BARONE'S C&CM

  Rob Mains is a photographer based out of the Phoenix area with a great eye for shooting cars. We caught up with Rob at one of the valley’s biggest and best Cars & Coffee events at Alpio’s in Troon. The show is from 7am-10am the second Saturday of each month, but as you can see from the photos, good parking spots close to the coffee are filled before sunrise. Rob’s interest in shooting cars goes back a long time. “Performance-oriented mechanical art seems to be in my DNA.   As a kid, I always liked having a car, airplane or boat in my pictures, and that hasn’t changed much over the years.   I appreciate the personal drive and high-quality craftsmanship that it took to create the classic cars, as well as modern exotics.   Although I prefer race-designed autos, I can always find a certain beauty in any vehicle, from hot-rods and motorcycles to trucks,” Mains explained. “One of my joys in photography is sharing time with an automobile’s ‘human family,’ and learning...

  Recently, I bought a new set of tires for Francesca, my Maserati GranTurismo Sport. Nothing is more important on a high-performance vehicle than good tires and brakes, and equally important is having a trusted relationship with a qualified professional. Your life is literally in their hands. Which is why I took Francesca over to my friend Ryan Castro of Discount Tire on Camelback Road in Phoenix. Although Discount Tire is one of the country’s largest tire and wheel retailers, the company is headquartered right here in Scottsdale, and I feel takes that extra bit of care with local customers. Ryan advised a new set of OEM Pirelli P-Zero with a 187-mph “Y” speed rating to accommodate Francesca’s –ahem – upper performance limits. He explained that the high silica inner liner and wide longitudinal grooves help in wet driving conditions while maintaining comfort. With our rainy season upon us here in Arizona, his advice was a great reassurance. As a 25-year customer of Discou...