L’Automobile Storms Miami Beach With Concepts, Customs, and Supercars

Second Annual Event Showcases World Class Cars

When you think of Miami, visions of the unhinged 80s immersed in a tropical lifestyle with a dose of narcotics come into focus. However, Miami is now recognized as an international hub of fashion, culture, and art renowned the world over for producing leading-edge designers. The car in Miami is more of a statement than basic transportation and even six-figure supercars are heavily customized and modified to make an impact in South Beach, Brickell and emerging hot spots like Wynwood and the Design District. With this fashion, art and culture movement producing a show like l’Automobile would certainly succeed, transcending car enthusiasts to cater to the design inherent in cars and the talent designers who visualize and craft them as well.

L’Automobile (French for ‘The Automobile’) is in its second year and being a new show, at a fresh venue with an innovative approach, gained momentum as car design aficionados caught on. The founder, Elo is no rookie in the high end, design and custom car scene. That’s right, the founder goes by only one name and comes by it honestly coming from the fashion world in the UK and Europe and setting up shop in Miami to establish a high dose of sophisticated car culture in one of America’s leading arts locales.

The 2021 show forged ahead through the pandemic with strong attendance for international cars and infamous car personalities such as:

• Fabio Lamborghini: The nephew of the famous Ferrucio Lamborhini, Fabio trained in engineering and worked at divisions of the fabled automaker until 2007. He was also active in contributing to the Ferruccio Lamborghini Museum in Sant’Agostino, Italy, which these days is more of a special guest at auto events around the world.
• Maurizio Corbi: Active designer from Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina and responsible for the Ferrari legends, the F355, the 550 Maranello and yes even the exclusive 349 unit F50 flat-12 supercar from the 1990s. 
• Malcolm Bricklin: Most famous for the mid-1970s composite panel V8 supercar bearing his name the Bricklin SV-1. Bricklin is an auto exec that has had many successes over the years and remained a force in the automotive business into his 80s.

Beyond the star power invited to the event, the Miami VIP car elite showed up en masse with millions of dollars in supercars, hypercars and classics sitting out in the parking lot forming a show itself. Dozens of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and McLarens graced the lot with the odd Koenigsegg and Pagani to make a statement. But inside the show the collection got even more eclectic, exotic and rare being hand picked by Elo himself.

Likely the most expensive vehicle at the show was the Red Bull HONDA-powered F1 car to promote F1 Miami. The show also included a high value of the late model supercars, as well as an array of customs and prototypes, which are truly priceless. We’ve seen the outrageous coachwork on the Lamborghini Espada rat rod built by Danton Arts Customs of France but in reality, the impact never fades on us. The Espada again graced another Miami show but it was it’s neighbor the Salvage to Savage DeLorean twin turbo widebody that shocked the crowds. This show was the first appearance of the 2021 SEMA hit show car, that easily made the largest impression on attendees at the Vegas show.

Built just north in Boca Raton, FL, the widebody DeLorean is literally a concept from famous 3D designer, The Kyza (Khyzyl Saleem) meticulously crafted into metal and composites. This is a true fantasy-concept sitting at the l’Automobile show but far from a rolling clay shell, this retro supercar makes real jam. Under the bonnet is Garrett twin turbo-powered 5.2L LS V8 channeled through a 6-speed Porsche 996 transaxle to the rear wheels. Not only was the first time anyone has seen the car wrapped in this rich gold hue, there is more to the build we are featuring soon.

A pair of retro highlights captured audience attention, the first was the Maggiore Project M. The limited to 40 units Project M, is based on the venerable Ferrari 308 with a fresh take on wider bodywork, composites and modern technology to make an all new approach to the Magnum-mobile. Another fan favorite was the Miami-themed Land Rover restomod. A nut and bolt restoration of this offroad legend, has been reborn with everything replaced or renewed and in a high-impact color-scheme that got a rumored $250,000 offer to buy the truck after the show.

With all of the gasoline-powered legends new and old, it was in fact a pair of EV concepts that caused a frenzy of activity. While gear heads play out the final decades of the internal combustion era, next-level projects like the EV-powered Shelby Daytona Coupe really commanded attention. This sleek silver car by Superformance was clearly missing trademark design cues like the massive side-pipes and gated manual. Although we did still spot a fuel pump switch, oil and water temp gauges, this work-in-progress has a dual EV motor set up capable of over 1000lb-ft of torque with a sub 3-second 0-60mph claim.

Beyond the Daytona Coupe EV was what appeared to be a Porsche 911 930 that curiously was missing the exhaust pipes out the rear fascia. The car called the Electric GT certainly looked like a gas car, yet had a pair of massive electric motors mounted to the rear axles resulting in one fast, yet silent assassin on the track.

Once again l’Automobile asserted itself as not a traditional Miami car show. Dozens of high-end and rare supercars from Bugatti, Koenigsegg and Pagani are seen regularly at many shows in South Florida but still the unique content at this oceanfront show setting sets itself apart. 

Exotics on Las Olas Takeover of Florida With Supercars Galore

Fourth Annual Show brings Exotics and Race Cars to Fort Lauderdale Streets

South Florida has money. Stupid kinda money where you regularly see yachts cruise by that are more than a lifetime net worth… multiplied by 100 lifetimes. For the supercar, hypercar and racecar scene, South Florida is a flurry of activity. There are collections here that will never see the light of day and having experienced a few in person, I can only verbally describe them as breathtaking because for security reasons, there won’t be any pics shared. However, Exotics on Las Olas is a show that has the owners of dozens of these rare exotics shined up and brought out to takeover the streets of Fort Lauderdale in a premium car show that realistically is a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Show organizer Floyd Rag is not only a former NFL’er and celebrity-connected player but he is a huge car enthusiast who created and produces a number of popular car shows in South Florida. Floyd built up a hugely popular event called Supercar Saturdays for local dealer networks:Lamborghini Broward, Bugatti Broward and Koenigsegg Florida. With that show firmly established, he wanted to reach beyond the confines of a dealership or mall as a venue and takeover downtown Lauderdale to bring the magic to a wider audience. And now, for the fourth year in a row, the show plowed through the Pandemic to impress crowds with millions of dollars in supercars tough to find all in one place and certainly not in most states.

Past Exotics on Las Olas shows have showcased rare cars like Bugatti Divo, Pagani Huayra Roadster and even rare birds like the Maserati MC-12 Corsa, of which there are only 12. In 2021, it was more late model madness of pricey supercars, hypercars and tuned exotics that were one-offs of only a handful made. Probably the most impact at the show was garnered by the Apollo Intenza Emotizione from Ikonik Motors of Miami. Owner Barry Skolnick is a mega-millionaire that has stormed the Florida scene with his growing collection of exotics but has parlayed his passion into a retail business being the first customer to secure a V12 Apollo hypercar here in the US.

While many late model supercars graced the show, we took notice of not one but three Lamborghini Huracan STO examples in attendance. The STO is basically a street-legal race car, which in many ways is the peak of the Huracan platform as it enters its eighth model year. It seems like only yesterday the 610-4 trim came out but now there are so many variants, many of which were at the show including three Super Trofeo race versions.

While Italian supercars dominated Exotics on Las Olas, we have to tip our hat to cross-channel rival McLaren as there were many stunning examples on parade. A number of McLaren 765LT and 765LT Spiders baked in the Florida sun along with a handful of unique MSO examples on display with roof scoops and all. While the McLaren factory efforts amounted to loads of eye candy, we couldn’t believe the offering from German tuning house Novitec. The wider, faster and generally more outrageously styled Novitec 720S N-Largo was parked on Las Olas and we’re not sure just how rare people realized it actually is… there are only 14 beyond the one we were looking at!

The Novitec 720S N-Largo delivers on the performance and aero expected of the southern German tuner with a hint of Senna styling. The limited McLaren boasts 806hp and takes the already fast 720 platform to 60mph in only 2.7-seconds on the way to a top speed of 217mph. The wider wheel and tire upgrades increase the track by 2.3-inches up front and over 5-inches in the rear making the stance difference nothing less than intense.

For the 4th straight year, Exotics on Las Olas has weathered the storm and beat attendance numbers year-over-year. We ran into a few automotive media colleagues who traveled quite a distance to cover the show. Seems our little supercar show in the quaint streets of old Fort Lauderdale on palm-lined Las Olas Avenue has made the cut and gone prime-time around the world.

Porsche Vice: Das Renn Treffen 2019

Since 2015, Das Renn Treffen (DRT) has brought the best Porsches that Miami has to offer while also benefitting local charities in the South Florida area. This year, it has grown into a three-day celebration of the brand from Stuttgart.

DRT probably snuck up on many people in the last few years. While many have been concentrating on Luftgekühlt and the Rennsport Reunion on the West Coast, South Florida has been creating a large Porsche gathering of their own. It may even rival them to some degree, but the East Coast is certainly showing it’s capable of creating a show worthy of the Stuttgart crest.

What is DRT?

It started in 2015 as a sister event to Volksblast, itself a nearly 20-year old Volkswagen show that celebrates classic V-Dubs. You could find the latest and greatest Porsches to vintage race cars and everything in between, so long as it was a Porsche.

It remained a single day show until February 2018 when it grew into a two-day event. This year, it became a three-day festivity that included a track day at Palm Beach International Raceway filled with race cars and some of the quickest street cars in the South Florida area.

…the East Coast is certainly showing it’s capable of creating a show worthy of the Stuttgart crest.

That’s not including the live music, food, and the many, many vendors that showed up to make this into a huge event. Other than the track day, all of this took place at Sunset Place, right in the middle of South Miami.

Those who attended were greeted by historic and restored Porsches, ultra-rare RUFs, race cars, and some interesting custom creations. You weren’t limited to just rear-engine and air-cooled Porsches as 944s, 918 Spyders, 914s, and even Carrera GTs made appearances. From street cars to rare cars, it just needed that crest.

It’s Not Just About Cars

Probably the most important thing to know about Das Renn Treffen is that it’s not just a Porsche show. These guys raise money for charities and non-profits located in the South Florida area. One of the biggest they support is the City of South Miami Parks and Recreation Department STEM Program.

Its goal is to help foster the next generation of adults who specialize in science, technology, engineering, and math—essentially creating kids interested in what it takes to make stuff like the Porsches they saw at this event and more.

The Track Day

For the first day of DRT, event goers were treated to a track day at Palm Beach International Raceway, once known as Moroso Motorsports Park (yes, that Moroso if you’re familiar with the classic performance parts brand) until 2008.

It’s a 10-turn, 2.2-mile course that’s FIA Grade II certified and means anything besides Formula 1 cars can race on the facility. So, this isn’t an outdated or backyard track these drivers were running.

The cars ranged from a few GT3s (both racers from the GT3 Experience and the street variety) to Caymans to classic air-cooled era Porsches, even including a 993 Turbo, a classic Supercup racer, and a 981C Cayman GT4. For RWB fans, many of those wide-body modified Porsches showed up and even went on track.

If there’s one thing that’s awesome about an RWB owner, is that there are quite a few that are willing to track their Nakai-built creations. There is no better way to experience a Porsche except out on the track where it was designed to perform and was the perfect way to open DRT for 2019.

The Collection Cars and Coffee

If you were willing to be at The Collection—a Porsche dealer in Coral Gables, Florida—in the mid-morning, you were greeted by Cars and Coffee meet. It was sort of a pre-DRT with show-goers showing up along with examples from The Collection as well.

These ranged from 356s that were lovingly restored to street legal and tracked 991 GT3s to the latest 991.2 GT3 RSs. It was such a turnout, one had to wonder if this wasn’t going to overshadow the whole show. Turns out, this would just be a warmup.

DRT 2019

This was the event everyone was here for, Das Renn Treffen or loosely translated to “The Race Meet.” If you wanted to see at least one of each Porsche ever made without going to Germany, this was the event you needed to hit.

Classic air-cooled to modern hybrids and more were on display. There were some amazing Porsche classics ranging from unrestored 356s to strikingly beautiful four-cylinder 912s. However, it wasn’t just those built by the factory, either.

Singer Vehicle Design, RWB, and RUF all had examples on display by owners from around the South Florida area and even in parts from around the US and beyond. Yes, this even has become that big of a deal.

Most who drive a Singer say they feel like the real evolution of the 911.

On the subject of modified cars, however, there was one viewed with special interest. “Carolina,” Akira Nakai’s very first US-built Porsches and the one he personally owned. It’s now driven by a new owner and modified from when Nakai first built it, but it’s still as stunning as when it was finished the first time.

Not to be outdone, though, Singer Vehicle Design brought out their latest collection of restored and modified Porsche 911s to DRT all the way from Irvine, California. They are some of the most amazing reworks of the 911 chassis that many feel Singers are more 911 than even the current 992.

Most who drive a Singer say they feel like the real evolution of the 911. It’s hard to argue against that as they are upfitted with better suspensions, lighter-weight panels than the originals, and retain their air-cooled flat-six engines.

There is Always Room for more Porsche Events

While you probably think of Luftgekühlt or Rennsport as the ultimate Porsche showcase, DRT should be something you start to consider. With the growth of the event and the class of cars that came out, it’s hard to continue to ignore it.

If you’ve never heard of it, you need to attend the next one in 2020 and that’s especially so if you’re a fan of the Stuttgart brand. It’s only going to continue to grow and get better, and you can’t pick a better place to celebrate Porsches as you can with Miami.

Putting the ‘Porsche’ in Porsche Design

We Go 60 Stories Up In Miami’s Condo

They say the price of condos rises proportionally with each floor up but inside the Porsche Design Tower in Miami, it gets absolutely bananas by the time you hit the penthouse. While it might be widely reported on by auto journos of the world regurgitating press releases and the same old photos, we got exclusive access to one of the most expensive penthouses around — complete with an elevator to bring your toys up to your suite!

The project of the Porsche Design Tower was an ambitious one from the very beginning. Build a circular tower, the tallest in Miami on a tiny strip of sand in between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Fill the condo with the finest amenities, exotic interiors, and celebrity owners… and design an elevator system that can haul your cars to your suite!

Undertaken by Miami heavyweights Dezer Development, the project teamed up with Porsche Design to get the right aesthetic and clientele inside the building. If you have ever been to a Porsche Design boutique, it’s less about cars and more about style, gadgets, and apparel that tie into automobiles. Sales staff will encourage owners of many car brands to find gear that suits their lifestyle independent to what you drive. Yours truly has a few pairs of Porsche Design Carrera sunglasses and even though I have never owned a Porsche, I like Carrera shades and that is just one of many collabs the brand has — condos notwithstanding.

For a special party, my car club booked the Porsche Design Tower penthouse suite. This is a $32 million penthouse that is not only 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space but it also has parking for 11 cars. Eleven. Most driveways can’t handle 11 but here in bustling Miami, there is room for seven cars in the man cave, two in the rear garage and two in the showcase garage… 56 stories up.

The Porsche Design Tower is 60 stories in total, that is 56 plus four that are all yours should you want to drop the $32-milli. While you might find other bargains out there, the car elevator or Dezervator has no parallel in the world. The core of the building houses three advanced rotating platforms that pick up cars from the ground level and haul them up with a driver or not.

The process is fascinating to experience and I truly felt like peering into a window of the future. Essentially you roll your exotic car into the loading level into one of three illuminated pods. The concierge will direct guests through the process but it’s about as simple as a car wash, well one that goes up 600-feet vertically.

After entering the pod, a caddy rolls out and snatches the tires with thin rollers to elevate the car just an inch off the ground. From there the long stainless steel dolly retracts the car back into the elevator and up you go. When arriving at your floor, the car is slid out on a long track into your suite or in the case of this penthouse, you can move your car around an open garage space. The whole operation is orchestrated by technicians and computer programs on the main floor to ensure all goes smooth.

As for the unit itself, this lofty penthouse leaves everything to the imagination. It has cavernous open spaces and the living space will be built to the specifications of any buyer. The maze around four floors of living area with massive patios, pool, hot tub and balconies facing every direction are almost too much to comprehend. This is obviously the most expensive of the 135 units in the building that has attracted the most billionaire owners of any condo. There is nothing like it and the wealthy car guys snap them up just to be closer to what is important and far enough away from what isn’t.

With your luxury or exotic car locked away but visible to you from nearly every angle, who needs a security system?!

Decorating the Bachelor Pad

The New Zonda Really Ties the Room Together

In this line of work, you get to see many rare automotive sights. We realize an average person might never even see a Pagani, let alone at a local car meet with four of them, or a national Concours show with an assortment of 14 Zondas and Huayras at a Pagani display! A sighting of a race-only Zonda Revolución never gets old and considering there are only five of them ever produced, the way in which one Miami race car driver decorated his condo, was nothing short of spectacular.

First off, let’s get one thing sorted; this is a carbon fiber replica of a Pagani Zonda Revolución. Sure the owner has the money to go real, but this is a 1:1 scale model using the original carbon fiber plug from Pagani direct. The owner is Pablo Perez Companc, the billionaire son of the wealthiest man in Argentina and a client who happens to know Horacio Pagani personally.

Companc is a dedicated customer of Pagani with his own Zonda Revolución, which he named Black Minion. Most of his nearly 800K Instagram followers believed the art car was real and were quick to critique the wall sculpture with all the ferocity the internet can muster. Many media outlets were guilty of spinning incorrect articles about how Companc essentially wasted “$1.5-million dollars” on V12-powered wall art that should be driven instead.

What Companc and his general contractor Finish My Condo did to his Miami abode was far from the fake news reports. First, there are only five Zonda Revolucións in the world and each one cost nearly $3-million, so not only is it double the estimates but no sane person is going to buy two of five and destroy a rare race car! Others believed it was his functioning race car, Black Minion. Again he had to clarify on Instagram: “…structurally will never be able to receive an engine or the entire mechanical part. I would never condemn Black Minion to being locked in a living room. Race cars are for driving.”

With that cleared up, let’s get down to the mechanics of how they did this feat that only Miami could pull off. The Pagani tooling still existed to pull a custom carbon fiber Zonda shell that had no interior, no engine mounts, and the chassis was designed solely to support its full weight of only a few hundred pounds. Before the condo interior was done, the floor to ceiling windows were removed in order to accept the shell and mounting column. After the Zonda was hoisted by crane on a wooden skid and the assembly of the aluminum mounting column started with a plate at the top. From there, the vertical plate for the column was bolted to the underside of the shell and hung by straps before bolting to the ceiling. The bottom was secured with a footing, then finished off with a polished aluminum plate to be surrounded for finishing materials, like flooring and drywall ceiling to wrap it up.

The end result is one of the most unique room dividers ever seen in Miami if not the entire country. In Miami, sometimes an $8-million 4,200 square foot condo just doesn’t create enough of a reaction and you have to flex on everyone like this. Talked about the world over, the Black Minion tribute is just that, a tribute to one of the best cars ever made. With a snarling V12 pumping out 789 horsepower and shredding 0-60 mph in only 2.6 seconds on the way to a 217 mph terminal velocity, the Revolución is the real deal. The Revolución is also beautiful to look at, which is why Companc has one to admire on his wall. Then again the Revolución isn’t road legal anyway and can’t be enjoyed all the time, so another member of his fleet, Wild Minion, is for that. Wild Minion is a Pagani Huayra BC but we’ll get into that insanity another time.