Canepa houses collector and race cars undergoing restoration, available for sale or being prepared for historic racing. The facility is really amazing and they have a motorsports museum you can visit for free.
Canepa is located in Scotts Valley nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains. I have been meaning to visit for a long time and finally got the time to do it on a spare day. I was lucky enough to go during the week and had the whole place to myself so I could get some great photos.
Located downstairs in the facility are the collector cars that have been restored in this terrific facility. It includes iconic cars such as the BMW M1, Lamborghini Countach and numerous Porsches.
Once you have finished drooling over the gorgeous collectable cars you can head upstairs to the Motorsports Museum.
As you walk into the museum you will see numerous Porsche race cars on the left and a variety of other race cars ranging from Pikes Peak specials to LeMans prototypes.
The impressive 1991 Lola T9100 Indy Car was great to see with the rear cowling removed and the engine and rear suspension exposed.
1980 Canepa Pikes Peak Hill Climb Special. I loved the logo for the lines and detail work.
Through a door you can walk out onto the catwalk and check out the workshop including cars under preparation for upcoming events.
There was one section on the back wall with numerous Porsches under various states of restoration.
Coming back into the museum it is hard to miss the 1969 Dodge Daytona NASCAR, with the huge rear wing, driven by Buddy Baker.
Here are a few other interesting cars a 1959 Austin Healey Sprite, a 1968 Ford Torino Stock Car and a 1974 Porsche RSR.
Bruce Canepa's 1977 Porsche 934 1/2.
The Interscope 1975 Porsche 935.
This was one of my favorite cars to see the ultra impressive 1969 Porsche 917K Chassis 004. This was the first 917K to complete a full race distance at the Nurburgring 1000km race. It was a car developed by J.W. Automotive Engineering and wears the iconic Gulf livery.
The 1972 Porsche 917/10 Chassis 017 was an awesome Can-Am car. The Porsche 917/10s were extremely powerful with 1150 horsepower and 800 ft-lbs.
The stunning 1985 Porsche 962C Chassis 002 competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship and won 3 times.
The interesting and cool looking 1976 Tyrrell P34 Formula One Car uses 6 wheels with 4 smaller 10 inch which increased the front contact patches.
The sleek 2010 Audi R15 TDI Le Mans car was interesting to see mixed amongst other classic race cars.
This gorgeous 1961 Cooper T56 Formula Junior was previously raced by Steve McQueen.
Dale Earnhardt's 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Aero Coupe NASCAR.
The sleek 1972 Chevron B21 was very cool and clean car.
The 1934 Ford SoCal Coupe broke the Class C record at Bonneville in 1953 with a run of 172.749 MPH.
The 1969 Fiat Abarth 1000 Berlina Corsa has the popped open rear hatch to help engine cooling and later used as a wing to aid in downforce.
This was my other favorite car to see the 1964 Ferrari 250LM. This car competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a privateer entry it won overall in 1965 beating the factory Ford and Ferrari teams.
The video below captures a behind the scenes look at Canepa and also talks about what makes the place so special.
I really loved my visit to the Canepa Motorsport Museum, if you get a chance, I highly recommend you go check out this astounding facility. Sadly I didn't see any of the classic Nissan race cars but that just gives me a great excuse to go back when the museum changes up which cars are on display.
4900 Scotts Valley Dr,
Scotts Valley,
CA 95066
