Category Archives: cars

getting unreachable?

As you probably realise, my ‘holy grail’ dream car (in ANY price range) is the Alpine-Renault A110 1600s.  This has been the case for approximately the last 5-6 years.  However in that 5-6 years I have watched the selling price of the A110 start to soar from about $40-$50k back then to ranging from $80k to well over $150k for excellent 1600s examples these days.  I’ve been told the market for A110s really soared a couple of years ago when the Japanese started buying them up and taking them back to Japan.  Sure there are cheaper versions like the 1300s which can be had for less, and the 1100s which can be had for even less—-but it is getting harder and harder to find good A110s on sale, and i’m just hoping that by the time i get in the market for one (i hope this DOES happen), that prices haven’t soared to even more rocketing avenues.    The ‘other market’ versions of the A110 such as the mexican-built Dinalpines have also kept the market value down, as many have been unearthed and sold outside of Mexico in recent years—-adding to the total # of A110s in circulation.

My mostly ignorant, non-professional estimate is that the prices have now ‘capped’ for the A110 for the time being.  I don’t think “Alpine-Renault” rings a bell with the collector market the way “Ferrari” or “Maserati” or “Porsche” does, so i really can’t see these moving too much further upmarket.   Here’s hoping they stay in this range, or even start falling a bit when the nostalgic rally fan from the 60s starts giving up their cars.

In a brief search on carandclassic.co.uk, i found these examples:

£78500

£57500

 

this absolutely stunning 1968 1300s is selling for £52500, proof that even the smaller engine variant is building up a following.

 

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foto of the day. A3.

I love the A3 so much that i had to buy one.  But i absolutely love this photo taken in Toronto by an Audizine member (Gryphon001)….

 

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Audi @ Spa.

i’m loving these videos. beautifully made and a nice tribute to their first win there with the R8 LMS.

got these videos from the great Colla Verglas!

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racing livery art.

my friend Bradley over at Automobiliac recently went to the Pebble Beach Concours and Monterey Historic races—-and took some great livery-only photographs.

click on the ‘full gallery’ in his post to see all the pics:

http://www.automobiliac.com/automobiliac/2011/9/1/monterey-historics-in-the-abstract.html

a few of my favourites from his gallery–

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foto of the day. 911R.

rolling through the 1968 Corsica rally in total style, the Porsche 911R.

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foto of the day. Bellett.

One of my favourite vintage japanese cars from one of my favourite vintage japanese brands, the Isuzu Bellett:

photo taken by: Bruce Upton

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foto of the day. RS 2.6.

The 150hp, Ford Capri RS 2.6

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Ford’s freaky visions of the future.

I don’t think it is exclusively Ford who is imagining this “cloud” of information, however they seem to be one of the first to actually make a short video explaining what they mean.  Ford’s new Evos concept (pictured above) is a pretty good looking el-cheapo-Aston-Martin clone, however it’s the conceptual stuff they are really excited about.

My reaction? errr…..i’m not sure what I think.  As someone who has recently updated myself with a ‘technologically updated” automobile—-I do respect and love some of the things that make our life easier; like bluetooth connections, navigation, digital media, etc.

That being said, I *think* I still want to make some decisions myself, which is why the “cloud” confuses me.  Watch the video for yourself, and lemme know what you think.

 

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foto of the day. 911R.

To me, bar none, the greatest 911 in history if the 911R.  No other 911 even comes close.  The “pretender” to the throne is the Carrera RS—-so here’s a beautiful picture with a 911R in the foreground, and a Carrera RS  (edit: I actually think that is an RS-R, not an RS) in the background.

photographer: Willem De Zeeuw

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neu Audi S8.

the best luxury sedan in the world just got quite a bit quicker.

520hp.  4.0L Turbo V8.  0-60 in 4.2 seconds.  Do you know how it feels to be in a car this heavy and do 0-60 in 4.2 seconds?  I still remember riding in an older S55 AMG a few years ago and feeling what a 0-60 time in the 5.5 second range and feeling like I was in hyperspeed orbit around the streets.  4.2s is a big notch faster.  Looks great too, lots of presence.

When I was picking up my A3, I was waiting for some of the paperwork to get prepped—-and found myself dwelling in the showroom A8 they had, just wafting away in one of the most beautiful interiors i’ve ever sat in.  It was like sitting inside of a relaxed lounge, just pass me a scotch and a cigarette and let me instruct the driver where to go.

2012/2013 Audi S8

source: Audi

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foto of the day. RS5.

all types of muscular gorgeousness.

source: Audiphile

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foto of the day. street fulvia.

Don’t see too many of these parallel parked on the street.

Photo was taken by FotoSleuth

 

 

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art of the day. vintage Elite manual.

I respect most Lotus models, but don’t really love them—-except the original Elite! what a car.

This is a vintage Lotus Elite manual.

source: ocmp

btw, here’s another nice vintage Advertisement for the ELITE.

 

 

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joined at the hip/evolution.

Mercedes-Benz 220S Coupe:

Mercedes Benz E-Class Coupe (2011)

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i can daydream….

and hell yeah i want that sequential gearbox.  the sound it makes while downshifting is just EPIC.

source of photo: http://www.autosportfoto.sk/

The driver is Tomas Liedl, driving the Slovakia Ring in a DTM-spec Audi TT-R.   I am guessing this is one of the original DTM TT-Rs that used to race in the DTM Series, having their careers continue…..this is what it looks like now, as opposed to the older Red/Silver Sport livery OR the Yellow Playstation livery.   There was also the blue Red Bull livery back in the day.  This race is from 08/21/2011.

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R8 facelift spotted!

IEDEI’s friends at Fourtitude have spotted a possible first view of the ‘facelifted’ Audi R8, which should launch in 2012 sometime.  More interestingly, they have also discussed that R8s have been testing with 2.5L 5 Cylinder Turbo engines (!!!!!).  Bring it Audi!!!

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hmm…Panamera & 1M

…..and the Panamera is neon-facking-green!!!

photo from 1addicts.com

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ugly of the day. SLK 55 AMG.

what in the world are MB thinking?  This has to be one of THE ugliest profile pictures of a ‘sports car’ i’ve ever seen.  Being someone who has always had a soft spot for the previous generations of the SLK AMG, i’m definitely not holding the new one to those regards…ouch.

 

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VW Up!

I am a huge fan of small euro hatchbacks.  They are fun to drive, practical, and get the job done!  Since the original Beetle and Golf, VW have struggled to come up with a cheap, useable, attractive car that can be used by the masses.  I have to say that my experiences with the euro VW Polo were impressive, and i think the Polo is a great car—–but still not ‘common’ enough to make a global impact.  I am gonna hope that the new Up! gets the job done.  Why?  It is a 3-cylinder rear-engined 4-seat hatchback.  Back to the glory days of VW, innit?  It doesn’t look ‘charming’ like the original Beetle, but times have changed—-i stand corrected—-it is not rear-engined any more!  However this Up! does come with a nice, clean, minimalist design.   It remains to be seen if this car makes it over here.  At a starting price of 8500 Euros, the Up! will surely make an impact IMO.

This is how you make a cool subcompact, Fiat—-not an overpriced, overstyled piece of crap!  I just wish VW would have stuck to the rear-engined format.

source: Autocar

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foto of the day. Osca.

i love all these old Oscas, this is the Osca MT4 Vignale Berlinetta

 

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