Columns


  • 1960 Ferrari 250 GTE

    If you can’t afford a nice example, you really can’t afford a bad one {vsig}2005-7_1852{/vsig} By the end of the 1950s, the success of rivals Aston Martin and Maserati in providing Grand Touring cars for the enthusiast with a family meant that Ferrari could no longer ignore this increasingly important market sector. There had been…

  • 1955 Austin-Healey 100 Le Mans

    Dealers were using the Le Mans kit to tart up cars and help move them off the showroom floor {vsig}2005-7_1850{/vsig} This is a rare Austin-Healey with factory Le Mans options, finished in beautiful Reno Red and black. Notice the vented hood with leather strap, fold down windshield, and original dual carbs with original 100M Le…

  • 1955 OSCA MT4-2AD Coupe

    No regular OSCA MT4 had made anything like this at auction recently-and probably not even at the peak of the sports car madness in 1989 {vsig}2005-7_1851{/vsig} Chassis 1153 is undoubtedly one of the most original surviving OSCAs in the world today. Only the patina of age would distinguish it from a new car. The chassis…

  • Where Have All the Cheap Cars Gone?

    The first issue of SCM roared off the presses (or more accurately, was spit out of a mimeograph machine) in 1988. We were just in time to ride the upsurge in the market through its crest in early 1990.I was buying and selling sports and imports at the time, and day after day through February…

  • 1968-76 BMW 2002

    Nearly every sports car enthusiast over 50 seems to have a 2002 story. Invariably, these end with “we drove it until the fenders rusted off” A favorite of enthusiasts from day one, the BMW 2002 was described by David E. Davis, Jr. in Car and Driver as “the best way to get somewhere sitting down.”…

  • 1973 Volkswagen Type 181 Thing

    By any standards save for originality, this Thing had indeed been dramatically improved since it rolled off a Mexican assembly line 32 years ago {vsig}2005-6_1847{/vsig} This ultimate Thing was a ground-up restoration completed in May 2002. Over $40,000 has been invested, with everything replaced with new parts or rebuilt to be better than new.It has…

  • 1933 Duesenberg Model SJ Riviera Phaeton

    When Hot Rod Harry had a disastrous engine failure, he souped up the powerplant and installed an overdrive five-speed transmission {vsig}2005-6_1843{/vsig} In 1925, Errett Lobban Cord added the Duesenberg Motors Company to his rapidly growing enterprise, the Auburn Automobile Company. Cord’s vision was to create an automobile that would surpass the great marques: Cadillac, Isotta…

  • 1987 March 87C “Kraco” Indy Race Car

    1987 March 87C “Kraco” Indy Race Car

    The CART series has long been America’s premier open wheel racing series, and with multiple championships, the Andretti racing family has been its most favored winners. Father and son Mario and Michael had overlapping careers, giving fans splendid battles for first place, with neither family member giving an inch. The March 87C on offer here…

  • 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Ghia coupe

    Unlike most European manufacturers, Alfa raced all over the world, winning its class in the 1954 Carrera Panamericana with a four-door 1900 {vsig}2005-6_1842{/vsig} As Alfa Romeo’s first post-war design, the 1900 was considered a lightweight, compact model at its introduction in 1950. A turning point for the marque, gone were the straight-eight and supercharged projectiles…

  • 1955 Ferrari 375 America Berlinetta Modificato

    Shadlun’s shop was a perverted museum of the most beautiful automobiles, all of them crippled by wreckage, fire or simple neglect {vsig}2005-6_1846{/vsig} In the early 1950s Enzo Ferrari began to manufacture road-going Grand Tourismo cars. The 250 Europa and 375 America series are generally considered to be Ferrari’s first production models, although only 18 of…