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Columns
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1982 Corvette Collector Edition
Patterned after Larry Shinoda’s “Shark II” prototype, the third-generation Chevrolet Corvette production run started in 1968 and continued with few aesthetic modifications through the 1982 model year. The final year of the C3 car offered factory “Cross-Fire” electronic fuel injection that gave them a boost for the first time in many years. The twin throttle…
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1996 Corvette Grand Sport Coupe
This 1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is number 127 of 1,000 1996 Grand Sports produced. In addition to the 350-ci, 330-horsepower LT4 engine and 6-speed manual transmission, this particular vehicle is equipped with the F45 Selective Real Time Damping suspension system—and power driver and passenger seats. It is all original and unmolested, except for replacement…
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2003 Corvette 50th Anniversary Edition Coupe
The all-original 50th Anniversary Corvette coupe offered here incorporates the 1SC Equipment group, combining the Anniversary package with special Indianapolis 500 Pace Car graphics over Xirallic Crystal Red paint, special fender emblems and Champagne-colored aluminum wheels—identical to that used on the official pace car. This 4-speed automatic-equipped coupe has been driven just 725 miles and…
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A Ferrari 328 with Needs is a Friend’s Bad Deed
My column takes a slightly different tack this month, as SCMer Aaron Greenburg sent in this letter asking for some advice on a 1988 Ferrari 328: I’m interested in trying to put a value on a Ferrari 328 that I inspected the other day. The car in question is a 1988 targa, white over black,…
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A Fiat or a Ferrari?
The foibles of “production” car racing and homologation rules have given rise to some rather interesting machinery over the years. Nutty Plymouth Superbirds and road-going Ford GT40s are at one end of the spectrum, and Ferrari’s first V6 engine is at the other. Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari envisioned the V6 as an ideal Formula 2 engine…
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Cracking Ferrari’s Enigma Codes
In my October column, I wrote that the factory laptop used to diagnose electrical and mechanical systems of modern Ferraris does not give definitive answers to problems. Instead, the computer merely gives a list of as many as 1,500 options and possibilities. To understand how this situation came about, let’s begin with a brief history…
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Who Pays When a Mechanic Crashes your Car?
It’s not a good day when your mechanic calls and says, “Uh, I’m not sure how to say this, but I had a little accident with your car.” It’s even worse when your car is a 2006 Ford GT Heritage that had been modified to a “Twin Turbo.” (On the Internet, some claim the value…
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When is a Bentley Speed Six Not a Speed Six?
The High Court in London has recently given judgment in the case of Brewer vs. Stanley Mann, Fortis Lease UK Limited and Stanley Mann Racing Limited. The judgment emphasizes the importance of accuracy when giving sale descriptions of collector cars. The judge’s finding, heavily in favor of the private buyer and against the seller, raises…
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James Bond’s Car of the 1970s
Some companies can lock one label into the consumer’s mind. This is especially true in the auto industry. Volvos are safe, Subarus are sensible, Saabs are odd and Lotuses are lightweights. Lotus mastermind Colin Chapman’s philosophy seemed to consist of omitting, thinning and paring—until the car collapsed on itself—and then put back the last thing…
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1963 Porsche Diesel Standard Model 217 Tractor
Granted, rallies and track days are pretty much out of the question, but you can still have a field day with a Porsche-Diesel—literally Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s wide-ranging interests in all things mechanical—and practical—led him to include designs for farm tractors in his project portfolio beginning in the 1930s. As with all things from Dr. Porsche’s…