Tampa Cars And Coffee Photos

"sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg)
09/18/2016 at 13:57 • Filed to: Cars and Coffee, Tampa, Dawn Patrol

Saturday’s Car And Coffee in Tampa was spectacular. Hosted by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , their C&C usual takes place in St. Petersburg, but a handful of times a year, they hold the event at a special location. This month’s was at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , on Tampa’s Davis Island. Things were scheduled to get started at 7:00am. I planned a dawn patrol mission to get some sunrise-illuminated car pictures. Upon arriving, I was greeted with a mile-long traffic jam of show cars and spectators trying to get in the gates. I was told by a duPont person (who’s car was one of my favorites of the day) that the turnout far exceeded expectations.

This stitched together panorama didn’t come out perfect, but if you enlarge it, you’ll have a good idea of the scale of the event.

As you can see, the weather perfect, the turnout was massive, and there were cars as far as the eyes could see. And as you’ll see below, my dawn patrol mission did pay off (it’s worth the trip through all the pics, it really is). While there were lots of very pretty Lambos, Ferraris Corvettes, BMWs, and all sorts of other new-ish, expensive, fast cars, I wasn’t there for them. I see these cars all the time. I was here for the unique, weird, and special cars that you don’t see all that often. You brought an Aventador? That’s nice, so did three other people. If you need me, I’ll be over at the UTE.

That’s not a UTE! Or is it? I was told that the owner of this UTEicorn once had a Pontiac G8, but it had an oopsie and was totaled. He took what was left, ordered a bunch real UTE bits and ended up with this. Is it a real UTE? No, but yes.

a Figaro!

because math is hard

i love this car!

an early 80s euro 230E in it’s original sexy olive green

speaking of sexy paint, this deep black 308 made me feel all funny inside

that font!

Slant 6 is a good engine and a good band

are those ‘Vette wings on the hood?

a 383 Stroker powered Datsun? why not!

those red tags say “Remove Before Flight”

At first, I wasn’t a fan of this Porsche. But as I spent some time with it, I quickly fell in love. It’s completely ridiculous, but works.

Dass Flügel!

Longtail!

Cobra vs. Hellcat

Ok, now we are getting close to the money shot. This Ghia is just lovely. It’s copper paint just accentuates it’s curves. It looks so damn sexy and fast just sitting still. And fast it is. In the back sits an engine from an Audi A4, the 1.8 T (I think). It’s owner said that at last check, before the current tune, it was putting out 240bhp. That is more than enough for this little beauty. I can only imagine that one would be all smiles driving this around.

And finally, my shot of the day. Dawn patrol paid huge dividends. As I was walking in, I saw the Ghia and that it would be perfectly positioned for the sunrise. I took several, but this was the best shot, with the sun just breaking the horizon behind the car. I couldn’t be happier with this picture.

And one bonus pic, a triple selfie of me reflected in the Figaro.

DISCUSSION (22)

Batman the Horse > sonicgabe
09/18/2016 at 14:20

Had you never heard of RWB Porsches before? This one is probably one of the most famous ones and it is understated by RWB standards. These photos are lovely. Thanks for sharing them.

sonicgabe > Batman the Horse
09/18/2016 at 14:35

I am vaugly familiar. I saw it from a distance and thought it was just someone’s project that got out of hand. But as I got closer, I could see what it was. It’s still ridiculous, but in a good way. It looks good from ever angle. Hell, I’m the asshole that just laid down on the ground in front of it to get some shots. It great, and stunning in person.

mcseanerson > sonicgabe
09/18/2016 at 14:43

A car show on Davis Island sounds fantastic. If I ever come back down to visit friends and family I should plan around something like this.

sonicgabe > mcseanerson
09/18/2016 at 17:32

It was a great place to have it. I got the feeling this might be something they do at least once a year. If you keep checking the website I linked to up top, you’ll eventually catch the announcement for the next time they do a C&C there.

TDIGuy > sonicgabe
09/18/2016 at 22:02

Maaaaaaaad! Figario!

sonicgabe > TDIGuy
09/18/2016 at 22:47

The gentleman who owns it just got it a few days or so ago. Fresh off the boat. It needs a heavy-duty detailing, but other than that, it’s nice. In person, it looks like Nissan’s version of the future from 1991 that never came to pass. It’s adorable.

TDIGuy > sonicgabe
09/18/2016 at 22:49

I was one just because of MCM. If it wasn’t for that I never would have seen one !

sonicgabe > TDIGuy
09/18/2016 at 23:34

I’m more of a fan of the PAO, but have nothing against the Figaro. Would drive daily.

wafflesnfalafel > sonicgabe
09/20/2016 at 00:13

sexy pics - those are super nice. Love the composition on the Testarossa, Dodge, gull wing...

sonicgabe > wafflesnfalafel
09/20/2016 at 01:46

Thanks. I try to do something a little different than just the typical angled, overhead shot to get the whole car in frame. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I use it plenty. But I really like taking shots from weird angles to maybe show a bit of detail that goes overlooked.

Pb12inchdown > sonicgabe
09/25/2016 at 19:30

As an Aussie I see plenty Utes every day and can say that thing looks pretty legit. Even the correct roll bar in the tray.

However those rims aren’t stock.

Sonikbloo > sonicgabe
09/25/2016 at 21:58

Kinja'd!!!

I saw it hauling ass (65mph) on the way there. Looked like it was floored and the driver was white knuckling it.

sonicgabe > Sonikbloo
09/25/2016 at 22:40

Hahahahaha! But it’s a turbo! The owner was super nice. He had literally just taken possession of it off the boat that week.

Charles > sonicgabe
09/25/2016 at 23:32

UTEicorn? If only it were 7 letters, I’d change my plate to it. The full build detail is here: https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixGXP/

sonicgabe > Charles
09/25/2016 at 23:48

Hey! Thanks for sharing the details of the build. The very basic info that I posted was told to me by someone who happened to be standing near the UTE, I think he said he knew you. No matter. When I saw it across the runway, I just smiled and booked it over. I couldn’t stop smiling and giggling like a schoolgirl when I was taking the pictures. It was one the highlights of the day for me.

CammedCTSV > sonicgabe
09/26/2016 at 07:02

Thank you for coming out. Ethan’s Ghia is much faster than 240 hp. He puts up a good fight against my CTS-V.

Andrew Nabors

duPont Registry

sonicgabe > CammedCTSV
09/26/2016 at 10:29

Even with just 240 in that thing, the power to weight ratio is starting to push kinda close to Hellcat territory (which is the quickest fast thing I could look up that’s not a $500,000 track day beast).

Sonikbloo > sonicgabe
09/27/2016 at 21:34

Funny thing is, I’ve actually seen a Figaro for sale on Tampa’s CL just a few weeks prior.

sonicgabe > Sonikbloo
09/27/2016 at 22:51

Yeah, there is someplace in Oldsmar that has been importing JDMs. They had one a little while ago. This is not the same one. The one at the C&C was in desperate need of a detailing and had been sitting somewhere collecting leaves and dirt for some time. The one in Oldsmar was spotless and probably over-priced. They also had some Nissan JDM pickup that was converted to a fire truck. I saw it driving around not too long ago.

sonicgabe > sonicgabe
09/27/2016 at 22:58

http://montumotors.com/vehicles

sonicgabe > sonicgabe
09/27/2016 at 22:59

http://montumotors.com/vehicles/70/1990-nissan-safari

Sonikbloo > sonicgabe
09/28/2016 at 07:48

Interesting, thanks for this! Prices seem pretty reasonable when you consider what it costs to get those cars to the U.S. Of course many of those cars would be considered old run of the mill cars over in Japan. Haha.

My brother lived in Japan for nearly a decade. He told me that having an 80's Z28 or something similar there is such a novelty, I suppose this is similar to that.