Collecting Thoughts

“That’s a really valuable collector automobile.” Or, “This car will be a very important addition to a collection.” What do we really mean when we make such judgments? Whenever we go to shows, auctions, tours, and races, we hear these remarks. But have you ever wondered what goes into making a car important or valuable,…

Luftgekühlt is a one-day car show — of sorts — only for air-cooled Porsches. From afar, it appears as an “in-crowd, secret-handshake” event meant only for the most socially well-connected Porsche owners. The 2021 edition was held nearby in Indianapolis, IN, in September. My son Max got the bug to go, so I went along…

The 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance played host to a special class of Porsche 917 race cars. That this gathering — 50 years after the 917’s overall win at Le Mans in 1971 — would occur there, rather than in the paddock of some storied racing circuit, is significant. We spoke with Revs Institute founder…

I am obsessed with the Mille Miglia, so when I was pondering my next collector car, I set my sights on a ’50s-era Italian sports car. Immediately, I ran into a chicane: The top-tier cars were far north of my $150,000 budget. My search downshifted and I began chasing a few Stanguellinis, Bandinis and other…

If you’re of the age when new 1960s sports cars were on your bedroom posters, you surely remember Mr. Peabody. A Saturday morning cartoon favorite, this polymath dog and his pet boy, Sherman, used a time-traveling machine called the WABAC to go on entertaining and educational adventures. Because I’m a Baby Boomer, it’s this “technology”…

The collector-car world is experiencing a metamorphosis. Over the past six years, we have witnessed the maturation of the industry. The transition began in earnest when RM Auctions announced a strategic partnership with publicly traded Sotheby’s in 2015. Next, in 2020, media giant Hearst acquired Bring a Trailer for an undisclosed sum. Finally, now Hagerty…

One of the more jaw-dropping automotive transactions to occur in 2021 has to be the sale of James Dean’s Porsche 550 transaxle for $387,000 (including buyer’s premium) on Bring a Trailer. While the James Dean Porsche 550 story is well known in automobile collecting circles, a bit of background may be helpful so that the…

As I sat on the pre-race grid, I did the same thing I’ve done for 42 years while waiting for the race to start. I cinched up my helmet strap, tightened the seat belts and checked my mirrors. And worried about how the race might unfold. My 1964 Corvette was one of the few true…

I have vintage-raced for nearly half my life, judged at concours events from Lime Rock Park to Amelia Island, and restored more than 50 cars, including some fairly significant old race cars. I have also worked with vintage-race-car shops in most of the U.S. states as well is in Europe. Thanks to this experience, I…

We were recently witness to an amazing confluence of events, where two Corsica-bodied Bugatti Type 57S cars were auctioned within a month of each other. That both of these cars should come up for auction — and sell — is a strange twist of fate indeed. The first example offered was chassis 57512, at the…