rcollum

Every year, PALS, the Philadelphia Area Lotus Society hosts a get-together at Kyle Kaulback's place. It's always a big gathering of Lotus. Here are a few cars I think you'll like. Who recognizes these models? --Bob Collum

I did a quick visit to Katie's this morning. I had to an event in Pennsylvania, so I was only around for a bit over 2 hours. It was still time well spent. --Bob Collum

What a beautiful morning! Not at all typical of a late February morning - I saw 57F at 5:00AM today. Last Saturday, same time, was 29F. People came out and enjoyed the morning... Michael D's Caterham, with its clamshell fenders, is a nice counterpoint to my Caterham's cycle fenders. --Bob Collum

We are enjoying a warm spell for February, though it was only 29F on my way to Katie's this morning. Later this morning, I took a nice drive in the 64F weather...) The start of a three-day weekend meant a really well-attended cars & coffee today. There were two Elises, an Evora (which I never saw), and two Caterhams there today. You can probably guess from the pictures who had Sevens there today. --Bob Collum

Some really interesting cars at Katie's today... --Bob Collum

A cold but clear morning at Katie's. I talked to Kevin (LotusMan1951) at Katie's today. His newly-acquired midget racer sounds interesting - can't wait to see it! --Bob Collum

I will be going. I'm still trying to work out logistics to get the Seven there; we will definitely drive the Elise. The event sounds great. We've been to Barber twice before for LOGs, and the museum will be much bigger this time. ...and, the laps of Talladega (pictured below) were great! --Bob Collum

Looks great!

I'm a regular at Katie's. I pretty much always park my car facing the front door of Katie's. Below are pictures of my two cars - the Caterham and the Elise. Come say hi if you see me. I'm usually wearing a Lotus cap. --Bob Collum

A pretty good Saturday at Katie's... (That's not just another Mustang, it's the 526hp GT 350R, complete with carbon fiber wheels.) --Bob Collum

Strange January weather this week... This morning was 47F, overcast, with intermittent very light mist; no rain. The salt had been washed away by recent rains, so we had a reasonable turnout at Katie's, though most people arrived a little later than usual. --Bob Collum

Kevin: Looks cool - if you end up getting it, would love to see it sometime! --Bob Collum

It was cold when I drove to Katie's early this morning, but it was not snowing. It started snowing lightly after 7:00AM, but did not amount to much. Then, around 8:00AM, it started snowing more heavily. We had a reasonable turnout today, but most people decided to leave shortly after 8:00AM, to beat the worst of the bad roads. The drive home was intense. --Bob Collum

For reference purposes, here is a link to the 2016 Katie's Cars & Coffee Thread - http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?10934-2016-Katie-s-Cars-amp-Coffee-Thread-Great-Falls-VA --Bob Collum

I got the kit for Christmas. This morning, my wife and I broke it open, and assembled it. All told, it took us about 5 hours, including a much-needed lunch break. The Lego instructions were pretty good, and we had more than enough parts. (If I were building an actual Caterham, I'd be very worried about the amount of spare pieces we had left over.) Let me know if anybody needs spare pieces... --Bob Collum

For the last Katie's Cars & Coffee of the year (don't worry, we will continue thru the winter...), we had some 'special guests'. A local Alfa dealer gave us our first look at the Giulia Quadrifoglio, while a new owner brought out his identical Quadrifoglio. The LeMay Museum from Tacoma brought some old American cars down, on their "Drive Home" winter driving tour. The cars that made it to Katie's were the Chrysler 300 G, the '57 Chevy, and the 1917 Crane-Simplex Model 5, originally owned by JD Rockefeller. (The Mustang had transmission problems, and was laid up for repairs in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.) Here's a link to the LeMay Drive Home blog: Read it on blog.hemmings.com --Bob Collum

I have missed the last two weeks of attending Katie's - I was out of town for a niece's graduation one weekend, and it was icy last week. Miss three weeks in a row? Unthinkable! With some minimal email confirmation, our group of breakfast compatriots showed up on Christmas Eve. Not much interesting in the way of cars, but plenty of car-talk. --Bob Collum

I found a website with more info on the Charger... https://www.detroitspeed.com/Projects/moe-1969-charger/moe-1969-charger-pg-1.html --Bob Collum

There's always something new. That should be the motto of Katie's Cars & Coffee. There are certainly thousands of Cars & Coffee events, all over the US and beyond, and I'm sure they all have their fans. In the DC area, what sets Katie's apart is the variety of amazing vehicles that come here, with new ones almost every week. Below: An Alfa 4C for Michael D's enjoyment; a Corvette with a modified front-end; a 1967 Mercedes, 'stanced'. The last two pictures are of a Dodge Charger that I originally walked right past. A friend called it to my attention; it has a custom body, with a gorgeous rear spoiler, frenched-in details in the front and rear, plus flush doorhandles from a Corvette, and an 1100hp supercharged hemi V8. --Bob Collum

We made a quick trip over to Fairfax Circle, to see Dino's new car - a 512BB. On a chilly day, with some gusty winds, there was still a nice turnout there. --Bob Collum

Thanks! I have been a regular at Katie's since February of 2010, before it was an 'official' event. I miss, on average, maybe 3 Saturdays a year. I have tens of thousands of pictures from Katie's, through the years. --Bob Collum

Several more, including a front and rear shot of the Alfa 4C Coupe and Spyder, for Michael D. --Bob Collum

A holiday weekend is always a crapshoot at Katie's, as far as attendance goes. You know a lot of people are out of town, but with a good number of out-of-town guests visiting, attendance can be good. This morning we started fairly slowly, but we ended up with an excellent showing of beautiful vehicles. A group of us were having breakfast while it was still pitch-black outside. We mentioned some cars we wished would show up, sometime. In particular, I mentioned two Italian/American amalgams - the Bizzarrini and the Iso Grifo - both with custom Italian chassis and bodies, with American V-8s. When we went outside, less than an hour later, what did we find, but a beautiful, perfect version of the Iso Grifo, with a Corvette 327 V-8. --Bob Collum ​

The direct front- or rear-views are not the best,it's true. It's mid-engined. The guy opened the rear lid, and I could see that, while it was a slight bit deeper than the Elise trunk, it was lots narrower, side-to-side. I know that the 'sport' exhaust has no muffler - it's possible that's how they were able to make their trunk deeper. Several reviews complained about the excessive noise of the car - especially the engine noise, around town. (Few among us minds a throaty note on acceleration, but constant din can get old). --Bob Collum

OOOhh! That Alfa! That's a 4C, their latest sports car. Carbon fiber tub, mid-engined, 1.7 liter turbo 4 cyl, 237hp. Where it loses me (vs my Elise) - it weighs over 500lbs more than the Elise, has far less luggage space, and is only available as an automatic! Oh, and the one pictured was list-priced at over $75,000. I heard that the sedan model just didn't sell - I don't know how this will do in sales. The roads tests, in general, are not flattering. It's pretty, but strangely-proportioned: it's 6 inches wider than the Elise. It's been argued that a present-day Federalized Elise would weigh more than the 1975lbs. of my 2007 model, but my car has an aluminum tub. I'd like to think Lotus would do far better, weight- and size-wise, if they could afford to do a carbon fiber tub! Below are some side-by-side pictures I took of my Elise and the coupe version of the 4C. --Bob Collum