Tag Archives: Danville

GT40

AU0E8245.jpgOriginal Ford GT40s are not something that you see parked on every street corner. Cars and Coffee is not a typical street corner though. Find at GT40 is not, therefore, such a huge surprise. This one showed up at my last visit. It garnered a fair bit of attention and discussion as to whether it was a legitimate example or not. It appears to have been from the time although it may not have been an original racer. I am not an expert on such matters so anyone who knows enough to correct any mis-statements here, please feel free to comment below.

AU0E8273.jpgWhatever the heritage, it is a fine looking vehicle. It has old style British license plates which really took me back to childhood. There have been several styles of license plate in my lifetime but the majority of plates have been black digits on a white background for the front and a yellow background for the rear. The old white digits on a black background were still quite common when I was very young but now are a distant memory. Seeing it on this GT40 certainly took me back (although my childhood was not filled with GT40s!).

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McLaren

C59F3895.jpgThe cool cars were not just restricted to the main gathering area. As I wandered through the lot, a guy found himself a parking spot and pulled in with his McLaren. He hopped out, gave it a quick wipe down and then wandered into the crowds after chatting to a few of us. I only asked him one thing. Had it proved to be all he had hoped it was. “Oh yes!”

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Astons Again

C59F3844.jpgThe Cars and Coffee meet in a previous post came with a whole bunch of Aston Martins. Obviously, there are a few people in our neck of the woods who like their Astons and I was happy to see what they had brought along. There were lots of late model cars looking particularly lovely on a sunny morning. The two lines of cars were great to see. It was hard to get a wide shot of them though. Plenty of people were all around them at any one time.

C59F3837.jpgThere were a couple of interesting old Astons too. One was a DB5 that appeared to be in spectacular condition. The owner was close by and chatting with anyone who stopped by. The one I was most taken by was an old Vantage. It turned out to be the car driven by George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. A far later model of the Vantage showed up in a Timothy Dalton Bond movie which shows how long the basic design lasted. Seeing this earlier version with an interesting pedigree was great.

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Cars and Coffee

C59F3781.jpgWhile hanging out at Livermore Airport to see the Collings Foundation, I ended up in conversation with another photographer and we started talking about cars as you do. We got onto the topic of the Blackhawk Automotive Museum and he asked if I had been to Cars and Coffee. I knew nothing about it so he explained a little. I was intrigued and decided I needed to go.

C59F3772.jpgOn the first Sunday of every month from 8am until 10am, the parking lot of the museum is a gathering spot for owners of cool cars and those who want to see cool cars. It is a case of whatever turns up so you never know what you will see. I got there a little after 8 and realized my error immediately. I did get a parking space but only by being on the opposite side of the lot. There were tons of cars there and plenty of interesting looking motors were just mixed in with the rest of the spectator cars.

C59F3879.jpgI decided to head to the core of things to see what was around before starting to work my way back in the general direction of my car. This ended up working well. The mixture of cars was outstanding. There were more cars than you can probably imagine and the variety and quality was incredible. Some exotic machines from the latest product ranges were in with vintage cars that head been beautifully restored. If you have a ‘Vette, Mustang or Camaro, you were given space but we’re on the edge of things because of the more exotic types thrown in there.   If you wanted to see a Ferrari, for example, you were going to be spoilt for choice. They were everywhere!

C59F3864.jpgI was happy to see some Lotus models too. The more modern ones were nice but I was particularly happy to come across an old Esprit Turbo SE. This was a dream car for me when I was a teenager. Seeing one in such great condition was great. As with these type of gatherings, there was nothing between you and the cars and often the owner was around to show you their pride and joy. There were a few special things to add about the event so there will be a few other posts on specific things I saw coming up. Stay tuned!

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Jukeboxes

AU0E3812.jpgWhile the majority of the Blackhawk Automotive Museum’s collection has a clear car association, there is also a room dedicated to the history of the Jukebox. I imagine this is because it is an area of interest to the patron of the museum. Various ages of jukebox have been preserved and restored. Some are quite basic in their design while the more recent ones have a greater level of complexity.

AU0E3810.jpgWhat they all seem to share is a design aesthetic that goes beyond the functional requirements of playing the music and encompasses a glamorous level of styling. The newer they were, the more exotic the styling. It might not be my sort of look and I don’t think I would want one in my house but I can certainly appreciate the effort that went into the design.

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Gas Pumps

AU0E3816.jpgIf you are going to have a museum to cars, why not include a tribute to the thing that makes them go? While fuel itself is not terribly suitable for an exhibit, the pumps that provide it prove to be a surprisingly good idea. Blackhawk Automotive Museum has a bunch of different gas pumps from through the years on display. They are all restored to pristine condition and probably look far better than they did when they were new.

AU0E3813.jpgThe pumps cover a number of years and a variety of gas companies. The evolution of the pump designs is quite clear as you go through the years. I am not sure I fully understand how they worked but they seem to have involved filling up a clear vessel at the top of the pump with fuel. This filling process allowed you to work out exactly how much fuel was to be provided. Then, when the amount was worked out, the hose would allow you to drain the fuel down to the vehicle.

AU0E3808.jpgThe early versions seem to be quite simple in layout and, as the years pass, the systems seem to become a bit more complex. A modern pump is way more complex but also severely lacking when it comes to styling. These old pumps look like they had some artists involved in styling them and the colors of the companies were similarly intricate. I guess that is how things worked in those days. Now efficiency, maintainability and functionality will win out over style.

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Aerodynamic Specialties

AU0E3770.jpgThese days you will struggle to come across a car that has not undergone extensive aerodynamic optimization. Even those cars that look like they have deliberately avoided an aerodynamically efficient shape will actually have undergone considerable testing to make sure that they are not just relatively low in drag but that they are also stable at speed. The widespread appreciation of aerodynamic performance became apparent in the 80s with the introduction of various cars that had noticeably lower drag than their competitors and associated improvements in fuel consumption.

AU0E3767.jpgHowever, the 80s was not the first time that aerodynamics occupied car designers. Go back a long way and you will see some very interesting shapes on cars. Some of these were looking to emulate the space age looks that were popular at the time. Others were real attempts to reduce drag. Blackhawk has a collection of three Alfa Romeo models. These show the iteration of design to try and achieve very low drag. They don’t look anything like a modern car and have more of a Jetsons appearance. However, they are a fascinating look at how some car designers were thinking at the time.

AU0E3755.jpgObviously modern cars don’t resemble these machines which suggests their approach was not the best way to go. They also look like they would have been expensive to manufacture. What they do show is the willingness to push the envelope. It is great that they are still around for us to check out and see what was seen as cutting edge at the time.

Aston Martins

AU0E3792.jpgAston Martin is not a company that has varied the styling of its cars significantly over the years. There are several shapes that have formed the basis of their designs but they have been quite effective at making the most of a concept. This is not a criticism in any way. There are few cars from the company that I haven’t liked although some have worked better for me than others. However, when compared to other marques that have had a wide variety of styles and designs in a given timeframe, Aston has been quite simple with its approach.

AU0E3790.jpgConsequently, it isn’t tricky to recognize the Astons on display at Blackhawk. The models on show are some older types but they are some good looking machines. One of them is a racing model which has a slightly more aggressive look to it. They had variations on the green that Aston is known for. I suspect a couple of my family members would like to have seen them!

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Ferraris at Blackhawk

AU0E3827.jpgI am certainly partial to a modern Ferrari. In recent years, Maranello has turned out some really gorgeous looking cars and I wouldn’t mind having the chance to play with one or two of them if the opportunity were to present itself. However, if you go back in time, they came up with some cars that, for their time, were really quite special. It is this vintage of Ferrari that you find in the Blackhawk Automotive Museum.

AU0E3673.jpgThe variation is styles is quite marked. Some are simple looking roadsters but you also have some touring cars that, without a badge might not be obviously a Ferrari to those who are not experts of the marque. The choice of colors for some of them is also a little different from what you would see now. There are a number of cars in the main exhibition area but there are also a couple that are in the entrance foyer to the museum. I guess Ferrari is a brand that has earned to be given a prime spot in any collection.

Blackhawk Automotive Museum

AU0E3612.jpgA short distance north of us is a shopping development that also includes a car museum. The Blackhawk Automotive Museum is something I have been talking about checking out for a long time. Initially, I didn’t assume that it would be terribly impressive so marked it down as something to do when I had a day with nothing much happening. Then I ended up chatting to a colleague about it one day and he told me it was a great collection so Nancy and I decided to take a look. As it happens, the place is outstanding.

AU0E3818.jpgThe collection of vintage cars is extensive. They are a number of types that I will give their own posts in due course. The location itself is very nice with everything laid out in a very elegant fashion. We spent a ton of time looking around. What amazed me was the number of people that came and went while we were there. There are obviously lots of visitors. However, given how much there is to see, they don’t seem to spend much time looking at all it has to see.

AU0E3831.jpgFor now, I shall share some shots showing the whole collection as well as a few of the individual cars. There will be more to come focusing on some of the manufacturers that are well represented.