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French & Italian Car Show, Los Angeles - 2011


andrethx

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if i had to describe the show in one word, i would say muddy! :D since friday, it has been raining in LA, and it rained as recently as this morning. this probably kept the attendance of the show down, but it was still a lot of fun and i will definitely be going back again, possibly showing my car next year (gotta represent!). i'll post my pictures in groups, and will be editing these posts as i remember stuff about the cars i saw. enjoy!

andré

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sm citroëns

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sm salt flat speed record car. there's an sm tow vehicle (pic posted by ssb recently) along with a special trailer and the salt flat car itself. the salt flat car has done 200+mph, but i was told that the whole rig (tow car, trailer & salt flat car) together have done 115 mph...

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twin turbo maserati engine:

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the trailer itself has a complete citroën-style hydro-pneumatic suspension engineered and fabricated by the owner. and he seems like such a nice, normal guy! :D

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mehari citroëns

there were two of these at the show. one in good condition, the other, not so much:

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this mehari was literally buried in the mojave desert when it was found and salvaged by the current owner. he has a long, hard road ahead of him to get this thing looking nice; it has apparently come a long way already:

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another glass brake fluid reservoir:

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plastic body panels; when new, they were excellent for resisting damage. now, after decades in the sun, they are cracked and brittle. the owner's father is in the golf-cart business, and has contacts that can vacuum-form plastic body parts, so the owner is hoping for a full body restoration in the future:

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bugatti

classic bugatti. while i was standing nearby, a little kid jumped on the running board of this car and the owner went ballistic. best part of the show. :D

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bugatti racecar. b/c of the crowds, i couldn't get a shot of the front. but note the custom airstream trailer -- looks like a sleeper trailer from the outside, but inside -- bugatti!

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italians

saved the italians for last. the show was actually about 1/3 french and 2/3 italian...i took a pictures of a few of the italian cars that interested me. there were plenty of x1/9s, spiders, gtv6s and 164s at the show, but i assume that you all know what they look like...

abarth 1600?

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fiat 500, then and now:

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alfa montreal

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maserati bora

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lamborghini espadas -- there were two at the show. i've never seen two of these together in my life!

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lancia beta montecarlo abarth; i talked to the owner of this car for a while, a really cool guy. this car is "verde" (green), even though it looks kinda turquoise...

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ferrari 308 gt4, the forgotten 308. black with red leather, impossibly sexy...

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Quite the 505 turnout! :D Bunch of nice cars from the pictures though. I absolutely love Marc's 205, that man's got the French Car Enthusiasts' dream garage: and he's thinking of getting another GTI soon! When I graduate, he'll be one of the first I'll consult in importing myself a Euro Series II Turbo..

Great shots Andre!

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I know I live in the wrong damn place!

Marc's 206 GTi is just cool. Something about it says "WANT IT BAD".

Looking through the photos, something occurred to me: Screw MPH. To hell with car shapes that are friendly to pedestrians. Forget 5 mph bumpers.

Every kid/person that is interested in art, design, soul, creativity should be required to attend shows like this.

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thanks for the kind words, guys, glad you like.

these informal (non-judged) car shows are great, very low key & all about sharing. that's why i'm determined to show my car at next year's "frog and pizza show" (as i heard some of the old-timers call it)...the young people need to see a 505 to know what they're like, and the older folks need to know that we're still here. even if i have to tow my car to the show, it won't be the worst car there. :)

there were some pretty tired cars that i didn't photograph. for example, there was an alfa gtv6 parked next to the montreal...let's just say that the gtv6 was not a looker. still, the guy that owned it couldn't have been nicer; the owner of the montreal had stepped away for a bit so the gtv6 owner told me all about it, politely overlooking the fact that i was oblivious to his car. that was the first "monti" that i've seen up close, and i now realize that i would murder people in their beds at night to have one.... :D

andré

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I wish we have such shows here in Nigeria, where everyone is crazy, dumping their classic cars, going after modern Japanese toys. Even those that decide to still keep their classic cars are been laughed at or made jest of. What a fake part of the world! Anyway, andre, thanks for the pics. They all look nice.

Ikenna.

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Hey Andre! Love the pics. sorry I didn't get out there have been battling that nasty flu bug that's been going around. It's still has a good hold of me. I was really looking forward to meeting with you there and seeing the show. Maybe next year you and I can show our cars! We DEF need to represent the 505 community as it looks like we weren't present.

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