“I know lots of 75-year-olds who have cars. But I don’t know any others that have seven cars.”
Those were SCM Editor-in-Chief Jeff Sabatini’s words to me as we wrapped up another discussion about “how many cars is enough” and “what should those cars be?”
Our collections are limited by a variety of factors. The first and largest is usually space.
At my condo, I have space for three cars. Those are the 1991 Alfa S4 Spider, the 2005 Porsche 911 C4S and the grocery-getter 2021 Hyundai Elantra Limited. All of these cars see limited use. The Elantra has just 12,000 miles, the Alfa 29,133 and the 911 70,894.
Keeping the batteries up to snuff in a garage where trickle-chargers aren’t allowed is a challenge.
In the past two months, we have sold two cars that had “constantly on” analog clocks, the 1975 Porsche 911S and the 1971 Jaguar E-type.
Of course, the battery-draining clocks weren’t the only reasons we sold them. While the Jag was perhaps the most satisfying sports car I have ever owned, a near-perfect touring car, in the end after 10,000 miles behind the wheel I was ready for something else. Matt Crandall (911r on BaT) represented it for us, and it hammered sold for a very respectable $50,250. When all the dust settled, we got about as much as we had paid for the car originally, which seems like a win to me.
Matt also presented our 911S Sportomatic which brought an astounding $85,500. The combination of a fresh 2.7-liter flat-six, unusual fabric interior and an original 50,000-mile car kept the bids coming. As we were in the car $90,000, we got closer than usual to filling our coffers back up.
We keep our 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce and 2006 Lotus Elise at Pro-Tek, the first-rate car storage and event facility owned by Mike Christopherson. He starts the cars on a regular basis, and always has them ready to go when we need them.
So now I’m a “mature” collector with five cars instead of seven.
As I have mentioned, I’ve got a hankering to get a Big Healey to drive to the 75th convention in 2027. I drove a BJ7 to the 25th. My son Bradley has said he would like to drive with me, and that’s a powerful incentive. I don’t want a show car, but it needs to be reliable and regularly driven. I’m not picky about model, but I do love vinyl dashes and side curtains. In today’s market, these seem to be $30k–$40k.
But that means more cars than spaces. What would you do? If you had to sell one car, which one would it be and why?
I look forward to your comments below.
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13 responses to “Keith’s Blog: Thinning the Herd, Continued”
I’d sell the Porsche. They’re everywhere and you can find another when you need one. Can’t say that for the ALFA.
Absolutely agree. Every other car here in Southwest Florida is a 911 cabriolet. T
Hey are like belly buttons. Everyone has one.
Hi Keith….I told my ace mechanic I would Will him the Sport 190 Elise, but he wanted it NOW! I drove it only once in each of the last 2 years; so I made him very happy! Does anyone know of a dependable beetle for sale? 1968-1974 (standard Beetle)….(sounds like back to the future again)….Dr. Mike
Hi Keith- I don’t know- I just turned 73 and added an Alfa Montreal to the herd last August ( from a friend in his later 70’s who was thinning his herd- “The Quadrifolio Collection” sold by RM at Monterey last season). Also just sent a ’65 Giulia SS off to Oregon for a 2-3 year restoration. Am I nuts? Does any of this makes sense? I had to build a new 5 car garage with lift just to accommodate almost everything and there’s still one car in the trailer and two at an airport hangar! Yes at some point I’ll have to down size but I still have my health, I enjoy each car, drive them, show them and go out to the garage sometimes with a cocktail just to look at them and admire/appreciate the styling. It will be hard to part with any of them but it would be harder for my wonderful wife to have to liquidate the collection if anything happened to me. So for now- no more Alfas and kick the can down the road on any selling decisions. BTW- I liked your photo as we were at Timberline for a winter wedding last year. Didn’t run into any scary twins from The Shining! Cheers! M. Phillips
72 here with five. Just sold my last old Porsche. Big deal. I never drove it.The five I kept weee a C-4 Circette I inherited from my father, a Rabbit convertible that my late wife bought new(I can never sell either one). A Porsche Cayman definitely on the bubble) and three brand new cars for various purposes: Audi S8, C8 Corvette, and Volkswagen Atlas. All of them great cars and I guess I will die with them.
This seems to be a perpetual theme of the blog. It seems like you use the three cars you keep at your condo and I can’t imagine it’s really that hard to keep the batteries from going dead. If I were the founder of a collector car magazine I’d have a more interesting daily driver than a Hyundai, but that’s a side topic.
The Alfa Veloce is understandable near and dear to you… is there not a place you could keep it at the SCM offices, kind of a mascot car? The Lotus seems to be odd man out if there needs to be one. Doesn’t seem like it’s much trouble, but if something has to go, that ‘s the choice. Give it to one of your kids and let them figure out the storage.
I would sell the one you least drive and enjoy..Our situation is the same, have a condo and only have a two car garage…I store a 85 RX7 and 73 RX2 sedan at a nearby city in seperate 10x 20 storage spaces…Local self storage rates are double so I don’t mind the 15 minute drive to save….On the fence to sell the RX2 sedan as it a on going project and don’t know if I have the desire to see it to the end in me…On the flip side I would just get something to fill the storage space because if I cancel the space I can’t get it the space back because I’m grandfathered in for storing cars there…
One way I have justified owning so many cars is that I drive brides and grooms away- chauffeur them- from weddings. After a long spell without doing so, I had ten days to wake up either of two cars: a 1962 Morris Minor and a 2008 Bentley GTC. Both cars had been sitting for months, with dead batteries. The Morris was in a garage and the Bentley was under a cloth cover.
It took a total of 4 hours or so to revive the Morris. After a week of trying, I still don’t have the Bentley going. Somehow, the dying battery lowered a window and moisture entered the car. Upholstery was damaged and mosquitoes attack every time I try to work on it.
Beyond the complexity of the (18 year old) Newer Car, there’s a serious question of whom to trust with it. On the other hand, plenty of talented amateurs can manage 1960s technology.
My point? dump the most complex car and get a Healey.
Darn, Keith, I’m 83, living in an old folk’s home yet still have five cool cars. Forget about a Healey and save your money. Keep the 911; did you ever meet anyone who didn’t regret selling theirs? Keep the Giulia Spider for old times’ sake. Dump that disposable Hyundai and use the 911 or Uber. Don’t know what to tell you about the Lotus, but I bet you hardly ever drive it. Or do as I did: find one car that does everything well: a Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG (factory supercharged): fast, comfy, safe, fun, reliable, and did I say FAST? Good ones go for $20,000, more or less.
Can’t you have a switch wired into those clock circuits? To start old cars where there’s no power, get an $80 lithium-ion battery booster.
All good advice. The only car I use daily is my Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. It might be objectively the best car I have ever owned.
We all seem to go through a dilemma occasionally. I too had eight cars and went to six with a week, then sold another. Keep the cars you use or provide a purpose. If you enjoy vintage railing, and need a car to qualify obviously that’s a keeper. I’ve never had a big interest in Porsche myself but they are reliable and give you little grief. Do you drive the Lotus? If you don’t use the Lotus then get rid of that, It provides almost zero cargo space. At the end of the day, just sell the one that you don’t use. I would keep the old Alfa because it’s a member of the family, You would be lost without that car. I own four classic cars currently each of them offer a different driving experience and allow me to participate in many different types of events. If they’re too hard to part with, just keep them.
I get a kick out of the “sell the Lotus etc. etc.” I’ll bet you keep it because each drive you experience enjoyment that none off your other options provide. You needn’t drive it often but when you really want to engage with a vehicle it’s really hard to beat.
I’m following the comments, as it’s an interesting question now that I’m living with no adult supervision. I have 3 cars and 3 motorcycles and still think about more even though my available space is already full. Far from your count, or from the 13 that “Hack Mechanic” Rob Siegel currently owns, so I’m perfectly reasonable, right?