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Alfa Romeo 2600
There are collectibles that play to the crowd, leaving us all in awe of their technical and artistic mastery-and the amount of money invested in them. Other collectibles, more affordable, strike purely personal chords: a first car; the car I was married in; or the one I’ve wanted forever.Generally Alfa 2600 coupes and Spiders, as…
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1989 Porsche Carrera Speedster
The six-cylinder boxer engine was a concept originated by Dr. Porsche’s nephew, Ferdinand Piech. Thanks in large part to Piech’s engineering prowess, this aluminum-alloy, air-cooled engine remained a Porsche staple, developing and evolving while remaining true to many of its original design principles. By 1989 the engine had grown from its original 2 liters to…
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1929 Duesenberg Model J Sports Sedan
It is difficult to imagine the excitement with which the Model J Duesenberg was received in 1929. Here was a chassis with an engine that-at 265 hp-beat its nearest competitor by more than 100 hp. The famed Packard 734 speedster produced 145 hp and the Cadillac V16, 175 hp. Coming from a company whose racing…
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1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B (P3)
A design from the pen of the great Vittorio Jano, the Alfa Romeo Tipo B was a masterpiece on the drawing board and on the race track. It was not, incidentally, the first monoposto Alfa Romeo. That distinction belongs to the 1931 Tipo A, of which four were built, and none survive. There is a…
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1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder
Introduced at the 1968 Paris Salon, the 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” was an obvious winner from the start, and a noteworthy successor to the 275 GTB/4 Berlinetta it had replaced. The Daytona used underpinnings similar to the 275 GTB’s chassis and suspension, but with vastly improved braking. Ferrari finally dispensed with the substandard Dunlop discs that…
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1989 Aston Martin Zagato Volante
With the introduction of the Vantage Zagato in 1986, Aston Martin renewed its association with one of Italy’s most illustrious carrozzerie, the latter having been responsible for that most celebrated and desirable of all post-war Aston Martins, the DB4GT Zagato. The first Vantage Zagato prototype was shown to the public at Geneva in March 1986,…
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1972 Maserati Ghibli SS Spyder
The remarkable thing about this car is that for many years it was used by its owner to commute from San Francisco to the campus of Stanford University, where the owner was professor of neurosurgery. It is rare that a car such as this is driven on such a regular basis. It has been both…
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The Rites of Spring
If you’ve got gasoline in your blood, and live in an area with four seasons of weather, it’s easy to tell when Spring has arrived. Suddenly all the vehicle maintenance projects you’ve been putting off since last October rear up and demand attention. Terminals are cleaned and batteries charged, oil changed, brake fluid flushed and…
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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II
The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was introduced in 1965 at the Paris Auto Show. The product of more than ten years of development, this car was to be the future of Rolls-Royce Motors, bridging a gap between the traditional Silver Cloud buyer and the next generation of Rolls owners. The Silver Shadow, in addition to being…
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1966 Volkswagon 21-Window Microbus
The boxy Volkswagen Transporter arrived on American shores circa 1949. Using regular Beetle mechanical components, Transporters quickly evolved into mini people carriers. Dubbed the Microbus, Volkswagen’s unique vehicle became the trademark of a burgeoning hippie counterculture. The combination of economy and practicality made them an instant hit with the flower-power generation. Before long, their slab…