San Francisco International Auto Show '03
This year's International Show at the Moscone Center was more exciting because the SCCA had much more
floor space for their display. Instead of that little corner at last year's show, the SCCA had an entire
banquet room to fill with all types of race cars in different levels of preparation. Their display was by
far the most exciting for me. Yeah, I may be biased since I participate in Solo 2 events. =) Sure, there were
some super-exotic cars there--Ferraris, Lamborghinis, the Bentley Boys' Le Mans car, prototypes from different
manufacturers, etc.--but, how many of 'em actually race their cars?
The one thing that disappointed me was the Solo 2 video tape that was made for the show. Some jerk walked off
with the tape. By the time my friends and I got to the SCCA display on Sunday afternoon, the tape was AWOL. =(
We were looking forward to seeing the footage because Alan's Blue Bomber had some exterior shots while I was
driving. Doh!
Photos by Carl Valderama
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This was what greeted you as you first entered the show. Nice, huh? I dig
the F1-style front fascia. |
| A rear quarter shot. I kinda had mixed feelings about the lines; in some
angles, there are some nice curves, but then in other angles, it's a bit too angular. |
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We were shocked, saddened, and eventually had some laughs about this display.
Of all the cars they could choose from. Hahaha! =) |
| I liked the paint scheme on this Cooper; the roof had a cool checkered
flag, too. |
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This was the engine bay of a Mercedes that was massaged by some tuner.
The big, shiny chunk of metal on top of the block was part of the supercharger tract. |
| A modded Porsche 911 Turbo from the same tuner company. Pay close attention
and you'll notice that thin screen monitor they mounted in the front trunk area. A bit too much? |
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The new WRC Subaru WRX. I wished this was on the floor so I could poke my
head underneath and inside the car. |
| A shot of the Subaru's rear underworkings. Check out how much camber the
rear wheels have! |
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Now those are some mean brakes up front! |
| This is supposed to be the last makeover of the current Acura NSX. |
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A classic Ferrari race car. You could never get me to race one of these
on a track--imagine rolling one of these over, much less crashing one into a wall! |
| It still has the hand crank starter up front. |
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The engine takes up nearly half the car length. Compare that to the compact
and lightweight V-10s in the Formula 1 cars. |
| The new Lotus Elise with the Toyota 2ZZ-GE motor in it. I'd love one of
these. And it's in my favorite car color, too! |
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All of the reviews of the new Elise sound great. At $39,000 USD, it's a
bargain. Plus, you can drive it on the road instead of keeping it a trailer queen! |
| The Bentley Boys' Le Mans LMP900 class race car. I couldn't believe how
short in height this was--seeing it on TV doesn't do it justice. |
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