Sports Car Market is the world’s leading monthly magazine on buying, selling and collecting classic and sports cars.
I recently added a passenger-side rearview mirror to our 1972 Mercedes 250C. It transformed the car. Even though the car has a tall greenhouse with good visibility, adding the second mirror increased my road awareness and feeling of safety. We have since decided to do the same to our 1971
There’s been a lot of discussion recently of original, restored and preserved collectible cars. Let me throw another set of trade terms into the pot: as-built versus modified. While I was once a stickler for the former, as my needs and the driving environment have changed, so have my thoughts
Collector car dealers who sell customers’ cars and never pay them their money is not a new subject for SCM readers. But it was a whole new experience for Hans Claassen of Montrose, CO. NBC 7 San Diego recently reported that Claassen is one of many clients who claims he
The collector car hobby has witnessed sweeping changes and staggering growth over the past decade. Once a cottage industry, the collector car market has transitioned into a legitimate global business. Many smaller companies have enjoyed rapid growth and have garnered the attention and admiration of much larger publicly listed and
When you’ve owned a significant number of cars, there will be some that stand out in your memory, the special ones that appealed to you in a way that others did not. Like Goldilocks and her choice of porridge, they weren’t too hot or too cold, they were just right.
In the fall of 1965, Peyton Cramer, the general manager of Shelby American, came up with a crazy idea: Put these high-performance automobiles into the hands of rental-car customers. Cramer approached the Hertz Corporation with this idea, and they bought it. There would be a few modifications from those Shelby
The first of these Abarths had short-nose, roundtail bodies and either 1,300-cc or 2,000-cc Abarth engines, but during the next three years the body changed to the much more modern and attractive ducktail design and, eventually, from the end of 1964, the more-aerodynamic long-nose cars. It is estimated that only
This car is the only known survivor of the nine cars that Lancia prepared for the 1928 Mille Miglia. According to the consignor, it retains its original body, engine and special Mille Miglia features; it also has a continuous history from new. The special features include a cut-down driver’s door;
Claus Vanderborg took delivery of his unique Turbo — the last Type 993 to leave the factory in-period — on September 5, 1998, from Porsche Centre Altötting. Twenty years later, Porsche would make the “Project Gold” 993 Turbo from OEM parts, but that one-off was built for a charity auction
Here we offer this highly significant and important example of the MG K3 breed, the 1,100-cc supercharged cars from Abingdon-on-Thames, which did so much to enhance the prestige of the British motor industry. The K3 offered here spent many years on display in the Fremantle and York Motor Museums, Western
As I looked back over my past columns on this topic, I realized that there are only four cars in the collection that could be called regular drivers. I can’t work the clutch in the 2006 Lotus Elise or the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce, so I’m going to
Why is it so hard to get to six cars? Perhaps because each car we are considering speaks in its own distinct language and creates its own excitements and trepidations. Each model also is a key for entry to marque activities. The Jaguar E-type V12 gets us into English car
I just put a note in the mailroom of my condo: “Parking space wanted.” I’m having trouble getting down to just six cars. To recap, we are keeping the 1971 Jaguar E-type V12 coupe, the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 and the 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce. The C3 Corvette
Last we discussed finding the perfect mix of garage space, event participation, affinity groups and classic cars. We note that our current “keepers” are the 1971 Jaguar E-type V12 2+2, the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 and the 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce. Here are two more contestants. While the
Some winners are easier to pick than others. At the Kentucky Derby, it’s the nose of the horse that crosses the finish line first. At the Super Bowl, the team with the most points when the clock expires is the champion. The first team to take four games in the
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