Why Blouin chose to race a Lusso is a mystery, as by 1965 the era of the front-engine competition car was coming to an end The Lusso is regarded as the most beautiful of all Pininfarina’s creations on the 250 GT chassis. It is a true Granturismo, combining high performance […]
Author: John Apen
John holds degrees in engineering and operations research from the University of California-Berkeley, New York University, and Johns Hopkins. He vintage raced a Ferrari TdF for 13 years and has been restoring old cars for nearly 50 years. He owned the Atlanta Ferrari-Maserati dealership, FAF, for 17 years. He’s always had an affinity for obscure American cars, and in high school, he drove a 1936 Packard convertible coupe, followed by a 1949 Olds Holiday hardtop that got him through college. Today his garage includes 11 cars, including a Top Flight 1960 Corvette he’s owned since day one, a 1957 T-Bird, and several vintage Ferraris. His automotive library contains over 5,000 magazines and books and 1,800 auction catalogs. He has contributed to SCM since 1996.
1952 166/330 MM Touring Barchetta Recreation
These rebodies are selling far below construction costs and will deliver miles of smiles. But don’t go near Pebble Beach, and don’t expect to make money Carrozzeria Touring’s 1949-53 Barchetta is considered one of Ferrari’s classic models. Only about 35 Touring Barchettas (literally translated as “little boat”) were produced using […]
1959 Ferrari 250 GT “Tour de France” Competition Berlinetta
Ferrari’s 250 3-liter LWB Berlinettas so dominated the grueling Tour de France in the mid 1950s, they took their name from it. They racked up a string of victories in the epic French race, scoring a 1-2-3 in 1958, when only 21 of 60 starters finished. The five-day, 3,300-mile marathon […]
1937 Cord 812 SC Convertible Coupe
E. L. Cord was a master salesman who acquired Auburn in 1928 after saving it from bankruptcy by unloading about 700 sedans languishing on the lot. He spiffed up the orphans with bright paint schemes and applied his considerable sales talent to move them. His reward was the company, which […]
1933 Duesenberg Model SJ Riviera Phaeton
When Hot Rod Harry had a disastrous engine failure, he souped up the powerplant and installed an overdrive five-speed transmission {vsig}2005-6_1843{/vsig} In 1925, Errett Lobban Cord added the Duesenberg Motors Company to his rapidly growing enterprise, the Auburn Automobile Company. Cord’s vision was to create an automobile that would surpass […]
1958 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder LWB
If Sirus paid a typical 1970 price, he probably paid under $10k for the car-and his selling price in January 1988 was $375,000. But it gets even better {vsig}2005-3_1826{/vsig} Initially conceived as a gran turisimo, Ferrari’s 250 soon diverged into two paths, the GT coupes and cabriolets and the […]
1935 Mormon Meteor Duesenberg SJ Speedster
Prior to the auction, guesses as to its eventual selling price were rampant, and the result was a staggering achievement for a Duesenberg. {vsig}2004-11_1470{/vsig} In an era of record-setters, Ab Jenkins and his Duesenberg Special surpassed them all. Racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats, he performed landmark miracles of speed […]
1986-1989 Ferrari 328 GTB/GTS
A used 328 can be affordable because the depreciation over a year or two may be small to non-existent for a moderate amount of driving Every man should have one before he dies.” When I sold used Ferraris, this is what I used to say to close the deal. “You […]
1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Alloy Berlinetta
The 308 was what customers told Ferrari they wanted, the Daytona was what Ferrari thought the customers wanted, but the 275 Berlinettas were what he, the man, wanted {vsig}2004-8_1215{/vsig} The 275 GTB has stood the test of time as well as any design in Ferrari history. In any of its […]
1967 Maserati Ghibli 4.7 Coupe
Why, with all its aesthetic beauty, adequate performance, and driveability, does the Ghibli continue to sell for just a quarter the price of a Ferrari Daytona? {vsig}2004-8_1214{/vsig} Giorgio Giugiaro penned the striking lines for Maserati’s Ghibli, which debuted at the Turin Auto Show in 1966. Sporting a quad-cam V8 making […]