Aliso Viejo continues to expand and is becoming the next-generation replacement for Cars & Coffee in Irvine. This weekly gathering is growing in quantity and quality of cars. You can’t get a decent parking place if you get there after 6:30 AM. However, our club has not really embraced this event, as we usually have only a few Healeys attending. Hey guys, get off your duff and come out to this event! It offers easy access off the 73 toll road at the Aliso Creek exit. This month, Drew Ebright and I were present with our Healeys, along with another early 3000 from San Diego. Also attending was a modified 100 with a Ford V-6 SHO engine and Toyota 5- speed tranny. There were a sprinkling of other British cars there, including Triumphs and Jag E-types. There were a lot of Mustangs, Corvettes, Porsches, Cobras and other classics and exotics.
One vehicle I found very interesting was a 1943 Ford GPA, a sea going Jeep produced for WWII which was the predecessor to the later and more successful amphibious DUKWs. The GPA had the same drivetrain as the Jeep, including a 4 cylinder flathead engine. Approximately 12,700 were produced between 1942 and 1943 and although not successful in the U.S. Army, the Russians ordered them in quantity under the Lend Lease program and used them for fording rivers in Europe.
Although not a classic, another vehicle I found interesting was the new Tesla Model X SUV with falcon wing doors. The Fluidmaster Ford NASCAR race car was also interesting. I really doubt it is street legal but it drove in making quite a commotion.