Author: Carl Bomstead

Carl Bomstead is a longtime Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance judge and Classic Car Club of America Master Judge. He wrote his first story for SCM in February 1997.

1948 Tucker 48

There is little about the Tucker automobile that has not already been said. No post-war American automobile has had every facet of its story so religiously studied and examined; none was more controversial when new, and fewer are more beloved today. Indeed, it would please a vindicated Preston Tucker that […]

1928 Mercedes-Benz Typ S 26/120/180 Supercharged Sports Tourer

Silent streams of super-power… unbounded flexibility … comfort to carry you to the ends of the earth” — quoted period Mercedes-Benz advertising in America for the legendary Typ S The Typ S was created in a magical period for the company, shortly after the merger of Daimler and Benz, while […]

1946 Chrysler Town & Country convertible

Such was the demand for vehicles in the immediate aftermath of World War II that the 1946 Chryslers — like most other American makes — reappeared looking much the same as they had in 1942. One difference in the model line-up was that the wood-embellished Town & Country model, previously […]

1918 Stutz Bearcat Rumble-Seat Roadster

Built in just five weeks, Harry Clayton Stutz’s first car did sufficiently well at the 1911 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th, despite numerous stops for fresh tires, to prompt its creator to set up the Ideal Motor Car Company to manufacture the Stutz. The first production models were closely based on […]

1961 Chrysler 300G Hard Top

The Chrysler 300G was the last 300 to wear Virgil Exner’s famous fins. Major differences from the previous year’s model included a new front end with canted quad headlamps and a new rear treatment, which lacked the faux-continental spare of the 300F. The 1961 300G was tested by Road & […]

1930 Packard 734 Speedster Runabout

In 1930, as Detroit was in the middle of an escalating horsepower race, Packard unveiled the 734 Speedster — an understated high-performance model that is perhaps the finest sporting machine built by an American manufacturer during the Classic Era. Despite its limited production, the 734 Speedster was offered in five […]

1952 Muntz Jet convertible

In 1950, Earl Muntz bought Indy car builder Frank Kurtis’s design and all the tooling for a 2-seat sports car and renamed it the Muntz Road Jet. Muntz stretched the Kurtis “sports car” 13 inches to add room for a back seat. The styling was simple but streamlined. With an […]

1949 Ford F-1 Pickup

Flathead V8 engine with modern upgrades Floor-shift manual transmission Mild custom with bucket seats Dash and gauges period-correct Ford step plates Chromed bumpers Beautiful finish Radio The brilliant blue paint immediately draws your attention to this restored and mildly customized 1949 Ford pickup. The interior features complementary blue cloth bucket […]

1953 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe by Ghia

Admiring the car offered here, one would be hard-pressed to guess its origins as anything but Alfa Romeo in the early 1950s. Only its very American size and presence belie its roots, as do the subtle Cadillac script and badging. Underneath its design, the creation of Ghia principal Luigi Segre […]

1960 Chrysler 300F Hard Top

Road & Track magazine called out the Chrysler “letter cars” as being a very significant automobile. They stressed to their European-favoring readers that it was not a sports car, but it was the best that Detroit had to offer in its luxury “sedan class.” They succinctly summed up an evaluation […]