Should the Harvard Business School need yet another case study in how a great idea can go counter-clockwise down a toilet if not executed properly, please have them refer to the launch/introduction/sale of the 1991 Lotus Elan Turbo SE in the US. Introduced during the same twelve-month period as the […]
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1969 Plymouth Road Runner Convertible
Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, 1968—The Pontiac GTO and the Ford Mustang were about to receive a wake-up call. Adorned with the familiar cartoon decal, Plymouth’s new release took to the streets, ready to explain its creative moniker and unseen capabilities. Plymouth took the outright awesome power of the very expensive […]
1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Cabriolet
This unique 1900 was bodied by the Swiss coachbuilding company, Ghia Aigle, specifically for the 1955 Geneva Salon. This is the earliest of eight Alfas bodied by Ghia Aigle known to survive, and as such, in many respects the most interesting and most important. After the Geneva show the car […]
1976 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB “Boxer”
When the Lamborghini Miura appeared, high-performance coupes with engines in front of the driver began to look quite old fashioned to some observers. Stung by outspoken criticism of their front-engined Daytona models, Ferrari unveiled at the 1971 Turin Motor Show the aggressive 365 BB flat-twelve, mid-engined Boxer Berlinetta. At this […]
1959 MGA 1600 Coupe
The A was the car which put MG back on the map. It was pretty, it was contemporary, and it was fun. Top speed was 98 mph and 0 to 60 mph took 15.6 seconds, but raw performance figures are not the reason the MGA became the world’s most popular […]
1974 Maserati Merak
The Maserati Merak, announced at the Paris Salon of 1972, was a little brother to the mid-engined V8 Bora. It used the same Ital Design steel body, but with a smaller V6, 3-liter engine—as found in the Citroën SM coupe—that liberated space for two child-sized rear seats. The all-alloy powerplant, […]
Hitting the Road
Can there be any time of year better than this for the enthusiast? As this issue of SCM is being put to bed, we are preparing our 1962 Ferrari 330 America for its vintage event debut on the Monte Shelton Northwest Classic Rally, and, simultaneously, the SCM staff is packing […]
1978–83 Porsche 911SC
Coupe, Targa and Cabriolet While the automotive world suffered through the 1973-1977 era of dramatically tightened emission-control laws, Porsche was busy building, piece by piece, the better mousetrap that would become the 911SC. Starting with the dramatically simplified CIS fuel injection of the ’73½ 911T, the SC included the flared […]
1973 Porsche Carrera RSR 2.8
n the early 1970s, the FIA decided sports car racing should use cars that more closely resembled production vehicles. Using the Carrera RS 2.7 as its homologation platform, the 2.8 RSR developed 300 (DIN) hp with the use of a twin-plug ignition, hotter camshafts, higher compression pistons, and many other […]
1957 Chevrolet Corvette FI Roadster
{vsig}2000-8_1882{/vsig} America was sadly without a true sports car until Chevrolet introduced the Corvette at the 1953 Motorama show and started production that year. The early Corvettes were lower and sportier than any other domestic car on the market but they lacked the innovative technology necessary to break open the […]