Raleigh Cars & Coffee, 7/2/11

I always make it out to Raleigh's Cars & Coffee event the first Saturday of every month. It's always worth it, even though I abhor waking up early, because there's always awesome stuff to see.  A lot of the same cars show up, so I won't show pictures of stuff you've already seen - for those you can check previous Cars & Coffee coverage here, here, and here.

For starters, here is one of 337 Porsche 959's ever built, which was Porsche's rolling technical showcase that blew everything else out of the water in the 1980's, and set the standard for supercar performance.  None were ever imported to the US; it's likely this one has been fitted with the Canepa Design engine kit, which allows the 959 to pass federal emissions regulations for importation, as well as increasing power from 444bhp to 576.

The engine bay of the 959.  Hard to get a picture of this because there was a crowd around it the whole time.  Not really much to look at, engine wise!

First one I've seen: the extremely rare Pontiac Solstice Coupe.  These went on sale in early 2009, and the plant closed down in July 2009 - only 1,152 regular production Coupes were made, compared to around 61,000 Solstice Roadsters.  This one is the GXP, with the turbo 2.0L LNF engine - beautiful car, shame about GM killing Pontiac though!

A great license plate, and some more Kappa-chassis love.  This one's on the back of a Saturn Sky Redline, which also has the Turbo LNF engine.  There was a hilarious sticker on the battery cover, which is slightly NSFW so I just linked to it.

The Lotus-designed, Quad-Cam, 32 valve LT-5 V8 from an über-rare C4 Corvette ZR-1.  So cool to see these!

Super-dropped E46 330i sedan looking great!

A Terminator (03-04) Cobra looking absolutely mean on black wheels, with a huge charge-cooler hiding behind that front bumper.  The 5.0 Fox Body Mustang next to it has a pretty impressive engine bay, as well.

Vortec blower, MSD ignition, and a polished GT40 (SVT Cobra) intake manifold.  This car has to be an absolute handful.

Why would a Viper GTS need a drag parachute?  Well, take a look under the hood.

Extra deceleration abilities come in handy when you have a 1000+whp Twin-Turbo V10 built by Underground Racing.

Cadillac CTS-V Sedan.  Nothing more needs to be said.

I almost walked past this second-generation Eclipse, until I noticed the intercooler that seemed to fill up the front bumper, the 4-piston AP Racing brakes, and the GSX badge.  I found the owner later, and he popped the hood.  Worth the wait.

FULLY built 2.0L.  Rods, pistons, intake manifold, rams-horn exhaust manifold with a Precision GT35, transmission built by Shepard Racing.  The owner - Alex - was a real nice guy, there will be a feature coming on this monster GSX soon.  He's expecting close to 700 horsepower at all four wheels from this setup once it's tuned properly.

A brace of badass BMW M Cars - E90 M3, E28 M5, E39 M5 - the best of the best, if you ask me.

Can't afford a CTS-V?  Just supercharge your G8 GT!

Apparently the trick Boss 302 intake manifold (which is where the Boss gets most of it's extra power - 444 vs. 412 - from) has been on sale longer than the Boss 302 itself has been.  This is on a modified 2011 GT 5.0, the owner says he's had it for more than 2 months now.

"My X-Type is too a real Jaguar!"  Look, if your Jaguar is a station wagon with a Taurus engine, no it isn't.

Three-spoke wheels look good on two things: Saabs, and Italian sport bikes.  Ducati 748, viva Italia!

An Innocenti Mini, owned by a mutual friend.  These are mostly just like Austin Minis, only they're built in Italy.  A rare spotting in the 'states, to be sure!

Real Aston Martins have 8 cylinder, 4 cams, 32 valves, and 4 Weber carbs in a plenum.

A pretty cool Volvo 940 Turbo.  This one has the TD04-15g Turbo from an 850 Turbo, big injectors, a large intercooler, a turbo Mopar FPR - most of the turbobrick tricks.  It doesn't hurt the whole car is flat black with a hood vent cut in, an "I Am The Stig" sticker, and Hella rally lights on the front, either.  It's pretty quick!

Slightly ratty-looking, but it's still a twin-cam AE86 Corolla GT-S hatch with the correct wheels.

Before OJ Simpson made it infamous, so infamous they had to ditch the name; hell, before "SUV" was even a term, the original Ford Bronco was a light, simple off-roader.  I've never seen an original Bronco in this kind of shape - love the Carolina Blue paint job too!

Even though if you view it logically (they're overpriced and slow compared to other sports cars in this price range), I still stop and stare every time I see a Maserati GranTurismo - they're just so gorgeous.  Especially the wheels.

Porsche's 911 (930) Turbo - a timeless classic, and still a very rapid car by today's standards.  God help you if you lift in a corner...

Last thing from C&C, this perfect Corvette Grand Sport replica.  I only wish you could hear how tremendous this car sounds through this picture - those side pipes made beautiful music.

This wasn't at Cars & Coffee, but I saw it about an hour after leaving, and it was so badass I felt the need to include it.  As if a blacked-out Ford GT wasn't amazing enough, I came back a few minutes later and the rear clamshell was open...

And no, the GT didn't come with a polished Whipple supercharger stock.

Or these huge titanium exhaust pipes.  When he took off up the road, I had to admit it was literally the best-sounding car I'd ever experienced.  Utterly amazing.  Until next month!