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Legends in Kentucky
Watching Formula One Champion Phil Hill tinker with the handbrake assembly on a 1929 Bentley three-liter open tourer was like being at a rehearsal in Manhattan while modern dance choreographer Martha Graham fine-tuned her ballets. Graham had an instinctive understanding of how to put a dance together for maximum artistic and intellectual effect. Hill, after…
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Alfa Romeo GTV-6
The Alfa Romeo GTV-6 was produced at a time when Alfa Romeo was hemorrhaging money. Yet, the engineers at Alfa managed to create one of the most sophisticated sports cars of its era. An all-alloy SOHC V6 engine driving a rear five-speed transaxle with deDion suspension is world-class engineering. This was also the last two-door…
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1967 Porsche 911S SWB 2.0L Coupe
It was evident to Porsche management in the late ’50s that the 356 series was rapidly becoming dated and reaching the end of its development potential, so in 1959 Ferdinand Porsche began designing a new car. A number of criteria were laid down: the car would have no more than a 2,200-mm wheelbase and would…
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1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi Coupe
1970 was the first year for the Dodge Challenger, Dodge’s response (along with the redesigned Plymouth Barracuda which was on a 2″ shorter wheelbase) to Ford’s Mustang and Cougar and GM’s Camaro and Firebird. Challenger’s body echoed the corporate family “Coke-bottle” shape, a lithe and purposeful look, distinctive from the competition. The chassis was a…
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1951 Alfa Romeo Villa d’Este Cabriolet
Destined to be the last of the separate-chassis Alfas, the 2500 debuted in 1939 as a development of the preceding 6C 2300B. The engine was, of course, the latest version of Alfa’s race-developed twin-cam six, its 2443cc displacement having been enlarged by boring out the 2300 cylinders by 2 mm for a bore and stroke…
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1964 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2
ntroduced at the 1964 Brussels Motor Show as a successor to the 330 America, the 4-liter, 300-hp, Mark 1 330 GT 2+2 with 4-speed synchromesh gearbox had well-spaced ratios and a single dry-plate clutch in unit with the engine, with a Laycock electrically operated overdrive fitted behind the gearbox. The rear axle had an 8/34…
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1938 Jaguar SS 100 3.5 Liter
In 1936, only five years after beginning production, SS Cars startled the motoring public with the Jaguar 2.5-liter saloon, the company’s first car to feature overhead valves. The engine was the robust seven-bearing, six-cylinder unit built by Standard, but with a new cylinder head designed by Harry Weslake and Bill Heynes. With 104 bhp, smoothly…
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1958 Maserati 3500 GT
Maserati’s survival strategy for the 1960s centered on establishing the company as a producer of road cars. The Modena marque’s new era began in 1957 with the launch of the Touring-bodied 3500 GT. A luxurious and spacious 2+2, the 3500 GT drew on Maserati’s competition experience. Suspension was independent at the front by wishbones and…
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Kill It Or Keep It?
It’s hard to kill a car you care about. Case in point: two years ago we bought our son Eric, then eighteen years old, a 1978 Mercedes 280 saloon. This car was chosen after his older brother managed to hasten the path of two more sporty automobiles, a Fiat 124 Spider and a ’65 VW…
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1991 Lotus Elan
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 Miata, Geo Metro convertible and…