Archives
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1989 ZR-1 Pre-Production Coupe
This car is one of 84 1989 ZR-1s built and never released to the public. It was used for media events and auto shows and is sold on a salvage title. As with all Heritage Collection cars, this vehicle will be conveyed to the buyer with a “salvage” title. The buyer is responsible for ensuring…
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1999 Callaway C12 Speedster
Reeves Callaway has built a reputation for producing some of the most sophisticated and advanced Corvette-based sports cars. Introduced in 1998, Callaway’s C12 continued this legacy. Designed, developed and constructed by two top German engineering and development companies, Callaway and IVM, the C12 was intended as a bespoke, high-performance car that offered its occupants a…
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2006 Daytona 500 Z06 Pace Car
This 2006 Daytona 500 Corvette Z06 Pace Car is one of three identical Z06 Pace Cars that were built to support the 2006 Daytona 500 race, and which carry a unique paint scheme designed by the GM Design Staff for the Daytona 500 that year. This Pace Car has been in the GM Heritage Collection…
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Personalized Road Jewelry
Today’s vintage and collectible Ferrari buyers are usually male Baby Boomers in their late 50s or early 60s who have owned many cars, from Alfa to Zagato, over many decades. They can have one to a dozen or more collector cars, and their Ferraris are usually the top of the food chain in their collection.…
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Defining the Pre-Purchase Inspection
Last month’s column detailed a threatened $182,000 lawsuit against a Ferrari shop because of decades-old damage to a 37-year-old car, which was discovered but not mentioned to the would-be buyer during a $300 pre-purchase inspection. The many lawyers I spoke with all declared that any claim against the shop would focus on whether there was…
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Pre-Purchase Ferrari Inspection Becomes $182k Lawsuit
In November 2005, I wrote a column entitled “The Punch of Deferred C/4 Maintenance… And How I Leaned Into It,” regarding a 365 GTC/4, s/n 14965, that we had sold to Hawaii and bought back 21 years later. This C/4 was a poster child for deferred maintenance, and we paid the price when the repair…
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1961 “Big John” Mazmanian Drag Car
While drag racing gained popularity nationwide through the 1950s, its epicenter was Southern California. There, speed and engineering prowess often went hand in hand with beauty and mechanical excellence. Spurred on by fellow car club members, parts availability, and a growing performance-oriented group of periodicals, racers began to gravitate toward a more serious trend in…
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1965 327/300 Convertible
Corvette collectors will find this 1965 327 convertible almost irresistible. Forty-five years after it was ordered new with the popular 327/300 L75 engine and Powerglide transmission, it remains unrestored, except for a single repaint in its original Milano Maroon. The car arrived from the factory nicely outfitted with power steering and power disc brakes—the first…
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1969 427/400 Coupe
The 1968 C3 Corvette was derived from Larry Shinoda’s Mako Shark show car. For 1969, there were small visual differences—principally the word Stingray added to the front fenders, and the door release mechanism was designed around what was a finger hold in 1968, eliminating the separate release button. Troublesome teething issues were more or less…
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1992 ZR-1 Coupe
The 1992 model year represented the third year of the ZR-1, with its Lotus-designed, 375-horsepower, 32-valve, 4-cam engine. ZR-1 emblems were added to the front fenders above the vents, instrument face plates and buttons were changed to black from gray-black, and the digital speedometer was relocated above the fuel gauge. Three new colors were introduced…