The 612 Scaglietti seats 4, you know, in case I accidently have kids. This would be my daily driver. With HGTS Package. In black, the color of my heart (how emo, lol). Opt out of ubiquitous Scudderia Shields (the yellow Ferrari emblem on the sides) and yellow center rim caps. Clean as can be.

The 599 GTO is a life size Hot Wheels toy. This will be for the weekend. Pick Historical Racing Livery because most people will not; they’ll pick red. Insides will be covered in Alcantara. I have no illusions that this particular model is a practical car, or even obtainable. Most likely, I will have to settle for the regular non-GTO version and in that case, would get it in black, like the Scaglietti.

Link: Ferrari

Check out that “Fun to Drive” score. I totally agree.

Here are excerpts from the article (Go to the link at the bottom of this post to read the entire article.)

1ST PLACE: 2009 PORSCHE CAYMAN S PDK

In technical editor Kim Reynolds’ first-drive story of the Porsche Cayman S PDK (March 2009), which marked Motor Trend’s initial experience with Stuttgart’s mid-engine seven-speed-dual-clutch sports car, he made a very bold declaration. “It’s now, in my humble opinion, very simply the best sports car in the world.” Since most of you don’t know Kim, allow us to inform you that he is quite possibly the most humble man on the planet. So when the humblest editor states a humble, albeit audacious opinion, his fellow MT staffers perk up and heed the call. Still, the best sports car in the world? Rightfully so, Reynolds had his skeptics.

Well, after flogging the Cayman S around track and twisties, we have only one thing to say to Sir Kim:You were absolutely right.

“No other car here — not one — delivers the Porsche’s Braillelike road-reading,” says St. Antoine. “You can feel every tire doing its work.” Markus wholeheartedly agrees: “Probably more than any other car here, including the R8, this one feels like an extension of your neural synapses.” And Pobst? Why, the first three words to come from his mouth were, “Racecar. Racecar. Wow.” Translation? “The thing about the Cayman is-gosh, I hope they don’t hate me for saying this — I think it’s just about better than any 911. The Cayman is one of the best-handling cars I’ve ever driven.”

As with any great driver’s car, the Cayman’s supremacy comes in myriad forms, not just a single attribute. First and foremost, the Porsche possesses uncanny poise, thanks in large part to the amidships placement of its symphonic 3.4-liter 320-horse flat-six. “The balance is exceptional,” notes St. Antoine. “Turn-in is sharp, yet the rear end stays planted unless you really kick it in a quick turn. It’s difficult to drive the Cayman S badly.” Much of what makes the Porsche so easy to push is its surgical steering. “Most natural and organic steering here,” claims Markus. “The slower ratio ensures that none of the subtle messages coming through the wheel are lost in the rush to steer from here to there.”

 

Of course, what helps establish this Cayman as the ultimate Cayman are the three letters representing Porsche Doppelkupplung. Says Pobst: “I left the PDK in plain-old Drive and let the computer do the work on the shifting, and it always had the right gear for me. It’s a fantastic transmission-incredibly smooth, quick shifts.” So fantastic was the PDK that it managed to turn naysayers into proponents. “I found the new PDK transmission off-putting at first, almost entirely because the pushbutton wheel shifters are just plain dumb,” states St. Antoine. “But after I put it into ‘Sport +’ and hit Laguna for a few laps, I’m not so sure the PDK needs paddles or pushbuttons at all. The transmission is simply brilliant on its own.”

To finish in front of such stalwarts as the R8 and Miata, the Cayman used a little emotion and a lot of speed. “An emotional favorite that backs up the warm fuzzy feelings (which Miata also creates) with serious cred, like 1.0g grip,” says Markus. “Not as light as the MX-5, but more focused on speed and cornering,” notes Loh. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of my quickest lap times, because of the confidence I had with corner entry,” says Pobst. “It is a car that can be driven very hard, very near the limit, off stability control, and still stay completely under control.” In other words, the Best Driver’s Car. (And, yes, Kim, the best sports car in the world.)

RANDY SAYS: “Man, hard to pick. The Audi felt more valuable, it felt more expensive. The sounds coming out of it were finer, more refined. The Cayman was a little bit more of a race car, in comparison. It made great noises and a lot of noise, but good noise, like a screaming-six-cylinder-exhaust noise.”

Our pick for Best Driver’s Car doesn’t jump out at you from the Vehicle Dynamics Scorecard, though hints of its specialness can be found in its best Laguna lap. A car with the sixth-best top speed, yet third-quickest lap time has more than simply good grip going for it. Confidence counts too (check out our subjective ratings graphic). And closely inspect the Laguna lap trace: The Cayman has an extraordinary ability to stretch its lateral g well around many of the corners. One notable idiosyncrasy, though, is its unusually heavy steering effort.

FINAL ANALYSIS
In the end, you’ve got to get a feel for it

What’s most striking about the Porsche Cayman S Vehicle Dynamics Score is that it doesn’t appear to be remarkable at all. It took turning off our elaborate test equipment and simply wrapping our hands on its steering wheel to finally get the picture. After driving all 10 of our contenders on an impromptu road course, we scored them in six, driver’s-car-illuminating categories. And when the results were compiled, our affection for the Cayman S became starkly apparent.

While the Audi R8 and MX-5 Miata — cars at virtually either end of the group’s performance spectrum — impressed us too, subjectively, the Porsche scored even better. It’s as though the Cayman S simultaneously distills most of the R8′s intense performance and mid-engine balance, with the Mazda’s sprightly, and endlessly likable personality. And that’s a potent recipe for our Best Driver’s Car.

PORSCHE CAYMAN S
DRIVELINE: Mid engine/3.4L flat-6/320 hp/273 lb-ft/7-sp twin-cl auto/RWD
SUSPENSION, F;R: Struts, coils, adj shocks, anti-roll bar; multilink, coils, adj shocks, anti-roll bar
BRAKE DISCS/CALIPERS, F;R: 12.5-in vented, drilled/4-piston; 11.8-in vented, drilled/4-piston, ABS
CURB WEIGHT (DIST F/R): 3176 lb (45/55%)
TIRES, F;R: 235/35R19 87Y; 265/35R19 94Y Michelin Pilot Sport

Link: 2009 Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car (18 pages).

Sometimes it’s the journey, sometimes it’s the destination—and sometimes, it’s both. National Geographic Traveler has scoured the globe for the world’s most beautiful, interesting, and off-beat road trips.

It’s worth a look.

Two of the featured drives – Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Barbara Loop – take place right here in California.

Here is a Copy + Paste:

Pacific Coast Highway.

An exhilarating driving experience, this twisting, cliff-hugging, 123-mile (198-kilometer) route along the central California coast takes about five hours to complete at a leisurely pace. Designated an All-American Road—among the nation’s most scenic—the drive encompasses both the Big Sur Coast Highway and the San Luis Obispo North Coast Byway.

Overview
The route starts in historic Monterey, visits the art colony of Carmel, and threads through Big Sur, where mountains plunge into the Pacific. Farther south, the landscape mellows to oak-studded hills as the road passes Hearst Castle on its way to Morro Bay. In places, the road has narrow shoulders and sharp drop-offs, so stay alert. This route can be tricky for RVs or other oversize vehicles.

Start in Monterey
Join California Route 1 in Monterey (Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. +1 831 649 1770. www.montereyinfo.org.). The town served as California’s capital under Spanish, Mexican, and American flags, and by the early 1900s boasted an important sardine industry. Surviving sites include the Royal Presidio Chapel, Monterey State Historic Park, Custom House, Casa Soberanes, Larkin House, and other adobe buildings, as well as touristy Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row, home of the celebrated Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org).

Carmel-by-the-Sea
After enjoying Monterey, drive 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south on Highway 1 to Carmel-by-the-Sea (Visitors Center: San Carlos St.; tel. +1 831 624 2522 or +1 800 550 4333; www.carmelcalifornia.org), an upscale village of quaint colorful cottages, restaurants, inns, shops, and art galleries fronted by a broad beach fringed with Monterey pines. Among the highlights are Mission San Carlos Borroméo del Río Carmelo, second of the California missions, founded by Padre Junípero Serra in 1770; Tor House, the 1919 home of poet Robinson Jeffers; and mile-long Carmel River State Beach (831-649-2836), with its pelicans and kingfishers.

Point Lobos State Reserve
From Carmel drive 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) south to Point Lobos State Reserve (tel. +1 831 624 4909; www.pointlobos.org; $10 fee for car), a 550-acre (220-hectare) park encompassing coves, headlands, meadows, tide pools, and the nation’s first undersea ecological reserve, covering an additional 750 acres (300 hectares), with kelp forests 70 feet (20 meters) high. Trails lead past Monterey cypresses, which grow naturally only here and in Pebble Beach. The park’s 250 species of birds and mammals include black-tailed deer, gray foxes, sea otters, and sea lions. Migrating gray whales pass by from December through April.

Big Sur
After driving through Carmel Highlands, where impressive houses perch on granite cliffs above the sea, you reach the start of Big Sur, which extends 90 miles (145 kilometers) south to San Simeon. On this fabled coastline, redwood groves reach skyward, the Santa Lucia Range plunges into the sea, and waves are beaten to froth on ragged rocks. It’s a place of elemental power that can make human affairs seem inconsequential.

Garrapata State Park
Route 1, opened in 1937, climbs higher than 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the sea. One of the few easy-to-reach beaches is at Garrapata State Park (tel. +1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=579), about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) south of Carmel Highlands. From Soberanes Point watch for sea otters, which are protected under California state law.

Old Coast Road
En route to Bixby Bridge, six miles (ten kilometers) farther, you can choose to leave Calif. 1 and drive the 11-mile (18-kilometer) Old Coast Road, which climbs through remote forests and canyons and offers silent ocean views before ending at Andrew Molera State Park (tel. +1 831 667 2315, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582). The unpaved road is tortuous and impassable when it rains.

Bixby Bridge
Much photographed Bixby Bridge is a single-span concrete arch more than 260 feet (80 meters) high and 700 feet (200 meters) long. Park at turnouts near either end to gawk or take pictures. Ahead, the highway passes Hurricane Point, a place of big winds and big views, and then descends to the mouth of the Little Sur River. Looking inland, you’ll see 3,709-foot-high (1,131-meter-high) Pico Blanco, distinguishable by its lime deposits. Toward the sea, sand dunes soon appear, rolling toward the 1889 Point Sur Lighthouse (tel. +1 831 625 4419; tours Saturdays and Sundays, call for additional days April through October; $8; http://www.pointsur.org), a state historic park. In a few miles you reach Andrew Molera State Park (tel. +1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582; fee), whose broad beach, oak and redwood forests, and stretch of the Big Sur River are accessible only by foot.

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Pass through the settlement of Big Sur, which offers food and lodging, and head for Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (tel. +1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570; fee), where the Big Sur River runs through 964 acres (390 hectares) of redwoods, sycamores, and ferns. Then go 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) south and turn right on the 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) road down Sycamore Canyon Road to the white sands of Pfeiffer Beach, where the surf roars through arched rocks.

Nepenthe
Less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) farther on the highway you come to Nepenthe (tel. +1 831 667 2345; www.nepenthebigsur.com), an indoor-outdoor restaurant perched 800 feet (245 meters) above the sea and famous for its views. About half a mile (0.8 kilometers) south, on the left, look for the Henry Miller Memorial Library (tel. +1 831 667 2574; www.henrymiller.org; closed Tuesdays), perched among towering redwoods. It displays books and memorabilia of the novelist who spent 18 years in Big Sur. Also stop 8 miles (12.8 kilometers) farther at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (tel. +1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578 Fee), whose terrain ranges from 3,000-foot-high (914-meter-high) ridges to an underwater preserve. Do walk the short trail along the seaside bluff to see McWay Falls pour 100 feet (30 meters) into a picturesque cove.

Lucia, Plaskett, Gorda, and Ragged Point
Ahead of you lies the southern stretch of Big Sur. The road clings to a precipitous coastline, and the only settlements in the next 40 miles (64 kilometers) are Lucia, Plaskett, Gorda, and Ragged Point. From here onward are hills and pastureland. You’ll spy the Piedras Blancas Light Station on a point supposedly named in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for its white rocks (stained with bird droppings).

San Simeon
After a spell away from the Pacific, the road reaches the town of San Simeon, a staging area for the five-mile (eight-kilometer) bus ride to Hearst Castle (tel. +1 805 927 2020 or 800 444 4445; www.hearstcastle.org; tours only, call for reservations; fee), begun in 1919 by newspaperman William Randolph Hearst. Perched in the Santa Lucia Range, the 127-acre (51-hectare) estate features the 115-room main house and guesthouses, which mix classical and Mediterranean Revival styles, using European architectural elements, antiques, and artwork collected by Hearst.

Cambria
Continue six miles (ten kilometers) to Cambria (Chamber of Commerce: tel. +1 805 927 3624; www.cambriachamber.org), nestled against hills where Monterey pines thrive in porous soil of decomposed sandstone. On the ocean side of the highway, at Moonstone Beach, look for moonstones and California jade. Drive on four miles (six kilometers) to the colony of Harmony, where you might glimpse artists at work. Ahead on Estero Bay, the small town of Cayucos dates from the coastal schooner era of the 1860s; the pier has good fishing for perch and sometimes rockfish, plus views of pelicans and cormorants.

End in Morro Bay
The end of your route is Morro Bay (Chamber of Commerce: tel. +1 805 772 4467; www.morrobay.org), easily identified by its landmark Morro Rock. A turban-shaped, extinct volcanic cone about 23 million years old, it is 576 feet (176 meters) high and sits on the bay. Peregrine falcons live here. To learn about local wildlife, visit the Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History (tel. +1 805 772 2694; www.morrobaymuseum.org; $2). Around Morro Bay you’ll see great blue herons and, from October to March, monarch butterflies in eucalyptus trees.

Road Kit
Enjoy this drive any time of year, but beware of winter mudslides; see www.wunderground.com/US/CA/Big_Sur.html for local weather conditions; for current road conditions, see www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo. For more information on the Pacific Coast Highway, visit www.byways.org/explore/byways/2301 and www.byways.org/explore/byways/2475. The itinerary below describes a north-to-south route; if you drive from south to north, you’ll have a few extra feet of roadway between your car and the hair-raising drop-offs to the Pacific Ocean.

Santa Barbara Loop.

This sunny, 166-mile romp is centered in Santa Barbara, a coastal resort where bougainvillea flowers climb white walls and an old California mission drowses in the sun. Among the city’s ravishing charms are a Mediterranean climate, gardens, broad beaches, a pretty yacht harbor, and mountains tinged with Impressionist pinks and blues.

Overview
The drive makes two loops. First it jogs westward from Santa Barbara, visiting the flower fields of sleepy Lompoc and the wine and horse country of the newly glamorous Santa Ynez Valley. Then, circling back to Santa Barbara, it takes off eastward, to the mission city of Ventura and the orange groves of the Ojai Valley.

Start in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara was settled by the Spanish in the late 1700s and lived graciously during California’s later rancho period. In the late 19th century, it became a health resort for wealthy Easterners after a guidebook writer touted it as a “Mecca for the moribund.” When a 1925 earthquake leveled the haphazardly built downtown, civic leaders rebuilt in the Spanish colonial style that now unifies the city.

Queen of the Missions
On a slope overlooking town stands the venerable Mission Santa Barbara (2201 Laguna St.; +1 805 682 4713; http://santabarbaramission.org). At the old mission, founded in 1786, it’s easy to picture gray-robed padres saying Mass for the Indians.

Franciscan friars still reside at this Queen of the Missions, and Sunday services continue in the colorfully painted church. The sandstone Roman facade and adobe walls demonstrate how missionaries integrated European architecture with the rude but handsome materials—mud, stone, and timber—available on the California frontier.

Museums, Gardens, Theaters, Historic Sites, and More
From here, head up Mission Canyon. Kids love the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (2559 Puesta del Sol Rd.; +1 805 682 4711), with its 72-foot blue whale skeleton, animal dioramas, insects, “lizard lounge,” and planetarium. The tree-shaded grounds by Mission Creek make a lovely picnic spot. At the nearby Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (1212 Mission Canyon Rd. +1 805 682 4726; www.sbbg.org), five and a half miles of paths wind among a thousand species of California native plants, from paper-dry poppies to fog-loving redwood trees. A dam across the creek was built by padres and Chumash Indians in 1806.

Downtown, take in a movie or concert at the Arlington Theatre (1317 State St.; +1 805 963 4408; www.thearlingtontheatre.com) just to see the interior, designed to evoke the plaza of a Spanish village. At the nearby Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1130 State St.; +1 805 963 4364; www.sbmuseart.org), look for Monet’s 1884 painting of the Italian Riviera in sunny pastels; it could have been painted yesterday in Santa Barbara. This impressive regional museum also has works by Matisse and Chagall, Picasso and Dalí, plus classical antiquities and Asian art.

Wander a few blocks to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse (1100 Anacapa St.; +1 805 962 6464; www.santabarbaracourthouse.org), which looks like a fantasy out of El Cid. Built in 1929, it has thick white walls and red-tile roofs, set off by sunken gardens. Inside are hand-painted ceilings, wrought-iron chandeliers, hallways sheathed in Tunisian tiles, and marvelous historical murals. For a 360-degree view of the city, ride the elevator up the clock tower.

Nearby, El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park (123 E. Canon Perdido St.; +1 805 965 0093; www.sbthp.org/presidio.htm) preserves a bit of Spain’s original military outpost, including the city’s oldest remaining building (1788), which once provided housing for married soldiers and their families. Reconstruction of the fort includes an adobe chapel, a two-story lookout tower, and soldiers’ and commander’s quarters.

The Santa Barbara Historical Society Museum (136 E. De la Guerra St.; +1 805 966 1601; www.santabarbaramuseum.com), a short stroll away, displays iron treasure chests from Spanish explorers, silver saddles from the rancho period, and a golden altar from old Chinatown. Material from Santa Barbara’s Flying A Studio, which pioneered moviemaking around 1913 and became the then-largest studio in the world, includes an early Bell-and-Howell motion picture camera.

A charming holdover from earlier days is the nearby 1920s shopping arcade called El Paseo (State and De la Guerra Sts.), which calls to mind a street in Spain. Passages wind among shops built around the adobe 1828 Casa de la Guerra (closed to the public), the home of the Spanish military commander and the center of Santa Barbara’s surprisingly refined society of the 1820s.

Now turn toward the city’s waterfront, where Stearns Wharf (foot of State St.) ranks as the oldest wharf operating on the West Coast (1872). Like any self-respecting pier, it has a bait shop and a gypsy palm reader; also, restaurants and shops. The Ty Warner Sea Center (211 Stearns Wharf; +1 805 962 2526; www.sbnature.org/seacenter) displays a model whale and tanks of live marine animals, giving you a glimpse (and sometimes a feel) of what’s underwater in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Santa Barbara Harbor is both a yacht basin and home to a commercial fishing fleet. Inhale the waterfront smells of boiling crabs, diesel fuel, and salt spray; walk to the end of the breakwater for a memorable view of the ocean, mountains, and town. Whale-watching trips (Sea Landing; +1 805 963 3564; www.sealanding.net) seek blue whales and humpbacks June through September, and gray whales December through May.

Just east of the wharf you’ll find East Beach—the most popular of Santa Barbara’s five miles of beaches. Here, volleyball players dive for impossible shots, in-line skaters zip along the bike path, and teens hang out at the snack bar.

Link: National Geographic Traveler: Drives of a Lifetime

With Leo Carillo camping coming up, I decided to go on a reconnaissance mission to check out the site. I did google pictures of the campground and the beach area, which yielded some people’s family, vacation photos. They were nice to look at. Still, I did not have a good enough feel of what to expect, hence this mission.

Sure, I could have simply drove along the coast (on Pacific Coast Highway) to Leo Carillo, but figured, since I will most likely do that the day of, I’d do something different….

Here is a google maps picture showing part of the route I took… down Mulholland Highway (part of Mulholland Drive) =)

… this is why…. OMG..  all of the twisties were soooooo much fun…

..and at times….. freakin scary!

…. almost there!

..oOOoOoooooooo…

…….aAaAaaAaaaaaaaaaah… damn that’s a rocky beach…

… Cheers!

Link: Mullholland Highway

Right now, you can download the amazingly shot documentary, Truth in 24. The film follows the legendary Audi team (and their diesel-powered R10) as they prepare for and take part in one of the most famous races in the world, 24 hours of Le Mans. It is narrated by Jason “The Transporter” Statham, and has won many accolades around the world.

Peep the 60-second trailer of the documentary to get the testosterone flowing………. *RooOoAAAAR*:

Truth in 24 – 60 Second Trailer – These bloopers are hilarious

Click the picture below to be directed to Apple itunes:

Previously shown only at film festivals until last Friday when they aired this on ESPN. I was bummed because I missed it, and now it’s available for free?!!!

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!

Links:
Truth in 24 website
Movie Review
Back Story