UPDATE: Car show was a big hit thanks to teen's well thought out planning, and a little help from the sun:

An ambitious automobile and aeronautics aficionado assembled over 50 exotic cars at the Seattle Museum of Flight, May 14 from noon to 3:00 p.m. for his senior project at Aviation High School, located at the museum.

Alex Bergler, 18, a Fauntleroy resident, called his event "Angle of Attack, an Aerodynamic Kinship Between Exotic Automobiles and Aircraft".

Donations were accepted to benefit two area animal shelters, the Homeward Pet Shelter & Adoption Center, and the Animal Aid & Rescue Foundation.

ADDED SAT. MAY 14, after the car show:

"We still have cars arriving," said Bergler at about 12:30 p.m. "The weather is the one thing that made me feel relieved. I've always been someone who has connected with the adult world. I connect with the collectors here through the inner passion of cars."

"I heard about this event and came down as a spectator. They asked me to come in and park it with the others," said Patrick Conn of Kent. "I have an '86 930 Porsche Turbo."

"Tom Nault and I established the Exotics at Redmond Town Center (or ERTC) where over 150 cars gather on Saturday mornings," said Vic Tiscareno, who brought his 2008 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, limited faster production car with all carbon fiber. Yes. It's red. He said there are 10 to 12 other such cars in the Seattle area. He retired from Apple. "That's where we met Alex and wanted to support him. I am very impressed. He's been dedicated at this. Believe me, something like this is not easy to organize."

Nault owns a 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom and brought his Lamborghini Murcielago SE Super Veloce, painted in Verde Ithaca, a bright green. Only 350 were made, and 28 in the U.S.

"He's a great kid," said Nault. "We don't get to do a lot of projects and this is one we were able to do. It worked out really well.

Alex's Family:

"I'm very proud of him," said Alex's father, David. "He's a great young adult. He's combining all of his passions here. A lot of support from the community."

"I would take him to the library and he would go to the back and find some huge technical book and take it home and memorize it," said Alex's mother Susan. "He would come to the museum (of Flight) as a kid, and Alex corrected the docents when they would talk about technical details of the planes."

Susan personally assists Don Mattrick, President, Interactive Entertainment Business of Microsoft. She said they have never met.

More fans:

"It's a great event for the gumption and ability for him to put this together in high school, fantastic!" said John Fowler, who brought his bright yellow Honda Acura NSX convertible.

Nick Bergeron brought his "baby", a dark green 1953 Triumph TR3A."This car leaks everything. It's British, are you kidding me? When I pull up to the gas station I check the gas and fill up the oil. The wiring is horrible. Alex is such a mature, intellectual gentleman."

Female racer:

Jody Takagi, of Redmond, brought her Boston terrier, P.J., and her 2001 Porsche Boxster. "I've got sponsors who have done things to the car. I drive them. I don't work on them. I am a sponsored racer and I'm going to do the Spectra 341 Challenge, the Virginia City Hill Climb near Reno. I did it last year and was the only female driver.

"I think Alex has an old, wise soul to him," said Takagi. "Very cool guy."

Luxury auto dealer:

Bryant Hill is with Bellevue Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and brought two Bentleys and a Lamborghini.

"People in this genre of exotic (cars) aren't as concerned with fuel costs," said Hill. "They'll drive them mostly over the weekends. It's not their first car. Alex put together this event better than events thrown by large corporations. He brought in several million dollars worth of cars. I think Alex has got a bright future ahead of him."
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"Over the last century, cars and aircraft have had a similar development in aerodynamics," said Bergler, whose comprehension of such things seems to span beyond his 18 years. "You look throughout history with your performance car, and the aerodynamics are directly, or indirectly, inspired by airplanes, or vice versa," he explained. "Especially in the wind tunnel you see similarities in the development of performance cars and aircraft. Look at the Lamborghini Reventon. Its design pieces including interior are based on the F-22 Raptor, very similar." (He said the airplane came first.)

"Tesla- I'd say that's the future," Bergler said. "The Tesla's body is made 100-percent of carbon fiber which is composite which is very light. The 787 Dreamliner is the first mass produced plane with carbon fiber composites."

While Bergler is impressed with the Dreamliner, he describes the Tesla as "a rocket ship".

Exotics at Redmond Town Center

Since the summer of 2010 Bergler has attended the weekly car gathering called "Exotics at Redmond Town Center", or "ERTC".

"They welcomed me into the community," he said. "I have an older BMW. They have everything up to million-dollar cars. We all love cars, and talking about them. I like the laid back aspects of the (gathering). I had to decide on a senior project and after really months of brainstorming I decided to put together a car show.

Animal connection

Another path I had is animals. Growing up, my family always had animals. They were always a big part of my life, a love that really started from an early age. So from there it was talking to the guys at the ERTC. It's a win-win situation for them, a nice opportunity in a cool location. they've been very supportive of my project.

"After scouting and dealing with different bureaucrats I settled on the Museum of Flight," he said. "It's not only a great, central location, it's also a place that's been a big part of my life, my second home, fun to go there, look at airplanes. I've had countless birthdays there. The Museum was really open to having it. It only took three phone calls and one meeting. Meagan McGuire was very helpful there." (She is Museum Group Sales Account Executive.)

He said that in addition to car-owners from ERTC participating, including three owners toting Telsa's, some dealerships will participate, including Park Place Motors in Bellevue.

Another enticement to attend the car show is that May 14 is also the Museum of Flight's Naval Aviation Centennial Day from 9:00: a.m. - 4:30 p.m. According to its website, the museum celebrates the U.S. Navy's 100th year of aviation with a full day of special activities sponsored by Honeywell. In addition to the lectures (...) there will be a Grumman F7F Tigercat and F8F Bearcat fly-by at 10:30 a.m. The planes will be on static display the rest of the day.

Bergler attended Pathfinder K-8 and was class president for all his years there, he said. "I actually fought for the school's survival and spoke with parents and members of the school board and superintendent."

His mother is Canadian, and Alex, a dual citizen, will attend Simon Fraser University in B.C. doing a program through the Canadian military, equivalent to our ROTC. He would like to fly.

Alex's father, David, is head of admissions at Westside School. He worked at Capitol Records in the '70s' and worked with Pink Floyd "and a couple of the Beatles after they broke up," Alex said. "He was in marketing, and would go around with them and get them radio gigs."

Alex is disappointed that the Seattle Museum of Flight did not land one of the Space Shuttles, but sees a silver lining.

"We were really hoping for the Space Shuttle, but we're getting the full-scale training replica," said the optimistic teen. "It's cool because you can actually get in it and it's interactive."