Tag Archives: car

Testarossa Brutish Elegance

The mid-80s was very different to today when it came to expensive cars. Now it feels like a new super car or hypercar is being unveiled every other week. The market for big cars was obviously a lot smaller back then. One of the cars of that era was the Ferrari Testarossa. It was a beast of a car with conspicuous grilles on the side and, in an early iteration, only one wing mirror on the driver’s side.

When I come across one these days, it is always a nice reminder of my teenage years. There is one that is a regular at Exotics@RTC. It was there on a normal day and returned for the Italian Day along with some other examples. It is a car with a muscular look to it with a very wide and low profile and some flaring at the back to emphasize its features. I still think it looks great. Whether it is a fun car to drive, I have no idea.

Dead Railcar

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A short distance from our house is an old railcar that is sitting on spare land gradually decaying. It has been here as long as we have and I suspect a lot longer than that. I’m not sure what it is resting on but it does seem to be listing a bit more these days than it was the first time I saw it. I have driven past it on many occasions and often thought that I should take a picture of it. I recently happened to be walking along the road rather than driving so figured I should stop and get a shot. Since it is summer, the plants are grown up around the side of the road so it is a bit harder to get a clear shot of it. I used the longer lens on the phone and stitched together some shots. It would be better to shoot this later in the day when the light is nicer but we shall see if I make the effort to go back – and maybe take a better camera?

The Littlest Campervan

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America is the home of the RV. The size of vehicles which people live in while out on the road is enormous. Exotics@RTC attracts the more unusual vehicles, though, and this little thing showed up. It was in excellent condition and the interior was fitted out for picnics although whether it would be okay for more than day trips is a trickier question. Quite a cute little vehicle, though.

The Widest Load I Have Seen

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Railroads can be used to move unusual loads. In my work I have often had discussions about clearances along tracks to allow the Department of Defense to move outsized loads by rail – presumably tanks! However, most things I have seen have been within the normal clearance diagrams. As I was driving down to the waterfront park at Mukilteo, I passed a train sitting in a siding that was the widest thing I have ever seen on a train. It was two containers side by side. Both of them were hanging over the edge of the car. I assume that it was a single container for moving outsized loads and, given where it was staged, it might have been something to do with Boeing.

As I drove past it, I figured I would walk back and get a photo. However, some locomotives showed up and they started switching everything around. I didn’t get a chance to get a shot from close up. I did take some pictures from a distance and they then staged the vehicles out on the pier where Mukilteo becomes Everett. If anyone knows anything about this load, do let me know. I assume it needs special clearance to move since it must impinge on the adjacent tracks which would make passing other trains an issue!

Corvette C8

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Corvette’s latest model is a big change from their previous designs and got a lot of attention. While walking along the shore, I saw this example waiting to catch the ferry. I had the big lens on at the time which was way more than I needed. At least a bunch of shots can be stitched together to make a pano. When I got up on the walkway, it was easier to get a simple shot down on it. It’s a nice looking car.

Wrong Settings on a Vintage Car, But…

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While hiking through Moran State Park, we came up to a road. As we got there a vintage car of some sort was coming towards us. Annoyingly, I had changed the camera to its base ISO to photograph some waterfalls and hadn’t reset it to auto ISO. It was dark in there so, when I shot the passing vehicle, the shutter speed was way too low. It means the shots were blurred but it actually wasn’t as bad as I had expected.

Minis By Lake Washington

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Shortly before the shelter in place restrictions came into effect, we took a stroll along Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle. It is a popular place for people to walk but also for people out on their bikes and also to drive along. As we wander up the shore, a couple of Minis came the other way. These aren’t modern Minis as built by BMW. These were the originals like the one I learned to drive in. One was a regular mini and the other was configured with a flatbed. I only got a quick shot as they went by. I loved driving the Mini when I was young. It was such a fun car. Of course, if anything went badly wrong, you weren’t exactly well protected so I’m not sure I would be so keen now I am an old git!

Ferraris on State Street

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There have been plenty of posts about sports cars from our time in California and Washington. However, when we lived in Chicago, there were always a ton of exotic cars around the city. These would be in regular use rather than part of organized gatherings. However, one weekend, there was a gathering of Ferraris on North State Street. I had completely forgotten about this until recently working through some old shots.

There was a combination of new cars with some older but no less exotics examples. An F40 was there along with Testarossas. Having this on a busy street in the center of the city seems pretty odd now but it was definitely cool at the time. Here are some of the nice motors that were on show that day.

Cable Car After Dark

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The cable cars are a staple of the San Francisco tourist scene. I still grab the occasional shot of them, even having seen them more times than I can recall. As we were walking back one evening after a fun night out with friends, we crossed the street at Union Square as one was heading up Powell. I figured an evening shot was worth the effort.

Gondola That Doesn’t Go Far

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If you want to get from street level to the Salesforce Park, there is a more unusual method. A gondola runs from the ground up to the park level. We first came across it as we walked through the park and passed the top station. For some reason they only want you to use it in one direction so we watched the car come up and then moved on.

After we had come back downstairs, we checked out the base station. It was not a busy day so there wasn’t any form of line but there were customers taking the ride to the top. It was a simple device and slightly odd. The car was a box with no effort made to style it in an interesting way. However, it did provide a point of interest.