Columns
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Avanti II-The First Continuation Car
The hurdle many owners encounter is a big one-any money spent on a restoration is just being thrown down a rat hole The Avanti may be one of the most polarizing designs ever created. Those who love it really love it and those who don’t appreciate it loathe it. But among the former, at least…
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1973 BMW 3.0 CSL “Batmobile”
The BMW 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” was one of the most outrageously brutal road-going homologation specials ever conceived, designed to exploit several loopholes and bring to BMW a German Saloon Car Championship. In order to homologate a more competitive racing car, the monocoque was formed from thinner-gauge steel, and aluminum was employed to skin the hood…
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1940 Lincoln-Zephyr Continental Cabriolet
Without hard evidence of Babe Ruth’s ownership, the extra $300,000 paid for this car represents a giant leap of faith The Continental is acknowledged as the crowning achievement of Edsel Ford and the head of his design department at Ford, Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie. Like many great accomplishments, it was the creation of a gifted…
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1993 Williams-Renault FW15C
ABS brought the realization that it was possible to allow computing power to do far more than keep the wheels from locking World Champion Alain Prost once described the Williams-Renault FW15C, as “really a little Airbus” -his way of describing an F1 car in the electronic era. Prost campaigned seven grands prix in the 1993…
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1987 Ferrari Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet
Rear side windows on Cabriolets cost $1,500 to fix, the engine must be removed for major servicing and any electrical glitch is probably serious When the Ferrari Mondial 8 was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show in March 1980, it was named in honor of the 4-cylinder, 3-liter sports racing Ferrari of the ’60s. The…
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1938 Aston Martin 15/98 Short-Chassis
A pre-war sports car requires more skill and nerve than newer machinery, but the rewards can be enjoyable at speeds just over the legal limit By the mid-1930s, Aston Martin was one of the most admired British sporting makes. Solidly engineered, low-built,1.5-liter sports-racers took the team prize in the 1934 Tourist Trophy race in Ulster,…
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1964 Lancia Flaminia 3C 2800 SS
This car needs someone to sort it out and drive it. When these are right, they make superb vintage rally and tour mounts Vincenzo Lancia loved automobiles, driving and motoring competition. The delectable machines that flowed from the factory were the expression of his passion. There were many great designs pre-War: the Lambda V4 of…
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Somebody Stop Me!
Perhaps SCM should be in the soft adventure business. But rather than offering a chance to parachute off mountaintops attached to a safety-line, or fly a Russian Mig with an instructor who will keep you from nosing into the ground, we have something even better. Last year, my former editor at Automobile Magazine, Joe Lorio,…
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1974-77 Plastic (Not So) Fantastic ‘Vettes
1975 was the nadir. The base motor was down to 165 hp-the lowest since Chevy abandoned the Blue Flame Six in 1955 The 1970s included some great years for the Corvette-Corvette fans still get slightly dizzy at the mention of the L88 and L71 engine options. Unfortunately, those were the other ’70s, the pre-disco, Vietnam-era…
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1987 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe
Porsche street cars had a very strong reputation for excellent durability-Turbos broke that rule {vsig}2006-9_1953{/vsig} In order to compete against bigger-engined rivals, Porsche homologated the type 934 race car in 1974 and embarked on an entirely new phase in race car development. As word spread about the incredible performance, the initial run of 500 cars…