The musicians and soundtrack in Singles the movie (1992)

(I'm going to meet a co-star of this movie later this week.  Guess who it is.)

I'm a bit ashamed, but Cameron Crowe's syrupy sweet romantic comedy Singles is one of my favorite movies of all time.  It's about a group of hip and attractive 20 somethings who live in Seattle and hang out at a coffee shop.  Sound familiar?  It was the basis for the TV show Friends.

What's not to like?  It's got all the stars of the early 90s.  Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Matt Dillon, Kyra Sedgwick, and Campbell Scott are in it.  And the future stars of the 00s are in it too-- like Jeremy "I was bald in 1992 so how come I've got a full head of hair in 2010?" Piven and Paul "I will only be known for Sideways" Giamatti.

The cars are pretty cool too.  Dillon drives an old Ford delivery truck, Campbell an old Saab, and Fonda a Mark I Scirocco (see below).

But the music made the movie truly great.  It introduced the rest of the country, and the world, to grunge music, which, in my opinion, is the music genre of Generation X.  My vast collection of flannel shirts in college can only be explained with one word: Grunge.

The movie soundtrack contains a who's who of Seattle sound, circa 1991.  And many of those musicians had roles in the movie.

Here is Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.  He and his band played members of Dillon's band called Citizen Dick.    Vedder definitely has a future in acting.

Chris Cornell of Soundgarden makes a brief appearance in this scene involving the infamous VW.  For those of you who don't know Cornell, he sung "You Know My Name," the title song to the James Bond movie Casino Royale.

We've also got Alice In Chains, another one of my favorites:

Predictably, Nirvana was too-cool-for-school and refused to be involved in the project.

(Hint to question raised above: The star I am meeting is in one of the Youtube clips above.)

Zsa Zsa Gabor VW Beetle ad commercial

Here are Zsa Zsa and her mother.

Here is Zsa Zsa, filming the same ad, going ballistic.

Spyker D8 Peking-to-Paris crossover SUV

I'm not a big fan of SUVs but this is boss.  The original prototype envisioned a Volkswagen W12 (hence the original D12 moniker).  Now, it's more likely to have the 6.2 liter V8 from the Cadillac CTS-V.  But with the acquisition of Saab by Spyker, the D8 project is on hold.

2010 Marin Sonoma Concours photos

The second annual Marin Sonoma Concours was well attended (almost a bit too crowded) and had something for everyone.  My only disappointment was that there was only one French car, a Citroen 2CV Charleston.

Bentley Continental R.

Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0.  1 of 1,636.  It came with an aluminum engine, doors, trunk lid, and hood.

Audi ur-Quattro (for sale for $16,000) with Chrysler 300C and Lincoln in the background.  Every 35 to 42 year old male there was gawking at the Audi.

VW Wolfsburg 1.

VW Wolfsburg 2.

VW Wolfsburg 3.

Aston Martin Rapide.  This is the first one I've seen in the flesh.  It just looks like a stretched Aston Martin coupe.  The doors swing out and up at an angle.  Kinda odd.  Still very cool looking though.

Mercedes SLS AMG interior.  This is also the first time I've seen a real life SLS.  It is huge.  Talk about model bloat (vis-a-vis the original Gullwing).

I'm not a huge fan of pre-war American cars, but these hood ornaments are pieces of art by themselves.  This is a Pierce-Arrow.

Packard swan.

Cadillac.

Lincoln.

Another first for me-- a Bizzarrini.  

Corvette engine in the Bizzarrini.

Morgan Super Sports JAP.

Bugatti Type 39A.

Obligatory Bugatti shot.

Carspotting (39): VW Thing

VW Phaeton with Bentley badge

I saw a strange thing yesterday.  I was walking through a parking lot and heard a loud growl behind me.  A car was passing me.  With my peripheral vision, I saw and recognized the front of a Phaeton.  The engine was louder than usual so I assumed it had a W12 engine.  (I don't think I've ever heard the sound of a W12 before.)

But as it passed me, I did a double take of the car's rear end.  It still said Phaeton on the back.  But instead of a VW logo dead center, there was a Bentley logo.  It looked almost exactly like this Photoshopped picture I found on the net.

Was this just a nod to the fact that Bentley Continental Flying Spurs and Phaetons were made at the same factory (until 2006)?  Or did this Phaeton actually have the twin turbocharged W12 of the Bentley?

Rally driving lights galore: Cibie, PIAA, Hella, and Viceroy!

If there is one thing I love more than vintage rally cars, it's the arrays of frisbee-sized driving lights up front.  These are from a guy named Ariel on Flickr.