Canepa Cars & Coffee

[John Z Goriup]

Canepa Design today held their first "CANEPA CARS & COFFEE" meeting at their immaculate and luxurious Scotts Valley, Ca facilities. This is the first of 5 events Bruce intends to conduct this season, with a 8:00 AM starting time through 12:00 noon on the second Saturday every month from today through October.

Bruce and Sean were in attendance, chatting with everyone who came, as well as several of the specialist technicians who were completing several cars for imminent delivery for races and shows this season. The weather was perfect, the cars in the showroom as always were mouth-watering, ( a Ferrari 288 GTO, ex - Vasek Polak 934 1/2, the first all-black McLaren MC12 in the US ) but as always, it was the cars in progress in the shop which, to me at least, were the compelling reason to attend. What an absolutely stunning lot.

There was the white '79 24 Hours of LeMans winning, Whittington Bros. entered, Klaus Ludwig driven Porsche K3 / 935, at a point in its assembly process where all the major groups are about to be installed. The chassis is completed, wired & caged with all panels fitted, waiting for its freshly rebuilt, dyno tested twin-turbo, intercooled six-cylinder powertrain to be inserted & hooked up.

Next to it a ground-up restoration of a 356 A hot-rod complete with Polo motor, 911 rear suspension, Brembo discs & calipers that just happen to fit without modifications, and the whole thing finished off in a completely neutral ( meaning not leaning towards blue or green or any other accent color ) Ferrari 458 Italia Gray, which closely resembles Slate Gray but is actually a little lighter, with red leather interior - simply stunning.

Oh sure, there were the requisite Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Loti ( is that the plural of Lotus ? ) Lamborghinis, and a strong cross section of Porsches and Ferraris but I can't help but feel that when one decides to take the time to go for C&C at Canepa Design, one goes for the camaraderie and to see what magic Bruce has wrought. As a result, the event is unlike the kind of C & C seen in other venues across the country in that it's not really a show and tell gathering in a parking lot, rather, its really more of a monthly Canepa Open House............not that there is anything wrong with that. The prevailing laid back attitude and catching up with friends while seeing future winners on the track and Concours lawns take shape is most enjoyable, inspiring and comforting. Smart marketing.

Hope to see many more of you there in July.

[John Z Goriup]

.............more

[John Z Goriup]

.....and a few more of this remarkable effort ! I must have spent an hour or more just studying the engine with its amazing twin turbo-installation and the transmission, which is rotated 180 degrees around its longitudinal axis in order to accomodate a "mid-engine" location. Lots of titanium components.

[John Z Goriup]

and five more, this time of the stunning 356 A.

[John Z Goriup]

and a final set of five to show some of the more memorable cars the guests drove.

[John Z Goriup]

May Chuck M. forgive me for posting yet another, really final set of 5, but nothing conveys the ambiance of Canepas emporium better than to show photos of some of the typical cars he's entrusted with to repair, restore, convert, maintain, and / or "manage". The Can-Am LOLA was especially eye catching - ex John Surtees. I couldn't help but notice the newly installed hoists with stainless steel sliding pads. God help the service technician caught working on a car without "protection"......... for both, the car's and the hoists's sake. The Ducati is on display in the main showroom, along with several other motorcycles...........putting them on pedestals as shown discourages people from sitting on them and allows close inspection at eye level. Upon entering, you can immediately tell that the entire facility is a labor of passion and love.

THANK YOU, BRUCE !

[Nine17]

It was good to see you yesterday, John! Since your beautiful photos will attract page views like bears to honey, I know that you won't be offended if I add a few points of clarification about some of these wonderful cars:

Of course, the 1979 Le Mans-winning 935 K3 is not a "mid-engine" car, but a proper rear-engined 911-derivative. However, your memory is correct about the transmission being hooked-up a bit differently than we're used to. Norbert Singer came up with the idea for the 935/78 "Moby Dick" car to keep the driveshaft angles straight by inverting the transmission. Erwin Kremer's Moby Dick-inspired K3's also followed this practice. This car had been sliced and diced in many ways by the Whittingtons after the 1979 Le Mans win with Klaus Ludwig co-driving, to keep it competitive in IMSA. Former employees of Erwin Kremer actually flew over from Germany with period photographs so that the car might be returned to its Le Mans-winning specification after Don Whittington dropped it off at the Indianapolis Raceway museum on his way to the federal pen. I'll leave the many stories BC has about this car to be shared by him and the owner. They are fascinating (and often hilarious).

The Lola T70 shown is not a Can-Am car -- the Can-Am T70's were open spyders. This car represents the sports-car endurance version, like the one that Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons used to win the Daytona 24-hours in 1969. I say "represents," because this is a continuation chassis built by Lola to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2008. It was driven by John Surtees at that time (with Eric Broadley as a passenger), but is not a period race car, Can-Am or otherwise. It is also quite beautiful; the high tunnel-tail was the inspiration for the Kurzheck tail that tamed the Porsche 917's wandering ways.

BC's McLaren MP4-12c was specced by him in non-catalog colors, and is not only the only black car but also has special colors and finishes inside as well. When I first saw the MP4-12c at the Lodge at Pebble Beach two years ago (in silver) I thought that it was an abomination compared with Peter Stevens' and Gordon Murray's 1992 McLaren F1 (an example of which was on display a few hundred yards away in the Gooding auction tent). The openings look like the gills of a toadstool. However, BC correctly perceived that dark non-metallic colors would favor the shapes and masses created for this car while de-emphasizing the openings. The red interior is also bespoke, and BC insisted on changing the finishes and what is covered with what. His color choices transform the appearance of the car (in my opinion).

I think that you've hit the nail squarely on the head on how this C&C will be different from Irvine and its progeny. It really is more of an open-house at the temple of the road. You've only scratched the surface of what is on offer at Canepa Design at the moment: like the XK-120 fixed-head hotrod, or the Penske L&M 917/10 Can-Am championship car (which will be sold at Mecum in Monterey), or the incredible Mercedes-Benz 300SL's coming out of the shop. We're very fortunate that Mr. Canepa is such an enthusiast and that he lives to share his treasure-trove with like-minded "car guys" rather than lock them in a vault.

-- David

[Longballa]

I hope to attend the one in October. Sounds like a good way to kick off a Saturday!

[mjshira]

thanks for sharing.

[70SATMan]

Sorry I missed you John! I was there early and had left by about 10:30 to go to the Capitola Rod Show. Loved the Polo in the A. I watched the Jag get moved outside....What a sound!

Met Charlie Palmer? (71 lite metallic blue Targa in your pics.

I was really mesmerized by the McLaren. I swear the front discs are bigger than the entire wheel on my Mini!

I thought it was a pretty good turnout and I plan to make every one of these if possible.