Bay Area 02 Swap & Show 2016
Scholars suggest that the so-called “Iron Age” began around 1200 B.C. This period of human existence was marked by the use of furnaces which enabled smelting (as well as the birth of the phrase, “He who smelt it, dealt it”), which in turned enabled the production of steel.
That means that rusty metal has existed for well over 3,000 years, although it clearly took people a while to understand it. One of the most pivotal technologies in that regard is galvanization, a protective zinc coating that staves off oxidation. There are several theories on who invented it and when, but concrete evidence shows it was patented in France in 1837. However, it would still be about 150 years from that point to when the galvanization of car bodies would become commonplace.
Last week these thoughts were booming in my mind, because wet weather was coinciding with a meet that specifically catered to cars created from non-galvanized steel. How many would show up?
Thankfully, the turnout was robust. My buddy Brendan doesn’t even wash his 1970 2800CS for fear of water being trapped in the body, so would he make a wet drive to park in the rain? A few calls were made, and when everyone confirmed they were bringing theirs, he decided to come out too.
And I’m definitely glad they came out! I know it was a 2002 meet, but I was mostly interested in seeing the E3/E9 chassis cars.
There’s something about the design of these cars that just works.
But man, I feel sorry for the US-spec MY74 and MY75 cars, which came with these ugly rubberized impact bumpers.
There were even a handful of Neue Klasse cars that weren’t 2002’s; this 2000 Touring, for example.
How about a 1600?
But this was a 2002 meet and frankly, there was an overwhelming amount of 2002’s.
There were the track-spec cars, with several types of flares and air dams on display. From a bolt-on “old school” look…
…to this modern, fully blended interpretation.
Of course, early cars had slim steel bumpers and round tail lights.
That transitioned into square lights, and we in the USA were saddled with hideous impact bumpers.
But in the rest of the world? They maintained the slim bumpers, which are a popular upgrade on these shores.
As you might expect from a smog-exempt chassis, engine swaps are very common. This particular 2002 had a 2.3L S14 out of an E30 M3, along with a bevy of carbon fiber parts like the intake plenum and even the hood.
I was definitely attracted to this low example fitted with Work Equip 02’s. Am I the only one who likes the pun of having a BMW “oh two” on Work Equip “oh two” wheels?
Unsurprisingly, the spectator parking lot was just as entertaining as the show itself. This 1969 Toyota Corona was awesome, and I even liked it on the big wheels.
I finally got to meet Geoff Wise; I’d photographed his car at a Canepa Cars & Coffee and chatted with him on TCL, but never actually talked in person. Pretty cool that his Lotus Super Seven was featured on Petrolicious–even cooler that he drove this old school, bias-ply shod roadster on a rainy morning!
This Saab 900 Turbo was super clean. I’ve always thought these were cool, probably because this is what my mom drove when I was growing up. She bought a brand new 1987 Saab 900S while she was pregnant with me. With a 5-speed manual transmission, of course.
Guys with a two-light car want to convert to four-light, and guys with four-light cars like going to two-lights; so goes the “grass is greener” syndrome. But I actually thought this setup looked pretty good and gave a glimpse into a bygone era of tuning.
On that note, how about this Euro-spec Hartge E23 745i? Judging by the sunset plates, this one was imported back in the 80s.
OMG! RUST! Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
Beauty or Blasphemy?
Pearl white Cobra replica with a Tricolore Italian stripe. I was stunned when I saw the car but I have a feeling this is a polarizing setup; I ran a few quick phone snaps by some of my trusted car friends and it was met with a resounding thud.
This car harkens back to the era when race car liveries weren’t defined by sponsorship but by the team or driver’s nationality. I’m definitely into the wide R888’s and matching tire stickers, plus the whole car was immaculate. It definitely encourages you to take a closer look.
Everything in the cockpit was exquisitely finished, to a much higher standard than any original Cobra. The shifter situation even in the replicas is always odd; check out that bizarre kink. But the rarest part of all? This is a Cobra equipped with a glovebox not bearing the signature of Carroll Shelby!
Still Special
I heard some baloney recently tossed around about how “older” Porsches (anything before and including the 993 and 968) have a distinct sense of occasion, whereas the cars since the 996 really do not.
That is simply an untrue, biased statement. Sure, there’s something very special about older Porsches, but there’s also certainly a memorable aspect to their modern creations as well. I would contend that slipping behind the wheel of a new 981 Boxster or 991 Carrera is as much of an occasion as a 944 or an air-cooled 911–just in a completely different way.
A manual transmission definitely goes a long way in that respect, however–at least for me. As nice as PDK’s are, it’s hard for me to get super excited about driving an automatic Porsche. Maybe that’s how the diehard “Porsche died when the 996 came out” crew feels about the modern wave of Porsches.
Weekend in Palm Beach
It’s that time of the year! Motorsports are in full swing, and that means my weekends are pretty busy. Like last year, I’m shooting for ChampTruck. Unfortunately, I can’t immediately share those photos, but thankfully truck racing isn’t the only thing that happens–so here’s a glimpse into what was distracting me while I was supposed to be focusing on trucks.
First, a bit of irony. I fly 3,000 miles, leaving sunny weather and supercars, to see…well, sunny weather and supercars. This was a very exclusive track day with just a few cars, but if I heard correctly they all belong to the same person.
Not a bad lineup, eh?
I was hoping to get some snaps of the hypercars flying around the track, but they were all taking it super easy. I could have done faster laps in my FR-S! Oh well.
Saturday was something completely different–a drift event was the support series for ChampTruck. Here’s something you rarely see in California, a Skyline. I expected the 25 year law to bring a flood of Skylines into California, but that would mean they’ve been available since 2014, and so far…nothing.
The pits were filled with your typical drift cars; mostly Japanese rides, body-kitted out and slammed to the ground on wide wheels.
But there was one crucial difference between the drift cars I’m used to seeing: the venerable Chevy LS swap was almost nowhere to be found! We can thank Florida’s almost non-existent smog and inspections process for enabling all sorts of Japanese forced induction engines.
Out on the track, quite literally every skill level you could imagine was present. There were a couple cars driving around at cruising pace that I never even saw attempting a drift, while on the other hand there were V8 monsters being chucked sideways at high speed with smoke pouring off the rear tires, like this Mustang.
When people say “opposite lock”, they’re usually just talking about a bit of countersteer. When drifters say opposite lock, they mean that they have the steering wheel turned as far as it can physically go–like this 350Z.
S13’s and S14’s were the order of the day, usually accompanied by the sound of a turbo-four bouncing off the rev limiter.
Believe it or not, I’ve never driven a 240SX! Back in college I was obsessed with Hondas, and by the time I was ready for rear-wheel-drive, drift tax had already taken over, and a 240SX was twice the price of the equivalent Miata or Honda. Bummer.
Dirt drop! It’s pretty obvious why a lot of tracks aren’t too friendly on drifting.
Of course, it wasn’t all Nissans out there; there were a few BMW’s, including this E36.
But this W220 S-Class was my pick of the day.
Is that a hydraulic handbrake?? Yup.
Whoa! It was pretty wild watching this thing. His entries weren’t very spectacular; he basically rode a bit of understeer than used a heavy right foot to power oversteer the exit. I didn’t see under the hood, but it definitely had that unmistakable AMG V8 sound.
He was getting some pretty crazy angles as he took full advantage of the extra long wheelbase. And yeah—he actually recovered that drift.
Of course, the ChampTruck drivers couldn’t help but get in on the action. Check out Mike Morgan sliding his Mack through Turn 5, the showcase turn, while a group of drifters watched on in awe.
With a boatload of torque and no weight over the rear tires, these trucks actually go sideways quite a bit. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that during practice, these guys were lighting up the biggest sweeper on the track in front of the drifting crowd.
Sunday was a lot quieter, as it was once again a private track day. Unfortunately, only a small handful of cars came out. This 997 GT3 did the most laps by far, which was fine, because it sounded incredible!
How would you like to have a real race car as your track toy? Pretty cool. (and yes, I should probably replace my dirty/messed up filter. Long exposures really show how nasty it is)
Another car seeing some track time was this GT3 RS. What an incredible car. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see or hear it run, so all I have are some static shots of it looking pretty.
Speaking of looking pretty, these next shots are actually from Saturday, but I wanted to save them until the end of the post.
This monster on gigantic tires was already cool enough, but check out what it’s towing.
Not one, but two smaller versions of itself! Amazing.
It’s always an adventure at a track. I’ve said this many times before and I’ll say it again: museums and car shows are cool, but all the best cars are at the track.
Star Road 