Every spring the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon hold the “Old Spider Tour” to celebrate and commemorate the occasion of club founder Bob McGill buying his 1958 Alfa Spider from Rambo Motors.

This year there were six old spiders (three Giuliettas and three Giulias) plus another 16 or so cars, ranging from GTVs and Duettos to a lone GTV-6.

We started at Steamboat Landing Park, just past marker 16 on WA 14 eastbound, ran along picturesque Highway 14, and ended Read More

A couple of weeks ago, restorer Bill Gillham finished up fettling our Alfa Giulia Super and sent it over to Dan Sommers at Veloce Motors for a mechanical checkover.

Here’s the note I just got from Dan:

Keith,

In my earlier note I talked about the list getting longer as I spent more time around your Super. Sorry… More bad news to come.

I changed the oil and noticed that the drain plug looks like Read More

Every car event has its own flavor, from the industrial magic of Pebble, where the world’s greatest cars emerge to be ogled by some of the world’s most influential collectors, to Concorso Italiano, where the smiling-face chaos begins when the first Fiat arrives and ends as the last Ferrari exits the field.

The most successful events are sensitive to their local audience of casual car lovers, as well as to the serious collectors who bring their Read More

It’s a good time to be a gearhead. This is the second opportunity I’ve had in the past three months to be involved in a new car event, and both have been spectacular.

In January, I was the emcee for the inaugural Arizona Concours d’Elegance. (See my previous blog post and column.) Despite naysayers who said the organizers needed another year to put all the pieces together, Kevin Cornish pulled a mechanical rabbit out of a hat and put Read More

It’s only taken me two years to find the right car, and it was right here under my nose.

To recap, I decided last year that I would create a focus to my mini-collection. Instead of it looking like a sampling of “The Greatest Hits From Bring A Trailer,” with vehicles ranging from a Saab Sonett to a BMW 6-series to a Volvo 1800 ES, it would be just Alfas.

I picked the five Alfas that both fit Read More

After finishing up our Amelia Island shoot for “What’s My Car Worth,” we traveled south to Fort Lauderdale to record more episodes. We evaluated nearly 50 cars, and the new shows will begin airing in July.

I’ve always liked the Auctions America sale in Fort Lauderdale. Donnie Gould leads the gang there, and they are unfailingly hospitable. We stay at the Hilton across the street from the convention center, and while it is slightly bedraggled and certainly Read More

The 19th annual Amelia Island Concours has come and gone.

Our second shooting session for “What’s My Car Worth” is over.

Now all that is left is to gather everything up, throw it in the van and drive south to Fort Lauderdale, where on Wednesday we set up the cameras and start things all over again, except this time at the Auctions America auction.

The week was challenging, with blustery winds, rain squalls and Read More

It’s roadtrip time for me again.

It’s a good thing I like cars, as my next two weeks are going to be full of them.

Put Amelia Island weekend, Auctions America in Ft. Lauderdale and What’s My Car Worth into a mixing bowl, and you end up with a ticket on Delta that leaves Portland early today (Tuesday) and gets me home in the evening on Sunday, March 16.

My week starts with shooting episodes of Read More