Art in the Junkyard

Art photography by Chris Garza, in various Oregon junkyards. The hearse was not junked, but was driven there by the owner of the Graveyard Carz TV show.

College Cars: 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C Speciale

This is College Cars, a recurring feature on the auto collection of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. Today we look at this 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C Speciale, a best-in-class Pebble Beach Concours winner.

This is the only long-wheelbase T150 'Lago Speciale' believed to have been built out of 16 cars in this series bodied by Figoni & Falaschi. It has an interesting history - originally commissioned by a French banker, a later owner raced the car at the 1948 24 Hours of Spa. He won first in class. The car received a restoration many years later and in 2011 won First in Class and was nominated for Best in Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. This is a truly amazing car, and is valued accordingly. The Academy of Art University picked it up in 2010 for a mere $4,620,000.

WTF Wednesday: The Goddess of Sebastopol

To the French car fan, this is literally sacrilege. The Citroën DS21 has been called one of the most beautiful vehicles ever made, and was a marvel of engineering when it was first introduced. Now one is brush-painted magenta with rope lights and spends its days as part of an art installation in the town of Sebastopol, California. It's a monument to Paris, with a replica of the Eiffel Tower, a Vespa-styled scooter and a cup of coffee on top of the classic DS21. The whole mess - I mean sculpture - advertises the Aubergine Cafe and Vintage Emporium at 755 Petaluma Avenue.

Bad news for car fans if you're ever in Sebastopol - the Corvair collector at the Foster's Freeze down the road has sold off his cars. Also gone is the Pellini Chevrolet dealer whose owners were forced to sell their small but interesting collection of vintage cars when the dealership closed in 2008.