Category Archives: Car Shows

SEMA 2022 – Lotus-Radford Type 62-2

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What’s been going on with Lotus for the last couple decades?

Okay, that might be a little bit of a loaded question. I’m a little too young to have been able to fully appreciate the era when the Esprit was a hot-ticket item so maybe I’m lacking a little too much context to have a grasp of Lotus’ place in the world at that time. All I have to go off of is the more recent weirdness coming from them since the time I’ve been aware of their offerings, and as time goes on, one thing is becoming clear to me:

Lotus is Unreal. I don’t mean that in a hyperbolic way, I mean Lotus has essentially followed in the footsteps of the PC game of the late 90s. Much like the Unreal franchise, Lotus certainly made a name for themselves early on in their existence with excellent quality releases and superior technological prowess. Over time, however; Unreal: The Game has become less relevant in the gaming space every year as Epic Games, their developer, (yes- the Fortnite company) has focused less effort on on Unreal, the game and much, much more on developing and advancing the Unreal Engine for licensing by other developers. This was a smart move, and these days you probably can’t go a full (non-camping in the wilderness) day without accidentally viewing or interacting with some form of media riding on the shoulders of Epic Games’ 3D game engine.

It’s not hard to notice a lot of parallels between that and what it seems like Lotus has been up to as of late. The Lotus models that stand out to me are actually pretty underwhelming compared to how many Lotus-adjacent vehicles exist. This isn’t news to anyone, but even the first Tesla model produced was a thinly-veiled electrified Lotus Elise. It doesn’t stop there, everyone from Hennessey, to Infiniti, to Rinspeed and even Vauxhall, among many others have toyed with a Lotus-based version of whatever they were working on at the time, and to me anyways, they all sort of overshadow what Lotus themselves have been putting out, which up until very recently resembled more of a Miata-meets-go-kart than a true high-end sports car. This leads us to the Radford Type 62-2 we spotted at SEMA 2022.

Sure, it may be based on the Exige, but the Radford looks a lot more super and a lot less 3/4 scale Great Value Porsche 918. The power has also been increased from 430 to 500hp which, let’s face it, is now the bare minimum to even get anyone’s attention these days. Although Lotus has always been all over the place with their services, performing suspension tuning for tons of other makes, running F1 teams, and even building road racing bicycles, I feel that given the proliferation of Lotus-based cars, and the sheer variety of offerings they have allowed to exist, I think it’s say to say that Lotus has settled into what they do best as of late. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Nobody besides a few hardcore fans may be playing Unreal Tournament anymore, but everyone and their cousin has seen a Star War or two made with the help of Unreal Engine without even realizing it. And that’s exactly how Lotus, and the Radford Type 62-2 feel to me.

1979 Puma GTE at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023

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The 1970s saw a surge of interest in fiberglass kit cars built on a Volkswagen chassis. Cars such as the Bradley GT and Fiberfab were popular at the time.

The Puma GT is based on the chassis of a Volkswagen Brasilia chassis. The Brasilia was a 3-door economy hatchback, but here it has been reimagined as a 2-door, rear engine sports car.

This car is titled as a 1979 Puma GTE and features a 1600cc engine paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. The car has a leather interior, air conditioning, power windows, alarm system, and touchscreen audio system.

The Puma 1500 GT was first revealed at the 1970 Ibero-American Exhibition in Seville, Spain. Later that same year, the engine capacity increased to 1600cc and the car evolved to the 1600GTE.

The Puma GTE, the most famous sports car made in Brazil at the time, was produced with a fiberglass body and Volkswagen boxer engine from 1970 through 1980. This model was based on the Puma GT; the letter “E” added to the nomenclature means “export” or “Europe” according to other sources. This was the more successful Puma model with a higher-volume production.

I see a little bit of Porsche, Datsun, and other cars in the design and styling of the car.

This car sold for $23,650 at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023 collector car auction. What do you think about the Puma GTE?

Honda Goldwing Turbo Phantom Reverse Trike

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Recently I attended the Hot Wheels Legends Car Show in Gilbert, Arizona on September 10, 2022. There were many cool vehicles to admire, but one that really stood out to me was this amazing reverse trike.

A reverse trike is a 3-wheeled vehicle with two wheels up front and one at the back. Though it has been around for a while, the idea really took off in 2015 with the introduction of the popular Polaris Slingshot.

This trike is the 80s version of the Slingshot. It’s based on a Honda Goldwing motorcycle, but converted to a 3-wheeler. Two passengers sit inside of a fully enclosed cockpit, which has a clamshell or canopy door that opens up like a fighter jet to climb inside.

The interior looks cramped, with two bucket seats wedged side to side. A radio is mounted to the overhead console, due to lack of space for it anywhere else. When the canopy opens, the dashboard and steering wheel tilt up with it. I spy some sort of digital gauge cluster sitting on top of the dashboard.

On the exterior, the fiberglass body shell has a vaguely Corvette-shaped front end with pop-up headlights. Two side mirrors protrude from the otherwise sleek looking body, which has a pointed front beak that looks like the rear of a 1963 Corvette.

A few websites were helpful in telling the history of this unique vehicle.

The vehicle was originally designed by Ron Will, a designer at General Motors, and his brother Lee. It was powered by a Honda Goldwing motorcycle which was attached to a tube chassis. The front suspension was sourced from a Volkswagen and the steering from an MG.

The vehicle debuted at the 1978 LA Auto Show, with a total of 3 units being built. However, the Turbo Phantom never went into production.

Today, the vehicle belongs to Ron Will, who lives in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Ron later left General Motors and went to work for Subaru, where helped design the original Subaru Outback.

The Turbo Phantom is a seriously cool, very 80s vehicle and I am grateful to the owner for bringing it out to the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. It was very cool to see this vehicle in person!

 

SEMA 2022 – 1948 Chevrolet Stylemaster

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Via Hylton Automotive, this vintage Chevrolet is referred to as “The Every Man’s Build” constructed from a vehicle donation to Hylton High School of Woodbridge, VA in 2019. What can a high school every man construct? No less than a hotrodded, frame-up restoration.

The distinct lime green and white paint scheme draws your eye to what Hylton is calling a work-in-progress. I’m not sure who the brainchild is of this build but their is no denying their taste in building a cool and budget-friendly custom.

The tri-power intake on the original 216 inline 6, feeding an engine that exits through a split-manifold into a planned dual exhaust. With barely more than 200 cubes being fedby three carbs on a log manifold I can assure you it will not be the fastest car at the SEMA show but it makes up for that with loads of charisma.

Hylton mentions their sponsors as well and since these companies are supporting these up-and-comers I feel that we should give kudos to Steele Rubber Products, LKQ, Chevs of the 40s, Tenneco, Advance Auto Parts, Scat, AFR, Spark, Carquest, Safelite, Hot Rodders of Tomorrow, Procar and Coker Tire.

This Chevy embodies the original hot rod ethos and encapsulates a time where you did what you could with what you had. The DIY aesthetic lives on and is created in the hearts, minds and hands of the next generation of builders. Keep building Hylton High.

2020 Chevrolet Corvair Custom by NewRide

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The Chevrolet Corvair was produced by General Motors from 1960-1969. Though it featured many innovations that were ahead of its time, the car was done in by a wave of accusations that it was unsafe to drive.

In the many decades since, General Motors has gone on to re-introduce discontinued names such as the Camaro and the Malibu, but they have not taken another look at the Corvair. Well, someone else decided to do it for them!

At the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, I happened upon this “2020 Corvair Custom” by NewRide, a French-based company. The car pairs a 1966 Corvair coupe body with a 2018 Camaro SS chassis. Finished in Audi non-metallic gray, the car has a very unique look.

The car borrows its headlights from a Dodge Demon, taillights from the Ferrari 812 Superfast, and side mirrors come from a 2020 VW Polo. Pretty much everything else is custom, from the bumpers to the rear glass to the headlight and taillight surrounds.
The car was completed by Romain Roulleau of the Burgundy region of France. He estimates that more than 5,600 man hours of labor went into creating this one-of-a-kind custom car.

Under the hood is GM’s standard 6.2L V8 LT1 engine producing 455 horsepower. It rumbles via a custom stainless steel exhaust. A set of Vossen Evo-1R wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, concealing the EBC Disc Brakes. The whole car rides comfortably on AirLift Performance bags and can be slammed to the ground at the touch of a button.

For more on this build including an album of build pictures, please visit https://www.newride.fr/ or follow @corvair2020newride on Instagram.

Supercars Capture Top Auction Sales at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023

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The 2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction featured a record 1,907 vehicles on the docket. The bread and butter of the auction has always been American muscle cars from the 1950s-1970s, and this year was no exception.

Here are some numbers showing a partial analysis of Makes/Models in the 2023 auction:

154 Chevrolet Corvette
113 Chevrolet Camaro
102 Ford Mustang
64 Pontiac
58 Chevrolet Chevelle
58 Mercedes-Benz
46 Plymouth
45 Jeep
45 Cadillac
43 Porsche
36 GMC
29 Volkswagen
24 Buick
23 Oldsmobile
21 Ford Thunderbird
21 Bentley
20 Chevrolet Nova
18 BMW
16 Mercury
15 Lincoln
13 Jaguar
12 Ferrari
10 Maserati
9 Rolls-Royce
8 Lamborghini
7 Nissan
4 AMC
3 Volvo

As you can see, American cars such as Ford, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Jeep, and others dominate the auction catalog by a wide margin. There were only a handful of exotic cars with 12 Ferraris and 8 Lamborghinis, which says a lot about the customer base that both sells and bids at this auction. These are blue-jean wearing, bona-fide muscle car guys.

In 2018, 7 of the top 10 sellers were mid-century cars with only two late-model supercars and one boat in the top 10. This year was a different story, with 7 of the top 10 most expensive sales going to late-model supercars.

This 1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione in Nardo Grey was the top seller at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale 2023 collector car auction, with a final sale price of $2.75 million.

1. 1989 Ferrari F40 (Lot #1405.1) – $2,750,000
2. 2005 Porsche Carrera GT (Lot #1405) – $1,595,000
3. 2019 Ford GT Lightweight Carbon Series (Lot #1419) – $1,320,000
4. 2020 Ford GT Carbon Series (Lot #1390) – $1,320,000
5. 1966 Shelby Group II Mustang – Built for Ken Miles (Lot #1396) – $770,000
6. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Convertible (Lot #1367) – $770,000
7. 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (Lot #1353) – $770,000
8. 2012 Lexus LFA (Lot #1382) – $748,000
9. 2021 Ferrari SF90 (Lot #1391) – $742,500
10. 2019 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ (Lot #1407) – $671,000

It was a similar situation in 2019 and 2020, with supercars dominating the Top 10 rankings. 2021 had an even split between vintage cars and late-model cars.

Is this signaling a change in the collector car market? I have to wonder if the sixties Camaros and Shelbys peaked in value few years ago before the pandemic, and if they will ever see those numbers again.

On the other hand, those vintage cars may be holding steady in their value. It could be the case that supercars are dominating the block just because there have been more of them offered for sale in recent years. A supercar is a highly liquid asset, one that can quickly be bought or sold relative to other investments.

Where do you think the collector car market is headed? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.