It’s been three years since I’ve moved to Southern California, and the car culture never ceases to impress. Yesterday’s cars and coffee was hosted at the Auto Salon, which is a building that houses Elite Finish Detailing, Auto Armour, and SD Wrap – between the three of these busineses you can have your car pampered, wrapped, and clear bra’d by some of the finest in the business. With plenty of parking, free coffee & donuts, and perfect weather, there was a great turnout ranging from the ultra, ultra-rare Koenigsegg Agera R above to mustangs, Lambos, and of course a healthy showing of Audis courtesy of the San Diego Audi Club.
Erik Dietz brought out his #NardoR8 which had the full gambit of Auto Salon services applied, including a matte wrap on his factory Nardo Grey paint job, clear bra protection, and plenty of C-Quartz Finest to keep it looking great. This is a car that is daily driven, but you couldn’t tell it, even up close. Erik’s car was the last R8 produced that has a gated stick shift transmission, making it the ultimate enthusiast’s car.
Another interesting car was the new Maserati Levante – I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not based on pictures on the internet, and after seeing it in person I’m still not sure how I feel about it…but commercially, I think it should do pretty well for the brand for those who want a nicer SUV than their neighbors but don’t want to pony up the $250k for a Bentley Bentayga. The big grille definitely commands a presence, although the three vents above the front wheels drive me nuts.
There was truly something for everyone there, including a few classics such as this air cooled Porsche 911 above, which was probably one of the cleanest cars there. The more and more you see exotics on a daily basis, the more cars like this start to stand out as impressive works of art and passion…not that there is anything wrong with owning a $300k supercar, but the amount of work and attention maintaining and perfecting a 30+ year old car to show-room quality impresses me a lot more than just buying something already dialed-in.
Speaking of (future) classics, this Audi RS6 was also quite the attention getter. I wish Audi still made twin turbo V8s, what a great idea that was…and this owner is sporting my favorite color, red. Bravo!
There was truly something for everyone though, whether you like big trucks (and you cannot lie), exotics, muscle cars, or Euros. I’m not even quite sure what the vehicle is pictured above, but I’m pretty sure it’s bad ass.
I’ve included a few of my favorites below, then at the bottom have a link to the full Flickr gallery of all pictures I took. The above picture definitely makes me smile between the dog photobomb, TWO yellow Lambos, and even a little cameo from my car in the left corner. Thank you to the Auto Salon for hosting, and I hope to return again soon.
