By Bradley Brownell
Starting the day with a Relient Robin is hardly a bad way to start the day. I’ve seen only a handful of these in person, and I’m always geeked to see one. While Monterey Car Week is always about super cars and vintage racing and concours d’elegance, I always love showing up and seeing the weird and the oddball hoopties at Concours d’Lemons. Additionally, I’m a huge Porsche fan, so of course I had to attend the fantastic Werks Reunion. Both were fantastic, but for very different reasons. Click through to see what I mean. Dozens of mediocre photos await.
Concours d’LeMons
Ah, the almost-never-seen Sasquatch. I absolutely love this truck. I first saw it a few weeks back at the Second’s Saturdays/Canepa Open House event. I was equally enamored with the thing then as I am now. So 80s. So patina. So choice.
Speaking of patina, this Karmann Ghia Cabriolet was absolutely fabulous. I like my old Germans, and this beauty was rough and ready.
Why didn’t porthole windows become a thing? Why can’t I buy a car on the dealer lot right now with porthole windows? Stupid advancement of design…
Oh this is fantastic. I love the color. I love the accouterments. I love that this has the same front suspension and steering rack as my old 944… Of all of the cars at Concours d’Lemons, I’d love this one most. Why couldn’t this have been an adoption event for unloved automobiles?
The Edsel Citation was the right caliber ammunition aimed at the wrong target. Because of that, this car fits right in at the Concours d’Lemons.
Of all the French cars (discounting modern hot hatches) the SM is my favorite. It’s just so strange that you can’t help but love it.
A pair of Yugos will be crowd favorites around these Hoon parts, for sure. Add in that the one on the right is the Edmunds road trip car of YouTube fame, and you’ve got a good story.
I don’t know what to make of this, but I know I want to drive it. In passing, I think I heard something about a Hudson straight six engine powering it. Could be wrong about that, though. Either way, it sounded amazing.
This absurd creation was fantastic to see. What used to be a little Honda appeared to be emulating a Gruppe-B era MG Metro 6R4. I have no idea what was powering it, or what they’d done to the car to make it quite so wide, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t epic levels of cool.
Werks Reunion
At the Rancho Canada (there’s a tilde in there somewhere. Probably over the N. Canyada, not Canada.) golf course on Friday morning, there was a big Porsche show. As some of this has already been or will be touched on by Greg’s post, I won’t dwell on much, but I’ll give my perspective of the event. It was super cool for a P-car guy like me. My extended coverage of this event will be available on FlatSixes.com in the coming days.
Upon reaching the show, my eye was immediately drawn to this lusciously beautiful 993 Turbo. It was the first thing I saw, and remains seared into my mind’s eye. That color. Oh how I love Mexico Blue. One day soon, My Boxster will be painted in this color.
Though I would see three Cayman GT4s last weekend (including a second one at this very show), this was the first one I’d ever seen in person. I’m enamored, and I absolutely will own one some day.
This was only the second 911 GT1 I’d ever seen, including a 996 iteration of the car that was brought to the Monterey Historics two years ago. These are extra special cars, and I can’t handle how beautiful they are.
Part of a very exclusive and Porsche-heavy private collection on the East Coast, these cars are fantastic. I’ve only ever seen two Abarth GTLs, and this is one of them (the other resides in a private collection in Reno and was being exercised on track that very weekend. More in other posts).
I love a good Speedster. Especially if it’s got a 4-cam engine and racing pedigree.
This gorgeous 914 carried a 3.6 liter 993 engine and lots and lots of work. I bet it’ll do burnouts all day long.
The colors that were available on P-cars in this era are just fantastic. Unbeatable.
Never discount any Porsche with an RS emblem.
Here’s that other GT4 from the event. It’s painted in Basalt Black Metallic, and it was spectacular.
This hippy-aping livery was extra cool.
The Carrera GT never fails to amaze me. I’ve driven one and I still stop in my tracks when I see one.
If you’re going to have a Porsche race support truck, it’d damn well better be German.
The 356-based Enzmann.
The 356-based Denzel.
The sort-of 356-based and Glockler-inspired Runge Karosserie Frankfurt Flyer 004.
The best use of decal in the history of ever.
More patina’d Speedster.
This is the color that my Boxster will eventually be. Picture this with late headlamps and a GT3 bumper and MUCH wider wheels and tires.
The 997 Carrera Speedster in Pure Blue. It’s still gorgeous, and it still makes about as much sense as it did when it debuted.
Spotted in downtown Monterey from the bridge. If you’ve been there, you know the one.
Spotted in a parking garage just a couple of blocks away. I love 993s, and a nice C4S is always worth stopping to ogle.
[All photos ©2015 Hooniverse/Bradley C. Brownell, All Rights Reserved.]
Greg Kachadurian
Fun and interesting article. But you rightly ask why didn’t porthole windows become a thing? Perhaps it’s because the last car to wear portholes was such a loser, thus damning the feature forever.
Interesting theory.
http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/5/9/8/port.JPG
The last?
http://www.portholeauthority.com/thenewtbird/2004/silver/rs2long_800.jpg
You’re right about the retro-‘Bird – I should have known better. But it just underscores the validiity of my statement,
True dat.
Someone posted this over at BaT. It’s probably a known classic to most of the readers here, but it was new to me and I found it absolutely fantastic. Cracked me up.
Hey, I posted it here a week ago!
https://hooniverse.com/2015/08/18/hooniverse-asks-whats-the-least-desirable-new-or-used-convertible/#comment-2201418934
That video seems to be undergoing a mini-renaissance in the past few days.
That was their idea of an April Fool’s prank.
I liked it.
I saw a newer port holed Pinto wagon at a cruise in in Perrysburg Ohio a couple of weekends ago. It was cosmetically perfect (ugly wheels aside), all kinds of orange and had V8 power.
The orange interior though.
That MG reminds me of this Spitfire, also seen at that Perrysburg cruise in. There was no information displayed, but judging by the wheels and the transverse leaf spring rear suspension, it seems to be dropped on a Corvette chassis.
On the Golf I: are you sure about the steering rack on the 944? Manual racks seem to be the holy grail on 944s, but manual Golf I steering racks are well available in Europe. This should be known in the community, so I could make a living from sending used racks from Germany to the US.
(944/1 control arms do indeed have a 171 part number, only the rear bushing is different.)
I’ll look into the rack thing and let you know if I come up with anything.
Great, thanks!
The Sachquach is owned by our own Zombee Racer. From what I’ve read, the home made dragster does have a Hudson straight six. And the little #15 Honda is powered by a turbo SAAB engine.
that bridge picture. there are times when i don’t get the 911 thing, and times when i totally get it. i am experiencing the latter.