Collecting Thoughts

When I figured out that the wrecking yard in Pennsylvania had a genuine Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth sitting on its crowded lot of discarded junkers, my next course of action after arranging for enclosed transport was to locate a manila folder. In it went the crummy, low-res photos of a beige sedan with its iconic…

I  know this is a bad idea. I understand this is not the smart thing to do when buying an old car. SCM’s John Draneas, in his many excellent “Legal Files” columns, warns us. I have read those words and completely agree. Yet here we are, doing something I know is wrong. This is not…

If there is a heaven for car enthusiasts, it will look very much like the Goodwood Revival. It’s a perfect alchemy of history, performance, variety and good beer. Plus, you might bump into Sir Jackie Stewart, and who doesn’t dream about that? The truth is, if you’ve been a gearhead for any length of time,…

This coming September, I will be sending my precious and rare unrestored 1964 Abarth-Simca 2 Mila Corsa Short Nose to the Duke of Richmond’s motorsports soirée, the Goodwood Revival. Alert readers will immediately recognize that this is the self-same Goodwood Revival defined by “racing, red in tooth and claw.” There may be old cars there,…

I recently took a drive with a friend who works as a mechanic at a high-end shop in Southern California. He told me a cautionary tale about a customer who bought an older Ferrari with a sheaf of maintenance receipts, including a recent major service at another specialist in the area. The customer brought the car…

The words “Ferrari” and “affordable” are usually mutually exclusive. But for the lucky demographic with a spare $100,000 or so (for what will be at best a second car or a Cars & Coffee weekend toy), there are a surprising number of Ferraris built over the past seven decades that are indeed affordable. In the…

We have previously looked at factory heritage programs available from many European automakers (“Collecting Thoughts,” April 2023). From Aston Martin to Porsche, owners can send their collector cars back to the mothership for verification and, in some cases, factory restoration. Now as Japanese collector cars increase in value, a similar-yet-distinct set of services are becoming…

The collector car hobby has witnessed sweeping changes and staggering growth over the past decade. Once a cottage industry, the collector car market has transitioned into a legitimate global business. Many smaller companies have enjoyed rapid growth and have garnered the attention and admiration of much larger publicly listed and private equity-backed global firms. The…

Back again we went, for the fourth post-pandemic-cancellation Monterey Car Week. It was, as they say, “bigger and better than ever.” Crowds were thicker, traffic was a nightmare, and hotels engaged in their expected price gouging. The cars, however, never disappoint. This year they again made up for all the deficiencies of the humanity crowded…