College Cars: 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Berlinetta Aerodinamica

This is College Cars, another look into the automobile collection of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Today we're looking at a 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Berlinetta Aerodinamica.

This magnificent machine was developed to race at Le Mans. Well, it appears that this exact one wasn't, but it's a rebody to match the one or two original Aerodinamica coupes built on the 6C 2500 chassis - the latter of which was rare enough in the first place at only 33 examples built. All were created for the purpose of racing, and the original Aerodynamica(s) appear to have been vanished after 1940. This is one of a precious few cars of this type left, and it is really one of a kind. The only other vehicle like it that I know of is an almost identical grey 1942 car that participated in the 2013 California Mille road rally. My few photos do not really do this beast justice.
This rare Alfa was purchased by AAU at the 2010 Gooding & Company Amelia Island auction for $748,000.

Shitbox Saturday: Show & Shine X-Car Engine Blow Edition

This 1983-84 Pontiac Phoenix, seen at the 2013 Bethel Boosters Show & Shine in Eugene, Oregon as an engine blow contest car, is a spectacularly bad car, albeit a rare one, since any Phoenix is rare in the first place, but a late notchback SE with a 4-speed, V6 and spoiler is scarce as hell. Sadly, this car's engine blew up on the afternoon of May 11, 2013 and will end up crushed by B&R Auto Wrecking of Eugene.

(an engine blow contest is an Oregon show & shine phenomenon started in the 70s, a junkyard employee from the yard that provided the car or a show marshal floors the accelerator on a car with petrol or diesel but no oil and coolant, after taking numbers for how long it'll take for the engine to blow up, person who guesses the correct time it takes for the engine to blow wins $50)