Some of my favorite Ferrari Club events are really Viper Club events… That we crash.

I love driving, and the Viper guys drive pretty hard. When I heard they were making a run to Hoover Dam, I called my friends and told them when and where to invade the Viper drive. To my amazement, LOTS of folks showed up.

The drive turned out to be pretty uneventful as it is often one lane (each way), and construction further slowed our pace. But it was still fun to eat breakfast with fellow drivers, make a few friends, and see the dam.

Despite our recollection of constantly driving BELOW the speed limit, one of our gang still managed to get pulled over. Correction: I originally thought her ticket was for speeding, but it turns out there are no speeding tickets in the National Park; she got a “wasting a finite resource” fine.

Wasting a finite resource? Anyone that knows my Pantera knows I should get that ticket when I pull out of the driveway every morning. 8.5 mpg my friends! But I was practically “going green” that day by driving my wife’s car. It is the silver Porsche in the pictures, and it probably gets twice the mileage my car does. And it is pretty.

BTW: Hoover Dam is a must-do morning or afternoon road trip when you come to Vegas. Beware in the summer. If your car no likey the heat, then you may want to check with the weatherman; temperatures break 120 degrees in the canyon during the summer, and you’re going to spend a lot of time idling. Aside from the heat, it’s a spectacle even if you’re not into non-automobile engineering wonders. Put on your favorite T-shirt and enjoy your dam drive.

Our guy at Lamborghini Las Vegas called to say the Reventon had arrived. We wanted to see it before it was prepped and sent out to the buyer. The only camera I had was the iPhone, but I did what I could. Above are a few decent pics.

I’m sure there are official photos on the interweb, but you can never have too many photos of a car so rare. You may never see one of these cars. Anywhere. Ever.

The car seemed ugly online and in print. But the car is completely different on the showroom floor. It is huge (which I should have expected as it is a Murci underneath that Batmobile shell) and intimidating. The paint is beautiful, and all the elements that appeared over-designed in photos felt right in person. Make sure you see this car if you get the chance. You won’t be disappointed, even if you didn’t like what you saw in the magazines.

I had been waiting for the group to make a run to Death Valley for months, but some of the exotics (including mine) couldn’t go until the weather was cool. A few months ago, we teamed up with a group of Audi and VW drivers for a lunch run.

I spent most of my time driving, so I didn’t get many pictures. Some of these photos were taken by Angie (lovely wife) from her car…in case you are wondering how I took photos of the Pantera from another car.

I found out a few important things on this trip:

1. I got my car up to 150mph at Spring Mountain race track. I heard rumors that a previous owner put a taller final gear in the transaxle- it could be true, or maybe it is the 550 pounds of torque. Regardless, this is pretty good for a car that went 130mph in stock form and only has a five speed.

2. The blowing sand is hard on paint. My front air dam looks like it has been sandblasted in some places…and, technically, I suppose it has been.

3. There is water in Death Valley. At least there is when it isn’t the middle of summer.

4. Tourists will walk up and down a wooden pier, that doesn’t go anywhere, in the middle of the desert. Why?

5. Audi and Volkswagen drivers have a different driving style than sports car and exotic drivers. They make up for it by being a very polite and likable bunch. I would love to hook up with them again if they will have us.

The guys at Rever Clothing aren’t just designing unique T-shirts; we’re matching up the love for everything horsepower and some great clothing, but putting shirts and hoodies on sale isn’t much of a release. Don’t get us wrong; what you wear is important. Everybody has his or her favorite shirt. Of course, we want that shirt to be a Rever, but we think there is nothing more cool than the cars that have inspired the Rever T-shirt designs. Exotics, imports, hot rods, roadsters and rat rods… We love cars from the tires up. The road trips, the rallies, the races… Ah, good times.

That is why Flying Pistons will report occasionally on our more memorable road trips and events. We’ll relive some great moments that center around our cars… strange landmarks, tow trucks, even a roadside diner review here and there. Expect the unfortunate—yet entertaining—tale of the occasional Ferrari catching fire in mid-trip. Expect to see extraordinary autos from all over the world. Expect to have a great time reading excellent commentary on cars and motors with a dose of shade tree philosophy. Then, we expect your comments to be just as entertaining as our posts. If you happen to find yourself shopping the T-shirts on ReverClothing.com, be sure to sign up for the newsletter. You’ll get an entertaining heads-up on what’s going on around here too.

So, contemplate your position on pushrods vs. overhead cams, while we prepare our debut story from the road.