Last week it was a 1975 Citroën DS23 that I backed off on. It sold for $37,800. This week’s temptation was a 2003 Ferrari 456M GTA. Matt Crandall at the Avant-Garde Collection is constantly getting in the way of my attempts be a thoughtful, patient collector. I asked him to handle […]

When SCMer Greg Long listed a 1975 DS23 Pallas on Bring a Trailer, it caught my attention. In addition to being a very-late model with a 2.3-liter engine, it had a Citromatic 4-speed automatic that you shifted manually. I’ve always had a soft spot for Citroëns. Whenever I see one, […]

Three strikes and you’re out. That’s been my philosophy with old cars for some time. Recognizing that a car that comes into the SCM Collection may not have been used regularly, I anticipate a period of unreliability as they are put into service. However, our 1965 Volvo is testing my […]

I celebrated Father’s Day in car-guy style. In one day, my 13-year-old son Bradley and I drove special cars from three different eras. We started by taking the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce out of storage. My good friend Neil D’Autremont has been managing the SCM cars. The car […]

  When my daughter Alexandra and I go to Paris, our dinner the first night is always at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte. It’s a European chain that is known for its steak and fries (frites) — and its savory green-tinged steak sauce. Your only choices are how you want your […]

As we shuffle the SCM car collection, one thing has become evident. With an old car, the most important thing you can do is make sure its suspension is in top shape. By their nature, sports cars that are now a half-century old have not had easy lives. In addition […]

I watched a solitary jogger run down S.W. Clay Street this morning. He was wearing a mask. The streets were empty. On this past Friday night, Portland, Oregon was filled with a cacophony of sirens and popping sounds. Unaware of the civil unrest, I had just driven the SCM 1971 […]

  Summer is fast approaching. It’s our time of travel. I asked Bradley what places he would like to visit during the next decade. His list was short — but exotic. The Serengeti in Africa, Ayers Rock (Uluru) in Australia, The Pyramids in Egypt and the City of Petra in […]

Last week, I told the tale of taking the 1965 Volvo 122S and the 1971 Jaguar E-type S3 V12 to the Oregon coast. My daughter, Alex, drove one of the cars, and my son, Bradley was a co-pilot. Both cars failed at the end of the trip. The pair got […]

“Scraping! Your tailpipe is scraping!” That’s what my daughter Alex was shouting at me as we pulled into a parking lot in Astoria, Oregon. The adventure we had planned seemed simple enough. My daughter, Alex, and her partner, Ross, would take our 1965 Volvo 122S. Bradley would join me in […]