Starting 2007 off on the right foot
click on image above to see high resolution gallery with 50 pics
Now here's a New Year's resolution we can get behind: pledging to drive our classic or high performance cars more. We're not talking about street racing or anything illegal, mind you, just a little spirited motoring to hear and feel these great machines at speed. This particular drive was in Southern California and has been a staple for local residents going on a few years now. The event was the 4th Annual Tour d'Orange, and it kicked off another New Year for some of the car crazy residents of Orange County on Monday. Starting at the Auto Kennel and adjacent Newport Shelby Cobras, we looped around OC to rediscover our diverse landscape.
Winding our way from the heart of Orange County to the Pacific Coast Highway, we drove down along some of the most scenic coastline known to man, cutting back inland to the foothills and canyon roads before a lunch stop at In-N-Out. As you can see from the high-res gallery we've assembled for you, the assortment of cars that showed up this year was quite eclectic: Mercedes SLR to rat rod, 996 GT2 to VW GTI, a genuine aluminum Cobra, a Ferrari Daytona, Superformance SPF, and '69 soft top Porsche Targa. Similar events take place all over the world, and even around SoCal there are a few other drives like this one, but when offered a ride in a 600-hp Andial-massaged 993 Turbo, we jumped at the chance. Thanks to everybody involved for kicking off 2007 with the right foot.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Carlos 4:56PM (1/02/2007)
Hey you guys should have something like this down in Puerto Rico, it's much warmer than any place in the US and food's cheap and great here.
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Tim P 4:55PM (1/02/2007)
Did I get off to the "right" start by driving my '05 GTO down to the convience store to get some milk? :-)
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leon0911 5:02PM (1/02/2007)
these pics are great... That orange camaro is just awesome! What I wouldn't give to have been there with an equally descent ride... :(
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iamhoff 6:04PM (1/02/2007)
Oh man the memories! I live in San Diego, but I spent 7 years living in the OC (Orange and Aliso Viejo), and recognized most of the roads you were on. Particularly, some of the shots of you hanging out the window of the Porsche I thought I picked out Live Oak Cyn Rd and Trabuco Cyn Rd. That was my guilty pleasure route home from work in my old Integra. Get just across the Arizona crossing just outside of Santa Margarita, wait for traffic to get far enough ahead of me, drop the windows, open the roof, crank the tunes, and drop it. 3rd gear screaming along at the edge of a 4 wheel drift (65 or so), praying that the yahoos ahead of me were going fast enough that I'd have uninterrupted play time. Articles like this one make me miss my former life in the OC. Keep 'em coming!
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Green Lotus Elise 6:24PM (1/02/2007)
Couldn't agree more! I already drive my 05 Lotus Elise quite a bit (13,500 miles in the last 10 months) but I'd like to take it on more fun adventures. Hopefully there will be another Deals Gap/Tail of the Dragon trip soon as well as some venturing up north.
I actually just finished installing a new carbon fiber rear view mirror and front tow hook a little bit ago, I'll have the new photos of them and the freshly washed Elise on my blog tomorrow.
http://www.fleur-design.net/lotus
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Solar 5:42PM (1/05/2007)
How do you like that carbon fiber review mirror? I'm trying to decided between that and the Micomirror to replace the stock one.
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Andy 11:19PM (1/02/2007)
The Pacific Coast Highway is good as long as you're not a jogger in Dana Point. There seems to be a new tragedy every month. A beautiful, but cursed, beach town. I had some shining times driving my old Alfa Spider along the highway in Dana Point--by far the finest city in Orange County.
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wookie 8:48PM (1/02/2007)
yummm, in n out burger...so jealous living in md
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Duane 1:12PM (1/03/2007)
Great pictures Frank. Another drive took place up in Calabasas and had a great variety of cars. Jay Leno showed up in an Arial Atom.
http://www.socalspeedzone.com/pages/nyd010107/index.html
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