Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Columns
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2008 Maserati MC12 Corsa
Built as an edition of only twelve examples, this was to be an exclusive model for use at Maserati-supported track days, similar to Ferrari’s FXX program {vsig}2009-9_2363{/vsig} The MC12 marked Maserati’s re-entry into the ultra-exclusive supercar market and international racing scene. A tangible symbol of Maserati engineering and a worthy descendant of the company’s greatest…
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1958 AC Ace Bristol Roadster
The Ace retains a poise that’s absent from its meatier derivative, offering high-geared steering, enough body roll to orient the driver, and a firm brake pedal Introduced in October 1953, the AC Ace was essentially a reworked version of LOY 500, the handsome John Tojeiro-designed sports racer with which motor trader Cliff Davis had notched…
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1958 AC Ace Bristol Roadster
Introduced in October 1953, the AC Ace was essentially a reworked version of LOY 500, the handsome John Tojeiro-designed sports racer with which motor trader Cliff Davis had notched up six wins and four seconds that season (in addition to placing 9th overall at the Goodwood Nine Hours). Lured into collaboration with the Thames Ditton…
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1970 Alfa GTA 1300 Junior
Photos make it clear this is no historic relic, but rather a current weapon of mass destruction Introduced in 1966, the GTA (the “A” stood for alleggerita, or lightened) was the official competition version of the Giulia Sprint GT. The model was produced in road and race variants, the latter, as usual, being the responsibility…
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Provenance As an Asset: A New Issue for the Taxman
We are addressing provenance created by the owner after a car’s acquisition, and whether the costs involved can be used to reduce the gain on the sale Many collectors are selling cars they have owned for several years, often for substantially more money than they paid for them. In many cases, they purchased these cars…
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Cautious Buyers Raising the Bar
As readers of SCM know, my day job is finding new homes for old Ferraris. Over the many years I’ve been involved with the market, I’ve seen it undergo several permutations. Now, the digital revolution has really hit the market full force, and it’s changing the ways cars are marketed-not just for me, but for…
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Beach Blanket Bimbos
Association with the glamour of the Riviera of the 1960s and people like Aristotle Onassis can make people do silly things at auction Beach cars are frivolous, slow, and silly, but they’re cute as hell, and in the case of Fiat and Renault Jollys, the association with the glamour of the Riviera of the 1960s…
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Predilections and Predictions
July is an oddly quiet month in the collector car world. While there are auctions going on, vintage car shamans are still picking apart the results of the RM Maranello ($28.4m), Bonhams Monaco ($6.2m), and Mecum Indy ($33.6m) sales. And through those results, they are attempting to cast their stones and predict what will happen…
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1980 BMW M1 Coupe
This was an extraordinary result, greater than the next highest street M1 sale on record by nearly 50% A proposed Group 5 “Silhouette Formula” for production-based cars triggered the M1 program in the mid-1970s, a mid-engined concept car designed in-house at BMW by Paul Bracq providing the basis. Ex-racing driver Jochen Neerpasch was responsible for…
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1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Z16 Prototype
It’s quite possible the Z16 was the first Chevrolet product to be powered by the legendary big-block, beating its counterparts by a few weeks The early success of other GM division big-block cars pushed Chevrolet to pump up the power in its 1965 Chevelle in a big way, stuffing the smallish mid-sized mainstay with the…