Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Columns
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Banking on Ferraris
One doesn’t have to be Fed czar Ben Bernanke’s tennis partner to know the world’s economic markets are volatile, but how does that relate to the present and future Ferrari market? As aspiring Ferrari-socio-economists, we always look at the past to gaze into the future. Let’s begin with the first fuel crisis of late 1973.…
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Traveling Healey-Hopefully
Constant attention is part of the experience of English cars. When you arrive at your destination, you have achieved something {vsig}2007-10_2073{/vsig} Most gearheads agree that a classic car doesn’t come to life until it’s driven on the open road. Highly organized thousand-mile tours have allowed many owners to put some miles under their classic wheels,…
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Living the 356 Dream
One of the best things is just banging around local roads and pretty scenery with a few 356s running along with you The Gathering of the Faithful. That’s what they used to call the annual meeting of 356 owners 30 years ago. Everyone got together, looked at each other’s cars, swapped tall tales, and generally…
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1961-79 MG Midget
These are truly small cars. Anyone larger than 5’9″ driving one looks like a trained circus bear in a parade The early ’60s were the golden age of the British sports car. The British Motor Corporation (BMC) aimed to have a product for every possible driver. MG dealers were clamoring for a car smaller and…
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1967 Corvette 427/435 L71
In the Corvette world, three models have dominated the collector market: the 1957 with fuel injection, the 1963 Split-Window Sting Ray with fuel injection, and the 1967 Sting Ray with the top horsepower 427 engines. Other years may have offered better performance, superior features, or better styling, but this threesome tops the value list.…
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1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster
The Corvette was introduced at the General Motors Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York and it was a sensation. Its two-seater body was wrapped around the conventional perimeter frame chassis with independent front suspension and live rear axle. The body itself was a revelation, constructed from a revolutionary material called fiberglass that was…
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1974 Porsche 914 2.0 Roadster
The 914 changed the rules. For starters, you paid extra for chrome bumpers and vinyl-covered roof sections. Excuse me? Porsche introduced the 914 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1969, and it became available in the U.S. in the spring of 1970. Priced at just under $3,500 (for the 4-cylinder car), an extra $200 bought…
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1970 Chevrolet Camaro Sport Coupe
It seems hard to justify the extra $75,000 to own #1, especially as there’s another #1 out there from the Norwood plant {vsig}2007-9_2056{/vsig} Introduced to the public on February 26, 1970, the 1970 Camaro series stayed in production for twelve years. This handsome design survived gas crises, “big bumper” redesigns, and emasculating emissions. Attesting to…
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1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spyder Corto
The Alfa is so light and quick, you almost forget it’s pre-war. Imagine a tall Lotus 7 with 19-inch tires and a lot more horsepower The chassis serial associated with this 8C 2300 is 2211051. This serial was the earliest number applied to the second-series of 8C 2300s, the brainchild of Alfa Romeo’s fabled chief…
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Fuelies-The Story Behind the Story
So is it worth paying a 15%-20% premium for a car with a notoriously troublesome FI system? The market seems to say it is {vsig}2007-9_2065{/vsig} In the early years of the horsepower wars, in the mid-1950s, Detroit was looking for ways to get a jump on the competition. The new frontier was fuel injection, with…