Day Two of the 2010 Targa California did not disappoint with perfect weather, roaring R-Gruppe Porsches, California wildflowers, and some interesting stops along the way. Our 2800CS ran perfectly all day, and considering that this was its first real event in our hands we are very pleased. We were clearly out-gunned by many of the flat-sixers, but the large greenhouse of the CS made for a great mobile photo rig and we were psyched to see how the crowd loved the lines of the only E9 in attendance. Check out the many photos and our review of the event below.
This pair of early Alfa Giulietta spiders might have been the prettiest cars on the run, which may or may not be related to the fact that they were among the few to bring along female navigators. As the morning fog burned away, the route took us through rural inland valleys and out through Carmel and Big Sur as shown above. A reverse tracing of last years roads allowed for a stellar climb from the water to the Coastal Range summit in the later afternoon.
You didn’t have to be pushing your limits to have a good time. The couple in this super clean 1967 Plymouth Barracuda had the biggest smiles of anyone in attendance. Driving through the undeveloped canyons, the car looked totally time-warped thanks to the factory hubcaps and black plates.
Driving in an event with the R-Gruppe crowd actually reminds us of driving on the Autobahn. The most important rules are that you watch your mirrors and you don’t make any sudden moves. The only reason not to love this event is if you have an anti-Porsche or Porsche people hang-up. Thankfully these aren’t the cheesy, crest-wearing, logo-driving-glove types like the modern Ferrari crowd, but some of them do drive very aggressively. We have purposefully left the Porsche in the garage and opted for a different car both last year and this year because we dig variety, and each time the Porsche crowd has been very welcoming. And with the huge growth in non-Porsche participation this year we suspect that the event will become even better rounded in the coming years. All that said, we happily stayed right as the trio of 6-cylinders below screamed past at full song. It was impressive. Anybody recognize that red 2002 on the right? (HINT) The new owner actually let us test it out for a few miles and it was quite inspiring, feeling oh so much lighter than our CS in the tight corners.
The bulk of the other BMW’s came from the fleet of the owners and friends of Duarte, California based Groma Fabrications. Their modified 2002’s are impressive, and their recently finished customer Alcan 5000 rally car was on hand for its shake-down run. It was also good to see an E21 320i in their group with real Alpina wheels and Euro bumper treatment. That model has to be one of the best bang-for-the-buck event car options, and that white car looked great.
We could not have asked for more from this event. But honestly how could anyone complain about a free event? We wanted to extend yet another thanks to Dave B. and the event sponsors. We are already looking forward to next year. Check out our slide-show of full-screen photos in the Flickr album below. Then go vote on your favorite photo in the comments section!