Three factory-built Corvette L88s left the St. Louis plant for delivery to James Garner’s Los Angeles-based American International Racing (AIR) team in November 1967. These Le Mans Blue convertibles were the first production models featuring the new L88 engine with first-generation closed-chamber aluminum heads. The cars were actually picked up […]
The catalog notes on the 1992 turquoise ZR-1 that sold at Mecum’s Bloomington Gold auction in June were brief to the point of terse, but they said everything that needed to be said: “Lingenfelter 475 hp package, 3.92 performance gears, Borla SS exhaust, Wilwood 6-piston brakes, FX3 suspension, dual removable […]
The 1997 model year remains the single most radically changed Corvette in history. Even with the transition from the C1 to the C2 in 1963 and the C3 to the C4 in 1984, the same engines were carried over from previous years. But with the introduction of the C5, everything […]
In 1988, I had just finished a stint as a sales manager for Ferrari dealer Ron Tonkin at his Portland Gran Turismo store, and was beginning to sell collector cars, by the container-full, to the then-hot European market. While at the GT store, I had discovered Gerald Roush’s Ferrari Market […]
At its launch, the 300SL cost more than twice the price of a Jaguar XK 140. Today, it’s worth about four times as much Mercedes-Benz returned to postwar competition in 1952, fielding two of its new 300SL (W194) sports cars in the Mille Miglia. The pair finished a creditable 2nd […]
Mercedes-Benz returned to postwar competition in 1952, fielding two of its new 300SL (W194) sports cars in the Mille Miglia. The pair finished a creditable 2nd and 4th overall in this most difficult of events, and the promising start was followed up by a win in the challenging La Carrera […]
The aluminum heads had intakes that could swallow a tennis ball, which was great for 200-mph laps around Daytona {vsig}2008-9_2218{/vsig} In 1969, Ford introduced a limited-production model to the Mustang line. This addition was the Boss 429. It was the most powerful Mustang, and the name referred to its 429-ci […]
Estate sales can recirculate heretofore unobtainable cars, which-absent their owners’ passing-would have remained tucked away indefinitely {vsig}2008-9_2227{/vsig} Harry Miller’s name may not ring a bell as loudly as Ettore Bugatti’s, but Bugatti acquired Miller race cars to study before producing his first dual overhead camshaft engine in the Type 50 […]
If somebody out there has a GT40 and a Daytona Coupe in the same garage, please, let me live there. I promise to take good care of your cars {vsig}2008-9_2219{/vsig} To celebrate SCM’s 20th birthday, I hereby offer my take on a Top 20 list. The criteria were simple: I […]
“Prime Motoring Fool” Bob Sutherland took a savage pleasure in driving anything, but said his 340 Mexico was just too awful {vsig}2008-9_2223{/vsig} Intended primarily as a competition car for wealthy privateers, the 340 was directed specifically at a new and increasingly profitable market-the United States. Aptly named “America,” the 340 […]
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