I keed, I keed of course : ) There’s no such publication…. I think. Well, that’s not exactly true I guess

I keed, I keed, SCM knows I keed : )

If you’re tired of the same old Friday night cruise-ins filled with resto-modded Chevelles and Mustangs on chrome wheels wearing body panels with 4 different shades of red, and want to see something a little different, drive on over to Citroen Rendezvous in upstate New York during the third weekend in June. (For the record: there is nothing wrong with with resto-modded Chevelles and Mustangs on chrome wheels wearing body panels with 4 different shades of red. I love resto-modded Chevelles and Mustangs on chrome wheels wearing body panels with 4 different shades of red. Some of my best friends are resto-modded Chevelles and Mustangs).

But if you do want to see cars you haven’t seen a million times before, every summer the Rendezvous brings together Citroens from all over the northeast, the midwest, and eastern Canada. Citroens aren’t the only cars you’re bound to see at Rendezvous, as there are  usually a number of Peugets, Renaults, Panhards, and the odd vintage Bugatti. During the event itself, owners enjoy technical seminars, games, and live music.  Some of my personal favorites from 2011 included a 1991 Citroen XM Exclusive, a cream-colored 1979 Citroen Visa (recently purchased from a French nun!), an absolutely rabid 1985 Renault R5 Turbo2, an early Citroen CX Athena (above), and pretty much all the Peugeot 604s that showed up.

This year’s Citroen Rendezvous moves to a different location, but stays around Saratoga Springs. Rendezvous is a 3-day event, starting with a dinner on Thursday night, followed by an ice cream social, tailgate pizza party, and movie screening on Friday. Saturday is the day of the show itself, which is followed with a banquet in the evening. Rendezvous concludes with a scenic drive on Sunday morning. The 2012 Citroen Rendezvous will take place on June 15, 16 and 17, and will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Citroen Dyane.

Full gallery after the jump

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Presented below is a second helping of schweet foreign cars that will become eligible in Canada in 2012 by virtue of being 15 years old. Not that there’s anything wrong with another JDM beater with half a million kilometers on the clock. But here are some cars that you may have overlooked, and a lot of them are pretty affordable. A few could even be found on Saint-Pierre & Miquelon, if you’re not too excited about the shipping fees from Europe.

1. Audi RS2 – Audi’s first RS car has an impressive following, and with good reason. The Zuffenhausen-built RS2 had a 2.2 liter turbocharged 5-cylinder good for 311bhp, all in a stealthy shell of an Audi 80. Need I say more?

2. BMW Z1  – importable in the states in just a year, the ultra-convenient weird roadster had another feature besides the doors that slid slightly downward – the plastic body panels were designed to be changeable in just a matter of hours. In case somebody wanted to change the color of their car. However, people who had too much time on their hands who have actually tried this say that to do so comfortably one should budget a couple days. As a matter of fact, a few of these are already in Canada, and I saw two of these in the states just over the summer.

3. Fiat Barchetta  or Fiat Coupe  – a fun and stylish cabrio for the admittedly short summer, or a hardtop coupe. Nice examples are getting harder to find on the continent, but there should still be plenty of choice out there. Little known fact: the Coupe was Chris Bangle’s first automotive exterior design that made it into production. (A neighbor of mine in the states had a Fiat Coupe for a while. No photo, unfortunately).

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If you’ve ever been to Greenwich Concours, or any other major concours event in the US, you know that some of the most exciting cars can often be found in the visitor parking lot. Without further exposition, presented below are some of my fave finds from the parking lot at Greenwich Concours 2011 (in no particular order)

1. Bristol 405 Sedan, 1956 – a former entrant of the concours, this is one of only a handful of Bristols in the US.
2. Toyota Land Cruiser – a stunning example, in all the rights colors.
3. Mercedes-Benz 280GE - a rare G-wagen model from the heyday of gray imports.
4. Maserati Quattroporte Sedan – a very elegant Series II example.
5. Aston Martin DB AR1 Zagato – a proper Bond-villain’s ride.
6. BMW Bavaria – not an oft-collected example from the neue klasse lineup. A rare sight, if only because so many have perished as engine donors for coupes.
7. Shelby Series 1 – a rare and almost forgotten Shelby from the late 90s that suffered the somewhat predictable fate of many a supercar that was conceived during a boom to arrive in showrooms during a bust.
8. Alfa Romeo Giulia Super – how can you argue with that color?
9. Aston Martin DB6 in BRG – you can’t go wrong with one of these.
10. Bentley Arnage - from one of the first years of production, complete with amber turn signals.

Full set after the jump

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Rarity does not equal collectibility, a fact learned the hard way by owners and restorers of Chevy Vegas, Bricklins, Chrysler TCs, and people who pickled virtually any “final edition.” But what is it like for cars that most Americans have not even heard of, cars that lurk on the other side of the iron curtain?

Eastern European and Soviet cars in America are few and far between. Even among not-easily-pronounceable marques, there are some that are more easily pronounceable than others, and some that people might have actually heard of on some History Channel program at 3:00AM, or seen in a Bond film. Perhaps the best known and most widely collected (relatively speaking) Eastern European marque in north America is Tatra. There are dozens of Hans Ledwinke’s cars stateside, ranging from the T77 to the T87 and the T603. In fact, some have actually achieved podium finishes at major concours events, like a Tatra T77 that took Best of Show for European cars at the 2009 Fairfield County Concours. But what about Soviet cars?

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Sold in the US from 1974 till 1984, when Fiat left the North American market, the 131 Supermirafiori featured 1.3 and 1.5 liter 4-cyl engines, making 77 and 95bhp respectively.

This is a Series II car, which came out in 1978. The US-spec Series II 131s retained the round quad headlights, while in other markets the Series II 131s gained single rectangular headlights, not too different from ones seen on VAZ 2104′s.

Fiats of this era have been criticized (specifically by the hosts of a certain UK-based television programme) as being especially prone to rust due to the Soviet steel used in their construction, which is cited as often starting to rust before it was even stamped into body panels. Even so, I’m a huge fan of 1960s and 1970s Fiats, and would love to try one of these.

Curiously enough, Polski Fiat was the lone Socialist-bloc manufacturer to license a midsize sedan from Fiat (most other licensed Fiats tended to be from smaller segments).

Seen at Carlisle Import & Kit Nationals 2011. Full Gallery

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One of my top faves from 2011 Lime Rock Sunday in the Park was this wonderful Fiat 124TC, which appeared to be in concours condition inside and out. The rear hatch had a US-spec license plate niche, so I’m guessing this could have been a US-market car originally. This little wagon stole the show, at least as far as Italian cars were concerned. The Fiat sat opposite a row of Ferraris and Lambos, but it was the Fiat that people were crowding around.

The 124TC served as a prototype for the SEAT 124 estate, as well as the VAZ 2102 estate, and in facelifted form, the VAZ 2104. Polski Fiat, however, went for an estate based on the 125, which shared relatively few parts with the 124 series cars, which is one of the reasons that VAZ passed up on the 125 range entirely. Polski Fiat got the sweeter (more expensive) end of the deal, as the Fiat 125s had a lot more bells and whistles, but they were far rarer than the Fiat and VAZ wagons.

More photos after the jump

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One of the best surprises of German Car Day 2011 at Larz Anderson was this wonderful 1974 Audi 100 Coupe S in RHD, originally a South African car.

It is one of about 600 remaining in the world, and one of 5 Audi 100 Coupes in the states, and is the only one in RHD as one might guess. This car lived in South Africa from new till about 2 years ago, and we have the climate there to thank for its preservation.

One of my top 5 faves at German Car Day 2011, and featured on Bringatrailer.com when it was for sale out of TX:

http://bringatrailer.com/2011/04/10/germany-via-joberg-1974-audi-coupe-s/

This behemoth is one of several uses that were designed by Pininfarina and built for BMC by Marshall Motor Body of Cambridge, UK, on a Leyland FFK140 chassis. BMC used them for training its dealer service mechanics and for technical support. This particular one is from the first series of these BMC buses, built in 1963 and later, and has a 6 cylinder diesel (not clear if original) mated to a 4 speed manual transmission that is quite difficult to operate if you watch the video below.

More info and photos after the jump

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Held since 2004, the Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance quickly became one of the country’s top ten concours events, nearly eclipsing Greenwich Concours in every category. The loss of the Hunt Club venue led the organizers to search for a new location, but it appears they weren’t been able to find a suitable replacement. Bill Scheffler, the Chairman of the concours noted that “ultimately, we concluded that none of the options enabled us to continue our steady growth over eight years and onward towards our greater goals.” I had heard that Harkness Mansion in Waterford CT, among other places, was one of the alternatives being considered, but I was not especially surprised that it was not chosen as a replacement venue. The departure of Fairfield County Concours is an unexpected and disheartening loss to the northeast car collector community, though its Nutmeg Tour remains.

Newport Concours d’Elegance will now take place on July 15th, though the new venue has not been chosen yet. The last few years have been sort of rough, in terms of the location and field. The concours took place in 3 different locations around Newport harbor since 2008, each presenting its own challenges. Fort Adams is the backup location for the 2012 Newport Concours.

Stated to be the only federalized Z1 in the United States (most others being here under Show and Display), this BMW Z1 belonged to a Miami restaranteur who brought the car into the country in 1993. This very Z1 appeared in the background of the wincingly dated romcom Miami Rhapsody, starring Sarah Jessica Parker.

The BMW Z1 was famous for a couple things: doors that closed downward, and “easily” detachable plastic body panels, which in theory would allow owners to change the color of the car by replacing the body panels in a matter of hours (though in reality people who attempted this generally accomplished the feat in two days). As long as one doesn’t have parts left over when you put it back together, it’s generally going to be okay.

This was one of two Z1s at the 2011 Carlisle Import Nationals, and one of my fave cars of the weekend. These change hands from time to time in North America, but we’re not going to see noticeably more till the earliest examples hit 25 years. Obvs.

More photos after the jump

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The owner, who collects early and brass-era cars and vintage motorcycles, uses this 1987 Citroen CX GTi as a work truck and to make dump runs on the weekend. Before the CX this role was performed by his Peugeot 505 wagon which succumbed to old age and parts shortages and was put on craigslist. The surprising part is that the 505 sold in mere hours, was driven to a seaport in NJ, and put on a cargo ship to Africa to join a taxi fleet.

This anecdote may go a long way to help explain where old Peugeot 505s have gone from our roads. The replacement Citroen CX may also make the owner a finalist for the title of The Most Interesting Man in the World.

::voiceover:: “He uses an old French sedan to do yardwork”

Stay thirsty, my friends.