Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevrolet Corvette

I usually don't shoot many "cliche" cars, but the Corvette has always stood out as a childhood favorite car; many people despise the fourth-generation Corvette (referred to as the C4 by enthusiasts), but I am not scared to admit I still sort of like it. As a little boy, the C4 was still fresh when I was born, and the facelift came out when I was about three or four. Initially, I loved the post-facelift cars, and grew to hate the first-generation C4; now, though, it's quite the opposite. The only post-facelift car I still adore is the ZR1, and the Grand Sport. The older ones, however, I am developing quite a fondness for. The wheels on the first iteration still give me the chills-- I never liked them, and I never will. This example rectifies that problem--quite well.










Like most early C4s, this car is a love it-or-hate it vehicle for me; on one hand, I love it because it's an original-shape C4, and not the cheap-looking facelift version, and one hand I hate it. The poking-out exhaust looks awful, and that half-assed wing looks positively stupid. Most Corvettes aren't beaters by nature, but this example seemed a bit neglected--or maybe that was just the area in which I found it.
Aftermarket wheels with missing centercaps would suggest a rather hard life, but I can't be too quick to judge. These wheels look better than the stock ones, and the exhaust is obviously not stock, so I can assume that this thing gets hounded on a daily basis. And it probably sounds quite good, too.
I love spotting the early C4s, and this one is no exception; if it were mine, I'd ditch the wing, and add better fitting exhaust tips. I do quite like the rolling stock, and I'd leave them alone. This is one nearly-perfect C4 that only need minor touch-ups to be immaculate.

Colin's Toybox: Hot Wheels Chevrolet Corvette

As a child, I loved the contemporary Corvette, for the same reason I did so the Firebird--it looked cool. As a youngster, I associated the Corvette with all things awesome, even if the car itself was no more cooler than a Camaro. When I was in first grade, a kids' mom had a tan C4 Corvette that I used to get rides home in sometimes. I remember it because it smelled like a combination of burnt cigarettes and stale perfume--not quite a good combination, no? Anyway.. that's not the point. I had a bunch of these cars when I was little-- well, not this exact casting. I had the original Hot Wheels C4 Corvette that was simply titled "1980s Corvette". In 1984, the C4 was introduced, so it could've represented any Corvette from 1984 to 1989. I often called them a vast array of names "85 Corvette", "new Corvette" among many others. Sadly, almost none (except this one) survived my destructive childhood.
This one, I've had for about the same time (I think) as the Peugeot 405 I posted earlier; like it, I baby this one incredibly. I make sure that if there's dust on it, I clean it off. While I don't like the real car very much, I have a strong bond with this lone example of its Hot Wheels brethren. And I hope that does not change.

Formula One Sports Cars

In the heart of Miami's exotic car franchises, authorized dealers are usually the cream of the crop; then there are those seemingly small dealers with tiny front lots with room for maybe 8 or 10 cars inside. When it comes to quality over quantity, Formula One Sports Cars fits this bill quite nicely. Lamborghinis en masse, FOSC does not have. What it has instead, is a rather nice but varied collection of rather high-end sports cars, and the most common nameplate in inventory is Ferrari.



Outside is where the eye candy began; I am a sucker for Audi's R8 lineup. Sure, they are seen as "normal" exotics.. but man do they look awesome. There is a full range available to choose from, but it seems that Formula One only stocks the V10 models. Good, because if you desire an R8, chances are you want more than the average 4.2L V8 found in the tame Audi S5 coupe. Right? If you're happy with just a V8, you should not own an R8; go buy the S5 (or god forbid A8) you so desire. It fits your needs better.







Next up is this awesome Lotus Exige S260; stripping everything in the already bare Lotus Exige makes for an extremely fun car. With a dry weight of just over a ton, and over 260 horses on tap, this four-cylinder wonder will be sure to leave you begging for more. A/C? None. Heater? Not there. Booming stereo? You've got a high-revving supercharged four. You don't need a stereo. Sticky tires? Absolutely! Big brakes? Of course! What's a necessity is left, and and what isn't needed is simply discarded. If you like luxury, the Elise s260 is not your car. If you wish to experience driving excitement more than any Pontiac can ever begin to offer, you've found your car. The S260 is exactly what you need. And at $52,800, this example is reasonably affordable.






And here's the rest of what's outside, as determined as picture-worthy by me.



But inside is where it counts; yes, the vehicles on display outside are great for making car enthusiasts stop and stare, but really.. the amazing stuff is indoors, as is always the case. I have something of a Ferrari fetish if you will. I can't seem to get enough of the Prancing Horse. I love the 355, I am so-so on the 360/430 series, but the new 458.. Omigod. What a car! 562 horses, mid/rear engine, V8 screamer with exquisite bodywork. What could possibly go wrong?






I was first awestruck by the 458 in pictures; it looks stunning in red, I do admit. I am a huge sucker for bright colors, though, and I have thing for yellow Ferraris. To my (not quite) surprise, Ferrari's newest sports car creation looks jaw-droppingly gorgeous in yellow. The wheels on this yellow horse look brilliant, and far better than the cliche five-spoke wheels that adorn most others. Smart color combination, especially with these wheels. Well done, Ferrari, well done.





Up next as far as the Ferraris go is this wonderful 16M Scuderia spider. Built as an even more limited edition than its hardtop F430 Scuderia stable, just 499 of these were built, and in Florida alone I saw about 11 different ones. To me the Scuderia,and 16M spiders fixed everything I didn't like about the normal F430; the engine, the wheels, the exhaust note, and the front bumper looks far better, too. I want one, and I want it now.





And here are some artistic shots of the three Prancing Horses lined up in a row.









The AC Cobra is the most replicated car in car culture history. Why? Just look at it, for starters. It's a timeless sculpture that will never go out of style; you can build replicas from mild to wild, street cars, track-oriented monsters, and showcars; cars that are powered by tame 289s, nitrous fed 500+ cube engines, and everything in between. While I must admit that I am not quite a fan of every modification done here, I quite like the overall effect; it looks like the type of car that would be docile enough in traffic (yeah, right, I might as well eat my words), but could truly scare the average driver if its let loose. Since this example has the typical 427 badging on the front wings (fenders), it's safe to say that this version is built up using Roush components. No bad thing, really. Id probably do the same, but maybe add a turbo to the mix just to keep things a bit interesting. Who wouldn't love an open-top roadster with little weight, a smidgen of low end grunt, and lots of top end whistling? I know I would absolutely adore such a beast.




The last notable sighting from inside was this-- Mercedes' and AMG's newest creation. Packing the all-too-familiar AMG 6.3 (6.2xx really) V8, this beast replaced the McLaren SLR in 2011. As one can see from the pictures, this supercar doesn't skimp on fancy features; the doors open in true gullwing fashion as a tribute to the 300SL Gullwing, and the upright grille is said to mimic the race cars that preceded this newest supercar. One area I am a bit not-quite-keen on is the huge blind spot behind the doors. I do realize it has to be metal for the sake of structural rigidity.. but.. it looks bad and particularly unfinished. Although the base model wheels seen on this example look a little generic, even by AMG standards, there are uplevel wheels that suit it better, but they do indeed cost more. There is now a roadster version on sale, too, but it suffers from generic Mercedes syndrome; when they chopped off the roof, Mercedes ruined any notion of '"special" the hardtop had-- and they ruined the lines in the process. Sad to say it, but the SLS Roadster is just another generic $200k+ convertible that will snapped up by people who know nothing of Mercedes' glorious racing history.





The other two from the showroom. Nice, but I only grabbed a couple pictures.

Overall, this was an amazing dealership; nice staff, pleasant atmosphere, and a great location. I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to shoot inside; virtually no glare, and the cars were spaced out enough that great pictures were extremely easy to take, and unlike most dealerships, I didn't really have to get funky and position myself in weird ways to get the shots I desired. If you're ever in Florida, look these guys up-- definitely worth a visit if you're a died-in-the-wool exotic car nut.