The Auto Show gives car companies the opportunity to display their latest machines, but sometimes, it’s the old ones that steal the show. Hey, nobody loves a self-driving, electric minivan more than Demaras Racing. But that doesn’t mean we don’t respect the classics like a 1956 Chevy, a 1962 Corvette or a 1954 Porsche Speedster.
We all had our favourites, and for young Daniel it was the 1938 Peugeot 402 Darl’Mat Special sports roadster. This 70 HP monster won it’s class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in the day. Apparently, this car started life as a normal 402, but Parisian car dealer Emile Darl’Mart had the blessing of the factory to re-body the cars and upgrade them for racing. The vehicle is an excellent example of Art Deco style in automobiles of the era.
For Chris Demaras, his favourite selection was more modern; the Pagani Zonda R Liquid. Only 15 Zondas were ever built, and this ‘special’ ifs a one-of-one custom. Sinister looking black carbon fiber, front splitters and canards, air intakes for the rear brakes stick up like periscopes, and the rear diffuser is wider than the car. Just standing still, the Zonda R Liquid looks like it could compete at Le Mans, and with its V-12 engine putting out 730 HP, it could probably win!
Based only on crowd reaction (and lineup) the Barbie Corvette was the big draw. Sure, this one is just a pink 1957 Corvette, and not the car used in the film. But hey… none of the kids even noticed that the back seat where Ken hides is missing from this car. No, this is a pretty much stock example of a C2 Corvette.
Driving home from the Auto Show was the greatest challenge. While we drove along Lake Shore Blvd, some distracted driver in a Honda drove head-on into the eastbound lanes at Cherry St, nearly taking out a Polestar.
Those self-driving, electric minivans can’t come soon enough!
What is that purple creature?? I’ve never seen such a thing!
Beautiful, isn’t it? That os the Pagani Huayra.
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An Argentinean-Italian named Horatio Pagani, former chief engineer at Lamborghini, builds those cars.
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The car (Huayra) is named after Huayra-Tata, the Incan god of wind.
Absolutely fascinating. I visited the website to read about it and then searched for a price. The car starts at a cool $3.4mil. And they only made 100 because of an agreement with Mercedes-AMG about the engine? Wow.
Yes. Mr. Pagani is an excellent engineer, can create one of the most beautiful car bodies EVER but he doesn’t have the facility to build engines.
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So the V12 engine comes from Mercedes-Benz (I bet they put that same engine into their top-tier cars).
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$3.4 million is a pretty STEEP price tag. But with so few produced, I guess they’ll become more valuable with age.
I was so taken by the Hyuara that I missed the rest of the post! Very interesting!