Tag Archives: Redmond

One of My Dream Rally Cars

The 80s was a time of some crazy cars in the rally world. Rallying was a big deal in those days and the impact it had on car sales was significant. The hot hatches were heavily influenced by rally based marketing. One car that was a big success in WRC was the Lancia Delta Integrale. The road cars that came from homologation of rally cars were hot property. Coming across one now is even more exciting than it was back then. This Integrale was part of Exotics @ RTC. It wasn’t getting a whole lot of attention (plenty of supercars on display to attract the visitors) but there were probably a few guys my age that recognized it and appreciated what it was.

Some Old BMWs

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My visits to Exotics@RTC provide an interesting mix of different vehicles. On one Saturday morning, there were a few older BMWs on display. I have never been particularly interested in owning BMWs but the old ones catch my eye, probably more for nostalgia than anything else. The simplicity of them compared to the modern vehicles is striking. The hard edges, the bumpers, the sparse interiors – it is so far from what you get now.

Of particular interest was a racing 6 Series coupe. This was tricked out with all the normal accoutrements of a racing car of that vintage but it looks positively gentile compared to a modern racing car. The details in the rear wing were very cool and the finishes looked very well taken care of. I wouldn’t say it was a good looking car but it was definitely noteworthy.

Old Porsches

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Tons of Porsches show up at Exotics@RTC. There are more 911s than you can shake a stick at an I am not someone that is terribly au fait with Porsche models anyway so I can tell which ones are which. Rather than focus on the latest ones, I am often looking out for some of the older versions that show up. The late eighties had some beefy 911s like to Turbo and something like that would be good to see.

You also get some more vintage versions of the marque popping in and these are always worth a look. The standard of care/restoration is usually very impressive and, while the Porsche guys will be checking the cars out, they don’t get the same level of interest as the Ferraris and Lambos across the parking lot.

Too Many McLarens for Me to Know

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It doesn’t seem that long ago that there was interest in McLaren starting to develop road cars. I guess the first time I saw one on the road, we still lived in Chicago, so it has been a while. However, it still feels very recent. What I haven’t done is pay much attention to what the different models are. Consequently, when I am at Exotic@RTC, there are a bunch of McLarens from the local dealer as well as some local owners and I have absolutely no idea which model is which. Moreover, I don’t know whether or is a base model of “little” interest or a particularly rare example. I might recognize a Senna by the huge wing but haven’t seen one of those yet.

Instead I just wander around and look at the various cars to see which ones I like the look of. Their styling is generally pretty nice. Some of them have more interesting shaping for the aerodynamics (no surprise that is something I am focused on) but the simpler shapes are nice too. Seeing which colors they bring can be fun too. Some of the colors are rather vibrant/gaudy. I was quite interested in one vehicle that was originally painted red but had been wrapped in a matte gray film with just some elements of the red visible around certain areas.

Since I don’t know which model is which, I guess it is probably safer for me to just not bother buying one for now. I’ll have to do my research to make sure I don’t buy the wrong one. That would be so embarrassing…

Redmond Airtanker Base

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My trip to Madras involved flying in to Redmond airport, about half an hour south of Madras. Hayman and I came in on the same flight and shared a ride to Madras. As we drove out of the airport, something interesting caught my eye on the other side of the field so we did a little exporting before heading off. Redmond has a base for Airtanker operations in support of firefighting. The aircraft that I had first seen was a DC-7 that had been converted for tanker operations and was painted up in Erickson colors. It looked immaculate and the activity suggested it might be preparing to depart. With fires in the surrounding hills, there was plenty of work.

While we waited for it to start up, a BAe146 tanker conversion landed and taxied in to the base. It was the first time I had seen one in person. Sadly the fencing around the base was rather touch to shoot through. Hayman made good use of the gap under the gates but my camera shape did not allow that. I had to make do with shooting through the fence where possible.

Shortly after the 146 came in, the DC-7 fired up and taxied out. With it gone, we figured it was time for us to continue on our way too.