Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
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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…
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1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air IV Convertible
Pontiac’s 1970 Ram Air IV GTO Judge convertibles are so rare that, for any genuine Pontiac enthusiast, seeing one today is an event in itself. Only 17 were built, twelve are known to exist today, and only six were optioned with a 400 Turbo Hydra-Matic transmission. The L76 Ram Air IV engine, which became available…
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2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Coupe, 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster
By the mid 1990s, there was growing interest at Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in returning to an ultra-exclusive form of racing featuring homologated race cars in the tradition of the great Gran Turismo cars of yesteryear. The result was the FIA GT Championship, which commenced in 1997 to great fanfare. Mercedes-Benz and AMG entered the top-level…
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1989 Ferrari 328 GTS Targa
Representing the second generation of Ferrari’s V8-engined road cars, the entirely new 308 GTB debuted at the Paris Salon in 1975. This model line began in 1973 with the Dino-badged 308 GT4 2+2. The GT4’s wedge styling was not well received, but the performance of the midship-mounted, DOHC 3-liter V8 certainly was. Built on a…
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1954 Jaguar XK 120 SE Drophead Coupe
This XK 120 drophead coupe is number 266 of just 294 right-hand-drive examples (out of 1,769 DHC cars) produced. The drophead model run was from April 1953 to August 1954. Equipped with the “SE” option package and C-type cylinder head, this example sports the 3/8-inch lift cams, lightened flywheel and damper, dual exhausts, and wire…