Anyone own any Exotic cars?

I met the couple that own this last week in Cape Breton.



Not exactly "exotic" in the usual sense of the word... but extremely rare around here. Call me mad, but I'd give up almost any conventional exotic to own one of these. I think Lars would approve... it's a Mercedes, after all.



While hiking in the Highlands National Park I saw this parked on a beach about a kilometer away and immediately turned to my wife and said "we've got to get down there". Oddly, she wasn't as excited as I was. In any case, after we finished our hike we got down there, drove the 4R length of the beach and pulled up next to this Merc. I thought it would be a little rude to just start taking pictures of someones "home" so I knocked on the door and asked permission first.



The owners were a very friendly couple from Switzerland who just happened to be in the final week of a 4 year journey that has spanned the length and width of the Americas. From as far South as one can drive in Argentina, to as far North as one can go in Alaska and the Canadian territories, they've done it all.



It's impossible not to admire an undertaking such as theirs... seeing the world, 100% on their own terms. Whether it's exotic and remote locations like Tierra del Fuego or the Dempster Highway, or simply overlooking the Gulf of St-Lawrence - they can just get behind the wheel and drive to wherever they want to park next.

If I had the means to follow in the wheel tracks I would do it in a heartbeat.

Those tyres look too small Lars.

That's a fair bit longer, yes. The Unicat would probably be 23 or 24 feet long... I didn't measure. The tires, however, are 395/85R20.

It is gorgeous... what engine?

I ve always loved that dark gray exterior with red interior combo! Back in the late 80s we repainted our Piper Aztec dark silver with a red interior beautiful...

But after all these year, i went to a biscuit interior for the E-type... i ll post pic in this thread when its installed in a month or so.

I'm guessing there's a story behind this car that needs to be told...

We ve just added another "exotic" to our small collection (72 Etype, 86 and 89 Alfa spiders)

A couple of weeks ago I was dropping my Spider at a local Alfa shop in Miami and fell in love with a gorgeous GTV6 parked at the entrance. What caught my eyes was the lack of rotors inside the rear wheels as these cars have inboard brakes (the rotors are by the differential to reduce unsprung weight and improve handling). I never knew Alfa did that... jaguar of course had done it back in 1961 with the E.

that was on Thursday...

I ve always thought the GTV6 was a good looking car so i casually looked at them on line. Yeah... very risky business!!

By Sunday, i found an original owner, always garaged, all original but upgraded 1981 specimen in Annapolis, on Craig's list of all places. By Monday I had someone local look at it and send me some pictures and the car was indeed pristine. Talked to the owner who realized we were serious about buying and serious about our car addiction and we quickly reached a deal

By the next Thursday, we flew to Annapolis, looked at the car which was at a shop being serviced and on Friday met with the owner to close the deal. Turned out to be an older gentleman, and I mean this to the letter. We actually went to the bank with him to get a cashiers check without even test driving the car... there is a box of documentation in the trunk incl every invoice, every piece of paper, as well as period articles and brochures. And while the cars has non original five spokes wheels (with brand new Pirellis P6s!) it also came with the original Campagnolos which we shipped home.

We left Annapolis on Friday mid day and headed back home thru Shenandoah Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway and some nice Georgia back roads highlight of the trip was the 11 miles, 190 corners, NC 226A aka the snake... what a blast! We had originally thought we s run the Tail of the Dragon but week end traffic made us realize it wasn't worth the detour. Made it back to Miami tonight.

Of all the car I ve owned or driven over the years, from my first car in Paris which was a German built 1981 Ford Escort XR3 (not your boring US made escort ...) to a number of Jaguars incl a 99 supercharged XJR and a 2000 XKR, I think that little GTV6 is probably the most fun. It s a true drivers car. Miss a downshift and the transaxle will growl back at you. The Busso V6 sounds incredible and this one has headers and free flow exhaust..

And to make it even more perfect, the dark silver paint and Biscuit leather is a perfect match to my E-type!