Lots of Pics, Cars and Coffee Austin (Leander) TX, 3/6

Hi All, Really good Cars and Coffee meet today. Gorgeous weather in the high 60's, big turn out. My friends Laird and Brian came in Laird's 67 Beetle, my friend Rob from work showed up, and my good friends Rich and Robbi drove all the way out from Fredericksburg in Rich's awesome '77 Can Am.

Got lots of good pics, but first a quick story-rant.

Took Dad with me and we got to the meet right at 11am. The show officially runs from 11-2, but most people start heading out after 1pm. Well seems today a lot of people got there early, and it was HOPPING and nearly full-up when we got there.

So at all the enterences there are show volunteers that let you in and tell you where to park. The guy that waved me in is really nice, knows my wagon, and put me in a prime spot right near the on of the enterences...cool. So I park next to a newer Hemi Charger, pop the hood, pull out the the chairs, and start to walk toward the main show.

Here's the fun part, this burly guy in an orange shirt comes jogging over and says HEY YOU CAN'T PARK THAT CAR HERE! I turn around, and at first think he's kidding, people love to kid about my wagon, and that's cool, the fact that it's funny is one of the reasons I love it..

Well one look tells me this guy isn't kidding. I ask what the problem is and he says this is THE MOPAR CORNER.... I turn around, and yes there are a lot of Mopars right up from my car, it's obviously a local club, but in front of my car is a red Corvette, behind it a Porsche 911, and up from that a 67 Riviera and a 2005 Pontiac GTO... I mean COME ON!

I tell the guy I was TOLD to park here. He asks by who. I point to the show volunteer, and he says WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT! And jogs out to the show worker and starts pointing and waving his arms at me. HA!

I walk over and point blank ask the guy WHY he is being such a jerk, and point at the Vette, Porsche, GTO and Riviera all near my car and "Mopar Cormer...hehe". The guy is red-faced and mad, and God Bless the show volunteer. He looks at me, my car, and turns back to Mr. Mopar, and says "Do you have a car to park there?". Mopar says no...not right now, and the show volunteer tells the guy this is an open show, and can't we all just get along and enjoy it. HA! Made my day!

Before goofy could turn around Dad and I walked off to enjoy the show. People are crazy....

I was a little leery about leaving my wagon wagon alone with goofy there, but I went on and walked down the road and around the corner. A few minutes later the show volunteer who helped walked up to me and and apologized for the incident, told me he knew I was a regular at the event, was glad I came out, and that he had guys posted near my car to keep an eye on it. SO COOL!

There rest of the show was great, and I was one of the last to leave. Enjoy the pics folks!

Ready to go for a walk??

My Roady Wagon at the show





Aston Martin....shaken, not stirred


New Porsche Boxster Spyder


Interesting paint color on a 72 Cutlass Convertible


Chevelle and 442. Zoommm!


Sharp T-Bird and SS454 Silverado


Nice 67 Lemans from Alaska!



Buick Skylark GS...MEAN


Hot 70 Chevelle



How about a Porsche Panamera? These are a lot larger in person than in pics. Odd looking.



GORGEOUS 66 GTO ragtop. Tri-power 389 with a 4spd. NICE!



Opel GT


Porsche Club



Awesome Corvette Grand Sport. Some say new Vette's a "common" but I'd still LOVE one. ; )



Lotus Esprit V8



Awesome Imperial. I love the square steering wheel. HUGE car!




Nice modern Goat


Shelby's are just mean


Nicely modded Vette


Good group of newer Camaros. Green one was from New Jersey.








Modded GTO


Mean black Ferrari




Model A Ford


Sharp Cobra




The exotics were out in force today!

Raging Bulls








Lotus and Bentley



Aston Martin Rapid 4dr sedan.



Redheads





Maserati





Totally GORGEOUS Buick 8







I loved this, unrestored driver 53 Chevy parked between a Lambo and a Ferrari. Cars and Coffee is so cool. ; )





55 Chevy Bel Air


Corvair



Mini Cooper


Sharp little TR6


Acura NSX


C4's and classics



A flying Prowler



NICE Vette ragtop




Audi R8 V-10 Spyder. WOW!





This was interesting, a 2001 V-12 Twin-Turbo Mercedes S-coupe. Looked new. Well over $100K when it was new. Was for sale for $21k. I'd be terrified what it would cost to fix if it broke, but it was sure sharp!




Hot Camaro



Modded Monte Carlo SS



Lots of VW's, including Laird's yellow and white 67 Beetle. We were not planning on it but Laird and Brian ended up behind us on the way to the show. He decided to leave the Pacer at home and give the Bug some exercise this weekend. It's a sharp car!






Laird's 67 Beetle




My Dad was in love with this ragtop Vette. The Jag next to it was sharp too





Little bit of everything at these shows





My Dad would still love a new Vette. He drooled a lot... Ha!


Hot 57 was there


Clean 69 Mustang Fastback with Shelby tail lights



Mean modern Stangs











And some more classic Stangs




Chevelle, Fairlane Thunderbolt, and F-150 Lightning



302 Maverick Grabber with a stick for $6500



BMW 2002


6-cylinder powerglide Camaro


66 Nova project


I love love love 70's Trans Ams...especially with a stick in them




Hot Rod Chevy!


The military vehicle club was there



56 Bel Air


Another clean modern Goat. Black over red 6-spd. Nice! This guy was from Georgia




Sharp Cuda! Always loved this design




Really pretty 67 Riviera with a 430-4 in it







70 Challenger "Popcorn" was there


Mopar Corner



Mean Porsche


More Vettes



Yellow seems popular on these




Hot Trans Am


69 Firebird Ragtop



Neat story here, an older couple owns this Studebaker. They liked my wagon a lot, they'd had a 72 clamshell way back when. We got to talking and the woman has owned the Stude since it was new. Her father gave it to her when she was 17. Over 50 years, isn't that wild?? Amazing! Nice folks!



My wagon looks at home





Wanna go racing?


Cross-Fire 82 Corvette


Really sharp orange/gold 2006 GTO







Another C3, an '81 model



Mean Plymouth with a 440 under the hood




The Diesel Dodge Truck club was there



Sharp Nova



Another sharp 56 Chevy




This 70 Chevelle arrived late. Wild paint!



A 70's Celica....Mustang Clone. ; )


My friends Rich and Robbi drove all the way down from Fredericksburg in Rich's GORGEOUS 69K-original-mile '77 Pontiac Can Am. Sadly they got off late so they showed up after the bulk of the show had already left. Still we had a good visit and I got to sit in and drool on his 70's hot-rod Poncho. Neat car! Rich is the guy that bought my 89 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon and he's also the guy that ended up with my sharp little '93 S-10 pickup. I got my '88 T-top Cutlass from him. I think it's safe to say we have similar taste in cars!







Was a great show. Hope ya'll liked the pics!

-Mike

That Can Am really did "feel" odd when I sat in it. I'm sure as a kid I rode in many of the GM "Colonnade" coupes, but it's been years since I was in one.

It's a very large car outside, but from inside, it feels a lot smaller than my 88 G-body Cutlass. The windows are not very tall, the roof is low, and because the doors are so thick the interior is not all that wide. Those doors by the way are MASSIVE, I'd forgotten how huge they were on these.

It's really is funny, even the view over the hood is not intimidating, the hood on the 79 Buick Limited seems much longer from the driver's seat. With the sculped fenders, domed hood, and shaker scoop, the Can Am's view over that hood from the driver's seat is very racy feeling, but not terribly long.

I mentioned this to Rich, and he laughed and agreed. He said these cars were styled first, and then GM told the engineers to "make everything fit inside". Practicality took a back seat to the swoopy styling. To prove it he took me back to the trunk, which has a small opening, and was nearly full with the spare tire, a small cooler, and some folding chairs. Funny stuff.

Rich does love the car. It loafs on the highway and eats hills, but to show how far technology has come, on his drive yesterday, and admittedly he was having fun in the hill country, he told me he average 9mpg. Ouch! ; )

Still it's a cool and rare old car!

-Mike

Mike you never fail to please with great pics and descriptions.I guess there is an ass in every
group even carnuts.Some truly beautiful and rare cars and every one of them was driven to
this outdoor show.Not even sure if we could have a show like that up here as there are a bunch
of gangs and thieves around here that would ruin it for everybody else.Tell your dad to get that
vette now while he can still enjoy it.
Thanks
Jim Gordon

That sexy modern GTO's color is called Brazen Orange. That's my 4th favorite GM color EVER.

Flasheroo wrote:

Mike you never fail to please with great pics and descriptions.I guess there is an ass in every
group even carnuts.Some truly beautiful and rare cars and every one of them was driven to
this outdoor show.Not even sure if we could have a show like that up here as there are a bunch
of gangs and thieves around here that would ruin it for everybody else.Tell your dad to get that
vette now while he can still enjoy it.
Thanks
Jim Gordon

Yeah I didn't let that one jerk spoil the show. One of the main reasons I like Cars and Coffee is that you see such a wide mix of vehicles.

I'm going to drive the Cutlass to the April show and Dad is going to drive the Roadmaster, and Rich said he'd drive out in the Cam Am again. We'll like up the big GM's in a row and shoo off the Mopar guys. Hahahaha!

-Mike

Stingroo wrote:

That sexy modern GTO's color is called Brazen Orange. That's my 4th favorite GM color EVER.

I do really like the sleeper aspect of the new GTO's. 400hp and it looks like a Cavalier so you are not a ticket target on the highway, and the interior is large enough to be comfy in and very well done.

I've driven many of them, and am still on the lookout for a silver over red leather 6-spd 05-06. The '04 was quick, but the '05 and '06 are downright fast. My buddy Ben in New Jersey bought a Spice Red '06 GTO, with the 6spd. He's put a Borla exhaust on it, updated Pedders suspension, and the Hurst shifter update. It still looks stock, but it will flat run and sounds amazing.

He still only has 12K miles it. It only comes out of the garage on pretty summer days after any trace of salt is off the roads. I lived in New Jersey myself for six years and DO NOT miss putting my toys away all winter.

Such fun!

-Mike

Rich was telling me about those Can Am's. Kinda neat. They were set up to be a limited production car anyway, but about 1/3 through the planned run the mold for the rear spoiler was damaged in a fire, and rather than pay to have a new mold made GM cancelled the car.

These were built off the LeMans Sport Coupe, but to "snazzy it up" GM used a Grand Prix dashboard and console. It's odd to see the basic door panels mixed with a Grand Prix dashboard.

Neat vehicles!

-Mike

THAT CARS AND COFFE LOOKS LIKE A REALLY NICE EVENT ! TELL YOUR DAD TO GET HIMSELF A BIB SO THE DROOL DOES NOT STAIN HIS SHIRT ! LOL , IT WORKS FOR ME . THANKS FOR THE COOL PICS ,SEEMS LIKE YOU HAD A BLAST .

Not sure when the first year was for the CanAm but I think that the first year was the best looking by far.Been so long since I have seen one " sure is a good looking coupe but I stiil
think the Grand Prix has it beat.
Take Care
Jim Gordon

Flasheroo wrote:

Not sure when the first year was for the CanAm but I think that the first year was the best looking by far.Been so long since I have seen one " sure is a good looking coupe but I stiil
think the Grand Prix has it beat.
Take Care
Jim Gordon

The Can Am was a one-year only model, 1977. The Grand Am was similar, built from 73-75 in both coupe and sedan. The Grand Am didn't get the shaker hood but the front ends were pointy and body color plastic.

http://www.abodysite.com/73hisbook.html

Yeah I didn't let that one jerk spoil the show. One of the main reasons I like Cars and Coffee is that you see such a wide mix of vehicles.

-Mike[/quote]

Oh I just remembered one more quickie from this show. Dad and I set up chairs under a tree a bit behind the Roady and were watching people's reactions to my car. A young family walked up, Mom, Dad and two kids. The kid, about 6-7, liked the wood on my car and I heard him ask his Dad, who looked to be in his late 20's, what kind of car it was.

His Dad looked down and said "It's a Ford Taurus station wagon".

It took all my energy not to jump up out of my chair. My father sitting next to me got a good laugh out of that and ribbed me about it the rest of the day....

Such fun...

Ergh. The only solution to this is you need to make up one of those big sheets that people bring to shows that detail what the car is and put it up under your hood.

my buddy had a Can AM exactly like that one. Got drunk wrapped a phone pole with it and got away with the DUI by telling the cop his girlfriend aborted his baby and crying. He was such a BS artist the cop bought it. Not that I'm condoning what he did, but for a drunk it was pretty quick thinking. I loved that car too it was cool and the girls loved it at my high school.

Sprocket wrote:

my buddy had a Can AM exactly like that one. Got drunk wrapped a phone pole with it and got away with the DUI by telling the cop his girlfriend aborted his baby and crying. He was such a BS artist the cop bought it. Not that I'm condoning what he did, but for a drunk it was pretty quick thinking. I loved that car too it was cool and the girls loved it at my high school.

My father says it's the ugliest car Pontiac made until the Aztek came out. Hahahahahaha! Thankfully he didn't say that in front of Rich! I think it's very cool, cars of the 70's get no respect!