car outside my hotel last week.

It's a diminutive Honda Beat. A mid-engine and rear wheel drive roadster, the Beat only saw a six year production run in the early 90s. This is the first one I've ever seen in the metal.

Powered by a 3 cylinder engine displacing all of 656 ccs. However, with Honda's engine ingenuity, they were able to muster 63HP out of this diminutive mill. Sure, that doesn't sound like much, but it's near the 100 bhp per liter mark that has long been considered an engineering achievement. To put it in perspective, my first car, a Subaru Shitbox Justy wheezed 66 HP out of 1189 ccs. And my Justy had nowhere near the 8100 RPM redline that the Beat has.

This thing is tiny, it's dwarfed by the adjacent Mini Cooper. And just in case you needed a reminder of the model, just look at the rear fill plate.

Two days later I spied a second Beat in the same neighborhood, without the BEAT logo across the rear.

Midship amusement indeed.

Down On The Street - Hamburg Edition

Definitely the car I most want to take home as a souvenir - so far at least. 

Spotted on a side street (side Straße?) of Hamburg this morning was this beautiful 911T.

Looking impeccable in blue, it's just about everything I'd want in an early 911.

2.2 liter decal in the back window, excuse the bird crap in the lower left corner.

Another cool decal, passenger side rear window.

With a plate ending in 1970, I do believe that this 911 is the same age as me. Let's hope she sees another 42 years on the road.

Down On The Street: Busses At The Beach

 Or Splitties See the Sand. A Kombi, two panels and a Samba at Ponto, Memorial Day Weekend:

 vintage third brake light

 nice matching cooler

Down On The Street

Whenever I ride through the north end of Solana Beach, my eyes always take in the cars sitting on the lot of California Import Auto. I've shot a number of cars in front of this shop and featured them here. Including this crusty VW Bus and this Renault R8S. Here's another rear-engined Renault that I captured with pixels on Saturday morning.

Even cooler than the R8S is this Alpine A110, semi-obscured by a wind-blown car cover.

This is only the second of these storied rally machines that I've laid eyes on. The first one I saw in person was last year in Stuttgart.

Tidy tail...

...with great vent scoops:

 Great gauges in an otherwise minimalist interior:

Only the French can pull off three-lug wheels:

 

But my favorite details were the vintage (or at least vintage-style) decals:

 Both would make great t-shirt art. Hint, hint...

 And two cars down was this Doka.

 Look familiar? I posted it back in Feb '11 when I caught it out at Elfin Forest. Pretty sure it's owned by an employee/owner of the shop as it's frequently out front.