Yes, spring in Texas is for driving.  And there are no greater driving enthusiasts than the members of the Texas Hill Country Alfa Romeo Owners Club.  The Austin club is renowned for its inclusiveness.  Don’t have an Alfa?  No worries.. if you’re a car enthusiast and love to get together with other like-minded gearheads, then you’ll find yourself welcome in this group.

The Austin Alfa Club meets regularly for coffee on the first Saturday of each month at Mozart’s Coffee House on Lake Austin Blvd, around 8:30 or so.

 If you are a newcomer,...

Austin’s premiere race track, Circuit of the Americas, is coming of its own.  Not only is the only U.S. Formula OneGrand Prix race staged here each November, but any number of other world class racing events are finding a home at COTA.  Not t...

Any car enthusiast worth his salt makes sure to set aside the first weekend of April each year for the annual Lone Star Hot Rod Roundup.  This event is becoming Texas’s Pebble Beach for hot rod enthusiasts.  Each year, literally hundreds of car people from literally all over the U.S. and beyond, show up to participate in this event.  The primary focus is, of course, hot rods, rat rods, and other custom cars and bikes of every imaginable variety.

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Yep, you read it right… “Garage Crawl”. That’s what they call it when a group of crazed car guys descend upon a number of specialty garages in and around the Austin area.  Central Texas is home to an astounding number of custom car fabricators, restorers, and craftsmen.

It happens at least once a year, this time in connection with the growing Lone Star Hot Rod Roundup weekend, held on April 4-6, 2014.

The crawl, organized by local Austinite Mark Gustafson, is free to any and all participants. It begins early in the morning, where drivers are given maps to the destination garages, and are then free to travel to each venue on their own (although most of the group travels in a single caravan, creating quite a spectacle for roadside observers.

In fact, just viewing t...

Once a year the Westwood Country Club hosts its annual car show at their property on 35th street, near Laguna Gloria Art Center. The event isn’t heavily advertised, as it is put on primarily for the enjoyment of its members.  However, over the past few years, this show has risen to the top of the in-the-know car enthusiast’s must-attend list.  And, for good reasons:  a spectacular intimate setting under spreading oak trees, a growing collection of outstanding cars, and incredible food and drink provided by manager Dan Smith and his staff.

The 2014 event was held on March 29th, accompanied by beautiful weather and a tasty collection of cars (and participants).  Enjoy below:

When Terry Sayther showed up in Austin in 1972, his mind was focused on the UT graduate program he had enrolled in. Terry is from Minnesota but as he puts it he “got to Texas as soon as he could”   Terry had always been mechanically inclined, so to help with school expenses, he started working on friends’ cars in his spare time.

The property at 1606 Fortview Road didn’t always look as it does today.  When Terry first discovered the property for sale back in the 70’s, it was basically just a small old house, situated in a mixed-use residential and light commercial area.  It seemed like a perfect, easily-accessible place to do conduct his automotive repair business.  Initially, work was done under tents set up outside the old house, since the Austin Planning Department was resistant to approving any further permanent structures on the building.

Six years...

If you are a racing enthusiast, then you already know about Harris Hill Raceway .  If you don’t know about this track, and have any interest in racing, then you need to check it out.

Located just east of Interstate 35 in the San Marcos area, Harris Hill is a membership track.  There is an initial joining fee, followed by monthly dues to have access to the track for your car.  The track has a growing membership of racers, and offers a spacious club house, observation deck, and storage facilities for members’ cars.

The track also offers a number of events that are open to the public.  As well, groups can rent the track for a day’s racing enjoyment.

Recently the combined Austin and San Antonio Ferrari Owners Clubs did just that… retained the track for a day’s activities for club members.

You can view a video of Ferra...

There are lots of car clubs in the Austin area, but few that meet on a weekly basis.  And few that are as informal as the Lakeway Friday Car Club.  No, there is no membership fee, nor is there any formal registration required (although you CAN signup to be on the email list to be notified of upcoming events).  All that is required to join this non-marque-specific group is to show up around 1:30 on any Friday at the group’s regular meeting place:  Sandeez Hamburger Hut  on FM 620 just a couple of miles east of Lakeway proper.

The g...

One of the largest regular car-enthusiast gatherings in the Austin area is the Cars and Coffee event, held the second Sunday of each month at the OASIS complex on Lake Travis.

Cars and Coffee is a bit different from the traditional car “show” in that there is no formal registration, nor any specific amount of time required to keep a car on display.  The gathering begins at 10:00 in the morning,  but experienced attendees know to arrive much earlier than that to secure a decent parking space. The happening usually breaks up shortly after noon time.

On a recent...

What car enthusiast hasn’t fantasized about driving a fast car at breakneck speeds through a bustling city!  The most famous such escapade was filmed in 1976  by Claude Lelouch, a French director, who staged a highspeed run through the early morning streets of Paris.  This short film has long been a part of underground car lore.

A few...