John Draneas
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Two Porsches, One Serial Number
One of the most exciting Bring a Trailer auctions ever went live on May 7, when a 1967 Porsche 910 (Lot 191750) was offered by a new seller, PSAutomobile. The listing was accompanied by over 600 photographs, and the auction would go on to rack up over 450 comments over the next two weeks. From…
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Warranted Action
It’s gotten to the point where I get so many robocalls on my cell phone that I don’t answer it when I don’t recognize the caller. Most often, it’s someone trying to sell me a Medicare supplement plan. Next most common is someone pushing an extended warranty on my car. Thankfully, the Federal Trade Commission…
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Tariffs Really Taxing the Auto Industry
As I write this, President Trump’s executive order that imposes 25% tariffs on imported cars has just gone into effect, and the stock market has tumbled. There is no doubt that, by the time you read this, something more will have happened. The tariffs may be changed, or even abandoned, or the automotive industry may…
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Your Own Garage Mahal
We’ve all learned that car collections quickly become storage problems. It is easy to fall into the spiral of having bought so many cars that more space is needed. So a new garage is constructed, but that leads to buying more cars, which makes it necessary to build an even bigger garage. And on and…
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Untimely and Unexpected
We’ve heard all sorts of stories about restorations gone bad, but here’s a new twist. We recently received the following email from an SCMer. I never thought I would have a subject that you might want to share with your readers, but here goes. I ‘have’ a 2000 Jaguar XK8 convertible, probably not much more…
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Blinded by the Light
Sensing that I was getting retinal damage driving at night, I wondered if I was developing cataracts. My optometrist assured me that was not the case, so I started flashing people to dim their high beams, only to find that their high beams were even brighter. Eventually, I figured out that the problem was the…
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Monopoly Money?
Tyler Reddick, driving for NBA legend Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing team, just went from 3rd to 1st on the last lap to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It gave the NASCAR regular-season champion an automatic entry into the NASCAR Championship 4, and a shot at the 2024 season championship. Amid the celebration, you wouldn’t know that…
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No Resuscitation for CPR Classic
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 is owed money from CPR…
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The Case of the Runaway Rolls
Memory Lane Motors has been a collector car fixture in Portland, OR, for over 40 years, dealing largely in mid-range American and European classic cars. Manager Elan Davis says that in all that time, it has never sold a car at auction. To his regret, he made his first attempt early this year. The dealership…
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Big Lie Country
The August 2024 “Legal Files” about California cracking down on Montana-registered cars produced quite a response. We received more letters about this topic than for any other recent column, so we’re revisiting the subject this month. The surprise was that almost all the letter-writers were unsympathetic to this practice. Many were highly critical of what…