I’ve been going on classic car tours since 1992. I started with the Mille Miglia, which was a pretty swell way to begin. That was followed by the California Mille, the Monte Shelton Northwest Classic, the Colorado Grand, the Argentine Millas, Tour Auto, the Modena Cento Ore and more. Over […]
Month: February 2022
Keith’s Blog: The SCM Fleet is Fully Operational
With the stuck float needle fixed on SCM’s 1971 Citroën DS21 Pallas, the entire SCM fleet is fully operational and ready for more long drives in the coming warm and sunny months ahead. To that end, Publisher Martin is taking a well-deserved week off from his regular blog. Check back […]
Everyone Needs a Sidekick
1989 Suzuki Sidekick JLX Lot 63631, s/n JS4TA01C2K4101813. 59k miles. “1.6-liter inline 4, 3-speed automatic transmission, dual-range transfer case, Frosty Blue Metallic paint, removable white hard top, gray cloth upholstery, 15-inch wheels, front tow-bar mounts.” Condition: 1. SOLD AT $24,150. Bring a Trailer, 1/17/22. We have seen the Suzuki Samurai […]
Collector-Car Climate Change
If you live in the Maldives, you are aware that the seas are rising. Whether temperatures are going up because of diesel emissions, home barbecue grills or cows farting methane doesn’t really matter. In the end, the earth is warming and the ocean is getting higher. It’s the same with […]
Pay to Hold
“Legal Files” gets interesting letters from all sorts of sources. Here’s one from none other than Publisher Martin: If Bring a Trailer is the Tiffany of online sales, then Facebook Marketplace is the armpit. No vetting, no uniform description, no trolls. I don’t know how these deals find me, but […]
Age of Discovery
Luftgekühlt is a one-day car show — of sorts — only for air-cooled Porsches. From afar, it appears as an “in-crowd, secret-handshake” event meant only for the most socially well-connected Porsche owners. The 2021 edition was held nearby in Indianapolis, IN, in September. My son Max got the bug to […]
Mister Two Comes of Collectible Age
There’s something about a mid-engine car that’s just downright cool. Forget about the polar moment of inertia and the rest of the engineering-ese. When this motorsports-derived configuration appeared in the DeTomaso Vallelunga, Ferrari Dino and Lamborghini Miura in the late 1960s, it became forever associated with exotic cars. Even America’s […]
Keith’s Blog: Low-Riders, Lambos and 911s
From Lamborghini Huracans to 1300-cc Alfa Supers, it’s been a car-centric weekend. But first, am I the only one who noticed the classic low-rider Chevrolet convertibles in the Super Bowl halftime show? Or the VW Thing in one of the ads? Is this Gen-X nostalgia? My weekend started with a […]
Keith’s Blog: Why We Call a 31-Year-Old Car “New”
I’ve only put a few miles on our recently acquired 1991 Alfa Spider S4. With just 22,000 CARFAX-certified miles, it’s like new. In fact, its “newness” is a little unsettling. The basic underlying 105-series chassis first entered production in 1964. I don’t know if any other new car sold in […]
Know Your Insurance Policy
What do you think about this? You’ve been a loyal collector-car policy customer for many years. You’ve insured 27 cars on the policy and never had a single claim. One night, one of your collector cars is stolen. The police recover it four days later, but the thieves have damaged it to the tune of just over $12,000.
No big deal, you’re just happy to have it back almost in one piece. Then, your collector-car insurance company denies the claim. When you object, they take you to court to establish they don’t owe you anything, plus they want you to pay their attorney fees.
Bizarre? Maybe, but believe it or not, that’s just what happened to an SCM subscriber we’ll call “Bob.”
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