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As we said in the beginning, Fallbrook was a place for people with car and horse hobbies. Well, all So Cal is a haven for car nuts. When we moved to CA, we had to move two cars. The second trip, Karen and I drove out in her station wagon with the birds. But two weeks earlier, I drove it solo in my BMW. Here we are in AZ, on cruise control at 85. The average from the car's trip computer was 68 MPH and 31 MPG for 3300 miles! The Valentine 1 is wasted - speeding doesn't appear to be an issue here, only reckless driving. |
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In California, half the vehicles have aftermarket wheels and tires. Since my BMW needed tires, I figured I should "get with the program" and add in some cool wheels. A further justification - living in the mountains where handling and brakes are necessities, I upgraded from the BMW factory 17X7 wheels to BBS RX18X8s with Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position high performance tires. And I found a source of drilled rotors - well, I needed brakes too - and Kevlar pads to upgrade the brakes. |
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Here is a closer view of the wheels and drilled rotors. | |
In March of 2004, I passed a small "old time" BMW dealership called Continental Motors in Oceanside. Sitting in the showroom was a new M-3 equipped exactly as I would order it myself. I yielded to temptation! Turned out the M3 was a hoot on the track and torture on the rough freeways out here. Sold it after 10 months. Actually I miss my 330i, but replaced it with a Nissan Maxima, a nice vehicle at about half the cost. Now, a new toy has been added - a John Cooper Works MINI, which I refer to as my M1/2. |
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The Fallbrook Car Show - 2003 Fallbrook is certainly a car town. A F-40 Ferrari resides somewhere down the dead-end street where we live. A Triumph TR-6 and a Corvair Spyder were in the hardware store parking lot recently - as was a gorgeous black E-Type Jaguar. I found a great mechanic from conversations with the receptionist at a podiatrist (She and her husband had Porsches, BMWs, VW Beetles and a turn-of-the-century-before fire engine. The Doctor has a SLK and a 71 911S and is working hard trying to convince me I need a Porsche! The oldest running event in town is the annual car show. This tiny mountain town has over 300 cars in the show - tons of 50s 'Vettes and T-Birds, hot rods and some very unusual classics. Check out this Flathead with Offy heads! |
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And this, this is a Art Deco Isotta Franchini roadster. These cars were the Rolls Royces of Italy. This body looks very much like a Zagato Alfa 6C1750 in the Blackhawk Museum. If this ain't worth a million bucks, I would be verrrry surprised. In Fallbrook! This same car showed up at the Rodeo Drive Concours (below) a couple of weeks later. |
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Rodeo Drive Concours Pebble Beach has nothing on this "small" concours on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The setting is cool - all the classy stores and a Frank Lloyd Wright building - BH's beautiful people and celebs. Jay Leno drove up in this Monster, his answer to the aero-engined racers that raced at Brooklands in the UK in the 30s. I saw him in it again a few weeks later at a literature swap meet. He was explaining that he found the engine from a Chrysler built tank and from there on it was all MONEY! It's giant. About chest high to the top of the cowl. The wheels are truck tires. The engine (I believe he said) was 27 liters! He drives this sucker on the LA freeways! |
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Since Ferrari of Beverly Hills was a co-sponsor, they had to have some nice machinery to show - so how about a new ENZO. The red nose on the right belongs to Ferrari's other new car - a 360 Modena Stradale. Here is another ENZO photo. And another. This is a car that definitely looks better after you get used to it! First impressions are it's a bit ungainly, but it grows on you. |
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Ferrari 550 Barchetta (three more were parked on the street nearby with a F-40 and a F-50 was on another street!) Notice how the laws of physics do not apply to Beverly Hills plastic surgeons! |
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Hey, it's Rodeo Drive. You can't have just anybody keeping the car shined up! | |
Here's my new racecar! It's a tether car that was powered by a model airplane engine. It's a kit from the 30s that was never built!
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(c) 2003, Jim Hayes
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