Question of the Day: What's the Last Car That Took Your Breath Away?
If you like cars, it’s happened to you. There you are, minding your own business when suddenly a car rolls up and you start gasping. You’re suddenly 8-years-old and screaming, “DADDY! FERRARI!” Now, living in Los Angeles like I do, this happens to me fairly frequently. I mean, make an errant left hand turn and you’re next to a fully restored Jaguar Series I E-Type. In fact my girl and I were cruising through Malibu in the 1981 Corvette when at a single red light there was a burgundy E-type, a BMW 850 and a Dodge Viper. Though, the E-type was orders of magnitude more breathtaking. But, this is by no means a Southern California occurrence. I remember years ago walking out of a meeting in Montreal and there was a glossy red Ferrari 360 parked on the street. It was stunning. Just… I couldn’t believe the curves. Then, on the way to dinner I came across an orange 1975 (or so) Lamborghini Countach. Probably an LP400 .You know, the OG design before the wings and strakes made it into a Miami coke dealer stereotype. It was just perfect, especially sitting on the cobblestones of Côte Saint-Luc. The other day I was driving through Beverly Hills (don’t ask) and facing me, trying to make a left turn, was a white Maserati GranTurismo. It was as if time slowed down and there were mutli-colored refrigerators zooming all around this piece of fine art. But, the last car to totally disarm me attacked this very morning. I was exchanging a 2009 WRX for my 2006 WRX and there was a 1970 Porsche 911S. Completely stock. Black with a black interior. I even got to open the door and smell the leather. Magnificent. And check this out — the 911S used to belong to none other than Freeman Thomas. And he went over it with a very fine toothed comb. You?
Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.
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I saw one of those brand new A5s on the road holy macaroni - pictures don't do it justice to seeing that thing in motion. And I hate Audis but this thing was just gorgeous.
While I have to agree with the several writers who mentioned the beautiful E-Jag, a car that always makes my worn old heart beat faster, one of the world's greatest "crumpet catchers", as an old "Car & Driver" article put it, there are two vehicles I recall from back in the Sixties that seriously impressed me just with their two totally different visual impacts alone.One was one of the first 427 Cobras sitting on the showroom in one of the few Ford dealers in the Dallas area authorized to distribute them. I believe this was '65 or '66. It was silver with a black interior. I remember it looked so brutal with a 'take no prisoners" look, that while other super cars or high-priced exotics may look sleeker, have a higher top end, etc., the Cobra would not only beat 'em up but take their lunch money. I now know that if Darth Vader ever drove a car,it would be a 427 Cobra, in black, of course. The other car that emotionally hit me between the eyes....and I'm actually a lot suprised at this since this is not a type of car I've ever been attracted to, perferring small sports cars and hot coupes....was a '65 Cadillac Eldorado convertible seen under night-time street lights in downtown Dallas. It was a sea foam green with white leather with the top down and, apparently, brand new since the white interior was spotless. It just seemed to glow with its own internal aura and with its huge length and a "King of the Interstate" appearance, looked like you could cruise coast-to-coast across America while lesser vehicles moved out of its way and you were enclosed in a bubble of serenity and graceful class such that peasants along side the road would tug their forelocks when you slid smoothly and majesticall past. The closest I've ever been able to come to either the visual impact and size of the Caddy or the power and fearsomeness of the Cobra is...sigh...my current SE-R specV.