Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
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The Rattling Road to Reno
My first car was a 1959 Bug Eye Sprite that I bought in 1966, on the day I turned 16 and got my license. The Bug Eye was just seven years old at the time. Today, we think nothing of buying a seven-year-old car—doesn’t 2004 sound like new? But back then, a seven-year-old sports car…
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1975 BMW 3.0 CSL “Batmobile”
In 1968, BMW launched the 2500 saloon, and it was this car that gave birth to a string of elegant coupes that peaked with the CSL “Batmobile.” The first such model was the 2800CS, and with independent suspension, taut chassis and a 170-horsepower engine, it was an attractive candidate for circuit racing. While the factory…
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1929 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe
The Model J Duesenberg has long been regarded as the most outstanding example of design and engineering of the Classic Era. It was introduced in 1929, and trading was halted on the New York Stock Exchange for the announcement. At $8,500 for the chassis alone, it was by far the most expensive car in America.…
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1960 Faccioli Tipo BF Formula Racer
Bologna-based engineer Aldo Faccioli started out in 1947 when his OSFA workshop (Officina Specializza Faccioli Aldo) designed, developed, and built 750-cc specials based on the Fiat 500 chassis fitted with the Lancia Ardea engine. The subsequently named OFSA/Lancia spider achieved numerous top-five finishes throughout the 1950s. In 1960, racing driver Massimo Bondi commissioned Faccioli to…
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1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Shooting Brake
While the car’s presence is an asset to any event, it is not a factory-authorized build, which makes it ineligible for judging at many shows Introduced in 1968 with production beginning in 1969, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona was Ferrari’s response to an evolving market and changing regulations in the United States. Compared to Ferrari’s earlier…
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1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series II Sports Saloon
Classically proportioned and instantly recognizable from the moment of its introduction in 1958, the Touring-styled DB4 established a look that would survive, with only minor revisions, until 1970. A new design by Tadek Marek, the DB4’s all-alloy, twin-overhead-camshaft 6-cylinder engine featured “square” bore and stroke dimensions of 92 mm for a displacement of 3,670cc and…
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1969 Lamborghini Islero S
One of the least-known Lamborghini models, the Islero GT is generally agreed to be the company’s hidden gem. Only 226 were built—including 100 of the powerful “S” editions—and the model was named after the legendary bull that killed Manolete, the best matador in the world. Ferruccio Lamborghini himself even drove an Islero. The Islero was…
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Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
I felt like I had entered a tinkerer’s medieval blacksmith shop. Vintage Gran Prix Bugattis from the 1920s and ’30s were strewn haphazardly about the courtyard of the tony Chaminade Resort and Spa in Santa Cruz, CA, and seemingly half of them were being taken apart and put back together. The tap, tap, tap of…
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1957 Corvette 283/283 Airbox Convertible
In the world of 1957 Corvettes, there are Fuelies and then there are Airboxes. Fuelie, of course, is collector-speak for fuel injection, which was a brand-new and milestone status for 1957 Corvettes. The collector’s term “Airbox” refers to fuel injection plus factory Ram Air, which was a brand-new feature that was meant to pump up…
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1967 Corvette 427/435 Convertible
In 1967, the big-block Corvette was king of the road. Brutally fast, with nimble handling and stopping power to match with four-wheel disc brakes, Corvette truly earned the title “America’s Sports Car.” Yes, it was expensive, but the Corvette was the car for buyers who wanted speed, and for the all-out performance addict, there was…