Accelerate Mpls

Another month has come and gone which means it is time for yet again another Cars & Café.  Unfortunately this month the Saturday happened to fall on the holiday weekend known as Labor Day.  Most people in Minnesota that have a cabin know Labor Day weekend as a work weekend and I fall into that category.  As I was cleaning up boats, many auto enthusiasts in Minneapolis were gathering for coffee and doughnuts.  Oh and there were cars as well.

The weather was gorgeous (where as last month is was *ahem* crappy) and the cars flowed in.  Luckily for us my friends Ross and Alex Bellus both were in attendance reporting back.

The good is a long list this month.  The Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Super Snake made an appearance again as did the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage.  The Bentley Continental SuperSport made an appearance along with three Porsche GT3 RS’s.  These are all super but the Mazda Miata with a LS3 V8 shoved in it, well that really takes a special place in my heart.  The amount of awesomeness that oozes from that is off the charts.

I’m told little to no head scratching vehicles made an appearance, so I will just have to take the word that there were few.  I did hear about a VW Golf that had digital camouflage (what!?).  Also, the above VW something or another that was chopped and had a small bed welded on on the back made an appearance.  Oh and that VW something or another had full hydraulics in the front which the owner lowered down once parking.  Also a BMW had a very unique sound system in the trunk that payed homage to BMW’s M division.

From the Super Seven to the Yenko Camaro, the cars were all there and the weather cooperated.  Many thank’s to Ross and Alex Bellus for providing the photo’s.  Until next month when the enthusiasts gather again for a cup of coffee and doughnuts, oh and the cars.

Photography- Alex Bellus and Ross

This past weekend marked the 8th annual Wheels of Italy car show.  As the name implies this is a show for everything Italian.  From prancing horses to raging bulls the shows was not a disappointment.  I was not on hand this year (I attended last year) but luckily for us local photographer extraordinaire Alex Bellus was in attendance and took some stunning photography.  Alex mode note that one of the coolest rides that showed in his opinion was the Ferrari 250 California Spider.  Like last year the event was held near Lake Calhoun from 10-4pm and was open to the public.  Word on the street is that even a car or two that made it to Pebble Beach Concours hustled back to Minneapolis to make the show.  While I hope to make it again next year for now grab a cup of coffee and take a gander at the gallery below for Alex has some great shots of some gorgeous automobiles.

Photography- Alex Bellus

While I was up north this weekend (sadly I can not be in two places at once, yet), the 2010 Car Craft Nationals invaded the Minnesota State Fair grounds.  To still bring you some coverage of the event I convinced (took some real arm twisting) photographer extraordinaire Alex Bellus to attend the event and report back.  His pictures are (as expected) breath taking and the event sounded like a complete win.

Some features of the show-

• Burnout Contests
• Car Corral, Fun Zone and Performance Marketplace
• Real Street Eliminator of the year awarded to the vehicle showcasing the best braking, handling and horsepower generating abilities in the nation
• QA1 Autocross
• Lucas Oil Dyno Challenge which was presented by E3 Spark Plugs
• Launch Box – Combination acceleration and braking testing performed in 150 feet
• Miller Electric Main Stage
• Editors and photographers from Car Craft, Chevy High Performance and Hot Rod magazines were all in attendance, including Car Craft’s Editor-In-Chief Douglas Glad
• Miss Car Craft Summer Nationals contest

Of note is the fact that GM Performance Division is a huge sponsor of this event.  This year they brought along the Corvette Centennial Concept among a ton of other performance cars and concepts.  Of course the Corvette Centennial Concept drew much attention to itself and the GM Performance Division booth.

Overall the show was huge.  With over 5,000 muscle cars and 45,000 enthusiasts, it was pretty much one big horsepower party.

Photography – Alex Bellus

One of the downsides of being human is I can not be everywhere at once.  In fact, I can not even be in two places at once.  This past weekend I had a choice, spend time with my family and girlfriend or go to MRSA’s 37th annual Back to the 50′s.  I made (in my opinion) the right choice and spent the weekend with my family and girlfriend at the cabin.  Luckily for us local photographer and all around great guy Alex Bellus did attend the Back to the 50′s show and took some terrific pictures.  Somewhere around 10,000+ cars were in attendance and it was held at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds.  The weather was perfect and tons of car enthusiasts and families alike were on site.  It sounds like usual the show was a success.

At the 2009 show there were-

• 11,510 Registered Cars
• Over 350 Vendors
• Over 250 Swappers
• Over 300 Crafters
• 125,000 Spectators

I can only assume the 2010 show met or exceeded these numbers though final numbers are not in.

All Alex’s pictures can be viewed in his Picasa gallery.