I had a few days off work so I figured it would be nice to go home and spend some time with my parents over the weekend. Home, as you probably know by now, is in Sarasota, Florida. I love going home for a few days and just relaxing. I’ll usually take a drive or two down to the beach and cruise around by the water. The scenery is amazing, and the cars I usually spot are pretty amazing as well. Just like when I lived in Miami, I never know what I’ll see just driving down the road. This past weekend was no different. On Saturday my dad and I jumped in the Jeep, took the side windows and rear window down, and drove around for a couple of hours, stopping at a few different locations to snap some photos. The first car we spotted was worthy of the top spot, or so we thought: A gorgeous black Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano that was parked outside of the Ritz Carlton hotel.
After we drove around St. Armand’s Circle a few times, which is the site of the Sarasota Exotic Car Festival I went to a few weeks ago (http://www.mydailydrive.com/sarasota-exotic-car-festival-2010/), we headed down to Mote Marine, the local aquarium that sits right on the water. We drove through the parking lot to turn around and noticed something parked right in front of the building. I thought to myself, “Is that a Morgan!? No, it must be a kit car. I’ve never seen one of those.” Dad asked me what I saw and I told him it looks like something very, very rare in the U.S. but it was probably a kit car. We cut down an aisle to go check and sure enough, parked in a spot that was marked Trustees Parking Only was a silver and black Morgan Aero 8.
This is a car I’ve never seen before, and as you can tell by my photos, I’ve seen quite a lot in my day. The Morgan Aero 8 is built in the UK and houses a 4.4 liter BMW V8 with around 330 horsepower. What’s even more impressive, aside from the beautiful lines, is the curb weight of the car. At 1000kg (2205 lbs), it’s close to 1000 lbs less than a Ferrari Enzo, which gives it one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car. Capable of 0-60 mph in under 5 seconds and on to a top speed of over 160 mph, the Morgan Aero 8 is every bit of a performer as it is a piece of art. And with only 300 Aero 8′s built per year, and a majority of those cars residing in Europe, this was definitely the “Find of the Day.” Hey look, there’s our Jeep!
On our way back to the main land, Dad and I came back through St. Armand’s Circle and did a few more laps. This time we spotted a black Lamborghini Gallardo in valet parking and we saw a red Ferrari F430 pass by. We continued on and drove through Marina Jack’s, a pretty exclusive marina with several million dollar yachts tied up to the docks. Marina Jack’s also has a restaurant, where we found a replica of an old Shelby Cobra dressed in a black and gold paint job, and on top was something I’ve never seen on a Cobra in person: a tan colored soft top. Looked different, but not bad.
Our Saturday afternoon wouldn’t be complete without my first trip to the new Lamborghini Sarasota dealership that has only been open for a few months. They had 5 beautiful models on display, including a new LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, the same car that was at the Sarasota show over Valentine’s Day weekend, and a mean and green Murcielago LP640 Roadster. One of my favorite supercar color combos was present on a Gallardo LP560-4: White pearl exterior and red seats. Looks stunning in the metal.
Right outside the main doors was a monster of a different kind. The Japanese beast that is known as Godzilla. No, not the giant lizard that terrorizes the cities of Japan. This beast was a black Nissan GT-R. I’m not the biggest GT-R fan in the world, but the more I see them, the more I seem to like them. Weird, I know…
Sunday brought a new day and a new cruise. This time I went out to lunch with a few friends, and we drove back down to the Circle. Three treats were in store for us when we arrived. We decided to get out and walk around a little, checking out some of the designer shops along the way. The first noteworthy car we saw was a black Aston Martin V8 Vantage making its rounds with some rather shiny wheels. The second car we caught pausing for some pedestrians to cross the street was a blue and white Dodge Viper GTS. I love the look of these things, and you don’t see too many of them anymore. It’s a shame, really.
And last but certainly not least was yet another Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. We spotted this Rosso Corsa 599 (the name for “Ferrari red”) while we were upstairs. The girls wanted to check out some handbags in a store, so my friend Martin and I hung out on the balcony checking out the Circle from a view we’d never seen before. As we spotted it coming around I had a great vantage point between two trees to snap this photo:
Overall my weekend back home was great, and as always, the cars didn’t disappoint. If you’re ever in my neck of the woods make sure you bring your camera because you’re bound to spot something special. And I’ll leave you with one final photo I took off of my flickr page. This is what I get to call home. Have a great night everyone!
Photos © My Daily Drive 2010
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