Carspotting in Buckhead

North of downtown Atlanta sits the affluent community of Buckhead. In the early 20th century, this was a heavily-wooded area full of hunting estates owned by wealthy Atlanta businessmen. Now, it's still home to the city's wealthiest and along with them, high-end retail at Phipps Plaza and Lenox Mall.

And, no surprise, it's also home to some pretty nice cars. Your best opportunity to see some of these is on a sunny weekend like this one, where I was in the area picking up a new camera lens. Sure, there are garden variety (for the wealthier among us) Range Rovers and Mercedes G-Classes, but you're also likely to find a few trophies. Here are some I ran across during my walk around Buckhead.

Starting out, we've got a stealthy one. The P38 Range Rover (that body style produced from 1997 to 2003) may not seem like anything special initially, but when you consider some of the many perceived and real gremlins of this truck, you'll understand why. These take a lot of care (and money) to keep on the road, especially as a daily driver. Electrics follow the common British rule that if it can break, it will. Not to mention early air suspension that was haphazard at best.

The Discovery also makes an appearance here. Trusting a Landy to travel 600 miles one-way may not necessarily be a fool's errand, but it's one you're bound to take with a bit of baited breath. However, it looks like this Rover, plated in the District of Columbia, has done just fine.

Keeping the Union Jack flying is this Aston Martin Vantage, which announced its presence long before it came into view.

Character need not always come with intricate repair jobs, though. This is evidenced by the Acura NSX, particularly this first generation, which uses the V6 from an Accord. Its shape is a home run too, representing the glory days of enthusiast-minded Hondas.

And to conclude, a blast from the past. Chevrolet's split window Corvette Stingray is now one of the most collectible Vettes you can buy, and this one cruised down Peachtree Street like it was the in the Woodward Dream Cruise.

2017 Atlanta International Auto Show

The Atlanta Auto Show is usually a quiet affair, normally constrained to only a few prototypes. Cars don't get unveiled here, but it's still a good opportunity to climb around in luxury sedans and to see some neat concepts under convention hall lights.

This year's notables include the Kia Stinger, a twin-turbo sedan whose styling would be bold for any car maker, but somehow fits just right into KIA's lineup. The Korean manufacturer's auto show real estate was impressive; hardly a surprise, given the location of major manufacturing centers in West Point, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama.

Another manufacturer that's recently started calling Atlanta home is Mercedes-Benz. Just a few feet away, final work is being done on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will be the new home of the Atlanta Falcons and the burgeoning Atlanta United Football Club. And Mercedes brought out the big guns--a 4x4-and-then-some G550 and a Maybach S650 convertible, along with a healthy spread of AMG offerings.

You may have noticed a post here a couple of months ago when I visited the Jim Ellis Alfa Romeo dealership, and this brand was a new reappearance at the Atlanta Auto Show. Several Giulias were on display, along with a 4c. Fiat was also in attendance, showing off the Miata-based 124 Spider.

Ford continues to impress with bold, inexpensive cars aimed at the enthusiast. Focus and Fiesta ST made mandatory appearances, but the stage was really being stolen by the Focus RS--with a shocking $41,000 sticker to match. Ford also displayed Mustang and Expedition prototypes, a nice touch.

A final surprise? Volkswagen. Hot water doesn't begin to describe the trouble this mammoth auto maker has been in the past few years. But only a company as big as Volkswagen Auto Group could still manage to bring out both compelling and exciting vehicles. Much to my delight, there were two VWs with manual transmissions on the show floor--and not the ones you'd think would be there.

A Jetta Sportwagen and a Jetta Alltrack (think Audi Allroad but more down-to-earth) both sported six speed manuals and more than agreeable price tags. Enough to make you rethink even a Japanese mainstay --whispers-- Honda Civic.

Of course, this is far from an exhaustive look at the show. Here are some more of my photos from the 2017 Atlanta International Auto Show:

January Caffeine and Octane: Then and Now

Since this weekend's monthly meet was postponed due to freezing conditions around the Atlanta metro area, I figured we'd take a look back at some previous January meets. January is one of the toughest months for car shows. Why, on one of the coldest months of the year, would anyone want to get up at the crack of dawn, pile on layers, and walk around a parking lot freezing their toes off?

Well, since it's inception over a decade ago, Caffeine and Octane's consistently been an exception versus rule exercise. Yes, crowds are smaller in the earliest and coldest months of the year, but they're far from modest. I'll start by giving you some images from January 2013.

The mercury hung around 40F the entire morning, but there were several roadster drivers who toughed it out, bundling up and leaving their soft tops at home. That includes this guy in a Porsche Speedster replica.

Bundling up wasn't limited to the drivers of course. Spectators were just as ready for the temperatures, and I caught this couple both sporting Ferrari and Porsche attire from nearly head to toe.

Even the Rolls-Royce girls were out in full force. Wearing all black, they posed in front of a Rolls-Royce Ghost and a white Bentley Continental GT.

The chill was most apparent though when cars started to leave. After sitting for hours, the exhausts of supercars and muscle cars alike chugged out wispy white smoke against the overcast sky.

Of course, this was when Caffeine and Octane was still in its old location off Windward Parkway in Milton. The pictures I took in January 2013 didn't show it, but it was pretty apparent even then that the venue was reaching its capacity. Show cars had space, but spectator parking was hit or miss, with people parking at hotels across the street and even in the grassy undeveloped part of the business park where the show was held.

By 2016, the show had arrived at its current location. Perimeter Mall hosts the show in its massive outer parking lots, letting spectators and others hang out until about 11a.m. when the mall opens. By then, I'd armed myself with a new (to me) Canon 60D with a wide-angle lens, able to better capture the crowds that gathered even when Georgia was at its coldest.

Here, cars file in and out on the mall's ring road, a four-lane thoroughfare inside the parking lot. Many people just take laps, turning out onto the main road, going around the block, then turning back into the parking lot, since spectators line the entire route. Think of it like the Woodward Dream Cruise, but with fewer lanes and more Acuras.

An even better variety of cars showed up in 2016, with the show becoming more organized. Now it has its own website and PR team, and works closely with show car owners, television personalities, filmographers, and the local police department.

Built by Sunbeam in England and powered by a Ford V8, the Tiger is one of the lesser known 60's Anglo-American successes.

Mike Finnegan, writer for Hot Rod Magazine and host of the Youtube series Roadkill chats with Rutledge Wood, an Atlanta native and star of Top Gear on History.

The show now has a dedicated section to showcase the variety of cars that attend. This condensed piece of Caffeine and Octane can include rare vintage sports cars, six-figure supercars, and some grey market import oddities. Within the showcase, there are also several featured cars, given their own section in the middle of the show area.

But outside of the newly-designated area, it's the same Caffeine and Octane you remember from the earlier days, just on a much larger scale. Mopar guys hold down a couple rows, but aside from that the rest of the showfield is a mixed bag. Lowriders, Japanese cars of every shape and modification level, motorcyles, late-80s German sports cars, and even minivans are on display in the more outer reaches of the parking lot.

So the show has changed in a big way over the past three years, and now we're looking at an even bigger future for it, with the first Caffeine and Octane at the Beach event being held on Jekyll Island in March of this year. If the past is any indicator, this will be one you won't want to miss, and this January should be bigger than ever.