SC International Auto Show Part 2

In our last blog post, Brian talked about his visit on Saturday with test drives of several new cars.  Today I visited the show in Greenville, and while I didn't test drive anything, I had a good time walking around and looking at a lot of new cars. Also looked at some old cars, since there were displays from a few car clubs in addition to the dealerships that were showing the new stuff.

With a bit of a mix of old and new, from the first picture here you can see that the folks from the duPont Registry were promoting their magazine which features high end automobiles. On display were several Ferraris, a Maserati, two Teslas, some Porsches, a Lotus, the DeTomaso Pantera that Brian pictured in his post, and a nice Saleen. Not a Saleen Mustang, but a Saleen, which is the red car with the Lambo style doors sticking up in my photo above.  I'm pretty sure I will never be able to afford any car in their magazine, but it has been fun to look through the free copies they were handing out!

Also on display was this Studebaker President.  I believe the placard said this two tone paint was the original style, so let me just say that in my list of favorite things in the world that lemon-lime works in a drink, but not on a car.

The fine folks at the Foothills British Car Club had a lot of nice older British rides on display, including this not often seen in this country TVR.  They had two of my other favorite oldies the MGB GT, which was a hard top version of the MG.  Right behind this TVR is a red MGB GT, so to be fair to other colors, here's a non-red one:

OK, what new cars did I like?  How about the latest version of probably the longest running American sports car, the new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray?  I think it's pretty exciting that they brought back the Stingray name, and I'm not really even a Chevy guy, but for an American car that has performance that can rival the $100,000+ European cars and costs starting around $50,000, you've got to appreciate what the Corvette brings to the table!

Speaking of not being a Chevy guy, I'm a big fan of the Ford Mustang.  Just recently they have unveiled what will be the 50th anniversary 2015 Mustang, but we didn't get to see one today. The next best thing was a 2014 Mustang GT, and what got my attention was that one of the options is for Brembo Brakes.  Brembo is probably the biggest name in making fast cars stop quicker, so this was impressive to me. So much gets written about how fast cars are from 0-60, or if their top speed is over 200mph, and how many horsepower make it go faster, but in high performance driving I'd have to say that how well you can slow down is just as important.

Now that I've mentioned brakes, it's time to stop for now.  Stay tuned for an upgrade on the NMS Fiat in the near future.  Thanks for reading!

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SC International Auto Show

This weekend is the South Carolina International Auto Show in Greenville, SC.  I made it to the show this morning and here's a few of my highlights...

The show is smaller than many of the other shows around, but does feature a good number of manufactures and the chance to drive a selection of cars and trucks from GM and Chrysler.  I always enjoy checking out all kinds of new cars to see what's new and how everything compares.

I test drove a Chevy Cruze, Chevy Spark, Buick Regal, and a Fiat 500L just to add a variety since there weren't any test drive options really jumping out at me.

The Cruze was a pretty good, average sedan, but did feature the 2.0L turbo diesel that delivered enough torque to get around for daily driving and presumably good fuel economy.  I would add it to the list of affordable small sedans to consider.

The Spark is Chevy's smallest car and I enjoyed how light and nimble it felt but the approximately 85 horsepower really left it lacking the ability to get out of it's own way.  The interior felt very cheap, but did come well equipped with technology.

The Buick Regal was my surprise favorite car to drive today with the Grand Sport package and a 2.0L turbo gas engine making over 260 horse power.  It's a little larger than the Cruze, but the interior was definitely a big step up from the Chevy models.  It had a solid amount of power on tap at any time, but the automatic transmission seemed to hold it back while the overall ride quality didn't seem too much better than the Cruze.

The Fiat 500L was a ton of fun though.  With the huge amount of headroom and visibility it feels like driving your very own Pope-mobile, but it was nice to see so much of the world around the car.  The Abarth's engine doesn't get hampered too much by the automatic transmission and gives it enough power to get where you need to go with it.  It's just a funky, fun car if you need a get around town car.


Although there weren't test drives available, it's always fun to see a Ferrari F40, Ariel Atom, or the electric Tesla Roadster...all cars the NMS team would love to add to the racing lineup but are still a little out of the budget.

It was good to see the twins (Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ) getting a lot of attention!  I know I'm a fan of light-weight rear-wheel drive sporty cars!

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Coming to Grips with Cold Weather

South Carolina finally got hit with some real cold weather for the first time in a while and certainly the first real cold weather since I've had summer performance tires on the Miata.  It was about 20 degrees yesterday when I was on my way home from the gym and after a slightly over-enthusiastic 3-2 downshift in a big intersection I wound up parking backwards in my lane.

I thought the car was getting loose really quick at Metrolina for our last autocross in 2013, but this was like driving on ice.  Zero damage, but I did learn how slick these summer tires get when it really gets cold.

Lesson learned.  Time to stop procrastinating and put those all seasons I bought last year back on the car...and clean up the garage while I'm at it...

...okay, AND play with the new GoPro.

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Car Show Freak Out!

     Probably every brand of automobile has it's fans and a car club that celebrates their rides.  Performance cars like Mustangs, Camaros, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, and Corvettes have lots of clubs all over the place, and sponsor events such as car shows, cruise-ins, or even racing and autocross events.  The saying that "speed costs money, how fast do you want to spend" is true about racing events, and even if you're not an Indy car, NASCAR or F1 driver, there are lots of ways for you to spend enough to do all the racing you want, as long as you have the money.

     Enough about money, let's talk about cars!  One of the clubs in the US is the Fiat Club of America, and even though there were a few decades recently when no Fiats were sold here, the club has continued to support the Italian cars, sponsor events, and share information to assist owners all over the place.  Their biggest event is the annual get together that they like to call the Fiat Freak Out.

     The 2014 Freak Out will be in the Chicago area from July 10-13, and they have so many activities going on, that if you have a Fiat you're bound to like at least one of them.   FREAK OUT 2014

                                     Two Fiat X1/9, (later imported by Bertone) from the 2013 Euro Fest in South Carolina




    

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Mail Call

     While the internet seems to have taken over life as we know it, some of Nixon Motor Sports favorite things still come in the good old fashioned mail!  Whether it's car parts that are on order, or the cool racing gear that you probably can't find at your local store in most of the world, it's your friendly neighborhood mail carrier that delivers the goods and puts a smile on your face.

     In today's mail it was an auto racing trifecta, with the latest edition of the SCCA magazine, the SCCA 2014 calendar, and another calendar from one of my favorite on line forums that focuses on old Fiats such as the X1/9:  X Web Forum

     The main reason I like the X Web Forum is that cool cars like the Fiat X1/9 are two seater mid engine cars. While some two seater mid engine cars costs hundreds of thousands or over a million dollars, you could probably find a reasonable old X way under $10,000.  That's a lot fewer zeros than a new Ferrari! For some reason, these types of cars, or even the more modern version like the recent Toyota MR2 or Porsche Boxster (OK, more rear engine than mid engine) just seem like the best way to have fun in a car, providing you don't need to haul a lot of stuff or more than one other person!

     Back to the calendar, one of the folks that is a member of the X Web Forum puts together a calendar every year, and this year he was running a little short on photos.  While I don't have an old X, the forum also covers the newer Fiats a little bit, so I offered up a few shots of the NMS Fiat 500 Abarth, and today found out that sure enough they used two very small photos in their calendar.

     Sure it's not a world famous calendar like Dilbert or Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models, and doesn't include anyone famous like the pictures of Bob Bondurant and Paul Newman in the SCCA calendar, but it does have a lot of Italian style, and just a bit of NMS in photos taken at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Here you go, those two little photos of the Rosso (red) car under the main photo!

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Charlotte Cars and Coffee = Chilly

     Those of you that live in the northern part of the planet will laugh when I tell you that it was cold in Charlotte this morning, since it was only 27 degrees, so let's go with "chilly" to describe today's Cars and Coffee. A few of the highlights included three Ferraris (360, 308, Mondial), the nice old Mercedes below with white wheel covers and rally lights, at least one Jaguar E type, the blue Chevy below, and the contrasting Germans in the last photo with an old VW bus and a newer Porsche.

     In addition to these cool cars, there were dozens of Mustangs, Camaros, a Triumph TR7, a Tesla, many Corvettes, Subarus, Hondas, Porsches galore, some Volvos, etc.

     Special thanks to  Foreign Cars Italia for providing free coffee and goodies to the crowd.  On a chilly morning, the hot coffee was much appreciated!
   

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Season 3 of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee"

     Do you need a sense of humor to drive a car? How about to work on one? Not sure about that, but I'll bet a sense of humor helps a lot when your car breaks down. One guy that is into cars is comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and if you didn't know, he has a show on the internet that is pretty much unlike anything else.

     Instead of another sitcom like his long running show from the 90s, try to imagine a talk show with only one guest. Then put that show not on a sound stage, not sitting behind a desk, but just with two people getting into a cool car and then going for coffee. And along the way they have a rambling conversation that may or may not lead to some funny stories.

     Well even if you can't imagine a show like that, it really exists, and has just started it's third season. You can check it out at this link as Jerry and fellow comedian Louis C. K. take a ride in an awesome orange 1959 Fiat Jolly, and then cruise a bit on Louis' boat before stopping for coffee.

comedians in cars getting coffee

     Remember, anything from the 1950s HAS to be good!

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Happy New Year 2014!

     As we start a New Year, NMS is looking forward to another fun filled year of auto crossing, and other related car events throughout the year.  Last year was our first try at autocrossing, and driving in those few events just makes me want to do more this year.

     If you are interested in learning more about autocross, I'm sure you know how to Google up all kinds of information, so let me suggest you check out a few websites such as the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA and the National Auto Sport Association NASA.

    Before too long we'll also have various auto racing going on to follow, like Formula One, NASCAR, and Indy cars, so whether you want to drive or just cheer for your driver and team there is something car related out there for anyone.

     Speaking of NASCAR, you might know that their Hall of Fame and most of the racing teams are based around Charlotte NC, which isn't too far from NMS.  In November Brian and Bob were visiting the area and took a little side trip to see where the Penske racing team calls home.  While you won't be seeing this little Fiat in any NASCAR races, we thought it was a good photo opportunity.

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Michael Schumacher

     We hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays, looking forward to the new year coming up, and maybe reflecting on good memories of the past too.  I think it's important to try and balance how much we live in the past, present, and future, which brings up a thought today of one of the legends of motor racing.

     If you are interested in auto racing or specifically Formula 1, then you know that Michael Schumacher holds the all time record for most wins, most season championships, and many other records. His F1 career is in the past since he retired from the Mercedes team after the 2012 season, but today in the present he is very much in the news. Unfortunately this is due to a skiing accident, and Michael is now in the hospital following a very serious blow to the head.  Even though he was wearing a helmet, his condition as I write is critical, and we want to wish the best to Michael and his doctors, and certainly hope to see him recover in 2014.

     This morning the doctors had a short press conference and released a few details, but it appears that it is too soon for any clear prognosis.   NBC news story on Michael Schumacher

     As far as Nixon Motor Sports goes, in the low speed world of auto-cross we always wear seat belts and helmets and keep safety in mind, so let's keep 2014 a safe year for everyone, especially in every day driving too.

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Going Pro

For the 2014 season, the #86 car will boast an upgrade to the video capture system.  This week we're putting the new GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition through it's paces and experimenting with the capabilities of GoPro's video editing software.

Major improvements over the outgoing Nikon-based system is a significant increase in resolution and clarity, a far wider angle of view, and a significant increase in frame rates.

Here's a quick sample of a few different angles during a quick drive around the neighborhood.  All shot at 720p resolution and 120 frames per second, which allows the slow-mo sections to still show up nice and clear.