Columns

From the Speedway to Syracuse

Our circuitous, car-filled week started with a trip to the Autofair at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, where I was co-host of a Speedvision special, “Muscle Car Mania,” to be broadcast Thanksgiving weekend. The swap meet and car show occupied the entire infield of the Speedway, and presented […]

1970-71 Porsche 917K

{vsig}1998-10_1813{/vsig} This Porsche 917K coupe is one of the most historic available survivors of this titanic breed. Most significantly, it is one of only five World Championship-level race-winning 917s outside factory ownership.In 1971, entered by the Martini-Porsche team and co-driven by Vic Elford and Gerard Larrousse, it won America’s most […]

1963 Ford Thunderbird Sport Roadster

When Thunderbird designer Frank Hershey set out to design a sports car with “banker appeal,” he unknowingly created a legendary automobile that was so popular in its first year, it outsold the Chevrolet Corvette four to one. When Hershey left Ford for General Motors in 1960, the Thunderbird had sold […]

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint Series II

Its factory devastated by wartime bombing, Alfa Romeo did not resume car production until 1947, the pre-war 2500C standing the Milan marque in good stead until 1952. The firm’s first all-new offering of the post-war period arrived in 1950. Designed by Dr. Orazio Satta Puliga, the 1900 was the first […]

1961 Ferrari 250 GT Fantuzzi NART Spyder

By the early ’60s, Scaglietti was at capacity building street cars for Ferrari, and so Fantuzzi, a Modena-based coachbuilder, built most of the bodies for Ferrari’s formula and sports/racing cars.One of the exceptions was a car built to a special order By the early ’60s, Scaglietti was at capacity building […]

1960 Aston Martin DB4GT

Tractor and gear manufacturer David Brown took over the Aston Martin and Lagonda companies in 1947. His first DB2 series and variants sold well from 1949 to 1958, and served to re-establish the marque as a builder of soundly engineered, quali­ty motor cars. In 1959 the much-improved DB4 model made […]

1959 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage

The Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61, with proper team preparation and organization, would undoubtedly have won more classic races. It led every round of the 1960 World Sports Car Championship – at Buenos Aires, Sebring, the Targa Florio, Nurburgring and Le Mans – but only won a single event, and was […]

The V12 in the Driveway

Now that the annual Monterey convention of dealers and stealers, gearheads and tire-kickers, lookie-lous and wallet-flashers is over, it’s time to reflect. For several years, the weekend’s events have overlapped, but this year the congestion was ludicrous. The traffic jam to the track on Saturday rivaled the Bronx expressway on […]

1952 Porsche 356 Pre-A Cabriolet

In 1952 there were only four Porsche 356 Cabriolets sold in the United States out of 294 produced by the Porsche Werke in Zuffenhausen. Back in ’51, about the only way to buy a 356 in this country was through New York importer Max Hoffman. The early cabriolets were among […]

1963 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider

Bodied by renowned Italian coachbuilder, Touring, known for creating some of the most exquisite early Ferrari and later Maserati designs, the Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider closely resembled the Vignale-bodied 3500 Maserati roadster. The 2600 was introduced in late 1962 and although similar to the 2000 series in design it offered […]