On the first week of the new year, every year, it is my duty to remind you why the Left Coast is the Best Coast(tm). That’s right, it is time for another Anti-Football Run recap!
Given the Run’s increasing popularity, the starting point was moved from quaint Sausalito to an upscale shopping center parking lot a few miles up Highway 101 in Corte Madera (still in Marin County). Every year, I get a ride with my friend Rich. This year, he brought along a sweet 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera. Make the jump to see the incredible gathering of oddball machinery that participated.
As I walked towards the starting line, looking for my friends, this gigantic Cadillac convertible greeted me. Its size was enough to grab everyone’s attention. The Guy Fieri-inspired flames were a bit much.

The big draw of the Run is the diversity of the cars. There are no snobs here. Less-than-perfect Volvos are just as welcome as Ferraris and pre-war Lancias.

This trio of Jeeps received a lot of attention.

This breadvan-esque Lotus Europa was just one of several Loti present.

This Euro-spec W123 280CE with dealer plates was immaculate.

My dream car in college was the Supra Turbo with the controversial rear spoiler. This example is a 1997 15th Anniversary Limited Edition. As far as I can tell from my limited research, it is a Limited Edition because it has 15th Anniversary Limited Edition badging.

As an aside, I took these photos while walking and chatting with S, the man who bought my Phaeton. He has been an excellent steward of the Popemobile, informing me that he didn’t drive it to the Run because it had a stone chip on the windshield.
But I digress. The star of the Run was this Lancia Stratos. S and I thought the car looked too new to be real. Word has it that it is a Hawk HF replica, perhaps with an Alfa Romeo 3-liter V6 engine.

Talk about your polar opposites. A Fiat wagon and a Bentley Continental R. These bad boys weighed in at over 5,300 pounds. I much prefer this generation coupe to the VW Continentals popular in Tampa and Scottsdale today.

This is my buddy’s ride. It has 150,000 miles but felt rock solid. It is a true testament to West German build quality during the final chapter of the Cold War.

This Mercedes 608D fire truck was beyond cool. Even the blue rotating lights on top worked.

This tiny bug is a Toyota Sports 800. It is doubly rare because it is a left hand drive version for the Okinawa market when it was still occupied by Uncle Sam.

I took a photo of this Fiat 124 coupe only to document the federalized rear bumper.

As the cars left for the Run, we all had to traverse an intersection flooded with salty water. King Tide is an issue in this part of Marin. Note the Fiat wagon wanted nothing to do with it and drove into opposing traffic to avoid baptism. We followed that 380SL for the first third of the Run and were thoroughly impressed by its excellent road manners.

You may have heard that California was hit with record floods throughout December. The deluges washed out a famous portion of the Pacific Coast Highway shown in the Lotus Esprit car chase in Basic Instinct. It was also an integral part of the Run’s route as well. But this year, we had to take an equally scenic and fun detour.

There was another difference in 2015. The start of the Run was a bit later than before. That meant more restaurants along the way were open for business. Rich and I decided to pull over, have some oysters and chowder, and watch the cars rumble past. We eschewed the scenic view of Tomales Bay in favor of Alfas, Ferraris, and Triumphs.
The final pit stop was at the Petaluma Creamery. Everyone had a chance to grab a coffee, socialize, and gawk. The Corniche Coupe to the right, by the way, is right hand drive and had a baby seat in the back. Lucky kid.

This is for the Volvo nuts.

This is for Porsche nuts like Bradley:

This 512TR prompted me to research the differences between it and the earlier Testarossa. There were many.


I want to thank Rich for providing another memorable start of the year. If you’re counting at home, I have done the Run with him in his Accord (2014), E28 M5 (2013), GTV6 (2012), and E9 BMW (2010).
Images source: Copyright 2015 Hooniverse/Jim Yu