Great Garages

Exclusive Pocono Mountain Car Collector’s Estate
Secluded Pocono mansion with detached 24 car heated collectors garage for sale. Garage offers 6,000 sf total with dual drive through entry on garage level and a 3,000 sf unfinished second floor. Garage is equipped with security system.

Luxury Home in Colorodo

This is the car aficionado’s dream! A huge garage plus a fantastic playroom upstairs to watch car races, concerts – whatever! Wet bar, guest BR and rooms, rooms rooms! This Rock and Stucco 6601 fin.s.f. custom Colorado home is designed for the serious car collector. The home has an attached handsomely finished collector’s garage for up to 7-8 cars, plus an additional attached 3 car garage. With 4 fireplaces, 4 br. and 6 ba., it backs to a beautiful golf course and waterfall. Don’t miss this!

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Hilton Head Island Concours d’ Elegance, October 30-November 1 2009

It is hard to believe that in less than 4 months the 8th annual Hilton Head Island Concours d’ Elegance will be upon us again. Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival To Be Featured on The Speed Channel on August 17. Mercedes-Benz Selected as Honored Marque this year.

The festival recently announced its new Chairman of the Board. Philip A. Capossela, an active participant since the Festival’s inception, a member of the Board of Directors and a Hilton Head Island resident since 2005, has accepted the role effective as of June 8.

Seventh Annual Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival Set for October 30-November 2, 2008.

Atlanta Tour of Homes 2009

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Don’t miss the Atlanta tour of homes this year. The Midtown Atlanta tour of Homes is April 18, 2009 from 11:00am to 5:00pm. You’ll be able to see some of the most unique and eclectic homes you’ve ever dreamt of, or perhaps past by and always wondered what they looked like from the inside. The tour costs $20 in advance or $25 the day of th​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​e​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​e​​v​​en​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​t​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Tickets can also be purchased at Outwrite Bookstore located at 250 10th Street.

Also don’t miss the Modern Atlanta Home Tour and Events which takes place May 12-17, 2009.

For 2009 they will be featuring homes and interiors by Atlanta’s leading contemporary studios with names like Dencity, BLDGS, TaC Studios and more. You’ll be able to see the latest trends in design and architecture in Atlanta with this self guided tour of modern homes. The cost for tickets is $35 for both Saturday and Sunday tours with includes entrance to the MA09-Design Is Human Opening Night Kickoff Party and Exhibitions. Click here for more info.

Stone Mountain Car Museum is No Longer

The Antique Car Museum at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park was opened in 1963 by Tommy Protsman and his son Bobby to showcase their private collection of antiques and cars. With nearly four decades of experience under its belt, the museum housed forty antique cars and over 4000 interesting antiques. The museum included such rare cars as a 1948 Tucker and a 1928 Martin. Voted by Car Collector Magazine as one of the top ten car museums with fifty cars or less, the museum was a must see destination for all car lovers and antique connoisseurs.

Why was it that way? Because in December 2008 Bobby Protsman had to close the museum and put the entire contents up for auction. The auction is slated for March 21-22, 2009with a public viewing on March 20, 2009.

Bobby starts a 1923 Model T Roadster in the warehouse. There will be no more strolling through this amazing private collection of vintage automobiles and other memorabilia. See antique Chevys, Mustangs, even a Tucker! Reminisce over historic toys, bicycles, and jukeboxes.

Bobby is not almost 72 years old. He plans to use the auction money to travel with his wife, Ruthie. It is hard to believe that he has been operating the museum for over 46 years of his life. One of the cars for auction is a Model T owned by former Governor of Georgia, Lester Maddox, a 1955 Studebaker President Speedster, a 1966 Corvair convertible, a 1932 Packard and a 1982 Corvette.

The auction company handling the sale is Rich Penn; visit http://richpennauctions.com for more details.

There are also antiques for sale such as an antique carousel horses, giraffe, carousel running pig, VMC 33 10¢ Coca-Cola machine with attached “Colored” only and “White” only drinking fountains, a child’s Buick pedal car barbar chair from 1926, mannequins of all shapes and sizes, two antique jukeboxes from 1946 and one from 1952, a Mortier 69 key organ all hand-crafted, carved and painted, more bikes than you can shake a stick at including Harley Davidson and Schwinn.

There was only a small fee to go through the museum, but now that chance is gone. When I was growing up it was a real treat to go into the car museum located on Robert E. Lee Blvd. I’m so glad I had the chance. Now the chance is to own a piece of that history. Sure there are some expensive items but with this economy there are some good buys also. I have my eyes on some of the bargains and already a spot picked out in the garage. If I win something perhaps there can be a few tears of joy among those of sorrow that this place is now lost for my own children.

Amelia Island Concours – March 2009

Amelia Island Concours d’Elégance
March 13-15, 2009

This is the 14th annual Concours for Amelia Island. One of the anniversaries being celebrated is for Southern California coachbuilder Bohman & Swartz who will have their own class for two special 1959 race cars. Another that everyone is looking forward to seeing is the one-of-a-kind 1938 Phantom Corsair originally put together for Rust Heinz of the Heinz food empire. Vetran racer David Hobbs will be the honoree of the Concours this year and will no doubt share some of his stories from his Formula One racing days.

Visit Amelia Island this year and you’ll be able to marvel at some of the world’s most glamorous vehicles. Everything from Detroit muscle cars to Ferrari and Duesenberg will be presented. The event happens on the lush green fairway of Summer Beach, where millions of dollars worth of gleaming cars, some of them one of a kind will be presented. The backdrop for the display is the ocean. But what everyone is there to see are the cars. This year there should be about 250 rare vehicles are on display.

Even if you are not usually a car nut, you can’t help yourself from being dazzled by the flash and eye candy adorning the fairway. The Amelia Island event has really come into its own as a Concours and with the respect comes more and more fantastic cars. Bring your camera.

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1941 Chrysler Newport Dual Cowl Phaeton; estimated to sell between $800,000-$1,200,000.

The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is now considered one of North America’s finest car events and showcases some of the world’s most rare vehicles. There is also a vintage motor car auction which is presented by RM Auctions. The auction is still a new addition for the Concours, the cars that go on the block though are legendary. To attend the auction a pre-registration is required along with purchase of the $80 auction catalog which admits two. For more information go to the RM Auctions web site at http://www.rmauctions.com




1963 AC Cobra; estimated auction $1,000,000-$1,400,000.
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder; estimated auction $2,400,000-$2,900,000.

If you’re a real car nut then I suggest slapping down the $80 and going though the pre-registration just to watch these truly legendary cars go on the auction block for perhaps the last time in this lifetime. These cars very rarely come out of the private collections. If you’re not a nut and just a car buff then go to the Concours for some high end browsing. There isn’t a better backdrop in the country. For further details about the complete event schedule for the weekend, and to purchase tickets in advance online, please visit the official web site at http://ameliaconcours.org and look for me hanging out around the Ferraris and the Porsches.

1967 Mustang Fastback – Redone and I Want One

This is the Obsidian SG-One Mustang. It is retailing for $1.3 million. A Fastback styled after the 1967 Mustangs of the day. Whoa. Stop there because only the look is 1967. This new Obsidian has a 392 engine giving out over 847 horses with a 0-60 time under 3 seconds. Speed? Try speed of over 210mph with the usual twin superchargers, 18“ front and 20“ wheels back, 3,000 watt stereo system with surround sound, the usual DVD, MP3 hookups and even Wi-Fi. I think this car is immune from the car buying slowdown we’ve seen this year as this car has a pretty specialized market. All I know if you better hurry because I’m showing up with my credit card and see if this bad boy with charge.

The Little Known Porsche 928-4

The car was a gift for Ferdinand Porsche’s birthday. The 928 was being introduced for its power, its front engine and water-cooled performance and its sleek appearance.

The requirement, since birthday cars must be unique was four full sized seats. You can see from the photos that the doors have been lengthened, the rear quarter is elongated. In fact, the car appears to me to be very station wagon looking. With the long nose of the car and the squareness that the car take on because of the room for the other two full seats reminds me of the Hearst Jaguar in the film “Harold and Maude.”

The birthday cars are usually one-offs and still happen today. Today these once $60,000-75,000 are 1/10th of their original price and even at that low price the car has to be in very good condition. The 928 cars are notorious for electrical problems. They are very costly to repair. They never quite caught on and the 911 models continued to dominate them.

Masterful Scaled Down Porsche 914 to 1:4 Size

There are model cars and then there are model cars. The models that Gunnar Ohrstrom from Sweden builds by hand are masterful works of art. This model of a Porsche 914 was built by Mr. G. Ohrstrom and required in excess of 5000 man-hours. Working features include:

DIFFERENTIAL MOTOR (Electric), RACK AND PINION STEERING, HAND BRAKE, OPENING FRONT AND REAR HOODS, REMOVABLE TARGA ROOF, REMOVABLE WHEELS, HOOD LOCKS, SPARE WHEEL, INTERIOR LIGHT, BACKUP LIGHTS, INSTRUMENT LIGHTS, WINDSHIELD WASHERS, GLOVE BOX, JACK, GEARBOX, DIVIDED REAR AXLE, DISC BRAKES, STRUTS/SHOCKS, OPENING DOORS, ADJUSTABLE SEATS, RAISABLE SIDE WINDOWS, DOOR LOCKS, PARKING LIGHTS, BRAKE LIGHTS, TURN SIGNALS, WINDSHIELD WIPERS, IGNITION KEY, RETRACTABLE HEADLIGHTS WITH HIGH BEAMS AND LOW BEAMS.

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SPECIFICATIONS:
Scale – 1:4.25
Length – 38 inches
Width – 16 inches
Height -11 inches
Weight -55 pounds

Retired Mr. Gunnar Ohrstrom likes to build models cars only he makes them a little differently than most. He makes everything himself and builds his models with working window lifts, tires that can be filled with air, working windshield wipers with automatic return and the list goes on. Since his boyhood Mr. Ohrstrom has built models up to scale and as accurate as possible and functioning like the real thing.

He is retired and the models he builds seem to only get more and more advanced. His latest model, this Porsche 914 in scale 1:4.25 scale is as real as you can imagine. The model is so detailed that could mention hundreds of details, every one the result of his incredible skill and knowledge. He is the carpenter, sheet metal worker, upholsterer, electrician, etc. demonstrating impressive knowledge.

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The car is in some ways better than a lot of restorations on real Porsche 914s. His hands never rest. He makes furniture when he relaxes from his technical things. He has also built film projectors, TV sets, and a wire recorder. “I like to create things that are somewhat different” he says modestly.

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Possible Porsche VW Roadster in the Works

It seems as if Audi, Seat, and possibly even Porsche, may get their own production version of the Volkswagen Bluesport roadster concept car, which was shown at last month’s Detroit Motor Show. The concept car is a strong looking and mostly realistic car so to think it could make it to production under what will be a Porsche led company soon is not unthinkable.

The strongest indication keeping VW fans hopeful and that several variants of the roadster may actually be produced came from VW executive Ulrich Hackenburg. According to the various reports he told journalists at the Detroit show that a case for the car’s production and the possibility of success is in the fact that the three brands would be joining together. This also confirms earlier rumours that Audi is planning a lightweight roadster as well as a range of new ecological yet sporty models.

If given the go-ahead, the budget roadster wouldn’t appear until after 2011. Rumours that Porsche is looking for a new 914 variant  have been brewing too. To speed up development, engine options would likely include current VW Group TSI and TDI four-cylinder engines mated with manual or DSG dual-clutch transmissions. For the time being Porsche 914 fans can only continue to dream.

Winding Road Magazine – Take A Look

I am not one for turning away any readers so I suggest just glancing at this magazine. Winding Road Magazine clearly has a lot of funding behind it. They publish the entire publication to a pdf format using a single page website structure. The result is some good design and no fold over the giant photographs.

This month’s issue includes a feature by John Barker about his trip across Italy behind the wheel of a Zonda F. I have been close to a Zonda before and this car looks fast just sitting still. The cover is about the Prius, which I guess demands a cover every now and then. The good article is inside.

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I have been keeping an eye on this magazine for some time, reading some of the articles and looking at the nice car photos. Some of the other issues have caught my eye and there has been some solid writing as well as some awesome photo work. I mention the magazine now really because of the Zonda article. I wish I could get a hold of one myself and take it on a journey and jot down my thoughts. Besides, “oh shit this thing is fast.” I’m pretty sure my clout card isn’t going to have that high of a marking for some time, so I am letting you take a glance only at this other media.