Columns


  • Lucky Drives Again

    It was 18 months ago that SCM Legal Analyst John Draneas and I bought a 1965 three-cylinder, two-stroke Saab 96 on eBay, plucked it out of a barn in Rimini, MT, and tried to drive it home to Portland.Readers may recall that we covered 400 of the 700 miles with little drama aside from a…

  • 1976-1981 Pontiac Trans Am “Bandit”

    1976-1981 Pontiac Trans Am “Bandit”

    The second-generation Pontiac Trans Am was in production for twelve years, from 1970 to 1981, and effectively captured a generation of car enthusiasts in an era when Motor City muscle was in decline. Admittedly, the Trans Am of the mid-1970s was a pale imitation of earlier models, an underpowered, portly beast that nearly fell victim…

  • 1964 Amphicar Convertible

    When you restore one of these, you want to make sure you have found all the holes in the body. {vsig}2004-6_1231{/vsig} There are better cars, and there are better boats, but there is no better way to draw a crowd than with an Amphicar. Designed by Hans Trippel and built in Germany, the Amphicar was…

  • 1938 Lincoln Zephyr Street Rod

    The ringmen worked this sale hard, and at its dramatic conclusion the owners were high-fiving as though they’d just won the lottery {vsig}2004-6_1232{/vsig} The Zephyr Street Rod on offer here is one of the most famous street rods ever created. This custom, all-steel Lincoln Zephyr three-window coupe was nationally selected by Goodguys and judged winner…

  • 1951 Allard J2 Cadillac Le Mans Race Car

    A tech inspector looked at the front suspension of a J2X and said, “Wow! Where’s the ‘crimes against nature’ checkbox on this form?” {vsig}2004-6_1233{/vsig} During the mid-1980s, Glenn Shaffer began a search for an Allard J2 with racing heritage. He found this Allard J2 in Lima, Peru, suspecting it was the “missing” #2 Le Mans…

  • 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint

    This 1900 has been to more European auctions than most SCMers. But this time around, the seller really timed it right. {vsig}2004-6_1228{/vsig} The 1900 debuted with mechanical specifications worthy of the marque’s history. Fitted with a double-overhead-cam four-cylinder engine, it was a modern car that was easy to maintain. It was the first Alfa Romeo…

  • 1966 Ferrari 500 Superfast

    The Shah of Iran was so impressed with his 500 Superfast that he bought a second one. {vsig}2004-6_1225{/vsig} The high-performance, luxury gran tursimo was a new automotive idiom in the prosperous years following World War II. Powerful, limited-production GT’s supplanted the great cars from Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, and the grandes routieres of France, which had…

  • 1975 Jensen Interceptor Mark III Convertible

    At a time when a Corvette cost just $8,000, convertible Interceptors were $25,000. It’s no wonder Jensen Motors Ltd. bit the dust. {vsig}2004-6_1226{/vsig} In 1931 brothers Alan and Richard Jensen opened a coachwork factory in West Bromwich, U.K., which supplied many British car manufacturers. Four years later, they built the first Jensen on a Wolseley…

  • 1974 Maserati Bora

    Unlike many of the first mid-engine cars that were compromised with small interiors, tiny trunks, and delicate construction, the Bora is a refined car that offers comfort with no sacrifice in performance. {vsig}2004-6_1229{/vsig} Maserati introduced the Bora in 1971, the successor to the front-engined Ghibli. A mid-engined car in the fashion of Ferrari’s Boxer, the…

  • E-Types, E55s and XR-75s

    I recently spent two weeks streaking across Florida in a Mercedes E55 AMG, one of today’s definitive high-performance full-size sedans. From its 469-horsepower supercharged V8 to its crisp-shifting, manually-controllable automatic transmission, the car is a finely-tuned machine that delights in gobbling up vast distances effortlessly. Aside from its expectedly pathetic navigation system, the E55 is…