Altitude Dream Cars

Looking at the specs on this car will blow anyone away. At some point, I’m going to drive one of these and see for myself. The Ariel has been around for a few years and they’re building them better and faster. Right now, they look to be in their third generation of production and build them to each owners specs … and, yes, this thing can be driven on the street, legally, well except for your speed, that’s a different form of legality.

Overview Specs:
Weight – less than 1,400
HP – 245
0 to 60 – less than 3 seconds (That’s wicked fast)

Go find a local rental company and see if they have it available to drive. I know I am!

This is one sick car. As an owner of a Lotus and having had the privilege of driving a Gallardo in recent years, I have to say, this looks a little like a Gallardo and Exige slammed together. You be the judge, but either love it or hate it, you have to admit, it’s one sick exotic car that will be getting some attention.

If-or-when I come into my next “Million Dollar Windfall”, I’ll be looking at something like this for sure. Since the Gallardo is a favorite and of course owning a Lotus, it would be awesome to have something this exotic in the garage. I even like the yellow color. My wife of course would beg to differ as it’d get too much attention, but it is a great looking color. Orange, Green and/or black are more favorites this might look good sporting.

Saleen S5S Raptor

In the market for a new supercar? Peep the Saleen S5S Raptor ($185,000). Just unveiled at the New York Auto Show, the supercharged Raptor drinks E85 ethanol and delivers 650 horsepower, a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds, and a top speed of over 200 mph. Choose from a 6-speed manual or paddle shifting.

As soon as it’s for sale, look out!!!

I don’t know about you, but if you have ever had the opportunity to drive something with lots of power and performance, & you’ve had any close calls, then you drive home, unscathed thinking, “I’ll never do that again.” Well, if you’ve ever wondered what happens to people who have too much power and just didn’t know when to pull back, here’s a nice set of videos with such results.

Please, no crying… if you have to, get a tissue now before watching these videos.

Yes, there are a few Lotus Elises on the bottom video, the middle video will not embed, but you can use the link to go directly to YouTube.

I look at these from time to time to give myself a reality check and to have them playing in the back of my head before I head on a “spirited” drive of my own.

Okay, this is pretty cool. I just got an email with the opportunity to drive the new Audi models July 31st through August 2nd AND you might want to watch some boat racing to boot. To participate, you have to go out to Lake Dillon up in Summit County. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday or Sunday. See you there.

BTW… I am not affiliated or know anyone at Prestige, I just thought this was cool. If interested, here’s the information:

Lotus Elise For Sale

Is it me, or is there just no where to sell a used exotic car? Early last year, I worked with a friend to try and sell his Gallardo. It was the worst experience I’ve ever had. We listed it just about everywhere online and all we got was wholesalers low-balling to make a quick buck. No one serious ever really called. We even got a bunch of douche bags sending in stupid comments, like “I’ll buy it for $1 since you’re probably rich and could car less” to, “… what a prick for selling such a beautiful car…”. It’s just like people who see you driving such a car. They either hate your or love you and only make the judgement based upon 30 seconds of seeing what you’re driving.

I mean, there just isn’t a decent place to list an exotic car any more. I’m not convinced that DuPont Registry is worth the money they ask, Autotrader is just too low-brow, and frankly, they’ve stopped listing them on their main site anyway. They now ask the seller to use their Classic Trader site. I mean, come on, who’s going to go to www.classictrader.com and look for a Lotus, Lamborghini or Ferrari? Total waste of time. Cars.Com is about the only national place to list an exotic that’s just listing a car. eBay is another lost cause. They charge you a fortune for a short period to list the car and it seems like it’s a last ditch effort, last resort place to sell a car. Selling an exotic is all about the right place at the right time. So, the listing has to be available for some time. There are a few “cheezy” site’s I’ve found, but honestly, they look like someone with gold chains, hairy chest and still living in the 80’s and early 90’s designed the site. Like a bad used car lot. No thanks to any of these guys.

Okay, I should get off my soap box, but it’s bugging me that there isn’t a decent listing site dedicated to exotic cars by owner. I’m just a guy, who owns a nice little exotic car who wants to sell it to someone who’s searching for a decent car.

2010 Evora

So, after seeing a Tesla in person and walking around the car, looking into the interior (Not much different than an Elise) it struck me that the over all look was kind of like the Evora. After reading everything I could about the Evora earlier in the year, I was convinced that it would be an awesome car when it’s relased for sale in 2010. I’ve been pouring over their site and studying the pictures, looking at the specs and while I really think it’s going to be a cool, slower version of the Elise, it just kept screaming, Tesla. I mean, the front end barely looked different. Not exactly the same, but so similar that that’s all I had in my head.

You be the judge. I just can’t keep thinking, Tesla, no matter how hard I try. As much as I love all things Lotus, I’m kind of having a hard time with the new Evora. The name was bad enough, now, the look is just too similar.

Unfortunately, it’s like that picture you have in your head of a particular person with a certain name, like Gretchen, or Gertrude. No matter what you do, every time you hear that name, it evokes something else. This is the same. Evora, Ebola, Tesla… I’m screwed on ever getting one now.

2005 Lotus Elise

I’ve been contacted on several occasions and am asked, what happened to the little red Lotus Elise I rented? It was so much fun and I have fond memories of the night I took my girlfriend to dinner down in Denver.

Well, I continued to own it, drove it around for my clients to take rides and just had plain fun with it myself. Now I’m selling it. I’ve had my fun and frankly, our teenager will soon be looking at college, so I figure, I’ll use the Lotus to pay for a portion of his college and once he’s out, making money and when he gets rich, he can buy me another one. Or, something like that.

Of course, I’ll probably go buy another one myself, or I’ll try my hand at another Porsche or something. I am getting older and a little more comfort is probably in order.

If interested, I do have it listed on Cars.Com and am a motivated seller.

Fireworks!

Okay, this has nothing to do with exotic cars or anything automobile related. However, I want to wish everyone a happy 4th of July and mention how much fun we had in Boulder on the fourth.

We’ve lived in the Boulder area for going on 10 years now and have never come over to Folsom Stadium for the fireworks show. We actually live in Longmont and our neighborhood is about 1/2 mile from the Boulder County Fairgrounds, where the city of Longmont shoots off their firework’s display. Needless to say, we can sit on our back deck and catch the show, or walk over and avoid the traffic.

However, this year, our good friends, Nancy and Steve talked us into trudging over and catching the show. We parked a few blocks away from the CU campus, planning on avoiding the traffic, and hoofed over. Access to the stadium is free, simply find a seat and let the firework’s begin. Or, so we thought. Since we were an hour early (to get a good seat), we discovered there’s some tradition that says, EVERYONE MAKE A PAPER AIRPLANE AND THROW IT AT THE PEOPLE IN FRONT OF YOU, that we were NOT aware. Actually, I believe the goal is to get your plane to fly all the way down to the field, but that constituted about 5% of the planes we saw fly. However, we soon warmed to the constant barrage of oddly shaped planes of ever type boinking off the back of our heads and joined in by refolding and hitting those in front of us. Then, we were now subject to the “pre-show” which consisted of local park rangers singing, dancing rain deer, some opera and I think what was suppose to be a chorus line or something. Anyway, the pre-show was lame, but the actual firework’s were great and there is something about being up close and personal.

It was a great show and we’re thinking it’d be fun to go again next year, but with a ream of paper and some new designs. Can’t wait.

Tesla in Boulder

So, I’m not a car spotter by trade or go out of my way to chase down cool, exotic cars (Although, that would probably be a lot of fun, so I’ll leave it to the college kids), but, I did stumble across a real live little Tesla the other day in Boulder Colorado.

While heading over to the Farmers Market just off Canyon & 15th, there it was, just sitting there, minding it’s own business. Nice to see one outside of California, but of course, it was in Boulder. Not as great looking up close as I expected, but stylish. My wife commented… “It’s not as cute as the Lotus”. I actually agree, but “cute” didn’t come to mind. More like, not as sexy. There is something about the lines on the Lotus Elise that just make it look so damn great.

This particular Tesla had been customized a little. The owner had installed black wheels that looked like they were originally for the Lotus, well, since the core frame and steering is from Lotus, no wonder. Not sure I liked the blacked out wheels on this car, but to each his own.

I wasn’t really sold on the styling. In pictures and magazines, it looks pretty nice. Little NSX-ish, but decent first gen styling. Still, not as sexy and as eye catching as the Elise, but it’s a great start. Personally, I’m looking forward to the next generation Tesla styling. Hopefully they’ll add some sizzle.

Many still email and call and ask: What happened to Altitude Dream Cars?

Back in early 2008, while in looking at future economic forecasts, we decided to discontinue the service of renting exotic and luxury vehicles here on the Front Range. We didn’t go bankrupt or have a major insurance snafu or anything untoward. In fact, our business was doing just fine in regards to cash-flow, no losses and other operational needs.

However, during that first quarter of 2008, economic indicators were not in our favor. So, since the business was completely self funded, we chose to to simply stop the service. Our assets are still ours and we enjoy them on a personal basis.

If interested, there are several other companies that have opened here in Colorado and they may have something you’re looking for. I know of one such company that is associated with other automotive interests and from all indications, they have some interesting cars that may fit your needs.

Someday in the future as the economy makes a more favorable up-turn, we might consider re-engaging and/or look into options where exotic cars are a viable business.

Regards – Shane Cooper