Blogs
-
Keith’s Blog: Why I’m Not Buying a Lancia
I’ve owned well over 500 cars during the past 40 years. If I really got serious about counting them, I might reach 1,000. They have ranged from ’62 Nova Wagons to Plymouth Superbirds to Ferrari 330 Americas to BMW Isettas. There wasn’t a car that I couldn’t talk myself into. As Miles Collier noted, my…
-
Keith’s Blog: It’s The Little Stuff That Makes You Crazy — Fettling Two Alfas
I made two round trips to Jefferson, Oregon last week. That’s where “Hooligan Racing,” Bill Gillham’s restoration shop, is located — 63 miles south of Portland. I’ve been taking Alfas to Gillham for over 30 years, my first being the ex-Ivan Zaremba 1967 Duetto owned by my college friend Arthur Levy. When Arthur was deciding on a car to drive from…
-
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?…
-
Keith’s Blog: Buy – Learn – Repent – Move on
I’ve bought and sold a lot of cars over the years. They tended to come in bunches. There was an MG period, then a Porsche period, then a Rover period and so on. Some more-disciplined collectors have a linear approach. For example, having one car of each year of Corvette production. That’s never appealed to…
-
Keith’s Blog: The La Jolla Concours d’Elegance Raises the Bar
If location, location, location is the mantra for real estate, it’s the location, the cars and the people for car shows. Seven years ago, when I was emcee at my first La Jolla concours, the show was called the La Jolla Motorcar Classic. It was a good event at that time, but it wasn’t quite…
-
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…
-
Keith’s Blog: Happy 59th Birthday to the Sprint!
On April 3, 1958 my Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce rolled off the assembly line. Six days later it was sold to a dealer in Switzerland. Its history is lost from then until about 30 years ago when it was found sitting, not running and with the nose punched in, at the side of the…
-
Keith’s Blog: 40 Under 40 Nominations Closing Soon
Take a moment right now and nominate people you know who are enthusiastic about old cars — and under 40 years of age. Nominations close April 15, and we will feature the results in SCM’s October issue. Nominees can be involved in any aspect of the old car world — from buying, selling, detailing, repairing,…
-
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…
-
Keith’s Blog: Join The SCM Dash Across America in a Bradley GT!
SCM is inviting you on our latest madcap adventure. As we announced in the April issue of SCM, we’ve purchased a most inconsequential old car — a Bradley GT. This mostly forgotten VW-based kit car was most notable for its gullwing doors. However, it is unlikely to be confused with a Mercedes 300SL. The car…