Saturday Morning in Scottsdale
It’s hard to truly get a grip on the different facets of the car culture that reside in Scottsdale, Arizona. In order to try, though, you’d better be up before the sun on the first Saturday of each month. Before 7 am hits, the Scottsdale Shopping Center is nearly filled with cars from all corners of the world. There aren’t many times you can inspect a mint condition 50’s Buick convertible on air suspension, then look to your left and marvel over a twin turbo, 1000 horsepower Cadillac CTS-V. I dropped my jaw at the first 2017 Ford GT I have seen in person. What a machine that is; a car designed to continue its historical dominance at Le Mans, then transformed (with gobs more power) into a road car. A few other head turners included the brand new McLaren 720s, and Mercedes GT R, which are each brute Nurburgring tools. Because of the enormity of this get-together and the mass amount of attendees, certain people are turned away. Luckily, there’s an alternative.
Almost hidden in the Old Town district of Scottsdale lives Four Till Four coffee. The shop whose name pays homage to the Porsche 356 hosts a monthly Porsches and Coffee on the first Saturday of each month. Numerous 911’s and 356’s grace Marshall street with patina we have all come to admire. Each one of them were stunning; a Maritime 964 Carrera RS was the show stopper, a rare slicktop example at that. A Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale ‘snuck’ in, shortly before a crisp silver Lamborghini 400 GT pulled in. The owner, Nico Samaras, owns a 356 himself, and I wouldn’t exactly describe it as ‘concours ready’. With a multicolored shell that hasn’t seen wax in decades and dirt gracing the wheel wells, this car is driven. Not driven to the store and back either, we’re talking off road, hard driving. This car respresents the brands mantra - a rugged and refined attitude that is hard to find outside of the desert.
Arizona is known for it’s heat, but also it’s diversity. You can avoid some of that heat if you’re up early enough on each month’s first Saturday, and the car culture here gives you a choice of what you’d like to enjoy along with your cup of joe. Or, if you’re like me, you could just enjoy both.
Ben Chester