This Saturday, Oct. 13, '12, starting at 8:00 AM, the last of this year's Canepa Cars & Coffee get-to-gethers will be held.
Very worthwhile and a great way to spend the first morning of the weekend,.............SEE YOU THERE !!!
JZG
This Saturday, Oct. 13, '12, starting at 8:00 AM, the last of this year's Canepa Cars & Coffee get-to-gethers will be held.
Very worthwhile and a great way to spend the first morning of the weekend,.............SEE YOU THERE !!!
JZG
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
I'll leave it to JGZ to fill-in the details, but here are a few quick overviews of this morning's turn-out at Canepa Design in Scotts Valley. The quality of the cars both inside and outside was outstanding. Where else can you see a shop line-up of a unique McLaren MP-4/12C, the 962-motor Speedster, the Moal Gatto, a bare-chassis 300 SL Roadster, a 2.7 RS, the 1979 Le Mans-winning 935 K3, the prototype Lister Costin Corvette, and Denny Hulme's 1970 Can-Am M8D? There's always something new and interesting and there were terrific people to chat with over coffee. Thanks for remembering me, John!
-- David
Last edited by Nine17; 10-13-2012 at 12:30 PM.
I was actually going to start a new thread showing photos from today's Canepa Cars & Coffee, but inasmuch as David-Nine17 has already posted the above overview shots..........let's just press on here.
After a dodgy week of cold and unsettled weather, today was the autumn day the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce was hoping for. Memorable. Bruce personally welcomed all the visitors which included a group from the " Western Automotive Journalists Association " and conducted a narrated tour of the entire facilities, including the showroom, the shop, body & paint facility, storage & the museum, as well as a detailed account of his years-long effort to get the importation and legal federalization of Porsche 959s approved by the Feds. When you get such a tour by the very man who created this remarkable enterprise and the unique facility that houses it, and has made buying & selling, repairing, restoring and racing some of the rarest, best, and most sought-after cars on the planet his life's work, it's just not an ordinary walkabout, rather, you begin to understand why car-guys and the most accomplished collectors world-wide turn to Bruce for their car needs and for solutions to problems they may be experiencing with cars they already own.
For the sake of a flowing presentation, I will post the photos from today's Open House in the customary groups of five, arranged by subject......the first, some of the more interesting guest cars. I personally just hope Bruce finds these monthly get-to-gethers worth his time and effort and continues them next year. What a delightful tradition in the making for Northern California car enthusiasts.
Thanks for looking,
JZG
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 10-20-2012 at 02:43 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
Bruce addressing today's visitors, surrounded by cars for sale in the showroom. The silver '67 Corvette is a comprehensive bare fiberglass up restoration and is as perfect as any I have ever seen.
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 10-20-2012 at 02:45 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
..........more cars for sale. If you will recall please, last year in the "Porsche Pic. of the Day" thread I posted a couple of shots of an Irish green 356 outlaw with the unusual feature of a pair of connecting-rod big ends as tow hooks. At the time I had no idea the car was a professionally built outlaw, originally created by Automobile Associates of Canton, CT, and hides a 2.7 liter RS spec. 911 motor with Weber carbs instead of the usual MFI, which produces 230 HP, drivetrain in its engine compartment. Well, the car found its way to Canepa's where it has been thoroughly refreshed with new paint, interior and bumpers with Speedster trim to replace the con-rods.........eye-catching and novel maybe back then, but the car has now been finished to a stunning standard incorporating all the features and looking very much just like a 356 GT, in other words, essentially a Carrera, but without the 4-cam motor..........not at all a bad thing in this instance. What a gorgeous car.
The final shot in this group is of very large aluminum alloy / cast-iron-liner equipped front brake drums and suspension from a classic '32 Ford Roadster hot-rod.
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 10-20-2012 at 02:48 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
The Canepa organization has always been vary active and at the forefront of M-B 300SL restoration and maintenance, to the point where Bruce in my opinion is the equal of Paul Russel from the East Coast, the famed marque specialist who started out concentrating on the restoration of Gullwings and the Roadsters. The selection of 300SLs for sale today illustrates amply why Canepa's has acquired this reputation. The silver Roadster with the removable hard-top and the rare, optional factory Rudge wheels really steals the show. The epoxy coated 300SL Roadster body on the rotisserie incidentally is the body which belongs on the restored bare rolling chassis featured elsewhere in this forum ( Other cars ).
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 10-14-2012 at 03:48 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
One of the most interesting and striking cars in the shop today was the Moal "Gatto", the metallic blue alloy-bodied '50s tribute car which was created in the spirit of every Italian '50s sports car without actually mimicking any one specific model too closely. I clearly see Maserati, Ferrari, Zagato, Vignale, Pininfarina elements in every aspect of this unusual hot-rod. Great proportions !
The workmanship and the professional approach to envisioning and executing the Moal Gatto ( and several other "retro" hot-rods created by Moal ) is of an extremely high order. The owner brought it to Canepa's because as the Moal people built it, and even though they are probably the most talented folks creating non-traditional hot-rods, the car just wasn't ready for the rigors of being a frequently driven weekend collector car. They simply don't quite posses the skill-sets to finish the car to the necessary degree of mechanical sorting required to become a reliable, drivable, one-off specialty hot-rod.
That's a late-model, current-production Ferrari V-12 under the hood converted to 6 two-barrel Weber carbs ala 250 GTO........ but my guess is that set-up will not make it to the final road version, since that much carburation makes the car virtually undrivable in traffic. I feel triple stock Webers will end up a much more desirable and practical solution, and damn the aesthetics.
The quality of the suspension design and its components is impressive.
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 11-07-2012 at 04:39 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
Last month's thread on Canepa's next-to-last C & C included two photos of a wild, late-model red 911 Speedster which elicited questions about "what is it". During its current refurbish, the car is in the shop to make it ready it for sale, and today was displayed with a placard telling about its provenance and both lids up for viewing. Don't forget, this project took shape 20+years ago.
Shown below, the 934 flares, under-hood view, the placard, the hand-fabricated, front-compartment mounted oil-tank, and a view of the intercooler.
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 10-14-2012 at 10:00 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
May Chuck miller forgive me for the spendthrift use of bandwidth, but another unique and historic car which I feel rates more than just a casual one-photo visit is the ex-Denny Hulme '70 season championship winning McLaren M8D-4, in the shop for a comprehensive rebuild & restoration.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
The final set of shots with which to close out this presentation, starting with the '59 Lister-Corvette Costin-designed prototype about to undergo a complete restoration to its original as-raced appearance back in the day, a fine looking '34 Ford three-window hot-rod Coupe, and three shots of one of Canepa's federalized and well-used local private owner Porsche 959s in for maintenance.
Hopefully these monthly get-to-gethers will continue next year as well so we can enjoy seeing unique & rare cars that make this such an engrossing passion.
Last edited by John Z Goriup; 10-14-2012 at 10:03 AM.
Before it became Ruprecht, my Porsche was a '70 911 T
Paying member No. 895 since 2006
" slavish adherence to originality wasn't for me, because the car wasn't as good as it could be."
Rob Dickinson's response when asked what motivated him to build Singers
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