Category: All Cars (Page 14 of 14)

Let’s face it: This isn’t the most sensible time to be spending discretionary funds on an expanding collection of toys.

Or is it?

Just about any market tracker will show that, as a rule, cars that has appreciated considerably within the last two to five years has plummeted to only modest gains. Case in point: Ferrari F40, Cobras, Corvettes; not to mention nearly every muscle car that’s rolled across the blocks or webpages of an auction house. Now pundits may say that it’s a reflection of our tough economy and that these types of frivolities are being sold at well below their value to cope—and often survive—these conditions. Bull. It’s more of a reality check against those cars which have exceeded what the market could bear. In other words, prices were inflated well beyond what those cars should have been worth and current economic conditions are forcing a correction, much like stocks.

That being said, the old rule of strong cars bring strong money does and always will apply. The most recent Bonham’s Gstaad Christmas Sale is case in point. This might appear to create a chasm between cars that are falling back to earth and cars that are sailing out of reach. True enough, but that doesn’t mean investment opportunities have fallen into that void. Far from it. There are some excellent cars that continue to appreciate and have enormous growth potential. Better yet, they do so without jeopardizing your nest egg. At under $25,000, they are safe buys that can be liquidated if necessary with no loss or even some gain. Here then are ten hot collector cars for a cool economy:

1974-1980 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4
I’m ready to admit it now: The day has finally come for the 308 GT4. This was a car whose early promise was slighted due largely in part to the success of its sibling that came shortly after, the Pininfarina-designed 308 GTB/GTS. Nevertheless, it always had the makings of an excellent collector car:
1.) It remains the only Ferrari penned by Bertone (some would say there’s a reason it’s the only one); 2.) It represents some groundbreaking for Ferrari (albeit safely under the Dino brand for its first two years): It’s the first mid-engine V8 that would in ensuing years become Ferrari’s bread and butter; 3.) It shares the underpinnings with the GTB but adds two (sorta) seats; and 4.) It is, ultimately, a Ferrari and with it, the owner becomes part of the subculture. Sure, there are still a handful of Ferrari purists who will turn their noses at any Ferrari with four seats and no V12 to boot. But therein lies part of the GT4’s appeal: They are much more approachable and so too are most of their owners. They are meant to be driven. Forza Magazine called the GT4 the best driving of the 308 series. Many, in fact, were driven into the ground and without question—more than any other Ferrari—weathered, neglected and decayed 308 GT4s are routinely on the market in the low teens or even under $10K. These are classic cases of the most expensive Ferrari is a cheap Ferrari and should be avoided. Restoration and repair costs can well exceed their value. There are however well cared for examples that have seen relatively low miles (under 50K) with proper maintainance for $20-25K that require only minor detail work, if any. Prices have bottomed out and current asking price indeces track the 308 GT4 at about 5% growth. That number will surely rise through the natural course of time combined with stablized economic conditions.

Sometime next summer, Lamborghini Miura #1 will be reborn.

In 1977, Cypriot Lamborghini importer Marios Kritikos was visiting Sant’Agata,and spotted the 1965 Turin Salon Lamborghini Miura chassis, designed by chassis genius Gian Paolo Dallara.

Kritikos apparently fell in love with it, and in April of ‘78, showed up with his Range Rover and a trailer, and hauled it back to Cyprus. The original invoice for the chassis survives, along with unpublished period photographs of the chassis under construction in 1965; on display at the December 1965 Turin Salon; at the Lamborghini factory in July 1966; and being picked up by Kritikos on April 7, 1978.

Recently, negotiations involving Los Angeles-area Miura specialists Joe Sackey and Gary Bobileff came to fruition, and earlier this month, the chassis arrived at Gary’s shop.

We can’t think of a better place for it: I saw the ‘71 Miura Jota prototype he restored at Russo & Steele this summer, and thought the $2 million top bid (rejected) was reasonable for a car of that quality, as it was literally a flawless restoration.

More details on the restoration and next summer’s debut are promised soon; we’ll keep our ears on, and see if Koch can get the restoration story for Sports & Exotic Car.

Source: Hemmings

A study co-authored by a Florida State University researcher has confirmed through a complex statistical analysis that many people see human facial features in the front end of automobiles and ascribe various personality traits to cars — a modern experience driven by our prehistoric psyches. Researchers, product designers and, of course, filmmakers have long toyed with the idea that cars have faces, but this study is the first to investigate the phenomenon systematically.

“The study confirmed with some rigor what many people have already felt — that cars seem to have consistent personality traits associated with them, and that this is similar to the way people perceive facial expressions,” said Dennis Slice, an associate professor in Florida State’s Department of Scientific Computing. “The most unique aspect of the study was that we were able to quantitatively link the perception of cars to aspects of their physical structure in a way that allows us to generate a car that would project, say, aggression, anger or masculinity or the opposite traits.”

As a guest professor at the University of Vienna, Slice collaborated with doctoral student Sonja Windhager, the study’s lead author, and several colleagues to explore the link between perception and the geometry of a car front and its parts. The researchers asked 40 people to view high-resolution, 3-D computer reconstructions and printed images of 38 actual 2004-06 car models, representing 26 manufacturers from Ford to Mercedes.

One-third (32.5 percent) of those participating in the experiment associated a human or an animal face with at least 90 percent of the cars. Generally, the headlights were marked as eyes; the nose tended to be the grill or emblem; the additional air intake slots, the mouth. Each participant in the experiment also was asked to rate each model on 19 traits, including dominance, maturity, gender and friendliness, and if they liked the car.
“In our study, people generally agreed in their ratings,” Slice said, noting that 96 percent agreed on whether a car was dominant or submissive. “Thus, there must be some kind of consistent message that is being perceived in car fronts.”

For example, cars scoring high in the so-called power traits had horizontally elongated hoods, pronounced lower car bodies relative to the windshields and more angular headlights that seemed to suggest a frown. Conversely, cars on the other end of the power scale—that is, those perceived as childlike, submissive, female and friendly—had headlights with their upper edge relatively close to the midline and had an upward shift of the car’s lateral-most points. (“In this way, the car gives us a big smile,” Slice said.)

In a finding that suggests perhaps there is a hidden road warrior in all of us, study participants liked power vehicles best—the most mature, masculine, arrogant and angry-looking ones. Although people do not necessarily buy the kind of car they say they like, Slice said the finding spurs some interesting questions for future studies about pedestrian and driver behavior. For example, do people extend the perception of the car to the person behind the wheel? And does that affect how drivers interact with other cars on the road?

In addition, the study provides a check into the rearview mirror of our prehistoric psyches, Slice said. The researchers theorized that, through biological evolution, our brains have been designed to infer a great deal of information about another person — age, sex, attitudes, personality traits and emotions — from just a glance at their face. The ability to “read” faces in order to identify people, detect possible kin relationships and assess potential danger has been so important to human development that people have adapted a hypersensitivity to detecting facial features even if they are presented in rather abstract ways. As a result, we are tempted to see faces everywhere, even in clouds, stones and, yes, cars.

“The fact that we can so easily see faces in inanimate objects may tell us something about the evolutionary environment in which this capacity arose,” Slice said. “Seeing too many faces, even in mountains or toast, has little or no penalty, but missing or misinterpreting the face of a predator or attacker could be fatal.”

Journal reference:
Windhager S, Slice DE, Schaefer K, Oberzaucher E, Thorstensen T, Grammer K. Face to face: The Perception of Automotive Designs. Human Nature, December 2008 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-008-9047-z
Adapted from materials provided by Florida State University.

Florida State University (2008, December 1). Life Is A Highway: Study Confirms Cars Have Personality. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/11/081125161542.htm

The Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 made its debut at the Paris Auto Show in 1972 and was immediately met with the skepticism that remains with it and its successors, the 400 and 412, to this day. In many—but not all—cases, skepticism can mean opportunity. That, I believe, is the case with the 365 GT4 2+2. The numbers tell the story: 4.4 litre v12 putting out 320 bhp; 525 produced. If the figures are at all familiar, it is because the motor is the same as the legendary 365 GTB/4 (Daytona), albeit slightly detuned (less 30 bhp). While it is 300 kg heavier, it does have room for a couple toddlers and a sack of groceries. Its limited numbers, however (estimated half to a third of the Daytona’s total production) make this a no-brainer.

True, its successor, the Ferrari 400, was recently named #18 on the BBC’s Crap Car list, but this should not deter the 365 GT4 2+2 from ascending as a true collectible. Here’s why: 1.) The 365 GT4 2+2 shares the 365 moniker with the Daytona and is often categorized as its close relative; 2.) The 400/412 series are predominantly driven by a GM automatic transmission, which is geared so poorly it discouraged spirited driving. I think much—if not all—of the “crap” label can be attributed to this. The 365 GT4 2+2, on the other hand, is a proper 5-speed, carbureted car that behaves like a Ferrari; 3.) The 400 and 412, for whatever reason, fell prey to a lot of aftermarket customization (including chopping the top to make a convertible, replacing the TRX/wheel package to a 308/328 setup, etc.). The 365 GT4 2+2 seems to have garnered a little more respect, perhaps because of the 365 name, and remain largely original; 4.) While 1500 kg is not svelte by any definition, the emissions-stifled 400 blimped to 1700 kg while its output was substantially less (the 412i regained horsepower, but at an expense of an additional 100 kg). Again, the numbers tell the story.

Perhaps the most significant number is that of price. Well-documented, quality examples are fetching $35K-$40K (USD), while decent project cars can be seen in the low $20Ks. If it’s true that this is what many refer to as a four-seat Daytona, then the 365 GT4 2+2 is surely one of the collector world’s most remarkable values at roughly 10% of its more exotic cousin’s asking prices (we’re talking Coupés here; not even going to touch the million-dollar Spiders). If we use that as an index, it’s quite foreseeable that the 365 GT4 2+2 will climb to $50K within two years. Hold for 10 and who knows, it could be a quater-million dollar car.

Time to hand out the awards for the Best at this year’s SEMA show:

BEST EXHIBIT: WTW Corp. (Giovanna and Gianélle Wheels)
These guys captured the spirit of customization without going over the top. The lineup of cars was impressive to begin with and they dressed them up to a level that gets attention, but does so with impeccable taste. A random Hulk Hogan appearance neither supported nor detracted from their order of business.

BEST GADGET: Palmer Performance DashCommand
By now you’ve probably realized that your iPhone isn’t that great at being a phone. Don’t put it on Craigslist quite yet, because every day there are more applications that may just make it an indispensable tool. The latest is the DashCommand. It’s an iPhone app that diagnoses your engine and also works as a virtual dashboard, dynamometer, skidpad and race-track timer. It works from the iPhone’s touch screen and can be customized to match you—and your car’s—style.

BEST TOOL: Z Corporation 3D Color Printer
This thing is fascinating and a little spooky at the same time. It’s brilliant, but you kinda get the sense that in the hands of say the mad scientist from Scooby Doo cartoons, it could be used for unimaginably diabolical purposes. Here’s an overly simplified synopsis of how it works: The system is comprised of a scanner that will scan any object in 3D. The file that’s created is sent to a “printer,” which lays down resin a few millimeters per pass to build an exact model of the scanned object. Meanwhile it’s also reproducing the color(s) through inkjet surface printing. In a matter a few hours (it builds at about 1 inch per hour), you have an exact replica of the object you scanned. Here’s the cool-yet-freaky part: the replica comes out of the machine complete with any movable parts that were on your original. It does seem like something the Nazis were working on, but in fact was developed by a team at MIT and brought to market by Z Corporation. At $60K a pop, I’m not seeing this under anyone’s tree this year, but it’s also a fairly small price to pay for making knock-offs a matter of punching a few buttons. It’s foreseeable that down the road, this may come down to a size and pricepoint (as other scanners that did “amazing” things years ago have) such that it will end up under the tree and provide hours of fun copying Matchbox cars. We shall see…

MOST INNOVATIVE: Ronn Motor Company Scorpion
What I really wanted was a photo with Barry Meguiar. I sort of got that only because I was standing next to his stage while looking at the Scorpion from Austin-based Ronn Motor Company (RMC). I have seen the future. Or at least a stepping stone to the future. At first glance, it’s easy to pass this off as another Calloway-like, rebodied C5/C6 Corvette that’s been tweaked here and there and thrown back out in the world as another pretty face (albeit in my opinion, the face is perhaps the least pretty thing about it). The Scorpion at SEMA looked especially demure under the canopy in sort of a 70s Ferrari brown (I’m sure it looks much better in the sun). But believe me, there’s nothing demure, or Corvette for that matter, about it: 450 bhp, 2100 lbs., limited production, twin turbos, carbon fibre monocoque—everything you would expect from a supercar in 2008.

Make that everything you would expect in 2012, but available in 2008 (they are officially in pre-production but have plans to build 200 examples on order). What makes this a breath of fresh air is precisely that: fresh air. The Scorpion achieves all this performance while using RMC’s H2GO Hydrogen On-Demand system that actually produces hydrogen through electrolysis of water as it rolls down the road. The 130-octane hydrogen is then injected, as a gas, into the intake mix of gasoline and air in ratios of 30 to 40 percent. This improves fuel economy to as much as 40 MPG (did I mention this is a 450 horsepower car?), while dramatically reducing carbon emissions.

So, if I’m Ronn Maxwell, know what I would do? Go knock on Honda-san’s door and tell him I have the next NSX ready to go (you see, the Scorpion is powered by the 3.5 Litre DOHC VTEC motor from the Acura TL Type S, but with twin turbos and refrigerated intercoolers). This puts the Scorpion into production, drops the current $150,000 price to maybe under $100K, and perhaps most importantly, provides a basis from which other models can descend until we get to a H2GO Civic. I’ll take mine in matte black.

MOST ANTICIPATED: Ford Transit Connect
It’s not a pony car; it’s not a pimped out truck, but I have been looking forward to this thing since its debut in Chicago. And for some reason, seeing it in metal—at SEMA, in smurf blue, tastefully modified by H&R Springs with custom-made OZ wheels and a Piloti interior—was confirmation that I’m not alone in thinking that the Ford Transit Connect has the makings of a sort of rennaisance of custom vans that we haven’t seen since the days of Huggy Bear and Mr. T. Summer 2009 cannot come soon enough.

BEST HOT-ROD: Webb Automotive Art’s Golden Submarine
After all the googaw and over-the-top paint jobs, there was nothing more beautifully refreshing than this handmade, aluminum skinned, minimalist work of art. It is simplicity to it core. It’s methanol-burning motor and radial mounted disk brakes mean business.

BEST PAINT: WTW Corp Lamborghini Gallardo
This year, as in most year, there was no shortage of intricate, masterworks of airbrush artistry and certainly all kudos to those guys. However, continuing with the theme of less is more, what stood out from all of that was a lime green Lambo in the WTW exhibit. What made this above the rest for me was not that it was a Lambo, not that it had pimp wheels, not that it was a color of lime that actually works better for the nature of the car than the stock pearl lime. It was that the car was painted to match the Giovanna wheels and came off fantastic. We’ve all seen wheels painted to match the body, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a case where the wheels take the lead. The significance is that, as a specialty equipment show, this car put the emphasis in the right place, subtlely perhaps (if you can call fluorescent lime green subtle), but to the point.

BEST BOOTH BABES: Falken Tire
Tire exhibitors stole the show, and with props to the Pirelli and Continental girls, the booth babes at Falken were stunning in the bejeweled blue! Falken ay!

BEST VIP PARTY: Continental Tire Media Lounge
Okay, maybe it’s a reflection on the general state of the economy. Maybe excess is in rebellion, but can a mooch journo get a little something, you know, for the effort? Or maybe I just wasn’t on the right list. This year’s VIP parties were either austere, low-budget yawns or nothing to indicate any measure of importance in VIP. That being said, the Media Lounge that was sponsored by Continental, though it did not declare itself VIP, made us all feel like we were, I don’t know, important. A morning massage, pretty (damn pretty) girls, Wii challenge for those who wished, snacks, cold drinks made this the place to be in Vegas.

Hi, I’m Matte: It’s everywhere. Matte is the new black, and matte black is, well, matte black. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t. Black works for me across the board, whether used on a Corvette, Truck, or one of a dozen Challengers. Gray works and looks great as a factory color on the F430 Scuderia, though there weren’t any at the show (Hamman showed a nice Grigio Medio) as well as on the new M3, particularly with black wheels. Once we get into colors however, opinions will vary. Olive green looked good on the Tundra, but not the Mustang GT; the massive red Silverado at the entrance to South hall was killer, but it would be difficult to imagine on say a Corvette or Challenger. I think the real question is what’s the staying power? It looks good now because it’s different, but I think eventually our desire for a classic deep shine will dub this a passing fancy. Time, as always, will tell.

Down to Business: Maybe the most noticeable thing about this year’s SEMA show was the attendance. It’s down considerably from last year. This is obviously a reflection of the current economic conditions; however, my observation was that exhibitors were nevertheless engaged with customers. There was more of a business attitude, less bling for bling’s sake. Rather, it was bling as it relates to generating dollars. This may be a good indication of what’s really going on with the economy as a whole: that collectively, we no longer have the luxury of simply observing and finding some complaceny in that. The superfluous no longer makes sense but neither does total abstinence. There has to be some rationale and prudence to how we evaluate and spend. I for one will be curious how this translates to the market.

Time to hand out the awards for the Best at this year’s SEMA show:

BEST EXHIBIT: WTW Corp. (Giovanna and Gianélle Wheels)
These guys captured the spirit of customization without going over the top. The lineup of cars was impressive to begin with and they dressed them up to a level that gets attention, but does so with impeccable taste. A random Hulk Hogan appearance neither supported nor detracted from their order of business.

BEST GADGET: Palmer Performance DashCommand
By now you’ve probably realized that your iPhone isn’t that great at being a phone. Don’t put it on Craigslist quite yet, because every day there are more applications that may just make it an indispensable tool. The latest is the DashCommand. It’s an iPhone app that diagnoses your engine and also works as a virtual dashboard, dynamometer, skidpad and race-track timer. It works from the iPhone’s touch screen and can be customized to match you—and your car’s—style.

BEST TOOL: Z Corporation 3D Color Printer
This thing is fascinating and a little spooky at the same time. It’s brilliant, but you kinda get the sense that in the hands of say the mad scientist from Scooby Doo cartoons, it could be used for unimaginably diabolical purposes. Here’s an overly simplified synopsis of how it works: The system is comprised of a scanner that will scan any object in 3D. The file that’s created is sent to a “printer,” which lays down resin a few millimeters per pass to build an exact model of the scanned object. Meanwhile it’s also reproducing the color(s) through inkjet surface printing. In a matter a few hours (it builds at about 1 inch per hour), you have an exact replica of the object you scanned. Here’s the cool-yet-freaky part: the replica comes out of the machine complete with any movable parts that were on your original. It does seem like something the Nazis were working on, but in fact was developed by a team at MIT and brought to market by Z Corporation. At $60K a pop, I’m not seeing this under anyone’s tree this year, but it’s also a fairly small price to pay for making knock-offs a matter of punching a few buttons. It’s foreseeable that down the road, this may come down to a size and pricepoint (as other scanners that did “amazing” things years ago have) such that it will end up under the tree and provide hours of fun copying Matchbox cars. We shall see…

MOST INNOVATIVE: Ronn Motor Company Scorpion
What I really wanted was a photo with Barry Meguiar. I sort of got that only because I was standing next to his stage while looking at the Scorpion from Austin-based Ronn Motor Company (RMC). I have seen the future. Or at least a stepping stone to the future. At first glance, it’s easy to pass this off as another Calloway-like, rebodied C5/C6 Corvette that’s been tweaked here and there and thrown back out in the world as another pretty face (albeit in my opinion, the face is perhaps the least pretty thing about it). The Scorpion at SEMA looked especially demure under the canopy in sort of a 70s Ferrari brown (I’m sure it looks much better in the sun). But believe me, there’s nothing demure, or Corvette for that matter, about it: 450 bhp, 2100 lbs., limited production, twin turbos, carbon fibre monocoque—everything you would expect from a supercar in 2008.

Make that everything you would expect in 2012, but available in 2008 (they are officially in pre-production but have plans to build 200 examples on order). What makes this a breath of fresh air is precisely that: fresh air. The Scorpion achieves all this performance while using RMC’s H2GO Hydrogen On-Demand system that actually produces hydrogen through electrolysis of water as it rolls down the road. The 130-octane hydrogen is then injected, as a gas, into the intake mix of gasoline and air in ratios of 30 to 40 percent. This improves fuel economy to as much as 40 MPG (did I mention this is a 450 horsepower car?), while dramatically reducing carbon emissions.

So, if I’m Ronn Maxwell, know what I would do? Go knock on Honda-san’s door and tell him I have the next NSX ready to go (you see, the Scorpion is powered by the 3.5 Litre DOHC VTEC motor from the Acura TL Type S, but with twin turbos and refrigerated intercoolers). This puts the Scorpion into production, drops the current $150,000 price to maybe under $100K, and perhaps most importantly, provides a basis from which other models can descend until we get to a H2GO Civic. I’ll take mine in matte black.

MOST ANTICIPATED: Ford Transit Connect
It’s not a pony car; it’s not a pimped out truck, but I have been looking forward to this thing since its debut in Chicago. And for some reason, seeing it in metal—at SEMA, in smurf blue, tastefully modified by H&R Springs with custom-made OZ wheels and a Piloti interior—was confirmation that I’m not alone in thinking that the Ford Transit Connect has the makings of a sort of rennaisance of custom vans that we haven’t seen since the days of Huggy Bear and Mr. T. Summer 2009 cannot come soon enough.

BEST HOT-ROD: Webb Automotive Art’s Golden Submarine
After all the googaw and over-the-top paint jobs, there was nothing more beautifully refreshing than this handmade, aluminum skinned, minimalist work of art. It is simplicity to it core. It’s methanol-burning motor and radial mounted disk brakes mean business.

BEST PAINT: WTW Corp Lamborghini Gallardo
This year, as in most year, there was no shortage of intricate, masterworks of airbrush artistry and certainly all kudos to those guys. However, continuing with the theme of less is more, what stood out from all of that was a lime green Lambo in the WTW exhibit. What made this above the rest for me was not that it was a Lambo, not that it had pimp wheels, not that it was a color of lime that actually works better for the nature of the car than the stock pearl lime. It was that the car was painted to match the Giovanna wheels and came off fantastic. We’ve all seen wheels painted to match the body, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a case where the wheels take the lead. The significance is that, as a specialty equipment show, this car put the emphasis in the right place, subtlely perhaps (if you can call fluorescent lime green subtle), but to the point.

BEST BOOTH BABES: Falken Tire
Tire exhibitors stole the show, and with props to the Pirelli and Continental girls, the booth babes at Falken were stunning in the bejeweled blue! Falken ay!

BEST VIP PARTY: Continental Tire Media Lounge
Okay, maybe it’s a reflection on the general state of the economy. Maybe excess is in rebellion, but can a mooch journo get a little something, you know, for the effort? Or maybe I just wasn’t on the right list. This year’s VIP parties were either austere, low-budget yawns or nothing to indicate any measure of importance in VIP. That being said, the Media Lounge that was sponsored by Continental, though it did not declare itself VIP, made us all feel like we were, I don’t know, important. A morning massage, pretty (damn pretty) girls, Wii challenge for those who wished, snacks, cold drinks made this the place to be in Vegas.