Blogs
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Winter and the SCM Fleet
Our unseasonably long, hot summer is finally coming to an end. The temperatures today are in the 60s with overcast skies and a light drizzle. While this would be considered summer weather in my native San Francisco, here in Portland it’s time to start prepping for winter. I’ve begun shuffling the SCM fleet around, in…
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The Viper and the Alfa – Two Different Types of Snakes
As I’m still recovering from rotator-cuff surgery, I’ve become a passenger in the cars in the SCM collection. This weekend I rode in two of them: the 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce and the 2000 Dodge Viper GTS ACR. Aside from the snakes they each have in their logos, they have little in common…
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Is the Age of the Original Beater at Hand?
Editor’s Note: A buyer paid a record $583,000 for a very neglected 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach Auction. Did the sale — the highest-ever auction price for a 356A Speedster — signal a shift in values? Are non-restored cars now more valuable than restored cars? Miles Collier and Donald Osborne…
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Jim’s Blog: Cruising That Smartphone
Here at ACC, we spend a lot of time talking about the next generation, and for good reason: our kids are the future of our old car hobby. But the one thing that always seems to come up when older car guys start talking about kids is, frankly, something I’m tired of hearing about: the smartphone.…
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The Best First Sports Car
This is a question that comes up all the time. Sometimes I’m asked, “What’s the best first Alfa Romeo or Ferrari?” Other times it is just, “I’m thinking of getting into vintage sports cars. Which one would I have the most fun with?” There are many layers to these types of questions. My first answer…
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Bidding and Touring With One Good Arm
Mitch Silver was ready for me last Saturday at the Portland Expo Center. I asked if I could have a left-arm bidder’s paddle, and he said yes. Tuesday I’d had rotator-cuff surgery, and my right arm was in a sling. That wasn’t going to stop me from seeing if the collector car of my dreams…
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Jim’s Blog: First Car or Best Car?
My ’66 Caprice is ready to go whenever I want to use it. Trouble is, the realities of everyday life with a small kid, a job on the other side of town, and the finicky nature of a snarling carbureted big block limit how much I can use the car. So it sits in my…
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Two Alfas in the Shop, Four in the Garage – SCM Fleet Update
Fall is here. It’s time to start shuffling the SCM cars around, putting the convertibles away for the winter and making sure the coupes and sedans are ready to go. Here’s a quick look at the status of the cars in the SCM fleet: The 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce (pictured above) went to Bill Gillham’s for…
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Hitting Its Stride – The 2015 Pacific Northwest Concours
There’s something magical that happens when a performance comes together. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a brilliant performance of the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth, a breath-taking rendition of Puccini’s “Un bel di, vedremo” from “Madame Butterfly” or an explosive presentation of “Rocka My Soul” from Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations.” With an automotive event, the magic…
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Jim’s Blog: When do you DIY?
Old American cars are hard to kill. Park your Chevrolet or Ford for a year or so and you’ll see what I mean. Other than a dead battery, I’m willing to bet nothing bad will have happened, save for maybe some stale fuel. Charge it up, clean out the tank, and you’ll be on the…