Edition #THREE
August: Cars & CAD
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August is one of my favorite months simply because of Monterey Car Week. Every year, thousands of car lovers flock from around the world (often flying their cars with them) to indulge in what is effectively a nonstop car show for the entire week. And every year, it culminates in the world-famous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The concours is always a source of inspiration for me and I wanted to share a few of my favorite cars from the event, starting with the first vehicle I saw: a baby blue GMA T.50. It’s the brainchild of Gordon Murray, who found great success as a Formula 1 engineer and later designed the McLaren F1 in the 90’s. The F1 is hailed as one of the greatest road-legal cars ever built, and Gordon describes the T.50 as a modern-day version that sticks to tried and true principles which we share at Shoreline Bespoke: ultra-lightweight design, a high-revving naturally aspirated engine, a manual transmission, and an unwavering focus on providing the ultimate driving experience.
The second car that stood out to me at Pebble Beach is this Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, the German marque’s first purpose built LeMans racer that was also street legal (to satisfy the sporting regulations). The 904 was highly regarded as not only one of the most beautiful sports cars of its time, but also one of the most reliable and successful. The 906 that succeeded it was a primary source of inspiration for our debut vehicle: Laguna by Shoreline Bespoke. I couldn’t get any clean shots of the exterior (that’s what Google is for), but I loved the elegant simplicity of the interior with the sliding manual windows, central tachometer, and beautifully finished engine-turned steering wheel.
The last car I’ll share for now is an Alfa Giulia GTA, spotted at Laguna Seca where it looked right at home during the Monterey Motorsports Reunion. These cars have an almost cult-like following due to their utterly gorgeous design, lightweight construction, and distilled driving experience. It’s no wonder their desirability has soared lately - one UK company called Alfaholics has a nine-year wait list for their Giulia restomod! These cars are a great example of what happens when a carmaker “gets it right,” and their status as highly-desirable collector vehicles is proof of that. Kyle and I keep that in the back of our minds during every decision - we believe the Laguna will be capable of reaching the same status in due time.
Last but not least, an update on the Laguna: after several thousand hours of CAD, the engineering design phase is nearly complete! We expect to finish by the end of next week, after which I will be delighted to share some details of the motorsport-grade engineering that has gone into this vehicle. We are also making great headway with the interior design thanks to our London-based partner. Their discreet design services have been used by virtually every major luxury automotive brand, and we can’t wait to share more on the Laguna’s gorgeous interior! Hopefully you can tell how happy we were on the day we got the first sketches back from the design office - we had to go for a celebratory drink after :)
You can visit our website by clicking on our logo to learn more about the long-term vision for Shoreline, our inspiration, and what’s to come. By subscribing to this newsletter, you’ll be the first to know about vehicle updates, upcoming reveals, apparel releases and more… Stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Spencer Beckman
Founder & CEO, Shoreline Bespoke Vehicles