One of the best parts about living in Los Angeles is that, in the weeks following Pebble Beach weekend, many of the cars make their way south, where their respective showrooms throw parties and invite really cool/rich/beautiful people to come admire them. Obviously, I wasn’t invited, so I went to Galpin Auto Sports anyway, wearing a seersucker blazer, and made myself at home.
Parked in Galpin’s “Vault” was the Racing Rapide, fresh off its 24 Hours of Nurburgring stint and still dirty and worn, as it should be. The body is mostly stock Rapide, except for the bitchin foglights, and the interior is fully gutted. It’s basically exactly what you’d expect, but damn cool nonetheless.
The evening’s main event was the US unveiling of the new V12 Vantage, a car built on the Carrol Shelby formula of stuffing the biggest engine you’ve got into the smallest car you’ve got. Take on V8 Vantage, add the V12 from a DBS, a manual transmission, and some carbon fiber and hood louvers, and voila! If you ask us, it sounds like a damn good idea. In person, this car is gorgeous. I don’t know the exact name of the color, but it’s a metallic sky blue with irridescent gold flake. It’s not a fully transforming color like the 1996 “Mystic” Mustang Cobra, but it definitely shifts depending on the direction and amount of sunlight. Galpin owner Beau Boeckmann was so taken back by it, that he said he wanted to paint his SEMA show car this year the same color. The interior is much of the same as the V8 Vantage, as we don’t get the Europe-only carbon backed seats, and its quite comfortable, even at my size. I love the suede-covered wheel and substantial, weighted feel of the 6-speed manual shifter.
Also making appearances at the party were the new Jaguar XKR “XK175″ edition, several Spykers, Lotus’s, DBS’s, a Union Jack Xk8, and a very cool matte white Jaguar XJ with blacked out badging and roof.
The best part of the evening? When the Aston Martin sales manager told me that if I came back the following day, I could have 2 hours of alone time with the V12 Vantage, which I took advantage of this morning. Sadly, we didn’t have quite enough time to film with the car, but expect a written review and more photos tomorrow. A hint: It’s amazing.
I've been lusting after the Vantage for a while… It's just so friggin sexy! I think I'd take it over a 430 or a 911. Somehow though, it looks a little heftier in these pictures. Can't wait for the write up!
Wow.. the paint job on that Vantage looks like something out of a video game, that's nuts.
I envy you guys.
I was at teh event, wow Galpin knows how to throw a party! Amazing event and amazing cars!