This page contains photos from the Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance held on June 20th 1999.
All images and movies were taken with a Sony Mavica digital camera and edited on a
Sony Vaio Laptop running Linux. The Movies are in MPEG format and are of a very low resolution and shot by an
appallingly bad cameraman (me). Since the resolution is so low (160x112) I advise you to
double the size of the video window - then use your imagination...
Video
Movie: 160x112 700K Some Great Alfas
Movie: 160x112 160K A very nice Alfa Spider :-)
Movie: 160x112 260K My Alfa and my girlfriend :-)
Movie: 320x240 1.1M Ferrari 365 - Note Spider door handle
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This is my car, a 1973 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. I bought it a few months ago to replace my
1985 Spider. The car has been totally restored (SOMA automotive in San Francisco). Its like
new except for a badly cracked dash which I hope to fix later in the year. I use the car as
my daily driver.
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Here is view of some Alfa Romeo Assocation(ARA) Spiders.
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These GTVs are in amazing condition, I don't think they get driven very much.
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One of the most desirable alfas of the all, a TZ. I've seen these things in action at
Sears Point and they are fast. Very Ferrari 250 GTOish...
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This nice 308 was for sale for $39K! overpriced in my opinion, anyone want to make a donation?.
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A nice shot of the some Ferraris from the local Ferrari Club.
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A very nice 550 Maranello. A friend of mine recently got a ride in one of these - he's still grinning.
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Some Lamborgini Diablos from Stanford European. I visited the factory (gates)
back in easter. It's located in Sant Agata - the smallest village I have ever seen, and I grew in in Ireland..
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This is the crazy V12 engine from a gorgeous Lamborghini Muira.
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Here's the Muira in all its glory. Personally I don't approve of the naff
wheels, I guess they were trendy in 1970.
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Another view of the Muira.
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The prettiest Lotus I have ever seen - the Lotus Elan S2. You can see quite
clearly where Mazda ripped off the design for the Miata/MX-5. This particular
car was flawless and finished in my favorite color for british cars - british racing green.
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Interior view of the Elan - the wooden dash is really neat.
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Elan...
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This is a Lotus 7, an incredibly fast fun car that I've seen beat Ferrari's at Sear's Point.
Recently I had a ride in a replica and fell in love with it. The driving position
is quite strange: you almost sit on the rear axle. Turning is strange because because
the whole car turns in front of you, it seems to pivot from your seat.
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This is another Zagato designed Alfa, Zagato like glass don't they...
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Here's a cure old Riley Elf - one of the many Mini variants from the old BMC/Austin era.
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This is a nice Ferrari F355 finished in a brilliant green. I had never seen a
Ferrari in this color before, very attractive.
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A few Ferraris including what looks like a grown up Alfa Romeo Spider. I believe its a 330 GT ?
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A really nice 275GTB. This cars cost $180K+ now, thats why you never see them driven, what a
shame.
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The engine bay of my favorite grounded fighter plane - the Lamborgini Countach.
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Lamborghini Countach
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Where the pilot sits.
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A Ferrari 365 GT
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Another beautiful Ferrari and one of my favorites, the 246 Dino GTS
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Engine bay of one the the craziest racing cars of them all, the Porsche 917.
Several drivers are have said its the only car they know that can wheelspin
at 200 mph! It has 1100 bhp. I was lucky enough to see these race at the 1998 Laguna
Seca historic races where Porsche celebrated their 50th anniversary.
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A front view of the car.
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Engine bay of the outrageous and ugly Ferrari F50.
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You can not afford this.
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I've never seen these raced - F40's yes but no F50's.
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The fabulous Audi TT. Hard to believe theres a VW golf under there. Its a fabulous
car but had terrible rear 3/4 vision for tall drivers. Well I guess if your driving
faster than everyone you don't need to look behind you.
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Yes this is real, the fantastic Lotus Elise. Apparently there are only 12 in the country and none
are road legal - at least not in California. This is the second Elise I've seen
in the states and its very special. It's the latest Elise 190 with 190 bhp from a race prepared
Rover K-series engine. The only differences I noticed where the roll bar, darkened light covers and off course the engine.
Apparently the suspension is tuned for racing aswell.
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Personally I prefer it in British Racing Green.
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A Lamborghini Espada. I'm growing fond of these cars. They're huge, have a V12 engine
and have 'presence'. Perfect for family trans european road trips.
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DeTomaso Pantera. An italian car with american muscle. Drive in style and get it serviced
by bubba at the local 76 garage.
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The Avanti, a car way ahead of its time and still quite handsome today.
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inside the avanti
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Another Ferrari 550 Maranello, Jeez they're everywhere...
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Some Ferrari's.
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More exotica
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Some more of the ARA club members Alfas. This car is a Junior Z (by Zagato). Don't forget
to look at some of the Video's of these cars.
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A nice line up of Alfas.
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One of the Ferraris snarling out of the park.
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The original and the best pocket rocket - the Renault 5 Turbo II. This car is for sale.
These cars are seriously fast - and easy to park... :-)
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The Mini Clubman. This mini is in great condtion. Its not very original - it had abarth
wheels and recaros. But I say its better to have a non-original car and drive it than
keep it original and never driving it - that drives me nuts! ITS A CAR - DRIVE IT!
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A nice view of the ARA alfas.
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Need I add a comment ? I didn't think so...
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Another view of some spiders, thats my funmobile in the middle