IN THE MOMENT / REDWOODS OPEN SPACE RESERVE
Just a few images from a hike this weekend. I'll post a few more later.
In The Moment / BGC Manila
Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts. There's still a fair amount that I still have yet to post so look for the final PI trip stuff along with the sprinkling of car pics which you should expect from me by now.
Hayashi Racing Twins
Because legendary cars ought to have the appropriate "footwear". The Kenmeri is probably my favorite I've seen so far, with or without Hayashis.
K.I.S.S. E30
It's very rare to ever see a car that looks complete, done, perfectly executed. This is such a car, finished in a subtle yet tasteful way IMO. S50, spotless cloth interior, and unmolested exterior with that just right wheel fitment.
Paris / Day 1 Pt. 2
After beginning to get the ins and outs of the city, we began heading towards Sacre Coeur.
Old school Saab 9000 with old meshies somehow fit really well here on the Parisian streets.
At first glance, I thought it looked like an Indian temple at the top of the hill. Maybe because it was so much cleaner (whiter) than most of the other churches and temples we saw. The domed tops helped the Taj Mahal affect too.
Look at these punks causing a ruckus with their skateboarding and scootering. Actually, the real delinquents was the scum at the base of the hill that'd grab people's hands (mostly women) and try to put a piece of colored string on your finger so you'd be "forced" to buy their crappy excuse of a souvenir. Despite the police being in clear eyesight of the activity, they just kept at it the entire time we were there. If you happen to see them, don't be shy to physically push them away and tell them to [shoo] off; it's the only way they'll understand you're more trouble than you're worth and they'll just move onto the next victim.
Once you move past that unfortunately scum though, the rest of the area was really pleasant. Even the pigeons, which look a lot healthier than those in London/SF/LA, were friendly.
It's really refreshing how clear and open the city feels compared to London. Even with the local smoking and the weird smelling grocery stores, the air here is just so much cleaner.
It even managed to get Michelle to crack a smile.
And have I mentioned that I miss hills and breaking up the monotony of the flat, featureless slab of land that is London? Yeah it may be a little bit of an exercise to get up to the top, but I enjoyed every moment of it.
Finally we arrive.
And what a view!
Through the trees and buildings, we even got our first sighting of the Eiffel Tower. Definitely a great area to live for the view, though I'd try to avoid the bottom of the hill.
Because when you think of Memphis, you think of palm trees? Gotta love the crazy MKIII Golf specials.
Alfa Romeo may only have a collection of fwd hatches and saloons/estates (if you exclude the 8C and newly introduced 4C) but man these things are lookers. My favorite looking modern fwd hatch for the longest time has been the VW Scirocco R, but the Alfa Romeo Brera is a very close second.
Peace brah!
The local ads tend to have a fun vibe about them compared to the serious and clean ads of London.
I know this is considered to be the city of lights but it feels like the city of color coming from the bleak streets of London.
One thing that I've noticed these past 3 days is that Paris is the sheer number of scooters and motorcycles, which makes sense when there's almost no parking and the traffic is crazy. What this means to me is plenty of great 60-early 90s bikes to spot, like this Yamaha and BMW.
This wraps up the first day. Stay tuned for the next day as we go to Notre Dame and Pompidou.
Car Spotlight / Hakosuka
The BMW E9 will always be THE coupe for me to obtain and one day I believe I can achieve it since, luckily for me, I actually prefer the lower 2800CS models over the more sought after 3.0 models and idolized CSL models. However, if I had the room and means to have a 2nd classic coupe in my imaginary garage, it'd undoubtably be a black Hakosuka. Something about the great squared off looks and a brilliant carbed straight 6 packaged in a reliable and relatively easy to drive vehicle just checks off all of the right boxes for me. Many car enthusiasts believe that the 60s was the greatest era for automotive design and with great cars like this, you'd be hard pressed to argue otherwise.
Car Spotlight / Ben Sopra GTR
Let's be honest, as much as the internet loves to rave about the Ben Sopra kit, credit card and air saw in hand, not many would actually bite the bullet and go through the irreversible transformation. Speaking from experience, the car actually became less fun to drive, for all the reasons any car with an expensive aero kit would have. Being lower, wider, and having a brittle and long front lip is just part of the cost of the Sopra life (not to mention loss of a trunk, thanks to it's oversized wing). But, when you actually take a moment to stand back and really look at the shape of it, those changes really shape the body into sculpture of speed. It may not be as livable as the stock car or as functional as a Sumo Power GTR, but when it comes to giving the R35 the look of speed, the Ben Sopra really has it nailed.
