Concorso Italiano 2011

Concorso Italiano, which was begun in the early 1990s, has become one of the top events in the Pebble Beach weekend. Compared to the rarified air at the Quail and Pebble Beach Concours D'elegance, the Concorso feels a lot more inclusive and down to Earth.  Its physical location is a lot closer to Laguna Seca than Carmel, and this is fitting as the event seems to straddle the line between the hardcore gearheads and the straw hat and blazer types. It feels more like a typical regional car show where owners sit by their cars (most actually drive their cars in rather than trailering them!) and chat and have a good time. Unlike a regional show, however, the scale of the Concorso is huge, and the array of machinery on display is a vast survey of mostly postwar Italian vehicles. And true to the inclusive spirit of the show, they even added a category for non-Italian cars!  We had a great time at the Concorso, which has the cars well organized by marque and model. It's really cool, for example, to see a perfectly aligned row of Maserati Boras or DeTomaso Panteras. These are cars that you'd be lucky to see once in a blue moon on the street, yet at the Concorso, you get to see a whole family reunion.  It's just fantastic. In addition to the more common Italian cars, there is all sorts of wonderful, obscure stuff in attendance. Have you ever seen an Intermeccanica, for example?? How about an Iso Lele? I certainly saw a few cars I had absolutely never laid eyes on before, so the show was very educational. Click HERE for the 2 page Mega Gallery!

Classy and Glassy: Transparent Tailgates of the 70s

I really love some of the 70s cars that have transparent tailgates. Sure they aren't safe, and sure they are vulnerable to even a minor parking mishap.  But boy are they cool!   It's interesting to note that this concept has recently returned to vogue somewhat with hybrid vehicles, going back to the first generation Honda Insight.

Lamborghini Laptop sets new low in taste... Please make it stop.

I often wonder if 15 year old boys are running the licensing divisions at Ferrari and Lamborghini these days.  I have long averted my eyes in disgust at the various supercar-branded laptops, mice, and hard drives that have proliferated over the past 5 or so years. But this new Lamborghini laptop puts me over the edge. This cash-grabbing monkey business masquerading as "branding" really needs to stop. Now. Please.  This new product line crosses the line between fanboy obsession and downright kitsch. I'd put it in the same category as a couch made from the tailfins of a '59 cadillac. Just vulgar.

Lamborghini's latest sculptural masterpiece

Now I'm not one for "engine porn" as they call it, but the new powerplant for the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 looks like a fantastical weapon to be carried by a Gundam. It's just beautiful and hyper-futuristic. The same words apply to the car itself which, though stylistically extrovert as only a Lamborghini can be, is so well proportioned and full of refined details it really blows me away.  I know many people might consider the new Aventador vulgar, but I think it's probably the most avant-garde thing happening right now in car design and it makes Ferrari's FF look positively declasse in comparison. Sure it could be a little simpler and more restrained, but I kind of love the fractured surfacing that gives the car such energy. It's like the took all the good things from the outlandish Sesto Elemento show car and applied them with a more production-oriented sensibility.  Bravo Lamborghini! Bel Lavoro!

Bertone Pirana - British Cat in an Italian Suit

In researching the history of the Lamborghini Espada, I was surprised to discover that it was not based solely upon the famously outlandish Marzal concept car, which was built on a stretched Miura chassis for the 1967 Geneva Motor Show. In fact, there was another less famous Bertone show car built for the 1967 Earl's Court Motor Show in London, which even more closely presages the Espada.  It was constructed by Bertone directly over a Jaguar E-type 4.2 Liter 2+2 chassis provided willingly(!) by Jaguar.  I think most observers would agree that Marcello Gandini's design doesn't hold a candle to Malcom Sayer's iconic feline curves, but the result is an fascinating historical footnote that is worth remembering, and puts the Espada into context. Does anyone know where this one-of-a-kind car ended up? I was unable to find any modern photos of the Pirana online.

By the way, don't you love the lightweight Dunlop alloy wheels?