Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
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1952 Allard Cadillac JR “Le Mans” Roadster
If hot rods had been invented in England, Sidney Allard would have been their originator. The first postwar production models of the Allard Motor Company featured American Ford flathead V8s, more often than not fitted with Sidney’s own alloy speed parts such as intake manifolds and cylinder heads. By the early 1950s, larger American OHV…
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Muscle in Monterey
The consensus among buyers is that they want the best, and “almost” cars are having a tough time finding homes {vsig}2007-11_2085{/vsig} Gloom and doom predictions can end up as self-fulfilling prophecies if the panic spreads. A case in point is the highly publicized muscle car market “crash” going on now. As this is the Monterey…
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1963 Ferrari 250 GTL “Lusso” Berlinetta
Late in 1962, at the Paris Show, Ferrari introduced the Lusso Berlinetta, the last of the 250 series. The Lusso combined features of the 250 SWB and the 250 GTO in a beautiful, luxurious steel body by Scaglietti, and was one of Pininfarina’s most successful designs. The design incorporated aerodynamic refinement, the result of Ferrari’s…
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1931 Bentley 4½ Liter Supercharged Boattail
It never won a major race and proved almost sale-proof, but the macho Blower Bentley is Britain’s ultimate vintage sports car {vsig}2007-11_2091{/vsig} Though only 50 production Blower Bentleys were built, experts estimate that 43 still exist. Of that number, few if any are as untouched as this car. Indeed, no less a vintage Bentley…
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1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Zagato Spyder
With the body bare, the originality of the car could be confirmed, down to markings inside panels left by craftsmen who created it in 1931 {vsig}2007-11_2092{/vsig} Alfa Romeo and Zagato are two of the most charismatic names in Italian automotive history. Alfa Romeo built thousands of cars with bodies by other coachbuilders, and Zagato bodied…
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Why Market-Driven Beauty is Only Skin Deep
Buckle your seatbelts and tighten your shoulder harnesses. Based on the results from Monterey, the collector car market is in the midst of a wild and woolly ride, with little way of predicting the crests and valleys in the year ahead. There are a few things we can all agree on as we plow through…
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Where’s the Video, Dietrich?
Enzo case takes another bizarre twist, and Porsche enlists industry allies to make what could be bitter lemonade This month we revisit two old friends-one the Pacific Coast Highway Enzo crash, and the second the Porsche Lemon Law special. Last summer’s big car story was the Ferrari Enzo crash in Malibu, California. Stefan Eriksson crashed…
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Collecting Ferraris for Art’s Sake
To the aficionado, Ferraris have always been industrial art, the pinnacle of technology and styling of their era. Many of my clients have described their Ferraris as user-friendly interactive art. In the last decade, auctioneers and collectors have created a new world of art buyers intertwined with Ferrari buyers. Most auction houses sell art in…
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Concours on the Avenue
By contrast to other weekend concours, the classes here were oriented toward production cars to which the spectators could relate {vsig}2007-11_2086{/vsig} “Monterey needs another event like it needs a hole in the head,” was a typical comment on the enthusiast blogs when the announcement was made earlier this year that Carmel-by-the-Sea would present the “Concours…
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What Makes a 356 Worth $176,000?
This B Cab had tools, a Carrera horn ring, Hirschmann antenna, Blaupunkt radio, headrests, and its original engine {vsig}2007-11_2088{/vsig} Hot on the heels of the recent Monterey auction results, I received an email, which asked the following question: “I just saw that nice black 1962 356B Cabriolet sell at Gooding in Monterey for $176,000 and…