Big snow

I woke up this morning to see we had received quite a decent dumping of snow... many of the sidewalks on my way to work were not plowed, which made the walk painfully slow. I spotted a nice Porsche 991 Carrera 4S, one of the best winter cars I can imagine (if you don't have kids to drive around!) following the same route as me. However, I thought it pretty funny that I passed him no less than 4 times on my walk, as the traffic and snow were slowing everybody down.

I can't say I was particularly jealous of the Porsche driver in this situation. A car is not always the best way to get around.

Cool cars spotted:
Classic Mini
Honda CRX

Speaking of photos...

... I just got a great deal on a used digital SLR camera. It's not cutting edge technology (2006 model), but I think it will allow me to dabble in manual photography with a minimal investment. Here is a phone pic of the camera:

Pentax K100D with Sigma 18-200 lens

Here are some of the first photos I have taken (mostly in full auto mode). I know I have a lot to learn...

Winter scenery (on the walk to and from the office)

Architecture and design near the office

Centre du Commerce Mondial

A piece of the Berlin Wall

 

Although there are not many sports cars around, there are certainly some luxury cars to be seen...

Cool cars spotted:

Rolls Royce Ghost

Rolls Royce Phantom

Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Bentley Mulsanne

AMG G55

AMG G63

AMG CLS63

AMG E63 Wagon

New photos

I had Jeremy Glover of JAG take some professional photos of me so I could design a web site and some ads for my legal practice. Here are a few of them:

Old photos

In the middle of winter, it's nice to look at old photos of events at the track. Here are a couple of me and my buddy Rob from a 2001 Solo 1 event at St-Eustache. This is a scan of a film photo, as I only bought my first digital camera in 2002.

The Neon was a basically stock 1995 SOHC version (132 hp) with an aftermarket muffler and performance alignment, as well as a 5-lug conversion. Here, it is sporting American Racing AR-24 wheels (14"!). It was the first car I bought with the specific intent of modifying for track events. Eventually, too many parts were failing on track and I sold it to buy my first Civic in 2002.

Rob's 1990 Integra RS (130hp) was stock except for springs, shocks and some really cool Revolution 15" wheels from and old Honda Michelin car (I am pretty sure I ended up with these wheels at some point, before cracking one of them and selling them on).

Neither of us had much budget for racing back then (we still don't, really), but we got by with what we had.

As for the current track car, it is at Pat's place, awaiting parts. I thought I had bought a transmission, but apparently it was not as described, and I am awaiting an answer on my much lower offer. Other than that, I believe I have assembled almost all the little parts needed for Pat to carry out the swap.

Jules got to try headphones for the first time at the library the other day. I don't think he loved his experience, nor did he seem to hate it.

Here is a photo I took at lunch time of two very square, very white off-road vehicles. It was also snowing. I will take the AMG please.

Cool cars spotted:
Mercedes 230 GE
AMG CLA45
AMG G55
AMG C63 Coupe
AMG C43
Audi RS4
Audi TTRS
Audi UrS4
BMW M3 Sedan (E90)
BMW1M
Jaguar XKR-S
Jaguar XFR-S
Honda S2000 (respect!)
C4 Corvette ZR-1 (much respect!)
Rolls-Royce Wraith
Alfa Romeo 164
Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Cool old photo

I found this old photo by JAG at St-Eustache... I like the way you can see the tires working.

Montreal Auto Show 2014

I visited the Auto Show yesterday with Jules and my mom. This was J's second car show, as he attended last year when he was 5 months old. This year, he was able to enjoy more than just the bright lights. He now knows how to say "car" and he quite enjoyed walking around the show, especially if there were little ramps where he could go up and down.

The show itself was nothing special, but I got to see in person some cars I had only seen online, like the Dodge Viper, Jaguar F-Type Coupe, Porsche 991 Turbo, BMW M3 and M4 and BMW 2-series. It was a pleasant afternoon and we all had a nice time. Here are a few photos.

J. and I with a flag-covered SUV

Mean Aventador

Another Aventador

Porsche 911 Turbo S... 216 000 $

J enjoying a cartoon drift car

Viper coupe still looks great, and a lot like the one from the 90's

J in his Jeep

Absolutely gorgeous F-Type Coupe

J tries to steal a GT-R badge for his bedroom wall

Jules liked the M4

... although I was never crazy about that colour

New M3 seats look amazing

This M3 sedan was breathtaking... the photo does not do it justice. I want one!

J tries out the M235i

He also seemed to quite like this bobsled

Handbrake turn in the Subaru BRZ

This Jaguar is shiny!

Nicely restored 356

Felino concept car, looks neat, but not production-ready

Felino in white

Back to Work!

The holidays are over and everyone is back to work. It's freezing cold these days... still, Alex and I had a nice little trip to Ogunquit between Christmas and New Year's. For the first time ever (for me), there was snow on the ground in coastal Maine. Still, the temperature was several degrees warmer than Montreal, and we enjoyed lovely walks on the beach, as usual. It was our first trip without Jules, but everyone survived. My mother did a great job taking care of  him. The M3 threw a few codes while we were gone, but I cleared them with a scanner and they haven't returned.

I managed to go for a run on the mountain with Jules in the stroller last weekend (on the only day it was above zero), but after 8 km, he lost all interest and would only stop crying if I held him in my arms. It was a long walk back, as we were still almost 2 km from home! I don't think the walk in running clothes (no jacket) helped my little cold.

I am still waiting for my friend Pascal to take a look at my transmission for the Civic so that Pat can install my new engine. I can't wait for this project to be done and I really, really want the car to be done by early spring so I can try it at the race schools. As I will not be doing any racing in 2014, I will be using the Civic more as a weekend and track day car.  I have already removed all the stickers, and would like the car to look more like a tuned street car than a race car, for the time being. I have been reading up on my new engine and am quite excited about the performance potential. 

Other than that, winter has reduced the number of sports cars we see on the road here. Still, I saw a Corvette the other day (respect!) and there are several Porsche 911 Carrera 4's out and about as well. With the roads littered with ice patches, it's not fun to drive anyway. It was much more fun in the snow!

Cool cars spotted:

Tesla Model S

Audi R8

Audi RS4

AMG C63

AMG CLS63