Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Columns
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Which Avanti II Buy?
A Michigan alumnus’s car sported a gold and blue color scheme, making it difficult to know whether to cry or hail it for a trip to the airport Rob Sass’s article about the Avanti II in December’s SCM was excellent, well written, and well researched, even if the photo was a Studebaker Avanti. But it…
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1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster
The Mercedes Benz 300SL roadster was introduced in 1957 as a direct descendant of the famous Gullwing. It’s rare in automotive history that a convertible would bring about the demise of the coupe version on which it was based, however with the 300SL it was a case of succession—the roadster replaced the Gullwing. As the…
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1953 Cunningham C-3 Continental Coupe
It’s an exotic alternative to the hordes of Hemi-powered muscle cars-a 331-ci Hemi wrapped in an Italian body on a Le Mans-inspired chassis Wealthy American sportsman Briggs Cunningham made a heroic effort to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1950s-in cars he manufactured himself. Remarkably, he came close several times. The first…
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1927 Bugatti Type 35C
I can personally attest that it’s possible to sit for hours contemplating the Type 35 like a piece of sculpture There were 23 automobiles on the starting grid for the 1930 Monaco Grand Prix. Fourteen of them-60% of the field-were Bugattis. Bugattis were essentially graceful machines that emphasized light weight and great road holding over…
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1977 Ferrari 208 GT4
This model is rare outside Italy, but as John Apen reminds us: all valuable things are rare, but not all rare things are valuable The 308 made its entrance into the automotive world in October 1973 as Bertone combined concepts and design features from both the 246 Dino and the 365. It was handsome, sleek,…
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1962 MGA 1600 MK II Roadster
The vendor commissioned the restoration over three years to exacting standards, then only ran it to log a few break-in miles. Why? With the arrival of the MGA roadster in 1955, many MG aficionados were taken aback by the fact that the pre-war look of the company’s sports cars had been tampered with. The new…
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1947 Cisitalia 202 SMM Spider Nuvolari
This car owes its name to Nuvolari’s heroic drive in the 1947 Mille Miglia, while its aggressive shape owes a great deal to pre-WWII aerodynamics Italian industrialist Piero Dusio built up the Consorzio Industriale Sportivo Italia into a successful conglomerate before WWII. He was also an uncommonly good amateur racing driver and like many successful…
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Old Car Tricks
“Push? We’re going to push the car?” It was a balmy day in the Pacific Northwest, so I had decided to take out our orange and black 1979 Triumph Spitfire. My 15-year-old daughter, Alex, was pleased with my choice, as the previous owner had put large speakers behind the seats, making it a perfect car…
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The Last of the V8 Interceptors
The Interceptor fell from grace as quickly as fat sideburns, leisure suits, razor-cut hair, and other artifacts of the ’70s In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Jensen Interceptor cruised near the top of the food chain. It was an expensive, handmade gentleman’s express built to blast across Europe at triple-digit speeds, powered by…
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1972 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Prototype
This unusual 2.7 Carrera RS was created in 1972, based on the 2.4-liter 911S, and with which Porsche assaulted the 3-liter racing classes. Today, the RS is regarded by many as one of the top five sports cars to emerge from the 1970s. Its versatility is hardly surprising; the 911 was designed from the start…