Jeff Zurschmeide
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One Impressive Impreza
Mention Subaru to most people and they’ll think of an Outback station wagon-cum-crossover. Tighten it up to Subaru sports cars and they will usually think of the WRX and WRX STI hot rods, or the strangely sci-fi SVX of the 1990s. But there was a brief period at the turn of the millennium where the…
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Guest Blog: SCM Goes Gambling
The Gambler 500 Rally is in some ways the polar opposite of Sports Car Market. Where we mainly concern ourselves with highly collectible cars in top condition, the cars of the Gambler lean mightily towards the “disposable” end of the spectrum. While the event no longer has a $500 rule, participants adhere to the idea…
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The Sweet Spot
BMW is well known for building performance cars, but it was the E30-generation 3 Series of the 1980s that really put the German automaker on the map for affordable performance. When the succeeding E36-generation 3 Series was unveiled, BMW fans expected something spectacular. What they got was not the lightweight, edgy sports sedan of the…
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Hot Hatch Fever
It takes some guts to walk away from everything that made your car company great, but that’s what Volkswagen did in the early 1970s. The 1974 Rabbit (or Golf, depending on your continent) was the replacement for the antiquated air-cooled Beetle. The all-new A1 platform was a complete departure for Wolfsburg, abandoning everything about the…
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Keith’s Blog: Jeff Zurschmeide’s Portland Swap Meet Report
The Portland Swap Meet has been on hiatus for the past two years, for obvious reasons. It’s been a long and boring pandemic, so this year’s event was highly anticipated, at least by me. The swap happens at the Portland Expo Center, with five large buildings and the entire parking lot filled with parts and…
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Depreciation, Italian Style
When Maserati returned to America in 2002, the company ended an 11-year absence from our market. A lot happened in those years, most notably an ownership transfer from Fiat to Ferrari. That change has been crucial to Maserati ever since. For one thing, it gave Maserati a ready-made dealership and service network. The Trident brand…
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2012 Aston Martin One-77
This 2012 Aston Martin One-77 is the 25th of just 77 examples ever made. It was delivered to Switzerland in 2012. According to the accompanying Certificate of Authenticity, it was ordered in the subtly luxurious colors of Bronze Pearl over Bitter Chocolate leather with Cream Truffle trim, with brushed-metal exterior finishes, 10-spoke silver diamond-turned wheels…
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2002 Lamborghini Murciélago
As the Lamborghini story goes, the “Murciélago,” or “bat” in Spanish, was named after a famous bull that survived its matador in 1879 in the Cordoba arena. When it was launched in 2002, this was one of the fastest supercars of its day, capable of over 330 km/h thanks to a 580-horsepower, 6.2-liter V12 engine.…
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Status Symbol
So this Bentley owner is getting out of his car and he gets sideswiped, ripping the door clean off its hinges. The police show up and he starts yelling about the damage, and the cop says, “Sir, your left arm is torn off!” The Bentley owner looks down and says, “Oh my God, where’s my…
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2001 BMW Z8
The BMW Z8 debuted in the James Bond film “The World Is Not Enough.” The Z8s were built for the American market and the styling carries the DNA of BMW’s famed 507. This Z8 features heated leather seats, cruise control, power windows, door locks and seats, multi-disc CD player and a built-in cell phone. This…