Unless you are building an S/C or Comp car replica, just say “no” to scoops, roll bars, sidepipes, stripes, and other incorrect items Okay, I’ll freely admit I am a Cobra snob. I’m not as bad as one I witnessed at a Cobra gathering, running toward a replica yelling “I’m […]

After 32 years, Carroll Shelby no longer officially recognizes SAAC In my May 2007 column (p. 60), I wrote about the 32-year relationship between automotive icon Carroll Shelby and the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC). I said then that SAAC is the best friend that Shelby ever had; it has […]

Figure a slide of 10%-20% from late 2006 prices across the board and you’re not far off; the better the car, the less the correction The drag chutes are out for the Mopar Hemi muscle car market. Unquestionably the most visible and talked-about phenomenon in the last five years of […]

Around noon, the thunder heading my way was the Detroit kind, as 20 Superbirds and Daytonas filled my parking lot {vsig}2007-12_2100{/vsig} To quote John Lennon: Imagine. if there was a club for valuable cars, whose long-term owners didn’t care about what the cars are worth. Cars worth perhaps 5,000% more […]

The consensus among buyers is that they want the best, and “almost” cars are having a tough time finding homes {vsig}2007-11_2085{/vsig} Gloom and doom predictions can end up as self-fulfilling prophecies if the panic spreads. A case in point is the highly publicized muscle car market “crash” going on now. […]

I could see the paint bubbling on the hood, the Lexan windshield melting, and the paint burning off the transmission tunnel Although SCM isn’t a racing publication, a large number of SCMers are vintage racers, including yours truly. A recent racing “close call” has made me rethink a few things […]

So is it worth paying a 15%-20% premium for a car with a notoriously troublesome FI system? The market seems to say it is {vsig}2007-9_2065{/vsig} In the early years of the horsepower wars, in the mid-1950s, Detroit was looking for ways to get a jump on the competition. The new […]

How to decode the evolution of Ford’s 427, 428, and 429 big block muscle {vsig}2007-8_2040{/vsig} Ford 427, 428, 429. What do these similar numbers tell us about very different engines? To the uninitiated, Ford’s big inch performance motors all seem basically the same, with slightly different displacements. Nothing could be […]

Forgo modern conveniences (such as a jack for your iPod and seat heaters), and you can find an old car that will be daily fun {vsig}2007-6_2011{/vsig} So your Cobra Daytona Coupe is too hot and loud inside, and your Hemi ‘Cuda convertible’s top leaks when it rains. You’d like something […]