Car Throttle

AACA’s (Antique Automobile Club of America’s) AutoFair in Charlotte, North Carolina is the biggest classic car show on the East Coast.  Held on the Lowe’s Motor Speedway (for those not familiar, that’s an entire NASCAR track), the AutoFair is an overwhelming goliath of a carshow.  There are classics nearly as far as your line of sight goes, plus some hidden here and there within the stands.  It was an absolutely fantastic event.  And while my legs had turned to jelly by the end of the day, you can sit at your computer and enjoy the pictures!  Isn’t it great how that works out?

The very first thing that greeted me on my way into the show was this orange Opel Kadett.  With a GSi 2.0L and a 9 pound flywheel as well as track-prepared suspension, this little beasty seemed like two and a half barrels of fun.  The owner was a very nice German gentleman who was quite enthusiastic about his car; I love to see that.

under his engine bay was quite a site, too.

Here’s a very nicely maintained Opel GT coupe, which was sold here in small numbers in the seventies.  This one has some attractive body addendum, at least in my eyes.  I wish there were still cars this size today.

There were a whole slew of Supras to be seen parked outside of the grandstands; always a welcome site in my eyes.

Here’s one of my personal favorites: a bona-fide Buick Regal T-Type.  The T-Type got all the goodies from the Grand National (the 3.8L SFI Turbo V6, mainly) but none of the Darth-Vaderesque black paint and creepy trim.  A lot of them actually came with vinyl “landau” fake roofs, which I find hilarious – considering these will do 0-100km/h in under 5 seconds.

Let’s take a peek under the hood, shall we?  What a gorgeous setup…

Speaking of Grand National’s…  here’s some 80′s turbo porn for you.

Here’s something you don’t see every day: an original (C1) Corvette… parked in front of a Nissan GT-R.  Talk about a study in contrast… sports cars don’t get much more different than these two.

Here’s an original Plymouth Barracuda, one of the original “personal” sports cars from the 60′s.  I love the sloping rear glass on these.

Here’s a 1975 Honda AZ600 commuter car.  These are fascinating – chain drive, air cooled 600cc twin-cylinder engines, 60-something MPG… very ahead of it’s time.  Judging by it’s diminuitive proportions, you can see why these were slow sellers in the US.

Here’s a classic T-bucket roadster.  I LOVE those headers… how could you not?

And the last car for today… a 1991 GMC Syclone.  In case you forgot, this is the world’s fastest-accelerating pickup truck, with a 285bhp/380lb-ft Turbocharged V6, electronic four wheel drive, and Ferrari 348-spanking acceleration.  Very rare.

I’ll be posting coverage in multiple parts, so stay tuned!