And since it's been a while since I've talked about cars, I thought I'd throw in a few things I managed to see this past two weeks.
I guess I'll start off with a week ago, when I was in Shibuya. I saw this...
... the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Now, I'm the first to admit, this isn't exactly a triumph of styling cues. In fact, I struggle to think of any new Ferrari in the past 5 years that I would call truly "beautiful". Aggressive maybe, but aesthetically pleasing?? Not compared to their cars from yore. A point seemingly proven by the fact that I was the only one even remotely concerned that it was even there, the black stallion by itself on the side of the road.It certainly doesn't look like most other cars on the road, but perhaps the appeal of the car is more because "it's a Ferrari" rather than its actual styling. But having said that, the mechanicals are worth mentioning, with its massive 6.0-litre 611bhp V12 up front, transaxle gearbox in the back, and electronically controlled dampers.
On a slightly related note, if you ever see a truly expensive car in Tokyo (and the 599 GTB is worth more than $250,000), the license plate will almost always be registered to an address in Shinagawa, there being where all the truly rich people live.
Moving on.......
On Wednesday I saw this......
... the TVR Tamora. This was almost a better sight than the Ferrari because these British TVR's were sold in America only for a very short period of time, mostly because selling overseas nearly caused them to go bankrupt. In fact, I've never seen a TVR (or heard of anyone seeing a TVR) in Vancouver so seeing on in Tokyo was truly rare. TVR is a British-based car firm known for building very light, very fast, usually scary, and often unreliable sports cars. They really do market to a niche crowd but in doing so, they often find themselves some very devoted owners.The Tamora weighed in at a very light 2500lbs but came stocked with a 3.6-litre 350bhp inline-6. For reference, that's 100lbs lighter than my Integra but with twice the power.
Tamora is, apparently, the Queen of the Goths.....................
Next up....
...the McLaren MP4-23, the current McLaren-Mercedes F1 challenger. I suppose this is just cool in that it's rare to see an F1 car and even more rare that it's not just some mock-up with no engine.
Seeing as the Japanese Grand Prix was last weekend, it seemed fitting that Mercedes put one on display. These things are amazing to look at simply because of the detail that go into designing them. Every edge and shape is designed purely for speed and that's cool......
I should point out that the picture was taken inside Shinagawa station. As if you needed more proof that Shinagawa is where the money is...
and lastly, on Monday I finally made a stop by this...
... the Audi Forum, in Tokyo. Found a 10-min walk from Harajuku station, this building, also known as The Iceberg, houses an Audi dealership on the first two floors, a hair salon (???) on the third floor, some kind of kids-science-discovery place on the 4th floor, and a very fancy restaurant-type area for wedding receptions and such on the upper floors.
Although my picture doesn't really do it justice, it's really a very interesting piece of architecture, perhaps simply because it different from all the buildings surrounding it. It's one of those things that looks like it was built just for the sake of building it. It's not like those edges make for more floor space or help it dissipate earthquake of typhoon energy.
The inside is appropriately classy and the Audi showroom had some appropriately expensive cars on display. Some noteable ones include the diesel-V12 Q7, the $200,000 V10-powered S8, and my personal favourite, the RS4 Avant.
They also had an R8 which, despite how great it is, I still find to be visually stunted from some angles......
Not that I'm judgemental or anything =P haha.....
3 comments:
Wow, beautiful cars! I have emailed this blog to Uncle Willy. He must be excited to see all those cars.
Dad
I first saw the 599 in person at the Ferrari National meet in Toronto in August. I was too surprised by the ugliness and lumpiness of that car. In person it was even lumpier and chunkier than photos. The California looks better, but I'll have to see it in person to make the final decision. Hopefully they'll have an intro cocktail party when it arrives in Canada. I always like to go to those things, if anything, for the free booze.
Uncle Willy
Indeed. I do think that flying C-pillar on the 599 is interesting, but it's nearly impossible to see in pictures and it just doesn't seem to stand out enough to really be noticeable in person.
The California looks ok I think, I do like the rear deck styling and the roofline is nice when the roof is up. And they put those stacked exhausts like the IS-F (which, I should say, is rather good to drive).
But I have issues with the California based purely on principle haha... oh well.....
Also, the Tokyo Motor Show has become biennial, so none this year. But the Auto Salon is still on so I'll be going in January =)
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