Saturday’s fun didn’t end with Cars & Coffee! In addition to the weather that made me think spring, the fact that car events are starting to happen again means it’s definitely getting closer to summer!

This was new for me, too, as I’ve never gotten to hang out with the British car club around here. I had met one of the guys at Cars & Coffee that morning for the first time (the MG BGT) and tagged along with my detailer friend as his photographer/assistant. (For the record, I make an awful assistant IMO… Good thing I work for free!)

Instead of heading out to a shop, like I figured we would, we ended up at a gorgeous property of one of the members. Even though I was an impromptu guest, I was still graciously welcome and didn’t feel too out of place at all.

I see the evolution of sports cars from this MGB to my S2000 (above). So, while my S2000 isn't from the same country or era, we fit in with the spirit that was there.

I did my best to photograph the event — I really like doing this sort of thing because I can capture the event and not feel bad for not being more of a participant, since I wasn’t going to be either way! I’m wondering if I can’t start doing this for more car clubs, honestly…. It’s fun for me!

Of course, with the gorgeous weather came my photography enemy, the sun. D:< It was pretty frustrating for me, partly because I’m shooting with a lens I haven’t used very much yet… Clearly I am still learning!

However, the weather was great for the event and a ton of beautiful classic British cars were out. While I myself am looking for an older German car, I still have a huge soft spot for old British cars…. I just don’t know nearly as much about them as I should!! (I know Lotus, that’s about it…. Heh.)

Thankfully, everyone was still nice even though I hardly knew anything at all. I’m hoping to see them again at some point! It was a real treat to see there cars and meet all the owners.

And who knows….. Maybe automotive event photography is more of what I should be doing. Lucky for me, there’s the Porsche Club to photograph, too! I should get plenty of practice this summer, hehe.

Shortly after getting home from Florida was the Auto Boat Speed Show here in Spokane. It’s not a huge show, and almost all classic and muscle cars, but to me it means that spring is here and progressing and that car things are FINALLY starting to happen again.

Lucky for me, there were a few cars there for me to oogle and get excited over. I also had a car of my own to show — a little Porsche 911 slant nose Turbo model that I put together just for the show! I had to rush to finish it in the two days before the show, but it was worth it to see it on the table in competition, even if it’s not the greatest. (It was my first finished model car, though! So I’m very proud. I’m already working on my next model.)

My finished model! This was taken before the final decals were applied though.

The first thing I tend to do with this sort of thing is walk around, see what there is to see and then decide what I want to take photos of. As much as I like my old classic American cars, they don’t make for interesting photos to me…. They all start to look the same, especially at shows like this where everyone does the same sort of things. So I just pick out my favorites and/or the most unusual to showcase.

First up, I was excited to find something right up my alley — A Ferrari 550 Maranello. Not only the one that I want to buy someday, but in the color I want, too!

The lighting was awful for photos... So I had to resort to having some iPhone photos for the show.

iPhone photo, from the back.

LOVE gated shifters. So classy.

Then there was this really nice 1988 BMW e30 M3. This car had quite the collection of trophies, plus a fully rebuilt engine plus a crazy restoration — the car looked practically brand new!

You can see part of this car's trophy collection in the lower lefthand corner of the photo.

Aside from the 550 Maranello, my favorite cars there weren’t actually part of the show, but they were beautiful. They were all Porsche 911 GT3 race cars, of course. Two Cup Cars (Rolex 24 at Daytona competitors, this year!) and one heavily modified GT3.

This is the modified GT3, the other two are the Cup Cars.

The body shop also had two boards on display, one with one of the Cup Cars having work done and the other showing a new project they’re working on, a Cayman R race car.

The GT3 Cup Car board.

The board for the Cayman R project.

Then there’s the old classic cars I did want to share. Such as this 1967 Shelby GT500 Mustang, which had an insane set up for the show.

The blue on this 1966 Chevelle SS was perfect!

And while this ‘Cuda wasn’t hiding a Hemi, it was still absolutely gorgeous to me.

This 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge was impressive to see, a complete numbers matching car.

Lastly, I love seeing Factory Five Cobras. I always have to snap pictures of them when I see them!

For my random photo, one of the setups included gumball machines with Ford gumballs.

Overall, it was a nice show and it was great to see my little model on the table! I’m hoping to build more and maybe show in another event sometime, after all, I came home with this certificate!

Not much, but it was great to have. I can’t wait for more car shows this summer! (And more other car stuff, period!)

While I’ll talk more about my overall race experience at Sebring in this post, the photos I’m sharing today are of the various other cars I saw at Sebring other than the race cars and, what race cars I do share, were there on display and not running. (Well, some were racing, just not during the 12 Hours!)

Absolute dream come true getting to see one of these!! Also got to see one of the retired 935 race cars!! <3

Like I said in my last post, we spent a lot of Saturday seeing everything else there was to see and not really watching the race. We had practically no cell service whatsoever, so it was practically impossible to keep up with the live timing and scoring… It’s not as much fun watching a race when you have NO idea what’s going on!

Thankfully there’s a lot to see and do other than just watch the race!

For one, there was a little midway with booths, including a bar set up by Patron Tequila. Yup, I had to go and have a drink! I also failed miserably at Forza 4 and we got a funnel cake. Yummy.

I think this 904 was a kit car, but I can't be totally sure...

There was my little version of heaven, the Porscheplatz, or Porsche car corral. It really made me want one more seeing so many older 911s from the years I really like! Someday I’ll be able to pay to park in the Porsche corral.

Not surprising at all that Porsche had a large presence there, including some of the cars from one of the local dealerships like this beautiful yellow 991.

One of the fun things to do was to walk through the garage area during the race. Any damage suffered on the track and the cars go back there to get fixed. Early on in the race we were walking through this area and had one of the 458 Italias blow past us, less than a foot away. It actually scared me! With all the noise on the track I didn’t even think that the car was right behind us… I never made that mistake again, though.

Which was good, because later in the day we were in the garage area and I turned around just in time to watch the Number One Audi pass by us. The R18s are eeriely quiet for how deathly quick they are, it’s almost like watching ghosts pass by and you only really hear the air moving for them…. It was a pretty cool moment, even if it wasn’t thrilling to see the Audi in the garage area and not out on the track!

She was hiding by the Corvette Racing truck, but no surprise there -- she's the "street version" of the C6Rs!

I have learned that I really need to get a mobile charger for my phone…. Battery just does not last! I’ve had it pretty much die at the end of the day when I’ve gone to Formula D, but it was pretty much dead this day. So yeah, I need to invest in one bad!

One of a group of Club Racer Z's. As I mentioned, there were some race cars that were there, just not racing during the 12 Hours! I think they had events going on during the week before the race.

I also cheated and ended up taking a nap for an hour or so. We had only been in Florida for a few days and I hadn’t yet reacquainted myself with the heat and humidity, so I got wore out pretty fast.

I did manage to sit and watch the last hour or so of the race…. I got to see Audi take the checkered flag.

Pretty cool to get to see one of these in person! I also got to see a Ferrari FF in person, so it was a great day for unusual cars. (Plus like four or five Bentleys, haha.)

All in all, it was a very long, very overwhelming day. We got there at about six in the morning, and all of the teams were already there and working when we arrived! So it is a VERY long day for all the teams and anyone else involved with the race. I really got an appreciation for all the work that goes into it from going.

Sure the GT 40 is cool, but I totally love the Daytona Coupe!!!

I also have an incredible desire to get involved on some level….. Someday maybe I can figure out a way to do it. I really hope I can.

Even before the actual race there's some carnage, like the damage suffered by Flying Lizard No. 44 during practice.

I’ll be splitting Sebring coverage into two parts based on the small amount of photos I have to share. This first part will cover the actual race cars, while the part later on this week will cover the other random cars & old race cars that were there. That splits my SLR photos nicely, and I’m not going to worry so much about the crazy amount of iPhone photos I have right now. (If you’ve been following me on Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr, then you’ve seen most of the iPhone photos anyhow!)

One iPhone photo I love -- the one of the Falken Tire RSR that won me their photo contest!

So. Sebring. Florida. The 12 Hour endurance race on a track that beats cars and drivers to hell and back during the time it runs. What you don’t see if you watch the race on tv is all of the work that goes on BEFORE the race ever takes place.

Luxury Racing 458 Italia

The first memory I have of Sebring is pulling up to the gate on Friday and hearing all of the cars running during a practice session…. It was INSANE. I loved it. The easy ones to pick out right away were the Corvettes, and the Ferraris really stood out too.

Krohn Racing's 458 Italia

Honestly, there is NO way to accurately share how wonderful it sounded. In a bit I’ll share a video I took at the track and posted on YouTube, but it’s just not the same…. You really have to go to a race to appreciate it.

Wider than the regular GT3s, but they look small compared to the RSRs. Very quiet, comparatively speaking, as well.

Even though I had my SLR, my iPhone was my best friend. You know the saying, “The best camera is the one you have on you when you want to take a photo”? So true for the iPhone. But I still made sure to put the SLR to use and the photos here are mostly from Friday because of it.

Friday we didn’t stay long, the heat and I weren’t agreeing and I didn’t want to chance getting sick on Friday from it and have a bad day Saturday for the race. Friday was figuring out how it was laid out, seeing what there was to see somewhat, and mostly autographs!

Audi had a ridiculous line for autographs, so I decided to forgo other teams in order to spend the entire hour of the autograph session waiting in the Audi line. Thankfully I made it to the drivers just in time! I got to bring home a beautiful poster of the R18 signed by eight of the nine Audi drivers, as well as getting to “meet” Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello and Alan McNish, some of my driving heroes!

The R18 driven by Kristensen, Capello and McNish!

While I spent my time in the Audi line, my other half went to visit our favorite team, Flying Lizard. He got all of their drivers’ autographs on both a hero card and one of their license plates. He also told me that he talked to Patrick Long, and that Long had said we’ve made a good choice deciding to get a 3.2 Carrera and that he used to have one himself! That really made me happy to hear. I’m really sad that I didn’t get to meet him myself though.

No. 45 is the car that Long drives. If you like Porsche & motorsports, chances are you know who Patrick Long is!

I was also depressed that I didn’t get the autographs from Falken’s team of drivers. I’ve been a fan of Falken in ALMS ever since they started campaigning a 911 and I love how they use it to test out their tires. Lucky for me, they ran a photography contest on Friday…. And I won! One of my prizes was a 1/43rd scale Falken truck signed by their drivers — YAY! It’s definitely one of my prized possessions now…. Pun half intended.

The SLR version of the winning photo.

Really, when you’re at the race you spend more time doing everything else but watching, at least for a long race like Sebring. I think I’ll end it here for now and pick it back up in the next post!

As we move closer to spring, everyone starts getting eager to get the cars out and do car-related things. One of the first events I’ve gotten to attend this year is a detailing tech session hosted by Columbia Valley Luxury Cars and Griot’s. Hooray for the Porsche Club and getting to go to these things!

Of course, my husband would tell you I’m not that great at cleaning cars. And my preference is definitely getting them dirty rather than getting them clean. However, I love car care products anyhow… Haha. Some girls love makeup, I just prefer car products!

Really, I was more excited about the company and getting to see some great cars. I also got to meet the guy who could possibly help me find my first Porsche 911… I’m hoping!

Once again, this is more about sharing photos than anything. So, photo time. (I should just make this a photo blog already, shouldn’t I?)

Big thanks to CV Luxury Cars for hosting the event and having us out! Great place.

Really liked this sign. We ended up buying a waterless car wash kit for the girls, I felt like getting them something nice! (I also like waterless systems myself.)

Loved loved loved this Ferrari 360 Modena! I've toyed with the idea of buying one as a track toy someday.... (Predecessor to one of my favorite Ferraris, the F430.)

I was really happy to see an actual coupe and not a spyder, which are really common with the 360s.

As I mentioned, the 360 Modena is the predecessor to the F430. Next in line is the 458, which I'll get to see and drive in a few days! (Few days of posting this, that is. )

Another beautiful Italian lady -- a Maserati GranTurismo.

After seeing an SRT-10 ACR in person, all other Vipers just can't compare in my eyes....

Just a shot of some of the people & cars in attendance.

This 1984 Carrera was my first great look at the generation of 911 I'll be buying... Possibility that this will be the year I get, too. And of course she has to have a whale tail too!

One of three total Lotus Esprits that happened to be there.

997 Carrera S

More of the people & cars that were there.

Really liked the license plate on this M3.

This 997 Carrera 4S was used for the Griot's demonstrations of their products and cleaning techniques. In the background is a 25th Anniversary edition Lotus Esprit that I got to sit in!

I had a moment of excitement when this pulled up.... I LOVE classic Camaros!

I really loved the orange with the black stripes.... Though, if I ever do get one, I want mine to be red with the same black stripes.

Last year was the first year we got to go to Spokane’s version of an Auto Show. It’s not really that much of an International Auto Show, and we miss some of the cars I’d really love to see, like the Ferraris and Maseratis and such.

But it is a car event to break up the monotony that is winter around here, so it is very welcome! And last year was kinda special too — We were first invited to hang out at the Porsche dealership with the Club at the Show last year, as well as seeing the 2011 STi sedan for the first time.

This year wasn’t all that exciting, and my photos kinda reflect what we did there — Mostly hung out with the Porsches and tried our best to keep them company among the insanity normal people apparently bring. (Like a lady who, for unknown reasons, was grabbing the bumper on the 991 911 like she expected it to open…. I kid you not.)

Let’s see, interesting things… No Audi R8, which made me sad. But there was an S4 with a roof rack with a snowboard on it! I liked that.

We chatted with a guy around this Evo X for a while. That was, uh, interesting…. Considering we said no, we didn’t want it, we have a 2011 STi and he decided it was more fun to somewhat bash our decision. (Obviously we knew the Evo was faster, but speed isn’t everything. When will people learn?!)

Then he went on to say that he didn’t like factory wide bodies on cars because you didn’t get a choice in the matter and it was just too much on the STi. For one, I LOVE the wide body on the STi — it looks amazing and those fenders are just, well, love. Second, I love wide bodies on almost all cars…. And third, all of my favorite Porsches have wide bodies. (I’m untold amounts of excited for Sebring because of the 911 GT3 RSR!!!)

So, uh, sorry guy, but you were a bit egotistical about it and just kinda dumb, honestly. The entire philosophy of race cars (you know, the cars that go fast, since you care about speed more than anything) can be boiled down to “lower and wider.” Hmmmmm, wider, imagine that!

Anyhow…

After that we mostly hung out with the Porsches all day. Mercedes and BMW failed to intrigue me with anything they brought (the 335i is one I like, and there *was* a 135i), though it was amusing to watch people get all over the SLK convertible Mercedes had. Silly.

The Fiat 500 was there! So cute. There were people crawling alllllll over it though, so no pictures there. And all we got was a damn poster for the Abarth. LAME.

Funny thing of the day had to be going up to the only Corvette at the show, a Grand Sport, only to find the door locked. This was amusing to us considering that the 991 911 S at the Show cost about twice as much as the Grand Sport, yet was completely unlocked for people to crawl into and out of. Hmmmmm. Odd, no?

It was very interesting watching people really. For us, being around the Porsches is old hat. Even seeing the 991 911 was meeting a friend for the second time, though it was nice to see some people really get a good first look and actually appreciate her beauty.

There were some complaints about the lack of the manual in the 991, and that surprised me. Of course there will be a manual (seven speed at that!), but the first few hundred 991s were built with PDKs in order to get that transmission out there a bit more. From what I’ve heard, it’s a fantastic transmission at that, but it was odd for me to hear complaints about it…. I thought I was the only one who loved manuals these days.

Then there was this super adorable little boy, who was so excited to be there and taking photos of everything. He was talking with one of the Porsche guys about how he knew all of the models for the Panamera. He didn’t quite get it, but it was super adorable to watch him. There’s hope for the younger generation after all, as long as nobody crushes his spirit like what happens to so many people.

All in all, it was a really fun day. I’m also happy to find out that we do have the dealership’s support when it comes to finding my own Porsche 911, even though she’s going to be at least 22 or 23 years old by the time I find her.

While I do look forward to the Show again next year, I have to say…. I am ready for summer!!!

As I mentioned on Tuesday, my husband was kind enough to take a video of the actual unveiling of the 991 911 at the Launch Party.

The 911 in the video is a base model Carrera, while the black 991 in my photos is a Carrera S. (And was in the shop part of the dealership, away from the action.)

So this is another short post…. I apologize. This weekend is Spokane’s Auto Show, so there should be a post or two on that. Winter here is pretty boring!

I’m also debating on the best way to look for a new job. I had an interview yesterday for part time work that would be an okay job, but not my ideal job. (Work all Saturdays, all day…. Meh.) Not sure if I want to take it if it’s offered. The S2000 needs tires and some other things and there’s saving for my own Porsche…. But taking a job for a few months doesn’t seem nice either. Not sure what to do honestly!

Every once in a while I get to feel like I get to go and do cool things…. This is definitely one of those cool things. We found out about it just early enough to RSVP and get to attend! Was a lucky day I suppose.

Meeting the 991

I was pretty excited — Ever since I knew about the new 911 I couldn’t wait to meet her and see her in person. I also managed to latch onto the new reference, the 991, pretty early on…. Thankfully my 911 knowledge came in handy and it was easily remembered.

For one, I was excited to see the line up of 911s that they had — one from 1970 up to a recent 997 model. Pretty nice. I was a little sad that there wasn’t a 3.2 Carrera there like what I’m looking for though.

Instead, just to torture me, there was a 997 GT3 Cup Car! And, funny enough, it was actually a car that had participated in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona! Like wow. I was pretty much in love. (It was funny, since I was more interested in her than the 991 that I was there to see! Ooops.)

As always, the Porsche dealership did not disappoint. I’m glad we were there a bit early, because I got some photos taken before people started to show up and I spent most of the time chatting with people than worrying about photos. Bad of the photographer in me, but good for the budding socialite.

On Thursday I’ll be treating you to a short clip of the actual reveal of the 991 911, so stay tuned for that!

For now, I’ll share some photos.

Photos!

She was kept under cover until the big reveal.

All of the previous 911 generations lined up.

I had to capture the nice reflection of this yellow 993 in the window.

My love....!!!

I was excited to find out that she did, in fact, race at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona this year! Amazing.

The pretty race car from the front.

I'm definitely keeping this bottle.... My husband also got a very nice looking 911 poster, signed by a Le Mans winning driver who was there!, that we now have to get framed.

By the time I got to see the 991 911, I wasn't really in a position to wield my dSLR.... So instead, I got this pretty nice iPhone snaps. Here she is!!

So I think I got it to work from my phone…. If it looks weird or isn’t working, I apologize. I’m certainly not the greatest with video at all.

However, I did want to at least try to share this clip. It’s a whopping ten seconds, but it’s quite heavenly. Of course, she sounded so much better in person still.

And hey, doesn’t the iPhone 4S take great video?? I definitely need to mess with it more… (I just *hate* video editing!!)

Last Saturday I was able to finally venture back out to the Porsche dealership to hang out with the Porsche Club again. It had been way, way, way too long since I saw everybody and I was excited, despite the less than stellar weather.

At least everything was inside, and there was a pretty nice breakfast buffet spread there for everyone. Yum! (What do I love almost as much as cars? Food, of course.)

Other than saying hi to many of my friends, my only goal for my time there was to finally get my D3000 out of hibernation. It’s sat, pretty neglected, for quite some time. It kinda got use at the end of September for the track day visit we did and a little bit in October for our Seattle trip, but otherwise pretty neglected.

So, without rambling on too much, I’ll get to the photos….

Porsches!

This is the second time I've gotten to see this beautiful Carrera GTS.

What's not to love??

Always a head turner, this is my third encounter with this Carrera GT. And she amazes me every time.

With all the carbon fiber on the outside of the Carrera GT, it's no surprise how much carbon fiber is in her engine bay, is it?

Sadly, YouTube doesn't seem to have a way for me to upload video directly from my iPhone, or I have to see about doing that... They were nice enough to start her up for us. Now, I've heard Carrera GT's in videos before, but in person?!? It was amazing. I had goosebumps and felt all weird! Great sound!!

The photos I took of this Turbo are easily my favorite from the day. The one I snapped on my phone is actually my new screen saver/background. I just LOVE 911 Turbos.

While there were two 911's driven to the dealership that day, this was not one of them. She's actually for sale. (Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to take her home with me?!?!)

These are the parts from a partially broken down Porsche flat 6.

The rest of the broken down engine -- This one suffered from IMS failure..... Toast. Sad.

This 997 Carrera 4S was one of two cars on the lifts during the tech session. The other was a Boxster.