Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Blogs
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Jim’s Blog: Prepping for Parade Duty
The 4th of July is prime car time. If you own an old car, chances are you’ll be adorning it with a flag or two and taking it out this Thursday. But will it be ready for slow-speed cruising in the heat of summer? Here are a couple of things to check before you hit…
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Keith’s Blog: Four Coupes and Three Garage Spaces
I’ve got a dilemma. Due to my profligate purchasing of Alfas, I now have more cars than I have spaces at SCM World Headquarters. Something has to go. I was counting cars the other night (a favorite hobby of mine), and realized I have four Alfas coupes and a 4-door sedan — plus two convertibles.…
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Jim’s Blog: Three Favorites at Mecum Portland
Portland may not be one of Mecum’s bigger auctions, but it tends to bring in a bunch of interesting cars from all over the northwest. This year’s sale just wrapped on Saturday, and ACC was there to cover cars at the sale for an upcoming issue. Complete results are still pending. In the meantime, here…
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Keith’s Blog: Buying the GTV
Eight years ago, on June 18, 2011, I was sitting in my office cleaning off my desk. I was about to throw away a three-month old copy of the local Alfa Romeo Club Newsletter, “Alfa Bits.” An ad for a Daytona Blue 1967 GTV caught my attention. It had a 1750 engine and an upgraded…
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Jim’s Blog: When Was the Last Classic Built?
I hear a lot of car people lament that the last classic car was built in 1973. I don’t agree. “Classic” is technically defined as “Serving as a standard of excellence: of recognized value.” There’s nothing there to limit production years on cars. I think that comes from the definition of “antique” as it relates…
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Keith’s Blog: 10 Years with Land Rovers
According to my notes, on June 18, 2009 — 10 years ago — I bought a 1973 Land Rover Series III 88. The crude-but-entertaining 88 was the beginning of our exploration of the world of Rovers. The Rover saga started with the 2009 annual Porsche Northwest Passage 1,000-mile tour. I was driving our 2002 Boxster…
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Jim’s Blog: Are GM’s C/K Trucks on the Way Up?
Built from 1988 to 1998, GM’s C/K pickup has traditionally been viewed as nothing more than a basic taskmaster. Other than a few special editions, such as the 454SS and the Indy Pace Truck, car people have not considered these trucks all that special. But with a rising interest in 1967-72 GM trucks helping to…
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Keith’s Blog: Bye-Bye Bugeye
As I wrote in my last column, I have decided that it is time for the SCM Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite to go. I’ll be sad to see it leave, as we have done so much to make it exactly the excellent driver that we wanted. At the same time, chances are it will go to…
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Keith’s Blog: Summer and the SCM Fleet
“Value in use.” That’s always been the motto of the cars in the SCM collection. What’s the point in having classic cars if you are not going to use them? Most of the SCM cars were built more than 50 years ago. They were never designed to be in service this many years after they…
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Jim’s Blog: How Old Are Your Tires?
Most of us know that gas has an expiration date. We typically say that oil should be changed at least twice a year. But when’s the last time you considered the age of your tires? If you’re lucky, you might put a couple thousand miles per year on your classic. Unless you’re doing burnouts the…