There were so many dogs at the last Boulder Classics and Coffee of the season, on October 27, that it often felt a bit like a dog show where the chauffeurs were allowed to show off their pooch transports. There were some cars we hadn't seen on past Sundays, though, like this BMW i8. Two examples showed up in the same white and black color scheme...
The i8 was produced in 20,465 specimens between 2014 and 2020. There were mid-engined coupes (shown) and a less-common roadster. The unusual thing about the i8 is that it was a hybrid, powered by a transverse, turbocharged inline 3-cylinder gasoline engine, as well as a lithium ion battery. There weren't any other hybrid sports cars in this period; the all-electric Tesla Roadster had been discontinued in 2012. Certainly, there was nothing in this price class; the i8 was originally priced in the US at nearly $136,000.
The i8 shared its mechanical concept with the hybrid front-engined BMW i3 Range Extender model, though in that case the gasoline generator was a 2-cylinder non-turbo unit. One styling theme the i8 shared with the much less graceful (to put it kindly) i3 was the use of blackout graphics that worked against visual unity of form or sense of structure.The black graphic shapes were merely a distraction on the mostly coherent form of the i8; the black example below shows how the shape feels more unified without those contrasting graphic shapes...
My pooch Watson mostly paid attention to the other dogs, but his eye was attracted to the Audi R8 parked at 8th and Pearl...
Maybe he liked the way the all-black color scheme lent unity to the R8's chunky form. With the R8, built from model years 2007 to 2024 and sharing a chassis with Lamborghini's Huaracan, Audi seemed to be aiming at a different kind of GT buyer than BMW with its i8. The Audi was offered in rear-drive and Quattro AWD versions, and with either a V8 or the Huaracan V10. As with the i8, coupe and spyder versions were offered, but prices covered a wider range, from around $60,000 for the V8 version in 2007, to over $250,000 for a fully-optioned spyder as the car passed from production.
One feature the early R8 shared with the i8 was a graphic theme that seemed to work against the unity of the form. In the case of the R8 it was an access panel behind the doors that was often painted in a contrasting color, as in this black on white example...
Audi's earlier design for a mid-engined supercar, the Avus concept car from 1991, emphasized unity of form to the point that the unpainted thin-gauge aluminum panels were polished to relate the car to the Auto Union streamliners that ran at the Avus track in the Thirties. Shut lines and panel seams were not part of the design scheme. A W-12 engine, later used in the VW Phaeton, Audi A8 and Bentley, was mocked up for display, as prototype engines were not finished in time. Wealthy collectors attempted to coax Audi into making the Avus in limited numbers, but the car remained a one-off. A quarter century later, Audi may have tried to make up for missing a sure thing by offering a production version of their long-promised, all-electric R8 E-tron. But buyers who forked out a stunning $1.1 million for the R8 E-tron got the same styling as on the standard car. Not surprisingly, Audi claims they sold fewer than 100 of their all-electric R8...
It was hard to concentrate on matters of car design and history, though, when there were so many different kinds of dogs to think about...
Including these pooches who stopped to appreciate a row of Porsches parked across from a nice Paul Bracq-designed Mercedes 280SL in tasteful green.
We didn't observe even one dog to lift his leg on a car during the entire morning. This was maybe a sign that the canines appreciated the machines on view, or that they'd already been exercised in the park 2 blocks away.
There was, as usual, great variety in mechanical configurations and condition on display. Below, a Ctroen DS wagon, with hydropneumatic, self-leveling suspension, and an inline four driving (of course) the front wheels. Next to it, a BMW 1600 launched 2 years before the game-changing 2002 appeared in 1968...
It was a big day for Jaguars. Here is a blue XK-150 (first seen in 1957) parked next to a Series 1 E-type that replaced it in April 1961. Next to the white Series 1 roadster, a Series 2 E-type coupe...
There were two Series 1 E-type roadsters on view, both 3.8 liter models with thin-shell bucket seats and burnished aluminum instrument panels that were signes of the early cars with their Moss gearboxes (non-synchro on 1st gear). We didn't get to talk to the owners, so we didn't know if they'd replaced those gearboxes with the easier-shifting kind in our 4.2 liter coupe, or with a 5-speed, which is a tight fit...
These two Series 1 roadsters were in such fine condition that it was hard to pick a favorite. But we liked the blackwall tires on the example below, and the lived-in look of the lightly worn leather seats. We should admit, though, that whitewall tires were available on the first E-types, and even featured in early ads for these cars...
The engines on both Series 1 roadsters were 3.8 liter, triple SU carbureted DOHC sixes with a claimed 265 hp. Rare alloy-bodied lightweight versions used Weber carbs, and the factory experimented with Lucas fuel injection on those race cars as well.
My beagle-lab Watson got chauffeured to the show in the 4.2 liter, willow green, '67 Series 1 E-type coupe. Late Series 1 because Jaguar removed the glass headlight covers that summer, though the 3-carb engine, toggle switch dash, and knock-off hubs stayed until '68. We were flanked by a nice, chrome-bumper Porsche 911 Targa, and a lovely narrow-body 993 coupe, our fave 911 design, with well-integrated headlights and bumpers, and no distracting spoilers, wings or graphics. Watson admired it too...
Two nice examples of BMW's Karmann-bodied E-9 coupes showed up, a 2800 CS (built from 1968 to '71) and a 3.0 CS, available Stateside from 1971 to '75, but with clunky 5-mph bumpers in the last two years. Initially, the 2800CS offered no performance advantage over the lighter 2800 sedan, as it also had similar rear axle and brakes to the 1800 and 2000 sedans, as well as Karmann's 2000CS coupe. The performance picture would be changed with the release of the 3.0 CS with rear disc brakes replacing drums, and 180 hp from the 3.0 liter OHC six. In Europe, injected CSi versions and the lighter, more powerful CSL joined BMW's lineup, with the later cars making a big impression in racing, especially in the fin and spoiler-equipped versions that were dubbed Batmobiles by fans. We sold our '73 3.0 CS to finance a kitchen remodel some years back, and Watson has never forgiven me for trading his nice-smelling, leather-lined, air-conditioned, chariot for a bunch of cabinets and windows...
Photo Credits:
All color photos are by the author. Monochrome photo sources were as follows:
BMW i8 in all-black paint scheme: pistonheads.com
Audi A8 in black and white paint scheme: Volkswagen Group
Audi Avus show car: Volkswagen Group