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1959 Ferrari 250 GT SWB “Competition” Berlinetta Speciale
The 250 GT SWB was an automobile that could be driven to the racetrack, easily decimate the competition, and then be driven home. Although there were detail differences from car to car, the 250 GT SWB was fundamentally a standardized design. However, that did not stop the demand for custom coachwork. Six chassis utilized custom…
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1969 Land Rover Series IIA “Air-Portable”
Always designed with strength, mechanical simplicity and durability in mind, Land Rovers have often been the vehicles of choice for individuals looking to take a trip on the road less traveled. Over its 65-year history, the company built up a well-respected name by manufacturing the finest off-road vehicles money could buy for both individual and…
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1973 Maserati Bora 4.9 Coupe
The highlight of the 1971 Geneva Salon was undoubtedly the sensational new Maserati Bora. With the Bora’s introduction, the great Modenese manufacturer followed other supercar constructors in going mid-engined, while at the same time abandoning its traditional tubular chassis technology in favor of unitary construction. Named after an Adriatic wind, the Bora was the work…
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Grooming the Young Collectors
There’s no question that America’s love affair with the car has changed dramatically. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal regularly report on the decline of numbers of driver’s licenses among young people, of fewer miles being driven and declining sales figures of new cars. This lack of interest in driving is even more…
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Lawsuit Has a Bearing on Porsche Owners
Since a 2001 Porsche Boxster S resides in the “Legal Files” garage, this letter from noted Porsche authority Pete Zimmermann caught my attention: Dear Legal Files: It appears that Porsche has a problem. A really big problem. All because of a bearing, to be exact, an IMS (Intermediate Shaft) bearing. That bearing is an internal…
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Appreciation Replaces Depreciation
Although enthusiasts may argue over the true definition of “classic” as applied to automobiles, perhaps we can all agree on one criterion: If at some point in the car’s lifetime it stops depreciating — its market price stops declining — and the price then levels off and begins to rise, then the market has just…
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1985 Audi Quattro Sport SWB Coupe
One of the most influential designs of recent decades, the Audi Quattro brought four-wheel drive into the motoring mainstream. Introduced in 1980, the Quattro was based on the outwardly similar coupe’s body shell but used a different floor pan to accommodate its four-wheel-drive transmission and independent rear suspension. Phenomenally fast and sure-footed on the road,…
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1966 Shelby GT350 H Fastback
This Shelby GT350 H underwent a complete frame-on restoration and has the original body paint. Over $150,000 was invested in this car. Shelby produced 1,003 of these cars. Today, the GT350 H has taken its place among the most sought-after Shelbys of all time, and with only 1,001 being built, they’re considerably rarer than the…
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1970 & 1975 Alfa Romeo Tipo
This month I’m going to write the Race Profile a little differently, because we’re looking at two Alfa Romeo T 33 racing cars that, although both are T 33s, in fact share little more than the lineage and the manufacturer’s logo. So it seems most useful to dispense with the customary catalog introduction and instead…
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1972 Ferrari 246 GT Dino Berlinetta
The need for a production-based engine for Formula 2 led to the introduction of a “junior” Ferrari — the Dino 206 GT — at the Turin Motor Show in 1967. Building on experience gained with its Dino 206S sports racer, Ferrari retained the racer’s mid-engined layout for the road car but installed the power unit…