It was an all-Alfa weekend.

Last Thursday, the Alfa Romeo Club of Oregon hosted its annual “Red Duetto Tour.”

The brainchild of Fred and Lisa McNabb, the entry rules are simple. To participate, you must have a red “long-tail” Alfa spider, built between 1966-69.

Long-tail spiders were Alfa’s in-your-face response to impending safety regulations and larger bumpers. The Pininfarina-designed cars have impossibly delicate sloping front and rear ends. The slightest touch by another car when they are parked leaves a Read More

The 1964 Shelby Daytona Coupe. The 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II. The 1970 Porsche 917LH. The 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B MM.

These are some of the greatest racing cars of all time.

They are four of the 65 world-class racing cars in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Fred Simeone is a retired neurosurgeon who began building his collection in 1972, when his father died and left him with $8,000 and four cars.

He Read More

We were sitting outside a Porta Potty near Tenmile, Oregon. Our unlikely four-car caravan had traveled about 200 miles from Portland before our first catastrophic failure.

Our group included a 1966 Citroën DS-21 décapotable (cabriolet) owned by Greg Long from Seattle, a 1972 Alfa Berlina that belonged to Brad Miller and his wife Nancy from Portland (and Paris), the SCM 1967 Giulia Super with me driving and son Bradley as my companion, and the SCM 1992 Autozam – a 660-cc, turbocharged Read More

Editor’s note: Keith Martin invited SCMers Luke Chennell and Richard Lincoln to come along on SCM’s Caravan to Concorso. Last week, Luke took over Keith’s Blog and wrote about the SCM Autozam blowing a head gasket. In this installment, Chennell takes us to California’s Lost Coast with a failing master cylinder:

I believe that fun is something that should be delivered good and hard. To do that requires hard work. It requires participation, kindred spirits and a commitment to goals.

Read More

Editor’s note: Keith Martin invited SCMers Luke Chennell and Richard Lincoln to come along on SCM’s Caravan to Concorso. The catch: They had to drive SCM’s Autozam. Luke took over Keith’s Blog this week to tell the tale:

Road trips start off with a great longing of what’s to come, to see the adventures along the way, to know what’s over the next hill.  It’s what drives humans to want the “news,” to have stories to share with those who Read More

It’s been a busy car weekend.

I spent Friday and Saturday in Olympia, Washington attending the Alfa Romeo National Convention. “Sempreverde,” Sea to Summit, attracted more than 200 Alfas and 400 registrants.

I drove the 1958 Sprint Veloce to the convention, and Doug Hartman and Julie Brown drove her 1969 GTV.

There were four “big Alfas” there. David Smith brought his 6C 2500 that just won Best of Show at the Forest Grove Concours along with one of just three Read More

Bradley and I visited a conservation and breeding facility for Galapagos tortoises last week. Located on San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands, its goal is to help keep these giant reptiles from extinction.

They were once thought to number over 200,000 on San Cristobal alone. Now, after centuries of being used as a convenient food source for passing ships (they can live up to two years in the hold of a ship with no food or water), their numbers have Read More

I practiced shooting poison-tipped darts with a blowgun in the Amazon rain forest yesterday.

The monkeys have nothing to fear from my aim.

It was a bucket-list thing, taking my son Bradley to an eco lodge in the Amazon (La Selva) and then to the Galapagos Islands.

Our trip here came on the heels of another bucket-list experience, hosting SCM’s first 1000-mile rally for classic cars.

There will be a full report on SCM 30 in the December issue. But Read More

Can you think of a more attention-getting car to have in Monterey than a gullwing?

You could spend $1.4 million for a Mercedes. Or you could pay $17,000 for the 1992 SCM Autozam AZ-1.

This is the first year it is legal to import this car into the United States.

The Autozam joined the SCM collection a few months ago, and we will drive it down the Pacific Coast from Portland to Monterey for Car Week.

We’d like it to Read More

A 1939 Alfa built by Ferrari captured Best of Show at the 46th Annual Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance on Sunday.

The concours is held on the tree-shaded lawn of the campus of Pacific University, 20 miles from Portland in Forest Grove. SCM Editor-at-Large Donald Osborne and I shared emcee duties for the sixth year.

With our current schedules, this is the only event Donald and I get to work together, and I thoroughly enjoy our camaraderie.

SCM and ACC have Read More