Cars of the QC

[nicholas]

As suggested by @KJHburg, a thread for the interesting cars we see around the Charlotte area.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, nicholas said:

As suggested by @KJHburg, a thread for the interesting cars we see around the Charlotte area.

Damn I saw 2 McLarens and a Bentley today while walking, wish I knew this thread was going to happen lol

[KJHburg]

@nicholas post some of your car photos that you already have and I will start collecting them.   

[nicholas]

Here's a very rare Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro at Sycamore a few months ago.  1 of 150 brought to the US, there's also a yellow one running around the area.

Here's a McLaren 720S cruising around South End.  The owner recently sold it, and it is currently available at the McLaren dealership for just over $250k.

Edited May 16, 2020 by nicholas

[Guest]

I saw 4 classic restored Ford Broncos today and I'm 1. A little miffed, when did I miss this trend. 2. A little jealous.

[nicholas]

24 minutes ago, Tyree Ricardo said:

I saw 4 classic restored Ford Broncos today and I'm 1. A little miffed, when did I miss this trend. 2. A little jealous.

Now that you mention it, I have been seeing a decent number of classic Broncos, Jeeps, and FJs around lately.  I think there are two main reasons.  The first is that trucks and SUVs are really popular in general right now, but nothing is like the classic true SUVs like the Bronco, FJ, etc (the current Wrangler is as close as you can get, but is incredibly civilized by comparison).  Automakers can't really reproduce those vehicles due to consumer demands (everyone wants AC, cruise control, automatic trans, good fuel economy, safety technology, etc) and modern safety/emissions regulations, but some people still want the analog feeling of an original Bronco.  The second is that, while nice examples of classic SUVs are starting to creep up in price, they aren't completely out of control like classic Ferraris, Lambos, etc, so they are still somewhat attainable for people who aren't in extremely high-paying jobs.  Also, a lot of the classic SUVs were initially mass produced for military service, and are much much much much more reliable and easy to work on/find parts for than a performance car of the same era.

Edited May 16, 2020 by nicholas

[Madison Parkitect]

Saw a black McLaren going 10 MPH in traffic down Camden by the Design Center the other day, really enjoyed that.

[kermit]

1 hour ago, Madison Parkitect said:

Saw a black McLaren going 10 MPH in traffic down Camden by the Design Center the other day, really enjoyed that.

I am no supercar fanboy but the two places where I have seen the most of them in the wild over my 50+ years were Zürich Bürkliplatz on a Friday night or Camden road on a random Tuesday afternoon. Some things are just not meant to be understood.

Edited May 17, 2020 by kermit

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

Saw a black McLaren going 10 MPH in traffic down Camden by the Design Center the other day, really enjoyed that.

haha, one of the McLarens I saw today was going like 4pm, trying not to fudge up their car going over a speed hump, I chuckled. 

[nicholas]

There are a lot of nice cars in Southpark.

[reggie4417]

I need to post some pics of the other participants but there has been an "Invisible Heroes" cruise on the 485 loop the past 4 or 5 weeks.  We have been cruising with the group the last 3 weeks.  There have been some amazing cars including the 1966 GT40 that won LeMans (the actual car, not the replica from Ford vs. Ferrari), a 1928 Bentley 4 1/2 Liter, two  1965 289 Cobras, a GT350H "Rent a Racer in Wimbledon White (one of 50 in that color), and many Porsches etc.  

We have alternated between our 1970 Thunderbird Landau Sedan  and our 1990 35th Anniversary Thunderbird Super Coupe.  

Tons of fun and social distancing in effect.

 

[nicholas]

21 minutes ago, reggie4417 said:

I need to post some pics of the other participants but there has been an "Invisible Heroes" cruise on the 485 loop the past 4 or 5 weeks.  We have been cruising with the group the last 3 weeks.  There have been some amazing cars including the 1966 GT40 that won LeMans (the actual car, not the replica from Ford vs. Ferrari), a 1928 Bentley 4 1/2 Liter, two  1965 289 Cobras, a GT350H "Rent a Racer in Wimbledon White (one of 50 in that color), and many Porsches etc.  

We have alternated between our 1970 Thunderbird Landau Sedan  and our 1990 35th Anniversary Thunderbird Super Coupe.  

Tons of fun and social distancing in effect.

That is awesome! There are some truly amazing cars in NC, and SC, that rival the best that California, Florida, New York, or Texas can offer.  I believe in the Asheville area, there is a Porsche 917 (psychedelic whale paintscheme) that raced at LeMans, and the owner has brought it to a couple of car shows in Southpark over the past few years.

[turbocraig]

This Bug belongs to the Jonas Brothers’ dad.  He lives in Belmont and the guy who occasionally does work on my car (right behind BofA Stadium) also works on his cars.  The license plate says Nellies and that’s the name of the restaurant they have in Belmont that’s named after their grandmother.  If you’ve never been I recommend it.  It’s pretty good.  Higher end than what I had expected.  

Edited May 17, 2020 by turbocraig

[KJHburg]

first my contribution to Nick's Whips aka Cool Cars of the QC

seen at Bossy Beulah's Chicken Shack in FreeMore

 

[SentioVenia]

On 5/16/2020 at 10:49 PM, nicholas said:

There are a lot of nice cars in Southpark.

 

 

 

 

Probably the same McLaren I caught on March 2:

[nicholas]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

first my contribution to Nick's Whips aka Cool Cars of the QC

seen at Bossy Beulah's Chicken Shack in FreeMore

 

Polaris Slingshot, always thought those were cool in a really weird way.  You should post it on Twitter and tag the owner

2 hours ago, SentioVenia said:

Probably the same McLaren I caught on March 2:

It's a different one, the one at Southpark was a coupe, and privately owned.

[SentioVenia]

1 hour ago, nicholas said:

It's a different one, the one at Southpark was a coupe, and privately owned.

Oh yeah, I see that now.  

[nicholas]

26 minutes ago, Seabrooke said:

Jeez, I've only seen two 650S Spiders around Charlotte, and no GTs yet. Amazing catch!

[videtur quam contuor]

I was sitting at that same stop light years ago heading the same direction as photographed. A yello corvette convertible pulled alongside in the right turn lane as you see here. The top was down and the driver was a 65+ yo woman. 

[nicholas]

4 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

I was sitting at that same stop light years ago heading the same direction as photographed. A yello corvette convertible pulled alongside in the right turn lane as you see here. The top was down and the driver was a 65+ yo woman. 

She must have upgraded to the yellow McLaren.

[nicholas]

Throwback sighting to something very rare, even by Charlotte standards.  On a nice early June evening in 2016, I was driving through Southpark when I caught a glimpse of this Porsche 918 Spyder on Sharon Rd.  The traffic lights shone in my favor, and I was able to catch up to it at the Fairview Rd intersection, and cruised along with it to Foxcroft Village.  Only 918 of these hypercars were produced for worldwide consumption, and all came with a flat-plane V8 coupled with a pair of batteries that combined produced 887 horsepower and 944 lb ft of torque.   Customers fortunate enough to land one Porsche's 918 build slots could have theirs for as little as $848,000 when new, a relative bargain considering the cheapest available example I can find now is listed for about $1.4M.

Despite the Texas plate, this was a local car, owned and driven I believe by Scott Smith who ran Sonic Automotive for several years.  He stepped down a few years back, and must have sold this shortly thereafter, as it is no longer in the area.  This is one of the most notable cars to have ever called Charlotte home.

Edited May 23, 2020 by nicholas

[NCMike1990]

The newly renovated McLaren dealer in SouthEnd.

 

[nicholas]

3 hours ago, NCMike1990 said:

The newly renovated McLaren dealer in SouthEnd.

That all-carbon Senna was privately owned for about six months by a couple in south Charlotte.  Sadly, they must have missed the part about it being a street legal car, as they always trailered it to car shows and events.... 

[videtur quam contuor]

The size of the brake calipers for that car...

[KJHburg]

Cars of the C.C.  that is the Capital City y'all Raleigh.  Nick's Whips live from Raleigh. 

Lime Camaro say what?

Masereai north Raleigh.