Blogs

After spending three weeks talking to gurus and posting on social media about this issue, I’ve come to the following conclusion: I am going to put our two-owner 1972 Mercedes-Benz 250C onto Bring a Trailer with a speedometer that reads slow. We bought this car specifically to prepare for the SCM 1000 and similar long-distance…

Twenty years ago, there were really only two places to show off your cars. The first was at a concours, the second was generally a national meeting of a club. In these nascent, pre-internet days, national meets of clubs were a big deal. For we Alfa guys, they were often the only chance we would…

It’s a tradition to have an SCM car or two in the local Porsche Club’s Northwest Passage Tour. Its 40-car entry list is made up of mostly late-model Porsches. However, I have driven our Lotus Elise on the tour and one year we entered a trio of Alfa Romeos with our GTV, Duetto and Giulia…

Now that the SCM Duetto has moved on to a new home, the thinning of the herd continues. The next two cars that will go are the two-owner 1972 Mercedes 250C and the 1982 Corvette C3 Collector’s Edition. That brings up an interesting question. Just how much do you “fix” before you list a car…

So the first thing we were served at the Summer Car Classic was not actually champagne, but a refreshing, bubbly rosé. It was followed by full-bodied chardonnay before we moved on to pinot noir, and then a rich red blend. What a great way to start a car show. The excellent wines from Domaine Serene…

I was watching an interview of Wayne Carini by SCM contributor Philip Richter. In it, Wayne mentions that this will be his 40th time going to Pebble Beach and Monterey. I’ve been more than 30 times, myself, and have a secret place to go to that I want to share. If viewed through a telescope,…

Amelia Island Concours Founder Bill Warner recently sent us a picture of himself and his copy of Sports Car Market. He added the comments, “SCM is the pulse of the collector car culture. Every page is educational. Legal Files columnist John Draneas’ articles have priceless information and advice. I would not miss a single issue.”…

The SCM 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto is currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer. Part of what I like most about the BaT experience are the questions that get asked by the auction watchers. Several have commented about the overspray (from the long-ago respray) on the underside of the car, under the hood…

We just had the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 out for a 4th of July parade. We hadn’t had the fancy tonneau cover that goes over the folded top on the car in a couple of years. Consequently, we had to stretch it to fit and consequently pulled a couple of snaps loose. Once it…

There’s been a lot of buzz about classic English sports cars recently. Most notably, some Austin Healey 3000s that used to be able to crack $125k are now selling for half that online. I grew up with these cars; my first two roadsters were a Bug Eye Sprite and an MGA, so I will always…