Seattle area - car related things to do...

[ekam]

I'll be heading there in a few weeks for the weekend. Are there any car related shops or location I should check out? Already made reservation for dinner at the Space Needle, the Boeing factory tour and check out the Museum of Flight and West Coast Armory...

[Overdrive]

Pacific Raceway?

Pacific Raceways ~ Seattle's NHRA approved racecourse ~ Road Course

Not exactly across the street, but maybe not a bad way to spend whichever Saturday you're going to be there?

[blue2000s]

We have some great mountain drives out here. There may still be opportunity on the Olympic side to do some driving. Snow has fallen on the east side.

Also, this might be of interest:

LeMay Museum

Every year, there's a parade of big buck classics that drives from Kirkland down to Monterey. They mostly come from the LeMay museum.

[Spinnaker]

Don't want to rain on your parade, cuz it rains here enough, but I have lived here all my life and I wouldn't spend my money at the Space Needle. Very overpriced and only so-so food. The view is great on a clear day, but that is a gamble here in Seattle. I know it is a landmark and all that stuff, but if you are eating dinner there, it will be dark at this time of the year and you won't be able to see the mountains and other distant views anyways. The view of the city at night is cool though.
If I want to eat out on the town at somewhere special, I head for the Palisade's Restaurant, almost in the shadow of the Space Needle. Much better food and great ambiance.
Palisade

Gerber Motorsports is the local independent shop that I use for the heavy stuff I don't or can't do myself. They are next door to Goodman Racing that has a nice collection of vintage race cars, early Vettes, and some current racecars. They have a Lamborghini there at times, the likes of which most have never seen. Seems that they built a dozen to them for Saudi Arabia for a special purpose. It looks like an exotic Hummer. Not open on the weekends though unless someone is there working on a race car for some reason. If you get there, ask Mark at Gerber for the tour of the collection, their shops interconnect. It is about a mile and a half north of the Palisade's restaurant and a little hard to find if you don't know the streets in the area. Driving in Seattle can be a challenge for the uninitiated; many of the street layouts don't make any sense and the GPS's aren't always accurate.
GERBER MOTORSPORT | HOME
The Goodman Collection

Pacific Raceways is a long way from Seattle, but they have a Go Cart facility there that I have been dying to try.
PGP Motorsports Park | Circuit Information

Have fun while you are here, and if you really want to be a tourist, take your picture in front of the very first Starbucks down at the Pike Place Market.
BTW, the Museum of Flight is worth it, especially if you are in to aviation.

[ekam]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

Yea the Space Needle is a toss up for me really. If I were to pay for the ticket to go up there I might as well have a meal since that'll waive the ticket fee. This is coming from someone who's been living in Toronto for 15 years and have only been to the CN Tower 2 years ago so I see where you're coming from.

But now that you made a suggestion, I might just cancel my reservation and go to Palisade instead... :-)

I'm quite looking forward to all the aviation stuff actually... F-14, Concorde, B-52, Blackbird, etc!

[Spinnaker]

If you are doing the Boeing tour up in Everett, and you like vintage fighter planes, you might check out the Flying Heritage Collection of WWII fighters from Paul Allen which is nearby. They restore and actually fly these planes! I see them in the sky all summer long over Seattle.
Home : The Flying Heritage Collection