Bugatti

I had the pleasure of driving down to Irvine for the Cars and Coffee meet on a warm, sunny Saturday morning 2 weeks ago. If you didn't already know, Cars and Coffee is an informal meet that takes place at Mazda’s HQ parking lot every week, where gearheads from all walks of life come together to have a drink of coffee and enjoy automotive culture. You can find about any type of vehicle in the meet; muscle, Italian, motorcycles, Le Mans racers, imports, and even concept cars! Did I mention it was free?

The Geneva Motor Show is one of the auto industry’s best-known rites of Spring. Every March, the motoring world converges on the lakeside Swiss metropolis to gawk at all the new models (vehicular and otherwise) on neutral ground. It’s absolutely one of the crown jewels of the international auto show calendar.

And because it’s such a prestigious show, the manufacturers tend to bring their best production and concept cars to the Geneva Palexpo. This means picking out the best of the best is a mighty daunting task, which is why we’ve decided to expand the field to 25. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s hop to it.

Unless you’re living under a rock (and we doubt you are, since very few of them have internet access), you probably know that today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. of A. And while there are many more recently established traditions observed on this holiday – playing touch football with the relatives in the backyard (or, if you prefer, the alley where the annoying neighbor kid and his buddies like to get together and smoke pot), camping out in front of stores for Black Friday sales, and getting felt up by an airport security screener while you’re still nursing a tryptophan hangover – the root of the last Thursday in November’s significance is giving thanks for the good things and good people one has in his or her life. And dag nabbit, not enough folks these days seem very interested in doing that.

To make things easier, we decided to compile a list of new cars we’re most thankful exist. So even if you can’t get psyched about family and friends who love you and a roof over your head (or maybe you have neither of those things), we’re pretty confidant you can feel some gratitude toward the deity/all-powerful force of your choosing for allowing these rides to be. After all, you do come here for cars and nothing else, right? Anyway, on with the show!

For the past 3 years, the Art Center Car Classic has ranked near the top of our list of events to attend in Southern California. Held at the scenic Hillside Campus in Pasadena, CA, this event brings together stunning automobiles in a truly incredible location. Each year, alumni such as Chris Bangle, Ken Okuyama, and Henrik Fisker are invited to share some of their stories behind their most famous works. It was at last year's event that we heard Frank Stephenson describe how the inspiration for the Mini Cooper's exhaust pipe came from an "adult beverage" can added to the clay model minutes before it was presented to BMW's top brass.

Alumni of the Art Center have helped design cars such as the Ferrari Enzo, Porsche Boxter, and even the new VW Beetle. This year was no different, as Peter Brock, who penned such famous machines as the "split-window" '63 Corvette Stingray, was featured and honored at the event. Click past the break to read more from our coverage of this year's Art Center Car Classic.