The BMW display at the 2006 and 2007 Portland International Auto Shows featured some display cases with BMW accessories and memorabilia, and models of past and present BMW cars, including this model of the BMW 507.
These cars are Lotus Elise roadsters. The Elise was powered by a Toyota-based 190-horsepower 1.8-liter double overhead cam four-cylinder engine with a 6-speed close-ratio transmission. The Elise could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 150 miles per hour, while still delivering fuel economy of 24 miles per gallon in the city and 29 miles per gallon on the highway. The British-built Elise was introduced in 1995, and this new version was released in 2000, but it was first made available in the United States in 2005. Base price in the U.S. was $42,990.00 from dealers such as Lotus of Portland, who had these two examples of the Elise on display at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show.
The black example displayed the optional insulated removable hardtop, which added $1,475.00 to the base price.
Cadillac's big news in 2006 was, of course, the XLR roadster, powered by a 320-horsepower 4.6-liter Northstar V8 engine with a 5-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. It was not brand new on the market, but it was still pretty cool.
The XLR featured a retractable hardtop, pushbutton start, GPS-guided DVD navigation, adaptive cruise control and voice recognition.
These assorted vehicles were displayed in the lobby of the Oregon Convention Center during the 2006 Portland International Auto Show in Portland, Oregon.
This pair of Chevrolet Camaros were representing the Portland Police Bureau. The unmarked one in the background even had standard-issue Oregon license plates for extra stealth.
Here is a customized version of Chrysler's Hemi-powered, rear-wheel drive sedan, the 300, made to resemble a Bentley. It was even placed with the Bentleys out in the lobby. Pretty convincing.
Here is another customized Daimler-Chrysler product from the lobby, a Dodge Magnum.
This Lotus Elise was representing Dream Cars Northwest, Inc., a Portland company that rents luxury and exotic cars.
This customized Willys Jeep was in the lobby and may have been the oldest vehicle in the show. Its exact year is hard to determine, both due to the customizing and the fact that Jeeps do not change much from year to year, but it appears to be a CJ-3B.
This model of Jeep was introduced in 1953 and was built into the late 1960s.
Also on display in the lobby was this preview of NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett's next #88 car: a Ford Fusion, replacing the Taurus.
This Datsun 2000 owned by Tim Scott was one of about 10 lightweight race cars produced by the Japanese manufacturer for road courses. This car won the 1970 Canadian National Championship. Its 850-pound chassis is made of this steel and aluminum to save weight. The engine is built to 1960s era specifications and is coupled to an extra-close ratio gearbox. The paint scheme on the roadster is the scheme used by the Datsun factory team.
The Kennedy Special was built in 1960 by Don Collins in Portland, Oregon for Bud Kennedy. The Kennedy Roadster represents the state-of-the-art of street/drag racing from the 1960s. It was featured in both Hot Rod and Car & Driver magazines as typical of the quality of the work done by craftsmen of the era. It was restored in 1996 by Scott and Sandy Perrott. It had recently turned heads in England, when it was among the American cars invited to compete at the prestigious Festival of Speed at Goodwood.
This was Pontiac's new roadster, the Solstice, with a 177-horsepower 2.4-liter aluminum inline 4-cylinder engine and a five-speed transmission.
Walter P. Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corporation in 1925 after buying the Maxwell Automobile Company in 1921. The 1930 Chrysler Model 77 was based on the Model 70, descended from the Chrysler B-70 from 1924, and was an update to 1929's Model 75, now with a downdraft carburetor and a new engine-mounted fuel pump, and sat right below the top-of-the-line Chrysler Imperial in the company’s lineup. Powered by a 93-horsepower 268.4-cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder L-head engine with a 4-speed transmission, the Model 77 was designed to cruise at 77 miles per hour and was capable of reaching 100 miles per hour. Model 77 Roadsters raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, at the 24 Hours of Spa in Belguim, and at the Mille Miglia in Italy. Early 1930 Chrysler Model 70s and Model 77s featured Pennon-shaped hood louvers, which were replaced by common vertical louvers in the middle of the year. Chrysler built over 60,000 cars in 1930, but only 1,729 were Model 77 Roadsters. The Model 77 was a one-year-only model, being dropped after 1930 in favor of downsized cars. The 1930 Chrysler Model 77 Roadster was photographed at the Northwest Car Collectors Association Car Show & Swap Meet at the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center in Portland, Oregon, on October 18-19, 2003.
1953 was the last year for the Nash-Healey Roadster, the result of a chance meeting aboard the Queen Elizabeth between Nash CEO George Mason and British sports-car builder Donald Healey, who wanted to buy American engines. They partnered to introduce the Nash-Healey in 1951, a low-slung two-seat roadster with a British-built aluminum body and a 125-horsepower Nash Ambassador 234.8 cubic inch overhead-valve L-head six-cylinder Jetfire engine on a 102-inch wheelbase, assembled at the Donald Healey Motor Company in Warwick, England. The following year brought new steel bodywork by Pinin Farina in Italy, where final assembly was performed, and a 140-horsepower dual-carburetor option. 1953 saw the introduction of a Le Mans coupe version on a 6-inch longer wheelbase. It was the best year for the Nash Healey, with a total of 162 built. Production would end after another 90 coupes were built in 1954, some of which were reserialed as 1955 models. This 1953 Nash-Healey Roadster was photographed at the Northwest Car Collectors Association Car Show & Swap Meet at the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center in Portland, Oregon, on October 18-19, 2003.
