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2005 Ford GT Coupe
In 1962, Henry Ford II, keen to add some racing luster to his company, started negotiations to buy Ferrari. The deal never happened, so Ford decided to build his own race-bred car. That car was the incomparable icon GT40, created in England in 1964 and capable of over 200 mph. Victory followed four times in…
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1924 Bentley 3/4½ Liter Sports
Recipe: Take a good 3-liter Red Label Bentley chassis, mix in a good 4½-liter engine, gearbox, and transmission and add a light body with accessories to taste. The result is a motorcar which, while still retaining a good vintage flavor, possesses a performance equaled by few other machines even of the most modern and expensive…
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1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Farina Coupe
The Ferrari 166 Inter was the road version of the 166 MM racing model, and 37 were produced between 1948 and 1950. The “166” referred to the displacement of a single cylinder in cubic centimeters, and twelve cylinders equaled 1,992 cc. The Colombo-designed and Lampredi-developed engines had twin distributors and coil ignition with a single…
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1901 Argyll Spindle Seat Rear-Entrance Tonneau
Scotsman Alexander Govan obtained financial backing from Warren Smith of the National Telegraph Company in 1899 and designed and built his first voiturette using De Dion and MMC engines. A vertical, single-cylinder engine was forward mounted, driving through a 3-speed gearbox with shaft drive to a live rear axle. A distinctive wrap-around radiator cooled on…
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1963 ATS 2500 GT 3.0 Coupe
ATS, or Automobili Turismo e Sport SpA, was an Italian carmaker and racing team that operated briefly between February 1962 and 1965. The nucleus of the new company was comprised of Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, who were both involved in the development of the Ferrari GTO and, as refugees from the infamous Ferrari “Palace…
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Can California’s Amnesty Help You With Your Replica?
Maybe, if you have a valid out-of-state title for a modern kit car and can get an SB 100 “free pass”-but don’t try it with a “Born-Again” post-1967 Mini Legal Files” was recently contacted by an SCM subscriber who thought the current economic climate made this the right time to buy a replica 1965 Ford…
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Dashing Euro Dreams
One of the side effects of the worst economic downturn in many decades has been a weak U.S. dollar. As the dollar has declined over the last 18 months, the asking prices of American-based collector cars suddenly look like bargains, at least when compared to asking prices in Europe. There is logic to this perception.…
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Unaffordable Classic: The Purchase Price is Just the Beginning
A look at the photos of the rusty 1953 Lancia Aurelia GT, sold by Bonhams at Olympia, in London, on December 7, 2009, for $26,082, sent a rush of emotions through my head. The first was admiration for the brave soul who would commit to such an ambitious project. Let’s hope he is well versed…
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Pleasure and Punishment, Collector Car Style
With this February issue, we are now well into the 22nd year of Sports Car Market. Twenty-two is my lucky number. My birthday falls on the 22nd, and my race cars have always been numbered 22. When we first started SCM in our basement, as the four-page mimeographed Alfa Romeo Market Letter, we never imagined…
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1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL AMG Coupe
The original Mercedes-Benz 300SL is rightly regarded as one of the most brilliant and iconic sports cars of the 20th century. Representing a fusion of competition success with elegance and inspired design, the 300SL, in Coupe or Roadster form, is one of the most coveted automobiles on today’s collector car market. So why was this…