April 2024
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Keith’s Blog: Should the Mullin Collection Have Been Broken Up?
Last Friday, Gooding & Company had a very successful auction of the majority of the Mullin Collection. (Click here for the results.) I didn’t know Peter well, but he was on a panel I once hosted at Hilton Head. He also allowed me to drive one of his Bugattis down Highway 1 from Monterey to…
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Keith’s Blog: It’s All About the Rotation
It’s an unintended miracle. At the exact same time that the weather is turning towards sunshine, nearly all our cars are in tip-top condition and ready to go. After I reported on the errant speedometer in the 1972 250C during last week’s shakedown cruise, our technician reminded me that I actually already purchased the instrument…
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Year of the Rotary?
1985 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE S/N JM1FB3322F0899133. 4,800 miles. “1.3-L 13B rotary, 5-speed manual transmission, limited-slip differential, Royal Maroon Metallic paint, gray cloth upholstery, 14-inch alloy wheels, removable glass sunroof, factory cassette stereo with graphic equalizer, cruise control, A/C, power accessories.” Condition: 1. SOLD AT $35,700. Bring a Trailer, 3/21/24. This might be the year for…
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Summer of Solstice
In 2005, Pontiac brought forth what would be its last sporty car. The 2006 Solstice was an attractive — even rakish — convertible 2-seater with excellent balance and handling. The Pontiac’s introduction was followed up later in 2006 with a badge-engineered döppelganger called the Saturn Sky and Europeans got the same model as a revived…
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Sharing the Pain
Airbnb and Vrbo have become household names for vacation rentals, widely popularizing the idea of a “sharing economy.” A number of similar car-sharing services have also popped up in the past few years, all with a similar pitch: If you own a car, you can make extra money by renting it out through their app…
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Old Goat, New Guy
Even among collectors, it is perhaps unusual to own the exact same car twice, with 40 long years separating the two experiences. I first bought this Pontiac GTO in 1981, after discovering it with a scattered clutch in a Sierra Nevada meadow. After torturing it for a summer, I sold it on, only to rediscover…
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Love the One You Have
Erratic. Nonsensical. Devoid of any appearance of logic. That’s how my friends have described my approach to collecting over the past few years. But thanks to a recent temptation, my unfocused and somewhat frantic searching may be nearing an end. An adequately powered sports car that handles well on skinny tires and weighs around 2,500…
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Keith’s Blog: Does Improving A Car Make it Less Vintage?
Our 1972 Mercedes 250C is done. After tucking another $2,000 bill for repairs and upgrades in the bulging RO (repair orders) folder, I took the car for a 200-mile shakedown cruise. Like so many cars from the 1970s, the Mercedes had only an outside mirror on the driver’s side door, and none on the passenger…
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Keith’s Blog: The Portland Swap Meet: A Living Museum
It was ten in the morning on Friday when we boarded the streetcar to head to the Portland Swap Meet. We were not in a hurry. Accompanying me were SCM Editor-In-Chief Jeff Sabatini and my son Bradley (fresh from scoring a 1:24 Avanti toy at the previous weekend’s Hot Rod and Custom Show). We planned…
