Thanks for the picture of my E63. I always like your pictures, you took a nice picture of my 965 Turbo last year.

 

You're welcome! Thanks for the compliment.

 

Thanks for the great picture of the 355 Chris!

 

Here are some of mine from the last few weeks, excuse the amateur iPhone 4S and Instagram quality, but it's all I am working with right now.

 

Hopefully the weather this weekend is a bit warmer than last. For those of you who somehow missed it, VW brought this monster two weeks ago...

 

VW also brought this out last week

 

I heard a rumor going around that this has been shut down due to other businesses complaining? Can anyone either confirm or refute this???

 

Definitely not true. However, it does highlight an important fact: our beloved Cars & Coffee events are guests on a business parking lot. Mike K, owner of Katie's, does a lot of work to keep the peace between the C & C people, and the business owners who are trying to make a living. We can help Mike, and ourselves, by remembering to be responsible guests. Don't park in marked No Parking zones, try to pay attention to thru traffic when wandering the lots and taking pictures. (I know - I have been guilty of this, too.)

Also, the Katie's Cars & Coffee event is supposed to have a stop time of 9:00AM, so the Great Falls Village businesses' customers can make their way in.

I'll also use this opportunity to say that engine revving and burnouts will certainly bring police attention, and not in a good way.

We all enjoy this extraordinary weekly event, and by practicing a little common sense, we can continue to enjoy it!

--Bob Collum

P.S.: The picture below is the owner of Katie's, trying to figure out where all the incoming cars can park, on 'Veyron Saturday'.

 

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?! That's so sick, I wish I would have been there to see it.

 

Lots to see today!

--Bob Collum

 

More from today.

--Bob Collum

 

Must drive an Atom some day. MUST!
.

 

What kind of car is this?

 

Chris:

Glad you asked! It's a Lotus Omega. It is a project undertaken by Lotus for a larger manufacturer (GM), like the (Ford)Lotus Cortina before it. It started out as either a (left-hand drive) Opel Omega or a (right-hand drive) Vauxhall Carlton, shipped by GM (who owned Lotus at the time) to Lotus. After much engine, transmission and suspension fettling, it came out as either a Lotus Omega or a Lotus Carlton - the drive side being the only difference I am aware of. The standard straight six was bored out, and twin-turboed, along with many other engine mods. The 6-speed ZF manual from the first-generation Corvette ZR1 was used. (The original Vette ZR1 had an engine designed by Lotus, built by Mercury Marine, who had expertise in the fine machining of aluminum.) The Omega/Carlton's 3.6 liter engine was good for 377hp.

This car was reputed to be the fastest 4-door 'saloon' car in the world, at the time. Confirmed top speed was 177mph. I met a guy at the Lotus factory that had the job of doing a high-speed run in every one, on the Lotus factory track, once it came off the assembly line. Probably a well-trusted employee, he was later the manager of the assembly facility.

The car was made from 1990-92. It was sold, in either Omega or Carlton form, in only one color - Imperial Green, which looks like black in anything but direct, bright sunlight. (I guess everyone in Britain thought they were black, then.) Like the Cortina, it is considered a "real" Lotus, and has a proper type number, the Lotus Type 104.

I have been told that there are three of these in the country. I have seen all three. A great 'sleeper' car, or as the Brits would say "Q car". Here's another one I saw at an event at the Indianapolis Speedway -

--Bob Collum

 

Very cool, thanks!