Cars We Drive!

[Find Finn]

Platinum has begun doing them, so that may be why, I think there's 3 or 4 on L4P.

 

[JayJay]



Well there is the Alpina B7, which for some reason I've been seeing more often lately. I saw 2 different ones in the past 2 weeks.

I've never seen an Alpina B7 IRL, only photos. An M7 would have interested me, the Alpina didn't.

 

[HRoi]

no, not a sure thing, but BMW USA CEO and the M division "product planner" have gone on record saying they are pushing for one. here's the link

http://blog.caranddriver.com/bmw-interested-in-m7-version-of-next-gen-7-series/


why a fail? well, mainly because M was founded on different principles - light, fast dual duty track/street cars. I realize the ship has sailed on that long ago, but I guess it's disappointing to see them drifting farther and farther away from those "core values"

 

[RFX45]

BMWs "M" stands for marketing these days.

 

[dzynr78]

Jet, i felt the same way about the 458 in photos, was not a fan, then i saw one in person and completely fell in love.
i actually just put in my resignation at Design Center California(VW/Audi Group) where i worked for just over 2 yrs. worked on a bunch of VW/Audi projects as well as a couple exclusive Bentley concepts and a Lambo concept. just accepted an offer that i couldn't refuse at Honda Advanced Design in Old Town Pasadena where i start next week. i'm sure all of you are thinking, wth?? leave VW/Audi for Honda?! all i can say is, the offer was that good.

impolyt_one, i do agree with you on the rear ends of the ferraris, the 430 does have a more nicely resolved rear, i'm just not sure if it works with the body side...

HRoi, i for one would love to see an M7! any M gets me excited. ya, i agree, bmw may have strayed a bit from the original intention of the 'M' department but they're still very impressive visually and performance wise.

Find Finn, i agree with the 5gt and x6 not making any sense whatsoever. what the hell is the purpose of the x6?! you can't even sit in the back if you're not a very small child...but I WANT ONE SO BAD!!!

the Alpina B7 is a very, very nice car. one of the partners in the law firm next door to DCC drove one. i just love the new 7. the dash-to-axle on that car is really awesome-i think it looks like a giant coupe!

i just saw a Mclaren MP4-12C and i have to say, the ass on that thing is beautiful. i despise the rest of the car, thoroughly, but that rear is sick!

 

[impolyt_one]

I like the B7 too, that thing has massive presence. All of the Alpina 7-series cars look great whenever they're current, but all 7 series cars in general just tend to date very quickly.

When these cars were new/current back in the late 90's and early 00's, these things always looked amazing to me. Was still fairly rare to see good-looking 20"s back then, Alpina has always made big-diameter wheels look nice.

 

[impolyt_one]



they have a 458 challenge, though I don't think it's for sale to the public. Ferrari of Manhattan had one in their showroom for a while, that **** was loud.

Anybody can buy one of those, but you can't drive them on the street. They have the same bodywork as a regular 458 anyway.

A couple days ago a black 430 drove up and stopped in front of me, I think it had the F430 Challenge rear grille or maybe it was a Scuderia or iding power part, looked really cool. I would get one too if I had an F430...

 

[impolyt_one]

the challenge grille for the 458 seems to help the rear treatment by leaps and bounds:

 

[dzynr78]



I like the B7 too, that thing has massive presence. All of the Alpina 7-series cars look great whenever they're current, but all 7 series cars in general just tend to date very quickly.
When these cars were new/current back in the late 90's and early 00's, these things always looked amazing to me. Was still fairly rare to see good-looking 20"s back then, Alpina has always made big-diameter wheels look nice.

ahh, the e38...such a great looking car. still has so much presence.
one of coolest things about those alpinas are the wheels. no visible valve stem-i believe the air travels through one of the spokes from the stem under the center cap.

 

[jet]

^I remember in the late 90s I'd see rich chinese dudes rolling in san gabriel all alpina'd out on 20s courtesy of dazz which was the **** back then.

 

[impolyt_one]

how long before the E24 6 series starts seeing value increases? Seems like that they are getting close, age and desirability-wise.
I found 2 M635CSi's for sale, both gunmetal grey, $10K or so. Also found an old guy that works exclusively on E24's. I figure if I get it and drive it a couple years and it doesn't pass inspection the next time, I can decommission and send it to my dad in America, plate as a historic, or sell it on in America as a possibility too. They're already eligible for US import but the ones I'm finding are really clean too, like 40k miles.

With the 6, the only modification I see myself doing is replacing the TRX wheels with those BBS 2-piece RS-alikes from the original E39 Sport package, the staggered 17's. I think they would look sick in BBS gold on a gunmetal M6. I haven't seen many sets of those for sale in Japan though.

 

[gomestar]



Anybody can buy one of those, but you can't drive them on the street. They have the same bodywork as a regular 458 anyway.

the thing that struck me about the 458 Challenge (besides, of course, simply seeing a 458 Challenge) was how crude the interior was. No comfort things at all, totally a race machine with carbon, wires, and tubes everywhere. Given how insanely fast the 458 already is, I can't really see why one would want a Challenge model.

 

[HRoi]



^I remember in the late 90s I'd see rich chinese dudes rolling in san gabriel all alpina'd out on 20s courtesy of dazz which was the **** back then.

I remember dazz....I used to work down the street from their showroom in Alhambra. or was it San Gabriel? didn't they get bought by Latrell Sprewell? also D2...they are still around I believe. I couldn't afford their **** back then.

.
i actually just put in my resignation at Design Center California(VW/Audi Group) where i worked for just over 2 yrs. worked on a bunch of VW/Audi projects as well as a couple exclusive Bentley concepts and a Lambo concept. just accepted an offer that i couldn't refuse at Honda Advanced Design in Old Town Pasadena where i start next week. i'm sure all of you are thinking, wth?? leave VW/Audi for Honda?! all i can say is, the offer was that good.
!

that sounds like one of the greatest jobs in the world for a car enthusiast. I know you're on NDA and everything, but is there anything you can share about where you see the next design generations of cars going?

I love where VAG is going with pretty much all their US stuff....although your Porsche 911 guys must be the laziest in the industry

 

[impolyt_one]

Dazz and D2 had the best stuff back in the late 90's. Back in the old days there was a distinct separation between stores that catered to those with good taste in parts, and bad taste, and they didn't really cross paths so much. Now with the new generation of car heads, everything is messed up, guys are doing sacrilegious things to good cars; **** has been bad for over a decade. =(

 

[jet]

Way before sprewell bought the retail front and before they went wholesale only. It was off the main street I think sg boulevard or some **** like that, haven't been in the area in ages though there's good chinese food to be had.

Place was so dope and it was before I started copping from carmate/options auto salon so **** that was around 95.