Steve was 100% correct…..Jacob was going to be in car-heaven if we went to this particular auto show. Wow. As we drove northbound on the 101 all of a sudden we heard and saw 4 red Lamborghini sports cars roar past us. Jacob was BEYOND excited! Wow. Whoa. Oh my goodness. Four?!? We knew where they were headed!

To the Motor4Toys Exotic Car Show!

When we spotted these two yellow sports cars side by side, I asked him “Jacob, if you could choose, would you choose the yellow Lamborghini or the yellow Ferrari?” He began to chew on that thought….and then asked “for street driving or for racing?” Ha! I didn’t know he’d have a different opinion with regards to the purpose of the vehicle. Indeed he did. But as I type this, I can’t for the life of me remember his answer and his rationale….but he had a very firm reason for choosing the one he did for each type of driving scenario.

Oh and it was just the beginning of all things A-M-A-Z-I-N-G for a 9-year old boy who looooooooves sports cars!!!! I’m sure his heartbeat was crazy high as he spotted cars he had only seen in magazines before! Here, live before him…and in many cases, with engines still warm from the drive they had made to arrive at the show….

GTR-Premium

Koenigsegg

Ford GT

Lexus LFA

Bogatti

Tesla

Ferrari

Porsche Carrera

Fisker

Corvette

At one point, as we were looking at three incredible Bogatti parked right next to each other, Steve showed me the quick Internet search result that he had on his phone for the price of each one: $2,250,000.  Each one had been sold at a price tag over $2 million! Dude. Whoa. Wow. I turned to Natalie and said “Natalie, if each one costs 2 million 250 thousand dollars, what is the value of these 3 cars sitting here?” There we stood doing a quick math problem….2 million x 3 = 6 million…..250 + 250 = 500, then add another 250 to get 750. Whoa. We were looking at 6 million, 750 thousand dollars of car value. Whoa.

As we were walking around the giant parking lot, in rolled a Lexus LFA…..and boy oh boy…..Steve and Jacob both were beyond excited at the sight of that vehicle! They were sharing a moment of being in awe of getting to see one up and personal. Not only them….but every man walking anywhere near this incoming vehicle, seemed to drop their jaw at the sight of this vehicle. I, on the other hand, knowing absolutely nothing about vehicles could not comprehend what was being communicated amongst all these awestruck onlookers turning their heads and quickening their step towards this vehicle. All I heard were incredulous whispers…”Is that a Lexus LFA??!”  Jacob kept his eye on this Lexus LFA and watched the driver make several loops, trying to find a parking spot. He asked if we could follow it. Sure. Why not?Steve had only ever seen this car in magazines and once at the LA Auto Show- and that time it was surrounded by stanchions, no one could come even remotely close to it.  But now here we were following it on foot.

Turns out the reason this car was such a remarkable thing to witness, is that only 500 made worldwide. Only 20 were produced by Lexus each month between 2010-2012. During production, each one received an individually numbered plaque, indicating it’s place in the production run. This vehicle that we saw was #475.

And then there was Natalie……excited for her brother…..getting to see him revel at the sight of all these dream cars of his. But for herself she was more excited about the cute  poodles and chihuahuas that some people had brought on leash to the event.  Also getting to see some ‘different’ cool vehicles, such as…

the 70s shag-carpet van

the mud-covered jeep

the Bat-mobile emblem covered in jewels

the VW van that her outfit matched color-wise

the original Mini-Cooper that she was taller than (and soooooo much smaller than current Mini-Coopers in production)

the hot-pink Dolorean

and the cool old vintage yellow car with 3 benches for passengers

Such different delights for these two children’s eyes…..

but together as a family we shared a wonderful morning of enjoying cars.