electric relaxation

Ride: Old Ass F— Land Rover
Where: Berkeley

A friend’s roommate drives this crazy ass ride. He says it runs great. I say it’s great that it runs at all.

Ride: Bentley Coupe
Where: I-280 S near Portola

… Bentley Coupin’, switchin lanes. Another midday marvel on 280. This one hopped on at Alpine Valley/Portola, hot on the heels of the Aston Martin.

Ride: Aston Martin DB9
Where: I-280 S near Sand Hill

280 and Sand Hill, weekdays after 11 AM. That’s when the nice cars come out to play. Makes sense, what better way to kill a Thursday than driving down to the Stanford Golf Course in your Aston Martin.

Update:
Maybe this really isn’t that weird, but the funhouse warping in the second image really trips me out.

Ride: Chevrolet Chevelle SS (’72?)
Where: Oakland, smokin’

Fareed’s neighbor has been stealth pimping this thing – he pulled it out of the garage about a month ago and woke up the block when he started the engine. I wish I got a picture of the interior – not only is it beautifully restored, but he’s rocking a 3-speed slam shifter, handlebar grip and all.

Ride: Model T
Where: Treat and Precita St., San Francisco

Rob’s next door neighbor had this thing parked in their driveway. I was sure it wasn’t street legal, but Rob pointed out that it actually has a license plate. nevertheless, he says he’s never seen it actually move anywhere other than in and out of the garage.

Ride: A Datsun 2000 (I think)
Where: Also at Z Car Garage

Another pretty sweet ride at the Z Car Garage. Based on a visual inspection and comparison with this compilation of Datsun roadsters, I figure it was a Datsun 2000, but maybe it’s a 1600?

Ride: Skyline GT-R
Where: Z Car Garage, San Jose

Yep, it’s real. A JDM Skyline. Hopefully you can make out the right-side steering wheel in the third image. I wonder how weird it is to drive a wrong-sided car around.

Ride: Porsche GT
Where: The Sofitel at Redwood Shores

There was NOTHING dirty about this ride. I actually spotted this thing when I was staying at the Sofitel for Nolan’s wedding back in March. Moreover, it was the second second time I’d seen one in the Bay Area. This one presumably belonged to the hotel owner since it was parked in a private spot at the front of the lot.

Jai and I spotted the other one on 280; I later found out that some bigwig at Nvidia has one so it was probably him who smiled and then burned us: this car takes off at 85 MPH faster than mine can leave the line.

Ride: BMW M1
Where: Northbound Foothill at Page Mill in Palo Alto

Amdur and I were on our way home when this ridiculous contraption pulled up at the stop light. You may or may not be aware of this, but I have a wildly irrational predilection for dated exotic cars. Anyway, this definitely set my new bar for car spotting in the Peninsula.

Update: More bitchin pics of the M1

Ride: Honda Element
Where: Bay Bridge Eastbound

I’ve been trying to convince Amdur to get a Honda Element for a while. One of the chief objections people have with this car is that it’s ugly. But as evidenced below, clearly that’s a solveable problem…

The blades are nice, but especially noteable is the debadging; truly a clutch move.