Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

Another month, another gathering of man and machine.  Of course I speak of Cars & Café, out at the AutoMotorPlex in Chanhassen.  This month promised, as usual, to be eventful.  I woke up a little early (4:40 am), as I did poor planning.  I had not washed the 300ZX (note to self: next month wash the 300ZX before the morning of Cars & Café). So, I washed the 300ZX and popped off the T-Tops.

As I was cruising out West to meet up with my buddy in his S2000, I saw black sky in front of me – then lightning  – and then I saw a car come over the hill with windshield wipers on (this was not going well).  I hit the gas and made it to his garage with the 300ZX still clean and dry.  We ended up taking his daily driver and leaving the 300ZX and his S2000 there, as it started pouring down rain right after I pulled into the garage.

Upon arriving, it was clear the rain, which was at this point a nice steady rain coming down, had affecte turn out.  Nooooooooo I cried to the car gods.  Luckily some of the cooler rides still managed to show up.  As I was admiring a nice Ford F150 Lightning, I heard something loud pulling into the complex.

I turn to see a true hard core car guy (you would have to be) driving a Cobra in (remember no top) through the rain.  Two Dodge GLH Turbos sat next to each other, both in ridiculously good condition.  I also counted not one but two Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbos (I drooled a little).  Quite a few Acura NSX’s showed up, along with a Lexus IS-F.

Two BMW’s caught my eyes this month.  One was a early 90′s 540i manual white on black with only 28k on the odometer.  The kicker?  It is for sale and they are asking only $25k!

Someone buy that car or buy me that car!  There was also a mid 80′s M6 in fantastic condition that caught my eye., along with an early 2000′s black Audi S8 that is a regular at Cars & Café.  I just love that car!

So good story,  I am walking by the club house and hear tires squealing like a burn out.  I look around and am quite confused.  Suddenly I realize that the sound is coming from behind this building in the VIP section.  I go running through the crowd, and as I turn the corner I almost fall over.

This Lamborghini Miura owner clearly had put the car in reverse instead of first gear (as best I can tell from the situation).  The car had gone backwards off the cement and onto the pebbles directly below.  Part of  the car definitely was resting on the cement.  The tires were squealing and these two guys were pushing the back of the Miura trying to get it back onto the cement.  Finally after a few minutes they accomplished this task, but not before you could smell the clutch and tires.  It was quite a scene.

Also filed in the – ahem – interesting category, was the Toyota Camry Solara parked in the American muscle section.  Hey at least it was on dubs!  Sitting next to that was a Chrysler 300C.  Not just any Chrysler 300C, but one riding on 24′s – and wait – it gets better.

The person had welded extensions (eyebrows?) onto the leading edge of the hood.  You can still see where the person welded and sanded them.  They were not painted yet (I am assuming they are going to paint them….at least I hope so).  Let’s not forget the white Toyota Yaris hatch with lime green wheels.

Jensen

On the list of awesome cars I would include the RUF 911, Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, and a Jensen that showed up.  The red GMC Typhoon that was for sale earlier this year was on hand, along with two Ford GT’s (they are Cars and Cafe regulars).  A new Lotus Evora made the trip, along with a Ford Mustang Shelby Super Snake.

One of the cleaner Oldsmobile 442′s I’ve seen was on site as well.  Obviously I have already mentioned the two Dodge GLH Turbo’s but I want to just mentioned them again in this section of awesome.  Last but not least was the regular BMW 200ti. It is a work in progress, but hot all the same.

One cool thing was this garage that had a Corvette Z06 in it.  Ok that car was nice but you know those bag chairs you take to soccer games and such?  Well they had one of those. and then they had a ginormous one that was literally super sized.  To get a idea of just how big it was they let me sit in it and I got a picture!

Overall the rain really put a damper on the attendance, or at least it felt that way.  With most of the people clearing out before 10 AM, it had to be one of the shortest Cars & Cafés I have attended yet.  Thankfully, the doughnut holes provided by Imola Motorsports stayed dry in the clubhouse.

Yes they were tasty,and yes I ate some.  Just for the record, doughnut holes always seems to taste better when they are delivered in a BMW M5.  I can not prove that, but that seems to be my experience.  Here’s hoping for a dry Cars & Café next month!

Spy Shot of the 2011 NSX

Many car people knew that Acura was planning on resurrecting the NSX for 2011.  That was the plan until the drop in both the economy and the auto industry.  The car was well into development with what seemed to be a production ready (almost) body and interior.  Spy shots showed a front engine long hood short deck stance.  Rumors were a revised version of SH-AWD was going to send the power to all four wheels.  We also heard that the vehicle would be powered by a 5.5 liter V10 putting out 500-550 hp while using iVTEC.  Reliable sources said an aggressive cylinder deactivation mode would help obtain decent fuel economy.  This was supposed to be a super car to put a halo around Acura.  Similar in concept to the recently debuted Lexus LFA.  In fact, the new NSX would have been competition for the LFA.  No pricing was ever announced or leaked but I would assume the price tag would have been under that of the LFA’s $375,000 price.

Spy Shot of the 2011 NSX at the Nurburgring

I for one always like both the first and second generation NSX’s.  It brought something new to the table.  Showing super car manufactures and buyers, that you can have a high performance car that is still reliable.  This was somewhat of a revolutionary concept.  The mid-mount V6 was also unique.  This was not the fastest car.  Nor was it the most expensive car.  It was a unique car from a company that was out to prove themselves.

Spy Shot of the 2011 NSX at the Nurburgring

As I mentioned earlier the NSX replacement was in the final stages of preparation for an unveiling.  Sources say the dream is dead and the NSX replacement will not be coming.  While I completely believe this I wish it were not true.  Competition in the marketplace is a good thing.  While I have a feeling the 2011 NSX would be vastly different (front engine and all wheel drive vs mid-engine and rear wheel drive), the reliability attribute would still probably be there.

Below is a video recorded of the 2011 NSX prototype in in final testing stages driving around the Nurburgring.

2010 Honda NSX replacement at the Nürburgring Nordschleife from MrBTG on Vimeo.

Last Generation NSX

The first weekend of the month has come and gone and that means Cars & Café.  An opportunity for car guys to come, drool and gawk at each others toys.  The weather was unseasonably warm for November, reaching a high of 57 degrees.  The sun was shining, the people were smiling, and all was well with the world.  Per the name Cars & Café, the cars where there as was the coffee and doughnuts.

Spyker C8 Spyder

Spyker Logo

This month was much nicer weather then October which meant the crowd was about double and the amount of cars were too.  Many notable appearance were made such as the gorgeous Spyker C8 Spyder all the way to the normal Honda S2000.  EuroCars even brought out a ultra rare Noble M400 they currently have for sale.  Kevin Tan, owner of Imola Motorsports, brought out his Acura NSX which is tastefully modified.  Not one, but two, Buick Grand National’s were in attendance. One had aftermarket wheels while the other was quite stock.  Both were gorgeous sights to see in person.  Also notable was the old school Porsche that was absolutely gorgeous.  I will note, my buddy who has the Honda S2000 that we brought to October’s Cars & Café, and our 300ZX, were both sadly already put into storage due to the early cold snap we had.  We both decided to error on the safe side and we were sad we did.

Noble M400

Buick Grand National

This month the club house was open to stroll through.  Spacious and luxurious, the clubhouse is a very nice  place  to hang out while grabbing a cup of coffee and a doughnut.  Auto Motorplex is currently nearing completion on another new building that was framed up in October.  They were also obviously prepping to develop more land for more buildings towards the edge of the property.  Until next April 3, 2010 (but who’s counting) when Cars & Café starts another season, we will all unfortunately just have to get out our trickle chargers and car covers, while we go into storage for the winter.