Nate and I had the privilege of spending the day with our client Nelson to shoot his just-delivered Blue Max IND Portfolio car. Nelson’s hospitality was truly heart warming as he and his wife let us into their home with open arms, and our stay in Florida was a great experience.
We met at Nelson’s house early Wednesday morning. Nelson opened his home’s garage door, and we were both absolutely elated to see the Blue Max parked inside, next to his stunning Rolls Royce Ghost. With the incredible cars available for Nelson to drive on any given day, it was truly an honor to see the M3 getting regular use.
The home had a separate, detached garage. The door was rolled down, so I had to ask what was inside.
As the garage door rolled up, I found I was only able to stare in shock. The open door revealed two Bugatti Veyrons. Seeing a Veyron in person is the only way to get a true appreciation for the car’s design and construction. Although I was anticipating a world class fit and finish, nothing could have prepared me for how amazing the Veyron is in person. The paint seemed infinitely deep. The aluminum on the extremely rare Sang Blue Veyron is so highly polished it is difficult to convince yourself it is not chrome. And then there is the interior. Never have I seen a more perfect use of leather, carbon, and aluminum in a car’s interior. Nothing I can say here will effectively describe the appearance of the Veyron. The car is truly moving artwork. You simply have to see and experience it for yourself.
We left Nelson’s home, and drove to the shoot location- a private Fly-In community in central Florida. I was eager to experience the Veyron on the road, and again found myself completely unprepared. Driving the car normally, the sound of the four turbo chargers dominates all other tones emanating from the exposed engine. You can immediately hear and feel the car’s incredible power potential. I’ve said before that Nelson is a true car enthusiast, and this day doubled my confidence in this. Nelson drove the Veyron without the trepidation one might anticipate from someone driving such a costly supercar. The car was built to be driven, and Nelson had no fear of driving it. As we drove through Florida’s back roads, we approached some corners and I was shocked at the force with which the heavy Veyron gripped the ground. The car was absolutely flat through the bends, and seemed to respond perfectly to every input.
Then the inevitable happened- we encountered a long and straight stretch of road. Nelson placed both hands on the steering wheel and said “you may want to lean your head back against the headrest”. It is literally not possible to describe what happened next using words. The Veyron’s acceleration was so immediate, the power delivery so smooth that I can only describe the experience as completely dissimilar to driving a car at all. I felt as if I was strapped to a rocket. There was no jerking between shifts (in fact, you could not feel the gear change at all), no shape to the powerband that made power increase or decrease throughout the engine’s RPM range. The car achieved a speed that should only be confined to closed courses so quickly and effortlessly that it simply did not feel like an automobile at all.
We arrived at Nelson’s hanger, and were greeted with more automotive art work. The Ferarri California, the Bentley Drophead, the Ferarri 599 were all incredible cars. I had heard quite a few times about two cars in particular, and was excited to see them- the Heffner twin turbo Gallardo LP-560, and the RennTech modified SL65 Black Series had occupied my imagination for months now. Both cars boast nearly 1000 horsepower and blistering acceleration. Both are incredible in their own right.
Although we cannot reveal the photos from our shoot prematurely (you can expect to see the entire shoot in this fall’s EuroTuner magazine), here are some behind the scenes shots from that day:
Look for IND’s Blue Max portfolio project in a EuroTuner magazine this fall!