Zagato’s, Spyder’s, Daytona’s, a Classic Alfa, one Porsche 911R Tribute and some 911 friends…

Posted on February 24, 2013 by digitaldtour

Saturday morning turned out to be one of those mornings destined for celebrating the classics. Scattered throughout the parking lot were a number of vintage, automotive treasures awaiting discovery by an unsuspecting visitor. In fact, we even had the first classic of the morning roll up and park right next to where we were standing, and stop just behind my friend Dave’s Porsche 930 turbo. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 , also known as the Daytona coupe was produced from 1968 through 1973 in limited quantities (only 1284 Coupes were built). The Fly Yellow, Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona coupe (as seen below), equipped with pop up headlights, establishes its vintage as falling within the three-year period from 1971 thru 1973.

Ferrari introduced their pop up headlight detail on the 365 GTB/4 beginning with the 1971 model year, due to their previous design (headlights set behind a fixed glass lens, utilized from 1968 -1970) becoming illegal due to new safety regulations established within the United States for 1971.

A glimpse of 365 GTB/4’s 12 cylinder, 352 HP motor up front…

The Fly Yellow Ferrari and its opened hood reflected in Dave’s Porsche 930 turbo’s polished intercooler (above), and the parked 1984 930 turbo and Ferrari Daytona Coupe (below).

On this morning, Dave decided to shadow me as I explored and collected my weekly photos. Our first stop would be over at the featured lot, but on the way we came across one of the events hidden gems. And in this case, a truly rare find; a 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2600 race car (below).

One of the very unique aspects of this car; its supercharged, dual DOHC straight 8 motor, displacing 2.6 liters. This supercharged configured motor powered this race car back in the day, while being campaigned under the Scuderia Ferrari banner (thus the Ferrari badging displayed on the sides of the cowl).

So after checking out the Alfa Romeo, we continued our trek towards the featured lot, where we encountered a pair of classics parked side by side. First up was the charcoal gray and red striped, 1955 Zagato Fiat 8V “double bubble” coupe.

The Zagato bodied, Fiat 8V (which in Italian translates to “Otto Vu”), was created as a two-liter, V8 powered sports car, for the sole purpose of competing against Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari,who already had two liter race cars. Fiat needed to produce 200 examples of the 8V model in order to qualify for homologation, but unfortunately were faced with insufficient demand for their 8V. As a result, Fiat offered up chassis for these cars to the coach builders of the day. Due to their participation in a joint venture, Zagato ended up purchasing a total of 32 chassis. And of those 32 examples, four were delivered from Fiat with partial bodywork already installed. These four cars received further modifications by Zagato, creating what came to be known as the aluminum “double bubble” roof, including further modifications to the vehicles windows to integrate all of the elements together.

Fiat officially ended production of their 8V model in 1954, having begun building 8V’s in 1952, culminating in a total of 114 vehicles being produced. However, it took an additional two years to complete production on all of the remaining vehicles. But it was during 1955 that the 8V really made its mark. As raced by Elio Zagato (the Coach Builders son), he and the 8V became the winners of the 1955 Italian two-liter championship, and continued their winning ways together through 1959. (The 1955 Zagato 8V, Double Bubble Coupe shown here is chassis # 084).

Parked immediately to the left of the Zagato, was the 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, painted in a brilliant blue, and complete with a hard tonneau cover (below)…

And yes, it’s the real deal; an honest, factory built Porsche 550 Spyder race car…

Heading back towards Porsche Row, I noticed an early white 911 with a single orange racing stripe and gathering a crowd, so off we went to check out the car.

As I walked around the car, I could hear the owner discussing some of the features found on his car. I learned that the car had been built using the 1967 Porsche 911R as a template, and that the owner actually fabricated the fiberglass front fenders, hood and rear decklid himself, maintaining the original visual aesthetic, as well as the lightweight performance theme of the original 911R.

The custom fabricated, 911R inspired, lightweight fiberglass rear deck lid with the underside left raw and unpainted, revealing the true nature of the substrate (above).

A glimpse of the high output, Weber carburetted boxer flat six residing out back, and according to the owner, a motor delivering approximately 300 HP; well in excess of the original 1991 cc, 210+HP produced by the original 911R back in 1967.

A collection of early 911’s on Porsche Row (above and below)…

A pair of Porsche 911S models reflecting on the morning…

Nick’s beautifully prepared silver European spec, 1970’s vintage 911S…

and its beautifully detailed and potent, 2.7 Carrera RS spec motor.

And parked over on the opposite side of the parking lot, was one of Porsches more recent classics; the 2011 911 GT3 RS in gray with red accents, graphics and wheels…

So regardless of your preferences for the Classics, rest assured that on any given Saturday morning, you too can come face to face with the rare and previously unseen examples of your favorite classic…

(All photos by the author)

Truspeed’s Timex inspired Porsche GT3 Cup car: “It took a licking and kept on ticking”…

Posted on February 10, 2013 by digitaldtour

For anyone who was part of the overflow crowd that descended upon Cars&Coffee/Irvine on Saturday morning February 2, most likely the first vehicle you viewed was a yellow and black Porsche GT3 Cup car positioned at the end of the entry driveway, courtesy of the Orange County, CA based Motorsports shop TruSpeed (www.truspeedmotorcars.com).

As I pulled into the driveway and approached the TruSpeed car, even under low light conditions, I could see what appeared to be battle scars acquired from competition. I then recalled seeing a shot of a similar car from the previous weekends race coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona, on the Speed Channel. So after parking and grabbing a quick bite, I was off to check out the Porsche race car.

As I approached, I recognized several friends from TruSpeed’s staff: Terry Brewer from their Sales Department, and Dennis Aase. one of Southern California’s premier Porsche race car drivers, and currently Truspeed’s Racing Manager. ( I first met Dennis back in 1972, while purchasing parts for my 1966 Porsche 911, from his company ( Aase Brothers Dismantlers), that specialized in used Porsche parts. I also would run into Dennis throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s at the IMSA series races when they came to the west coast. Dennis campaigned a 2.5 liter Porsche 911 in IMSA’s GTU class ( which can be seen below): his Porsche 911 on pit lane, taken during practice and qualifying for the 1980 Los Angeles Times 6 – hour enduro held at Riverside Raceway.

Now back to the TruSpeed race car…Clearly this GT3 Cup Car had been through a battle, so my first question to Terry was to ask about this car. He verified that it was in fact the Porsche GT3 Cup car that just competed at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and that even with the extensive damage sustained, their car had finished the race in 29th place overall, and 19th in the GT class. While I was shooting the car and talking with Terry, Dennis walked over and joined in on the conversation.

The vantage point and office for each of the team’s four drivers, during their respective stints, shared over the duration of the 24 hour enduro (above).

Truspeed yellow & black # 80, Porsche GT3 Cup car_3/4 rear view w/missing taillight and heavy collision damage_Cars&Coffee/Irvine_February 2, 2013

Having observed the damage sustained to the entire car (front, sides and rear), I had to ask Dennis about the visible carnage. Dennis proceeded to tell me about the frustrations that the team had experienced and endured (the loss of one wheel at speed, as well as being hit multiple times by their fellow competitors, with one of the last impacts sustained to the rear, causing enough damage to crack one of the rear motor mounts and even bend the red, rear engine support cross-bar (as seen below).

While Dennis was sharing more details regarding their race weekend, one of the TruSpeed crew members present was briefing a future race driver (seated behind the wheel), on the details and features found within the cockpit of a current Porsche GT3 Cup car (above).

TruSpeed had even prepared a printed summary sheet, outlining the efforts required and milestones they achieved while competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona race, which was displayed on the windshield (above).

Damaged nose with front splitter bandaged using racers tape (above).

An example of the cars front wheel, complete with racing centerlock hub, Brembro brake caliper, race wheel and tire (below).

Dennis and I both agreed that even with the excessive amount of damage that had been inflicted on this GT3, it was an amazing testament to Porsches build quality, that the car was able to continue turning laps at racing speed and successfully finish the race. And just like the 1960’s commercial tagline for Timex watches: the TruSpeed Porsche GT3 Cup car “took a licking and kept on ticking”…

(All photos by the author)

Heart of the Sunrise, part 2…

Posted on February 1, 2013 by digitaldtour

For those of you brave enough to venture out into the pre-dawn, cold and crystal clear winter mornings to participate in the weekly event known as Cars&Coffee, your reward is twofold; not only are you assured of finding a great parking space, but you will be treated to an amazing light show, courtesy of the rising sun. And what better object to capture the heart of the sunrise, than the contours and sheet metal found on your favorite make of car.

Obviously for me, Porsches illuminated by nothing more than the dawning light were an experience and photographic opportunity that I could not pass up. And it didn’t hurt to have a pair of willing subjects…

Nothing like coming face to face with a real factory built, right hand drive, fully restored 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, backed by a 1991 Porsche 964 Turbo…

Moving over to Porsche row, I encountered a first time visitor to Cars&Coffee; a brand new, black 2013 Type 991 Porsche 911 Carrera, as seen below…

complete with discreet Martini graphics and black Ruf 5 spoke alloy wheels…

With the sun continuing to rise, I made my way over to the featured lot, which on this particular morning was home to one very rare, Ferrari 275 GTB/4…

According to my research, the Ferrari 275 GTB/4 was built from 1966-1968, with only 280 examples of the 275 GTB/4 (4 cam V 12 model) created.

Up front and positioned low within the chassis, resting beneath the front hood, was the Colombo, 4 cam 12 cylinder motor, complete with its six, dual choke Weber carburetors.

After shooting the Ferrari, it was time to explore, and look for my next photographic subject. Passing by Porsche row, I noticed that tucked in next to a silver 1957 Porsche 356 4 cam Carrera, was another German treasure, but not a Porsche. Instead, it was a pristine, beautifully restored blue 1965 Volkswagen Type 3 Notchback, as seen below.

In keeping with the Porsche theme, at least the Notchback rolled on a set of Porsche 5 spoke Fuchs alloy wheels; up front, on what appeared to be a set of the increasingly rare and hard to find, 4.5 X 15’s, and on the rear, a set of the wider 6 X 15’s.

Once again, Audi was well represented, with a bevy of R8’s scattered throughout the parking lot, each acting as a canvas, displaying some incredible early morning hood art…

As I completed another lap of the parking lot in search of additional photographic subjects, returning to my starting point on Porsche row, I came across two non-Porsches flanking the red Speedster as seen below. Parked to its right was a green Chevrolet Chevelle muscle car, and to the left, a Fly yellow Ferrari F430 Scuderia.

A quick once over of the Ferrari revealed an abundance of carbon fiber pieces as well as what appeared to be a custom exhaust system. (This assumption was confirmed when the owner returned, fired up the car and drove away; definitely not a stock sounding F430 exhaust).

Even the side mirrors had received the Carbon fiber treatment as seen below…

So should you feel motivated to get up early on a Saturday morning to attend Cars&Coffee, you too will be greeted by some spectacular cars and views similar to the one above. Let’s just hope for a dry, rain free weekend…

(All photos by the author)

digitaldtour

A photographic journey through the Southern California car culture

Monthly Archives: February 2013

Zagato’s, Spyder’s, Daytona’s, a Classic Alfa, one Porsche 911R Tribute and some 911 friends…

Truspeed’s Timex inspired Porsche GT3 Cup car: “It took a licking and kept on ticking”…

Heart of the Sunrise, part 2…