Altitude Dream Cars

Holy crap exotic car lovers, Tesla has opened a show room in Boulder Colorado. How cool is that? Well, according to recent articles in the Daily Camera and other publications, it’s pretty cool.

While the show room appears to be a temporary space until they can determine a more permanent location, currently, it’s chock full of Tesla’s to ogle, touch and beg the sales representative to test drive. I’m sure they’ll approve taking photos both in and out of the car, but test driving might actually be a little more difficult. I called the other day and was told that it was nearly impossible. I did explain to them that as a former owner of an exotic car company, that I as “Okay”. They didn’t seem to buy it.

I’m going to try and make a trip over sometime this next month, but I’m sure they still wont let me take one out for a drive. Instead, I’ll just relegate my visit to photo ops and asking lots of questions. Like how fast is it? How many kilowatts to the mile do you get? How long does it take to charge up? What’s the range on a “fill-up”?… all of those really important questions. I know, I know, I can go look all this up on their website or on any good respectable car web site, but I think it’ll be more fun to be standing there next to one asking the sales person.

What’s next for Tesla? Well, as I understand it, a four-door version is in the works and soon to be released. I’m hoping I can talk my financial advisor, AKA, my wife, into at least considering it as a next family car. I’m not sure it’s classified as a family car, but I figure anything that’ll seat three, which is all we need for our family, qualifies.

While I’m not a purist when it comes to the environment, I do my part. As a car lover, I have to think that when you can merge both worlds, environmental aware human AND car enthusiast, you have a winning combination. While most car enthusiasts are not usually considered environmentally friendly, the Tesla points us in that direction.

Now, where did I put that really long extension cord?

Cheers – Shane

For many, seeing an exotic car is an experience that is considered pretty cool. Seeing an exotic car in every day situations, like around Denver Colorado or in Longmont, where I live, it’s really sweet. Why, mostly because it’s an opportunity to see a great looking car outside in the “real” world, not at a show room or at a car show. Seeing it at a gas station, on the freeway, at a mall, at your every day shop or hang out is even better. There are some that think seeing it sitting outside a fancy hotel and restaurant is nice, but these are still expected to some degree. Seeing a Ferrari sitting outside the local mall or a Gallardo at the Target is just about as cool as it gets. Why, because they’re being used, driven in every day situations and others get to appreciate the opportunity to see and enjoy the car.

If you love cars and see an exotic car sitting out in an every day location, appreciate it and enjoy the opportunity to have seen something so cool.  If you have a camera on your cell phone, and who doesn’t, take a picture, note the date and where it was, then upload it to a car spotting site like ExoticCarSpotter.com – if you take a photo at a car show,  it doesn’t count. If you just want to see some cars in everyday traffic and around your town, go check the site out, it’s chock full of great shots. The oddest is a Buggati Veyron at a WalMart in Wisconsin. That’s a 1.6 million dollar car at a WalMart. Go figure.

The truth about seeing an exotic car out in every day situations is, it makes them “real”. It’s usually real people that have the opportunity to drive the car, own the car and in most cases appreciate the car. If you approach someone who’s filling their Gallardo or Enzo tank, say hi and be courteous. If they’re jerks, ignore them. However, you may find that most owners like people to appreciate the car and are usually pretty friendly. I’ve driven a lot of cars, both that I’ve owned and that others have owned, but have had the privelege to drive and I’ve always been friendly when approached.

Next time you see a cool exotic car sitting at the local Conoco, ask the guy/gal about it and see what kind of response you get. You might be suprised and better yet, they might let you sit in it an take a picture. Then you can post it on a car spotter site.

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.