Automotive Events upcoming – May + June 2012

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Every Wednesday night from 6pm to 9pm
Bear Mountain Inn
This is the biggest cruise night around.
http://www.popyourhood.com/

May 20 – Sunday
Import + Kit Car Nationals – Carlisle PA
Far enough away to be an overnighter but an interesting large show with many unusual lower to mid priced cars.
Carlisle has various large car shows throughout the year, and they are all listed on the website.
This show has an eclectic mix of mostly European sports, sporty, and just plain odd cars from 1960-1990

http://www.carlisleevents.com/events/import/

May 27 – Sunday
Royals Garage Car Show at Lime Rock
7:00 a.m., Spectator Gate Opens
7:30 a.m., Car Show Entrants’ Gate Opens
10:00 – 3:00, Sunday Royals Garage Car Show, Front Straight
Note there is a full day of racing on the day before (Saturday)
http://www.limerock.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=55

June 2nd and 3rd (Saturday and Sunday)
Greenwich Concours
The finest car show in the northeast USA
Saturday is American cars, Sunday is imports. Both are well worth attending.
http://www.greenwichconcours.com/

June 9th and 10th (Saturday and Sunday)
The Elegance at Hershey
The 2nd year of this new high-end event for antique pre-1950 cars
A vintage hill climb on Saturday and a 60 car invitational show on Sunday at the four-star Hotel Hershey in PA
http://theeleganceathershey.com/

AutoWeek article: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120515/COLLECTOR/120519888

Automobile Mag: http://rumors.automobilemag.com/vile-gossip-elegance-hershey-next-great-car-show-138576.html

and http://rumors.automobilemag.com/elegance-heshey-138624.html

BMW Welt (World) and Museum – Munich, Bavaria – Part 1

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Part #1 – BMW World facilities (part 2 will cover the Museum exhibits)

No trip to Bavaria (by car or motorcycle fans) is complete without a trip to BMW (Bavarian Motor Werk) World in Munich.
There are 2 buildings open to the public on weekends – BMW World auto purchasing center and the museum across the street.
The factory has tours during the week (so we’ll have to go back some day).
The headquarters tower is not open to the public.

http://www.bmw-welt.com/web_rb/bmw-welt/en/index.html

This is conveniently nestled between the factory Werk #1 and the Olympic sports complex – see bottom left of map points 18 + 19.
As the BMW World delivery center is closest to the metro station everyone starts there.
It was like going to the World’s Fair which I attended in New York back in 1964. I felt like I was in a future world.

See pics below.
Bob

Continue reading →

Aston Martin V8 Vantage test drive

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There is a 2008 Aston Martin with sport suspension and 40k miles for sale at $75k by a friend.
Maya and I took it for a one hour test drive on Saturday. It’s got a 6 speed manual and a 4.7 liter 420hp V8 that loves to rev. Took it on my usual Fairfield county driving roads including the Merritt Parkway so I could more easily compare it to other vehicles.

First let me say that this car has held up exceptionally well for being a 3 year old daily driver.
Interior is very high quality as expected. Lots of “Coach” grade leather, Alcantara, and real metal.
The suspension is sporty-firm but offers total control and confidence even in tricky corners.
The engine loves to rev and accelerates hard with a very sporty sound.
Brakes are excellent.
This car is very sporty like a 911 and not at all like the paddle shift V12 DB9 cruiser I’d tested before.

Very high on the fun to drive scale.
This car was a very exciting and refined surprise and both Maya and I liked it a quite a lot.
On a scale of 1 to 10 this would rate as a 9+ making it very desirable.

Bob