Parking Lot Photo Shoot: Porsche 959

Move along, nothing to see here...

Okay, so I cheated a little. This Porsche 959 - more specifically, Bruce Canepa of Canepa Design's modified, street-legal 959 - was in a parking lot just outside of the Danville d'Elegance car show a couple years ago. But dammit, it was in a parking lot and not a car show! And be honest, where else do you think you're going to see a Porsche 959 in the United States? Most are only allowed here as "show and display" cars and can't be enjoyed fully. Canepa builds these cars to go, and go legally right up into second gear at which point you can get into as much trouble as your right foot wants. Canepa's website describes this car as producing 640 horsepower and 570 lb feet of torque and handling better than stock - and it will pass a California smog test.

Oh, how I wish the lighting and positioning were different. This beast deserved better pictures than these.

American Muscle, Italian Style: Iso-Rivolta Grifo

Early Grifo at speed, pic from Wikimedia Commons

In the early 1960s, Iso-Rivolta SpA of Bresso, Italy was already famous for its sleek, Chevrolet Corvette-powered IR300 grand tourer, and company founder/president Renzo Rivolta wanted a followup to the IR300. The sleek fastback Grand Tourer that resulted was the work of famous automotive engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, late of Ferrari, and young hotshot designer Giorgetto Giugiaro at Carrozzeria Bertone. Also powered by a Chevrolet Corvette V8, and having a clean-sheet chassis design, this was an elegant yet potent exotic car that was mostly built by hand and received rave reviews. 17 targa-top versions were built, with the remainder of the 413 Grifos produced from 1963-74 being coupes.

The car developed 390 horsepower (290 kilowatts) in its stock form, and was not a small car at its length of 174.4 inches (4,430 millimeters). Transmission availability included 4-speed Muncie and 5-speed ZF manuals, or 3-speed automatic on special order. Over the years, engine availability included the Chevrolet Corvette 5.4-liter V8, Ford "Cleveland"5.7-liter V8, and 7-liter and 7.4-liter Chevrolet V8s, all sourced in the US but totally reworked and blueprinted at the factory.

The Grifo's interior featured incredible luxury and comfort along with style, and build quality was top-notch. Variations of the Grifo chassis were used under the Fidia sedan and Lele 2+2 coupe, offering spirited handling and a comfortable ride.

In 1970, the Grifo lost some of its elegant style and cachet with a then-stylish droop snoot nose and hideaway headlights, and got an execrable bonnet scoop, then went away in 1974 with the remainder of Iso-Rivolta's car range.

Lesney-Matchbox produced a UK-market Grifo in small-scale in the late 60s, which was a staple in toyboxes worldwide for years, and the one in the author's collection has some wear and tear plus some detailing.

The Valet Stand: 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo

Welcome to The Valet Stand, where we look at high-end cars found parked in front of the lobby at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. Today's feature is a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo. These pictures are from 2008 when this particular car still had dealership paper plates from British Motor Car Distributors on Van Ness Avenue.

Parking Lot Photo Shoot: 2000 Dodge Viper GTS