Jim’s Blog
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Jim’s Blog: What Steers Your Collection?
I’ve always been a car guy, but the drive got even more serious when I got my driving permit and finally slid behind the wheel of an actual car. A few spins in my sister’s ’95 Dodge Neon had me circling classic car ads in the local paper for cooler options. My father, also a…
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Jim’s Blog: Buy it Done or Build it Yourself?
A friend of mine called me a few weeks back to shoot some photos of a GTO out in the weeds on his property. After years and years of an “I’ll build it someday” mentality, he’s finally decided that it’s just never going to happen. Time to sell the GTO while there’s still some GTO…
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Jim’s Blog: 4-speed or Not?
I got my Caprice sitting right on a set of QA1 coilovers in the front, added a set of big-as-possible 275-series rubber in the back, and have a great-sounding BBC with a 236/245 duration roller cam with .625/.639 inches of lift cackling through a set of three-inch Flowmasters. But there’s one thing missing, and that…
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Jim’s Blog: Swap Meet Time!
The Portland Swap Meet is the Northwest car guy’s kickoff to the car season. Even if it’s raining sideways, like it was this year. But for thousands of car-crazy parts chasers, the rain didn’t matter. Who’s afraid of a little rain when those vintage parts you’re hunting are just waiting for you to find them?…
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Jim’s Blog: What Was Your Best Car Buy?
We’re working on the May/June issue of ACC this week, and for this issue’s Reader’s Forum, we’re looking for your comments on your best-ever car buys. There’s still time to be included! I tend to think of my best car buy as the next one I’m going to buy, but it doesn’t usually work out…
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Jim’s Blog: Diamond in the Junk?
This past weekend, I was out taking pictures of a friend’s 1969 GTO project in the weeds and came across this engine sitting in the dirt. What would you do with it? The notion of one man’s trash being another’s treasure is alive and well here. Yep, this is a vintage Chevrolet 409 V8. Or…
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Jim’s Blog: Missing Bullitt Found
This past Friday, I got word that someone in Mexico claimed to have found the missing 1968 Ford Mustang fastback used in the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt. True or not, as Colin Comer pointed out, this is probably the biggest news to hit the collector car world in 2017 — at least so far. And…
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Jim’s Blog: Neat Car Tricks
Ever gone to tune up your classic car when it’s still semi-warm from being driven? Did you burn your hand on the exhaust manifold or header? Here’s a neat trick I’ve used for years to eliminate that problem: The first thing you’ll need is an old pushrod. The one I used is a 3/8-inch unit from…
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Jim’s Blog: Best Modern Muscle Buy?
From the new 5.0 Mustang GT to the new Camaro SS, there are plenty of options out there for a buyer looking to burn rubber in a modern muscle car. But what’s the best buy in today’s market? Let’s focus only on modern muscle craze. I’d suggest it started with the debut of the retro-styled…
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Jim’s Blog: Arizona in Images
I spent my week in Arizona bouncing from sale to sale, documenting as much as I could with my camera between making assignments for the next issue of ACC and meeting with our writers, contributors, and readers. Here are some of my favorite shots from this year’s Arizona auctions. …