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?
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An early 70s green Porsche 911T targa.
But one that took my breath away when I first drove it? My 79 BMW 528i. That thing was a rocket.
My in-seat experience is pretty limited compared to most here, but I can’t stop grinning like a fool everytime I turn over the engine in my 2006 Dodge Magnum R/T.
Yesterday at the gas station I saw a silver Lamborghini Gallardo coming out of the touchless car wash. Honestly, I was underwhelmed and couldn’t stop thoughts of “kit car” from boarding my train of thought.
The last cars to really excite me was the Buggati Veyron.
If you’re asking about cars I can actually afford, I currently have a Chrysler 300 and a Benz S550.
the S63 AMG took my breath away.
I have never understood how anybody could find the dumpy, humpbacked, Beetle-esque shape of the 911 (any of them) attractive, but apparently I’m in the minority
Lately this cute little 1959 Fiat Abarth 750 GT Zagato – fantastically restored.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/2718084581/in/set-72157606456991248/
I still like the 911. Not as much as I did as a kid but to me it is alike a fast, fast Beetle. I mean I still can feel the Beetle in it. LOVE the sounds still. Still would like to own one. One of the 50 cars I’d stock my dream garage with.
Not really blown away by anything automotive these days – not at least anything that a person can still buy in a dealer show room. Lots of nice vehicles though.
Maybe the lack of blown away is b/c I have reconciled how the price of the vehicle is generally higher than the real value of the car is to me.
Still being “blown away” by appreciating assets like a nice house (not big, just well done).
Recent favorites: 1947 Flxible Clipper, The Chuck Foose “Impression” street rod (from certain angles), The Rosenthal Roadster, the Russian Volga V12 custom, The Eleanor Mustang, etc.
The Saab 9-3 Turbo I had, first when I bought it and again when it needed a new transmission at 52,000 miles.
Delage D8-120 coupe. Wow.
Well, I’ve just happen to have a a fully restored Jaguar Series I E-Type, so I can have my breath taken away merely by opening the garage door…. and sure enough it happens every time. It only gets better when I sit behind the wheel and fire up that lovely XK engine. I’m always available to provide test drives if you have something equally interesting to offer!
Other than that, the last car that blew me away was a 1938 SS100 that I had the privilege to ride in last month. The very first pre-war car I’ve ever been in. Amazing.
–chuck
Bentley Arnage T. I saw one recently, fairly new black on black, and I loved it. The checkered stitched seats, the wooden dash with a preposterous number of gauges, and HUGE. Made a nice noise, too.
I was recently wandering around the old section of Quebec City (on holidays), and spotted a light blue Maserati GranTurismo parked at the side of one of the narrow little roads. Beautiful car.
But then, later that night, I saw it again, roaring up the relatively steep hills. As far as I can tell, the owner was driving around the area aimlessly just to show off the sound of that V8… and I can’t thank him enough.
Black Maserati Gran Turismo S that roared by me on the highway. I almost had a wreck. Those cars are gorgeous.
The last time? The new Dodge Challenger, when I saw the prototype (which, really…is very close to the srt8 production) at the State Fair of Texas last year. I think I probably stood there, unmoving, for…I don’t know. 5 minutes?
When my dad finally finished his restore of his 1967 Jaguar E-type convertible.(I think that makes it a “series 1.5″…but I could be mistaken) Those cars are pretty awesome to look at. That was just a couple years back.
I’ll second the Dodge Magnum R/T comments above. I don’t have one, but they are very very cool.
First time I rode in a 1977 Lancia Scorpion. Crazy little cars. Crazy!
My best bud has a Guards red 1971 Porsche 911T.
I get to drive it once in a while however with only 64,000 miles on it you know it is strictly a nice weekend tour car. I remeber the first time he took me for a ride in it, and I realized why they have leather seats in those cars. (Easier to clean up the mess). It isn’t about the speed although it certainly was quick, it is about beiong glued to the road. I just can’t imagine what the new mega horse power ones must be like. But still a couple of times a years, he pulls the cover off and throws me the keys and I take it for a ride and the memories of the first terrifying ride with my buddy driving around hair pin turns on the Niagara escarpment west of Toronto all come rushing back.
Ferrari 275 GTB-4. Restored to immaculate, 100-point condition.
That car was the source of the engine sounds in the famous “rendezvous.”
Montreal is great for car spotting. Everything becomes commonplace.
Spine tingling noise? Aston Martin V8 Vantage tearing up Sherbrooke at full throttle. I’ve fired guns that were quieter.
Jaw dropping “won’t see one of these again” moment? Too many to list. Pretty much half the stock on the track at Tremblant’s Summit of Legends. Most owned by Lawrence Stroll, including an ex-BMW McLaren F1 GTR-LM. Or maybe that blood red Maserati 250F. No, the Villeneuve 162C with the bodywork stripped off. Or maybe Andretti’s JPS Lotus. Wait, then there was the 275 GTB roaring around the track at full tilt. Aagh, my head is spinning.
2002 Subaru WRX w/ a 5 speed. I was in my first year of college at the time, and dad just had to have it after he set foot in it. (my parents were at the time cross-shopping an outback and a forester). It was one of those “lets drive it just to say we tried it” and ended up taking it home. I loved that car.. such a hoot on sanded western Kansas roads in the summer.
The last time I can remember getting freaked out over a car was way back in 1986 when my buddy and I were standing on Canal St in Manhattan and out of the Holland tunnel comes this white Lambo Contach w/o wing! Hey we were kids thn so we ran and followed it to next stop light, so for a good minute we had the chance to gwak and listen to the rumble. Oh the sound when the driver pulled off! In white the Contach looked like a spaceship will all types of scoops and vents all over it. This was the first time seeing one in the flesh and that first impression I had was “damn it is small”. I clearly remember how cramped the driver and passanger looked inside the car.
Went to the Harbor House Cafe for brunch yesterday (http://www.beachcalifornia.com/harbor-house-cafe-sunset.html). Afterwards took the t-tops off the 91 300zx and cruised over to Newport beach. Saw a brand new SRT8 Challenger, grabber orange, a sick black convertible LP640 which really took my breath away, and an amazing green Porsche GT3 all within 3 blocks of eachother. Whoa! That was just yesterday.
‘48 Chrysler Town & Country convertible, at a car show. Woodwork that would make a millionaires’ yacht jealous.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom.
So brutally honest in its intentions. So much in your face. So much a brick on wheels. So intimidating and scary looking. So much overkill. And presence unheard of since the “grosser Mercedes” 600 of the 60’s. I want one. I need one. I could kill for one…
If we limit this to cars that I’ve seen in person: I was in a parking garage and came across a Noble M400. I didn’t know what it was at the time. I thought, “wow, that is pretty tight for a kit.” Then I got closer and saw the brakes and the interior, and I realized it wasn’t a kit, but rather an awesome gray market import.
BMW Z4/M Coupe (not roadster) the surfaces were (are) amazing. BMW is now going for a melted thing instead of a chiseled thing so i think the next one wont take my breath anywhere.
Story for those who mentioned the new Challenger. I was driving with my wife when a very nice, new orange Challenger went by. I said, “Hey there’s the new Challenger.” She said, “Oh. I thought it was the old Challenger.”
Ha i thought it was to drive, not to look at.
You want me to be completely honest? The Audi A5/S5. I’ve started seeing WAY too many of these things around Chicago, but I tell ya, I still crank my head each time I see one. Far more than any 911, Benz, BMW or even the Aston V8 Vantage (probably the one right before the Audi I drool over). Ferrari’s and Lambos are way too over the top.
Otherwise, I’m always a sucker for the classic Jag E-Type or the FD Mazda RX-7. As far as classic cars? The 63 and 64 Lincoln Continentals. Sedan or convertible. In black. When these things are well restored, I don’t know if there’s a cooler, classier looking car on the road. Just sensational.
The thought of a plum crazy Dodge Challenger takes my breath away.
Black tape-stripes, a manual available on the base model, and the $23k sticker push that right on into ecstasy.
Unfortunately, this should happen far more often than it does. But when returning from a long road trip this summer I came upon a new ZR1 that must have been a manufacturer car. Pretty amazing to think that he could have doubled his speed (and then some) in a matter of seconds.
Instead he followed me for the next hour or so. Maybe he thought I provided some cover, but if I was a cop and had to choose between pulling a new ZR1 and a late model Lexus GS 400…
A well cared for first-third series Jag XJ 6 gets me drooling. So does any pre-65 Detroit iron. This summer, I saw a completely restored 33 Tatra that was breath taking in its re-work and history. It was the car that Porsche ripped off to build the VW. The aircooled pancake 4 engine looks like it came from a 50s bug.
Never saw it in person, but the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione had that effect. Anybody who has ever believed that a car cannot be a form of art needs to take a look at that beauty.
Went to a Japanese classic car show a few months back and there was this first generation Celica liftback that the owner fixed up and went through the trouble of sourcing the Japanese market bumpers and lights. Insanely beautiful. Discovering that Toyota used to make cars as cool as that Celica was like finding out your corporate accountant dad was a party-animal frat boy in college.
I am with the others in appreciation of the E-Types – absolutely beautiful machines.
But, the last car that took my breath away is a toss-up between the Audi R8 and the Wiesmann Roadster MF3 – serious drool factor, both…
I saw an orange Challenger SRT-8 on the way home from work a few weeks ago, and it really looked good. It was the first, and so far the only, Challenger I’ve seen on the street. As good as it looks in photos, it was stunning in person.
I was a bit ahead of it in the next lane over at the light, and when it turned green, I dawdled as long as I could to have it catch up to me (until the person behind me honked his horn).
An Alfa Romeo Guilietta Sprint.
Saw one for the first time in the flesh back in the early ’80s and couldn’t find a bad line on the car. I would still really like to own one of these cars, but the prices are quickly outpacing my wallet.
Michael Karesh :
Is the GS400 your personal car? I had a ‘99 GS400 for a while. What do you think of it?
Aston Martin Vantage
Saturday night I attended the Morgan Adams Concours d’Elegance here in Denver. There were so many cars (and airplanes) that took my breath away, I couldn’t even keep track. At the end of the evening after the lights came up, I finally noticed a 1920 Bugatti 16 valve. For such a piece to blend in with the crowd says something about the caliber of the collection of fine cars on display.
I hate to be boring, but mine is predictable:
Nissan GT-R
Only because it is so much more impressive and intimidating in the flesh. It looks taut and compact despite it’s actual size and it is understated in a Lennox-Lewis-in-a-fine-suit kind of way. A quick glance doesn’t betray too much, but a second look says in no uncertain terms that just below the surface is a ludicrously powerful yet intelligent machine that is perfectly capable of taking your head off if it so desires.
If I may have a second choice:
Audi R8
Again one that impresses in person. The precision and balance of the curves makes me say, “Porsche 9-what?”
Of course, others will disagree…
I saw a gold Gullwing in Tokyo.
I felt like I was looking at a young Marilyn Monroe.
A real, genuine ‘66 427 Cobra. Know who the owner is (have a mutual friend), saw him out in it several weekends ago. Knowing how rarely he takes it out (and how rare it is to even see a real Cobra, especially where I live), I was shocked to him coming off the interstate exit as I was passing by. Could tell it was a real Cobra, even before I recognized the driver – you can just tell a real one from a fake. As I passed I glanced in the rearview mirror, saw him merging onto to the street heading in the same direction. Quickly lowered my window to grab the whole thunderous aural onslaught as he blew by me moderately on the throttle going up through the gears. Made my heart race and made my whole weekend!
I’m hot for the Aztek. And another Prius.
Hahahaha, no just kidding! I saw a red Ferrari with the clear rear engine cover the other day. Parked at a cheap rib joint.
Don’t know what model it was, but I would have liked to have seen if I still can drive a stick without stalling it…
Sadly it wasn’t Enzo at Steve Harris Ferrari (SLC) a few years ago. The quattroporte was much more interesting to me.
Saw a V8 Vantage (in Boise of all places) recently. Loved that car…beautiful in white on a very gray day. Seemed appropriate as that is the typical British weather!
The last car that really took my breath away was a black Maseratti Gran Tourismo turning onto my street as I walked by. It actually made me ache, I was so totally overcome with desire for it.
Toyota 2000GT.
I’m a sucker for anything slathered in rich Corinthian leather. Damn, those ancient Greeks knew what to do with a cow.
While at a friends house in the late 1970’s, an Aston Martin Vantage V8 used to drive by quite often. Just stopped and stared — and listened to the beautiful sound of the DOHC V8 — with Weber carbs. Gosh, those Weber carbs made a beautiful sound.
vantage1
vantage2
The other car was a Ferrari Daytona. A neighbor across the street had a friend with one.
Red Ferrari Testarossa. Looked like it was 8 feet wide and 2 feet high. Before that, Porsche 928, Maserati Quattoporte and Ghibli, Lamborghini Miura, Mercedes 300SL convertible, Ford GT40, Jaguar XKE convertible.
honestly? the G35 coupe still does it for me, i saw one on my run today and just slowed up and took it in
i guess she is more hot then beautiful but i would still take her home to mom
smart roadster-coupe (the hatchback) Brabus version. I liked it once I knew it existed, and I liked it even more once I saw it in person.
Stupid import regulations…
Just tell me how the ‘09 WRX is! Forget all this other stuff.
1953 Cadillac Eldorado in original Artisan Ochre (pastel yellow) in the basement of the Peterson Automotive Museum when I was interviewing for a job there.
I once rented a vehicle that took my breath away…but it did so in a manner reminiscent of Bhopal, India (ca. 1984). Simply replace “Union Carbide” with “2003 Daewoo Leganza” and perhaps you began to smell what I drove. Of any vehicle I’ve ever seen in person, this was the only one that gave me both chest pains and gastric discomfort. The cursing, the heartburn, the borderline sharts…it’s the sort of “karma” you won’t find on a Carfax vehicle report. Alas, I was stuck in this vehicle thanks to some punk in a podunk airport; for five days I sported a hoodie & sunglasses, fearing others would spontaneously laugh at my factory hoopty ride. The interior plastic (notice it’s in the singular), the rectally abusing driver’s seat, panel gaps an infant’s head could get caught in…it was a totally fubar car. Alas, even when I tried to abuse it in the name of “slalom testing,” all I managed to do was hit a star-struck nutria (who must have thought I was a BBW rodent). Anyway, this vehicle…the Leganza…still takes my breath away whenever I think of it. Idiot car…