Car Spotting in Los Angeles, Pt I

Sometimes I realize I have a certain lack of perspective when it comes to the car thing.  Perhaps it's a regional thing.  I'm in Los Angeles for a few days (a family member is getting married), and some of the cars that raise eyebrows in Raleigh would be taxis around here.  If there's an area in the US that embraces car culture more fully than the city of Angels, I'm not sure what it is.  This is a place where a C-class Mercedes is like a Taurus, and you routinely see more than ten Bentleys a day.  It's special.  My shutter finger has been getting tired.  Check it out.

See, in the middle of the eastern seaboard, a CL55 AMG Supercharged is the kind of car that makes you raise an eyebrow.  Here, it's just another used Benz.  Gorgeous though.

Jaguars are very popular around LA.  Here's a 510bhp XFR.

These still exist: a LaForza SUV.  I want to keep descriptions brief, but this is basically an Iveco truck chassis with an Italian leather interior, fuel-injected Ford 302 Windsor, 4x4, automatic - an Italian competitor to the Range Rover sold in miniscule quantities in the 80's and 90's.  Also called the Rayton Fissore Magnum.    This one was flat black, of course.

A gorgeous Ferrari 599 GTB cruising into the Starbucks right next to the local Tesla dealer.  Speaking of which, I had to stick my head in there -

A Tesla Roadster Sport (v2.5.)  This is one of the last 16 new Tesla Roadsters left in the world; they stopped production recently (to get ready for the Model S sedan) and the remaining electric sportscars are still for sale.  These cars are really absolutely stunning up close in person.

The dark blue paint is amazing.  You can see a lot of Lotus Elise in the car (which isn't surprising considering it's basis), but the Tesla does have it's own character to it.

The Tesla's electric motor and single-speed tranny.  It's so simple and small.  Of course, the battery pack consists of 6,831 slightly-larger-than-AA sized Lithium-Ion batteries, and the whole thing weighs just shy of a half-ton (990lbs.)  So the fact that the Tesla at 2,800lbs is only around 800lbs heavier than an Elise is actually pretty impressive.

Bentley's Continental GT is a fairly common site, especially around Rodeo drive.  The Flying Spur sedan variant is really classy, too.  It's just odd to see so many Bentleys.

Green is not a color you associate with Ferraris, but it works surprisingly well on this 430 Scuderia here.  Of course, if you're on Rodeo drive, there's a certain car that has to be seen.

Hint: it's down there on the bottom left.

It's apparently always parked in front of the Bijan design store.  This black and yellow Veyron (valued around $1.7M) has Iranian designer Bijan Pakzad's signature on the rear wing, his icon on the hood (a ghostly face), and is seen here with some lovely ladies accompanying it.

Sure, it's over the top.  But the man was known for over-the-top, so why not a custom-painted Veyron?

All 1,000bhp of the Veyron's 8.0L W16.  Having never seen one in real life, one thing I was surprised with is how small the car is in person.  You see it in pictures and it's the big, menacing hulk of a car, all giant rubber and intakes.  On a city street, standing next to it, it looks maybe the size of a Mercedes SL or a Mustang.  Sure, it's noticeable - but the size was a surprise.

Picture opportunities like this don't present themselves frequently - a Rolls Royce Ghost driving past a Veyron?  Hard to pass up.  Anyway, there's a gallery with some additional photos below - and I'll be posting more of the beautiful cars from this city soon.