It is always fascinating to exit the world of the regular “Joe” and “Jill” car consumer who I am most often speaking to and speaking with about their car options, choices, dreams and lessons learned. This last week I ventured into the world of the real car collectors~ the people who can and do spend millions of dollars restoring and buying great examples of design. These are the people you see on TV at the car shows who inspire the young and old alike to hope that their own restoral of their dreams will be worth a fortune one day.

What most of us Joes and Jills miss is that the collector car culture is centered around rare examples of design, most often European based to date, (but I will argue that will change in the next several years) and the restorations often cost more in labor and love than any auction hammer will bring. What countless wanna-be collectors do not understand is that garage or back yard full of common, vintage VW Bugs does not an investment make. (Apologies in advance to all who have the heart to want to preserve those Buggers!)

Point of all of this is a moment had while at Pebble Beach in the Gooding Auction Preview. I was sent to the week’s events in an Infiniti FX50-S ( a superb car that was perfect design at conception about 4 years ago) that was so kitted out, that car told me when I needed another Diet Coke. Apparently the version that I was given for the test week drive was a pre-production version with tucked leather seats, all the electro-gadgets anyone could ever want and all encased this gorgeous orange/gold/copper/new baby born poo color that reminded me of the cars of my 70′s childhood. Okay- maybe that color was on LowRiders but here is where this story gets a little convoluted for a minute so please, I ask your patience!

The LowRiders of the 70′s used a lot of bright gold/copper on the bodies of their work because that was a luxury color in the 50′s and even into the 60′s- the era that inspired the makes, models and years of their dreams. I am used to seeing that color on American makes of that era but what surprised me was seeing a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 (sorry, reg required ’til I get permission to use that photo but the catalog is worth it) in the main tent at the Gooding Auction. How retro of Infiniti is that to use the same Nocciola (Technically that is Ferrari Italian for copper/gold)?

The Ferrari is an incredible bit of design. I see the early Datsun Z, Volvo P1800ES, some Lancia’s (many of these designs were “informing” one another at the time) but looking at the images, I also see that the Ferrari is the Infiniti FX50 gone done and crossed over. From just the snorkels on the side (probably breathers on the Infiniti and proper snorkels on the Ferrari), the shape of the encased headlamps and the lamp wells, you see that like most movies at the cineplex, not much is not being re-purposed or re-used from vintage eras.

So while the Infiniti got a lot of comments about sexy design that I thought a bit crazy at first, I get it now. Most cars are informed by other designers and other eras. Heck- a lot of the designers at Kia moved there from one of the big Japanese companies which is why Kia got all pretty one year!

I would offer up this challenge to anyone who loves car design: check out the used cars anywhere and show me one that isn’t somehow derived from a great idea by another designer or manufacturer.

Oh- and the sticker on the Infiniti FX50 is a lot less than the $1.3-1.6 million dollar estimate on that ’67 Ferrari. And, I am betting that the Ferrari would blow the doors off the V8 Infiniti. Just sayin’.