Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Columns
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1968 Lotus 51R
Even if another road racer comes along claiming to be the Flower Power car, this one wears the right chassis and registration numbers {vsig}2009-7_2346{/vsig} Formula Ford was introduced in Great Britain in 1967 as a new form of poor man’s motor racing. Written into its regulations was the requirement for commercially built FFs to be…
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1999 Ferrari 355 F1 Spider
A 3.5-liter V8 with titanium rods, five-valve cylinder heads, and a 180-degree crankshaft gave 380 hp at 8,500 rpm In the 1970s, Ferrari changed the Berlinetta formula from two-passenger front-engine V12s to a mid-engine V8, with the introduction of the 308 GT. This basic formula evolved over the years as technology advanced, but it took…
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1961 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II Ex-Donald Healey
Graham Robson remembers the car in BMC’s U.K. press fleet, but there’s no mention of Donald Healey having a Mk II as “a personal car” Introduced in 1961, the Mk II version of Austin-Healey’s highly successful 3000 model was visually distinguished by its vertical radiator grille bars and revised front air intake. Sharing the same…
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1905 Gardner-Serpollet 18hp Type L Steamer
A growing audience is succumbing to the lure of early steamers, resulting in some remarkable transactions {vsig}2009-7_2342{/vsig} When eccentric collector George Milligen died in 2004, his family kept one of his cars when the others were sold. Five years later, they have decided to sell George’s 1905 Gardner-Serpollet Type L steam car, only one of…
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Nethercutt Slander Suit Fizzles
To rub salt in the wound, the appellate court rejected the Plaintiff’s arguments that he should get a new trial A few years ago, I was in Los Angeles for a professional conference and had a free day, so I visited the Nethercutt Museum in nearby Sylmar. The museum is owned and operated by The…
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Ferrari: The Myth of Low Miles
Columns beget further columns, and my June story, “When 25 Miles Doesn’t Matter,” which dealt with an Enzo that had crossed the magic 1,000-mile mark, resulted in a flurry of emails regarding the desirability vs. the perils of ultra-low-mile Ferraris. I’m amazed at how many would-be Ferrari buyers have an odometer fetish, a Freudian pursuit…
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Ferrari 400: Sensible Italian Shoes?
Buy a Ferrari 400 with needs and you may as well start thinking about ways to improve on Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme The mid 1970s were cruel to the entire auto industry, and the Italian exotics were particularly hard hit. Punitive taxes, fuel shortages, and a general reluctance to consume conspicuously put Maserati and Lamborghini…
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1961 283/315 Big-Brake Fuelie
At first it seemed like the big changes for Corvette in 1961 were the body, particularly at the rear, with a sharp beltline cutoff and near-Kamm-style tail with exhaust tips dropped below the body. With it, Corvette introduced the four-taillight arrangement that established an identifying feature that is still seen on Corvettes nearly five…
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1966 427/425 Coupe
At first glance, one might think this is just another nicely restored big-block Corvette. But that perspective is to be significantly altered with the realization that this is a 15,000-mile original car that wears its original paint and interior. Chip Miller was, and still is, widely considered one of the most influential innovators of…
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1968 Scuderia Filipinetti L88 Coupe
The Greder Corvette, s/n 410300, holds a unique place in Le Mans history, not only as one of the most successful, and well-traveled, Corvette race cars in the world, but also as the survivor of one of Chevrolet’s “back door” racing programs, managed and implemented by Zora Arkus-Duntov. The central figure is Henri Greder.…