Columns

Plan Ahead Before Bidding

You may avoid paying sales tax if you ship the car by common carrier to a non-sales-tax state “Legal Files” had a great time at the Scottsdale, AZ, kick-start to the 2011 auction season. Auctions are a popular place to buy your collector car. But to ensure that you are […]

1949 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta

The car had been undergoing Classiche certification, but the process was not complete at the time of the auction The Ferrari 166 MM is the definitive 1950s sports car configuration, with its smooth envelope body, long flowing hood and short tail. Named for the Mille Miglia race, it was created […]

1953 Fiat 8V Ghia Supersonic

This car is a stunning styling statement, a jet-age objet d’art very much of its time that has also proven timeless One of Ghia’s most famous designs, the Supersonic was not merely a brilliant fashion statement; it was, in many ways, the result of economic necessity. The two-seat sports car […]

1967 Jaguar E-type Series 1 Roadster Race Car

This month’s column is a tale with both tragic and cautionary threads for those who play in the vintage racing car hobby This Series 1 E-type roadster was purchased from its second owner in 2005 after being discovered in a garage where it had remained since the mid-1980s. The car […]

1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E 427 Coupe

This rare cat—the last Ford car equipped with the 427-ci engine—brought enough money to shake a few more of its kind onto the market Coming off winning Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award in 1967 with the Cougar, Mercury designers wanted to create something in 1968 that would set […]

A Well-Sorted MGB is a Great Start to Collecting

Much like Morgan fans remain to this day, the MG faithful of the 1950s were committed masochists. Fans of the T-Series cars were positively aghast when the envelope-bodied MGA replaced the TF. When the inevitable wheel of progress hit Abingdon-on-Thames once again in 1962, the faithful were horrified to find […]

A Princely Collection of Rotting Cars

The air conditioning was off, but the tropical sun was not, so the Ferraris and McLaren F1s sat and cooked Prince Jefri’s 550 Spider at Monaco Imagine seeing hundreds of high-end Ferraris, Lamborghinis and McLarens—many with hardly any miles on the odometer—rotting away in tropical heat and humidity. While much […]

Long-distance Car Deals Can Burn Money

Internet buyers think that when the car doesn’t meet their fantasy image they can return it for a full refund, just like sale pants at Nordstrom’s 1940 Ford Deluxe Convertible. Just redone by a well-known local shop. Beautifully restored with no expense spared. All aspects are correct and highly-detailed. Undercarriage […]

Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupes All Over the Arizona Map

1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe, Lot 284 at RM Auctions Phoenix, sold for $544,500, including premium A full-bore restoration project, an all-out bidder’s war and a nicely restored car blow the Gullwing market around like desert sand Chassis number: 4500049Engine number: 4500052 The prices for 300SL Gullwings were all over the […]

1958 Corvette 283/245 Convertible

For 1958, only 190 Corvettes had the Panama Yellow paint with white contrasting coves combination, making this a very rare car. Even more rare, this car was ordered without a radio or heater. Its period-correct 283/245 engine is now equipped with a single carburetor, but a dual-carburetor setup goes with […]