Katie's Cars and Coffee, February 7th, 2015

This weekend's Cars and Coffee was a VERY special one for me.  For the first time, I now have a car that is worth bringing to show at Katie's - I finally have a car that gets (some) attention.  That's right; this past Saturday was the new car's first car show, and to my surprise, it actually got some looks and photos taken - not nearly as many as the GT-R next spot over, but hey, I'm happy with what I have: a car people notice, and more importantly, with reliability (*knocks wood*) and a warranty!

I just missed it, but the man in this photo was the first person to walk around, look at, and take some photos of the new car... before of course moving on to the GT-R.

I actually didn't shoot any photos of my car beyond these two; I'll definitely be giving it a proper photo sesh on a later date.  Here it is with it's more energetic, very distant cousin.

So, I used Katie's the big reveal to a few friends of mine who have known I've desperately needed a new car for quite some time... in fact, a friend of mine *also* brought his new car (a Jaguar XF Portfolio Edition) to the show for the first time - that made two of us sharing our new cars for the first time at a car show; we both decided to do so at Katie's.

But enough of that; I also braved the cold and enjoyed the show's other (obviously more interesting) offerings.

It was a Porsche kind of weekend, but I really enjoyed this VW Rabbit Caddy.

Volkswagen XL1 at Katie's Cars and Coffee: December 7th, 2013

I debated not going to Katie's this morning since the turnout has dwindled due to the cold weather, however I knew Volkswagen HQ had both a Veyron and an XL1 on hand this week.  I decided to come on the chance an XL1 did appear, despite my being told that it almost certainly would not come.  Much to my delight, VW DID bring the 240 MPG, 1.0L plug-in hybrid concept vehicle.  A friend of mine who was able to drive this vehicle just a few days ago likened it to "an old Packard" with the tiny diesel engine rumbling just behind your head.

And for those who are wondering, my 35mm is perfectly fine - a broken UV filter is nothing to fret over.  This is why you spend $70 on a filter and lens hood (which is rare I didn't have it on today), so when accidents happen you're not spending $700 on a new front lens element.  My 35mm 1.4 is ready to go for my wedding shoot tomorrow.

UPDATE:  I always post my car photography to Oppositelock, and this blog was republished onto Jalopnik.

This blog post has been republished by J. David Buerk onto Oppositelock and Jalopnik.  For the full set of photos, view the album at his Facebook Page. All photography is by J. David Buerk, and is copyrighted All Rights Reserved.

Katie's Cars and Coffee: May / June

I recently attended two Cars and Coffee events; one on Memorial Day Weekend, and the other on Father's Day Weekend. Cars and Coffee is a weekly car show event sponsored by Katie's Cars and Coffee in Great Falls, Virginia.  It is completely free, as it is more of a free gathering celebrating exotic and / or classic car heritage.  Though it is a small event, located in the heart of Great Falls (an upscale suburb of Washington, DC in which many  very expensive cars call home), it has national attention, and often guests will drive hundreds of miles just to participate and grab a Saturday morning coffee while sharing the car culture.

Memorial Day Weekend, 2013:

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One of the more interesting cars on hand (at least to me) was this Corvette powered Miata.  The owner who converted this Miata cooly placed an LS1 badge on the fender.

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The notable car for Memorial Day was the original Briggs Cunningham; an extremely rare car; only a few were ever built.

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Father's Day Weekend, 2013:

For Father's Day, I decided to surprise my Dad and take him to Cars and Coffee.  He's never heard of it before, and I didn't tell him where I was taking him.  He certainly didn't realize we had a weekly car event just a few miles from home.

As I pulled in, he got excited when he saw some Cobras in the lot, but thought they just happened to be parked there.  A moment later it was "Oh my God!  Look look look look look look!!!" when he had spotted the Arial Atom I parked beside.  I think it was when he saw the Diablo VT next to the Atom that he realized it wasn't a coincidence all these cars were in the same place.  I know he loved going to this!

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This true track Ferrari garnered a LOT of attention once people realized it had shown up.

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Another cool little gem was this Miura S.  Probably under-appreciated by most who saw it, this car was number 1 of only 140 produced, and is valued in the $500,000 - $800,000 range.

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Upon leaving, people were still puzzled by the clearly Corvette based SV 9 Competizione - myself included.  This Italian redesigned automotive costs almost $100,000, is powered by an LS3 Corvette engine modified to output 450 horsepower, and is just one of 1,000 made.

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