Sweet Rides | Summer Fun

June 30, 2018 — October 21, 2018

No matter the era, a Newport summer will forever consist of three things – lounging at First Beach, catching the swell at Second Beach, and cruising Ocean Drive. Old woodies, samba buses, micro cars, and vintage surfboards have epitomized summer fun for decades, and we want you to relive those memories and celebrate the sweet rides of summer here at Audrain.

The 1964 Volkswagen Samba bus allowed you bring all of your friends, and their surfboards, to the beach while cruising in style. 1964 also saw the last generation of the Austin Healey 3000; the inline six equipped convertible that further continued the fixation of two-seater convertibles. The engineers in Maranello took that concept a bit further in 2001 with the Ferrari 550 Barchetta, a two seater V12 roadster. In 2018, the McLaren 720S came to the scene proving itself to be the epitome of a driver-focused supercar.

As the automotive industry transitions into the latest generation of high-tech vehicles, purists – yearning for the simpler time when steering wheels shook at high speeds and drivers were required to shift gears by themselves- rant how cars today are almost numb. We have curated this exhibition to demonstrate just the opposite, and to highlight the evolution of automotive excitement.