Every Saturday morning, fickle Pacific Northwest weather allowing, spectators from all over the greater Seattle area (and sometimes beyond) converge on Redmond Town Center for a masterfully organized exotic car event. While some dealerships bring in display cars, for the most part the point of Exotics @ RTC, as it’s known, is for ordinary people to bring in own their recently detailed, show-ready, rare cars for other enthusiasts to see.
I’m not a car person, but I’d like to be. I’m working on it. It’s been something of a drawn-out, slow-burn awakening for me, from the days I drove a 143 horsepower Honda Civic in Houston to the present, landing in a niche coupe and more than tripling my power since.
And I’ve discovered I love hearing people talk about their car passions almost as much as I love being behind the wheel of a V8: their favorite roads, their modifications, their brand loyalties, the driving experience they seek, and most of all what design elements make their hearts skip a beat. I’m drawn to a squat, swoopy, mean-as-fuck silhouette, and lucky me — there are just so many cars at RTC that fit the bill.