Tag Archives: Redmond Town Center

Is a Bugatti 57 Valuable?

Only my second visit of the year to Exotics@RTC and it was another special day. This time it was Classics which seems to be a rather generic term but does provide for a bunch of older cars or all sorts of origins to be included – particularly stuff that wouldn’t normally have its own day! A star of the show was this Bugatti 57. I had got there early to try and get some shots before the crowds built up and it arrived while I was walking around. I got some shots of it driving up and then once it was parked.

It rapidly got a lot of attention. Later on, when I was trying to get some shots of it from above, I realized that there was always such a throng of people in the vicinity that my usual technique of blending multiple shots would not work. I was glad to have been there early! I don’t know how these cars get valued. I looked up sale prices for these vehicles and there were some that went in the millions and others that were in the hundreds of thousands. Where this one sits in relation to all of those, I have no idea. I do know the owner was very happy to let people sit in it and have their picture taken which is the great thing about events like this.

Do You Really Need Four Wheels?

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Another feature of English Day for Exotics@RTC is the occasional Morgan showing up. If a Morgan three-wheeler makes an appearance, it is guaranteed to garner a lot of attention and this event was no different. We actually got several of them. Trying to get some clean shots of them was tricky given the number of people that were checking them out. I am not a massive fan of Morgans per se but they are still something different to see amongst a sea of modern McLarens.

Plenty of Minis

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English Day at Exotics@RTC means there will be some Minis. I mean the original Minis – none of the BMW type (I say none but there might be a few although they aren’t getting prime spots). They take me back to my childhood as the car I learned to drive in. These examples are in better condition and are far better performers than our 850cc example was, but they still look much the same.

One of them had a wooden dash which reminded me of my friend Sam. She had a mini with a wooden dash and she put in in a place for some work and, when she got it back, the dash wears gone. They denied it had ever been there and she was absolutely gutted. If you are reading this Sam, I hope that isn’t too painful a memory. If you haven’t ever driven on old Mini, my memory of it was that they were like a go kart. I haven’t driven one for decades and wonder how they would seem after years of driving modern vehicles. I hope it would still be fun.

Italian Day At Exotics Again

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The schedule for Exotics@RTC has been erratic this year. They have had to scrub a bunch of events as a result of the poor weather. However, with summer finally arriving in the Pacific Northwest, they have had a run of successful gatherings. One of these was their Italian Day. I have been to this before and it is always a fun event with a lot of interesting vehicles. It was going to worth going again.

The center of the venue was packed as usual. Plenty of Ferraris and Lamborghinis to look at. Not as much variety in the Ferraris as in some previous events but still a lot of good looking cars. These are nice to see but it is perhaps more fun to spot the oddities that show up. I was interested in how many Alfa Romeo Spiders were in attendance and just have different they could be. I guess the Spider stayed in production for a long time and the design evolved a lot over that time. Annoyingly, I didn’t seem to get any good shots of them. There were plenty of other Alfas, though as well as some older Ferraris. These shots are a sample of what was on display.

AMG Mercedes Fins and Strakes

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I was taking a look at one of the AMG Mercedes cars that was at Exotics@RTC. This is a road car but it has clearly gone through a lot of aerodynamic development. The front end of the car is covered in aero treatments with fin and strakes of all sorts. I have no idea how important this is for driving the car around Seattle but it was really quite something. I spent a few minutes just looking at them and thinking back to my aero days.

McLaren Elva

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This car was at the opening weekend of Exotics@RTC and I have to admit I had no idea what it was at the time. A couple of days later, I saw a YouTube video about it and realized that it was what I had seen. The McLaren Elva is a strange vehicle. No roof and not even a windshield. Apparently, it is strange enough that they are not selling so well and the production run has been reduced. I guess the best part of two million dollars is too much for a car that requires you to wear googles and probably a helmet!

Citroen Style

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I must not be a typical Brit because I seem to have an affinity for things French. This is something I have acquired over the years (and may be the reason I was driven from the UK!). The French do things their own way and it results in some really interesting stuff. The Citroen DS is just such an interesting thing. I first noticed one when traveling on a ferry and was fascinated when it started up and the suspension inflated. I had never seen something like that before.

The looks didn’t appeal to me then because I was used to the more familiar vehicles of the time. Now I have come to appreciate it for being a stylish looking vehicle. Sure, it has quirks that might make it a nuisance to own but it certainly looks very swish. One was on display at Exotics@RTC and I was drawn to it. It certainly didn’t hurt that the owner had applied hubcaps that looked like some sort of hypnosis device. What a fantastic addition to the day.

BMW M1

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Another supercar at the opening weekend of Exotics@RTC was a BMW M1. This one was slightly away from the center of things but still in the premium area. However, I suspect it wasn’t getting as much attention as some of the other cars. I ended up chatting to the guy that owned it. He was from Sarf London but now lives out here and was a fun guy.

The M1 came out a while before I went to university and I recall that one of my aero professors had been involved in the design team. It has the look of a supercar from that era but that doesn’t stop it looking cool. I was particularly taken by the wheels which were made by Campagnolo – the manufacturer of the group set for my road bike!

Cars like this showing up are what makes Exotics@RTC such a fun event. There will always be a lot of super expensive cars on show – many of which are brought along from dealers – but there will be some unusual and interesting vehicles that are a bit out of the ordinary. For someone that knows their cars better than me, it would be a particular treat.

Exotics Starts Its 2022 Season

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After two aborts due to bad weather forecasts, the Exotics@RTC season finally kicked off in April. The first event of the year is always a popular one with both those displaying their cars and those coming out to see them. I was keen to be there and didn’t have a conflict so got ready early and headed down to Redmond. It was a full showing. They had the center of the shopping mall filled with cars as is the case for the special days – normal weekends are confined to the parking lots – and it was interesting to see what cars had a lot of attention.

Some of the more special cars are often there and don’t get so many people looking at them. I find it strange that a Ferrari F40 elicits so little attention. Even the Senna wasn’t getting too many people around it. With so many exotic vehicles, I guess there is plenty to look at. A few of the cars I saw on this day will get their own posts because they deserve it. However, this will be a selection of the views and cars available that day.