Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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1971-1975 Volkswagen Super Beetle
Any Beetle of yore is more closely related to a lawn tractor than it is to the modern auto with which it shares a name and silhouette It hardly seems believable that by 1971 the Volkswagen Beetle-the success story of the 1960s-was losing favor with the public. In earlier years the Beetle’s quaint simplicity…
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1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 GS/GT
Its appeal is simple to understand: A turnkey entry into most every exciting historic race and rally, including the Monte Carlo Historic Rally, the Tour Auto in France, the Tour of Spain, and the Rallye des Alpes This ex-works car was one of 14 built in 1963, according to specifications for its export to Sweden,…
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1967 Plymouth Satellite Hemi Convertible
Values of original Hemi cars with solid bodies and accurate restorations have been steadily moving into the stratosphere, with $200,000 no longer unheard of for the right cars Chrysler Corporation swears that it never produced any Plymouth Satellite Hemi convertibles in 1967, despite the fact that two have surfaced in recent years, one as-yet-unrestored…
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1966 Porsche 906
If the new owner knew that 906.016 was a weird but very real chassis number, and that it had both factory development and extensive race history, then he had the unfair advantage When introduced in 1966 the Porsche 906-marketed generally as the “Carrera 6”-combined a multi-tubular space-frame chassis with strikingly low and curvaceous lightweight fiberglass…
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1992 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Convertible
The nimble little sportster of The Graduate fame is now a mature, if slightly portly, cruiser with a tidy little tuck to its nose and tail. Sort of like what Mrs. Robinson most likely had. {vsig}2004-5_1236{/vsig} As described by the seller: One registered owner, West Coast car, totally as new condition in every way. Virtually…