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Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS
Unequalled in their class in the 1927-1930 era were the superbly engineered, extremely light and very quick Tipo 6C twin-camshaft, supercharged Alfa Romeos from the design board of the brilliant Vittorio Jano. Alfa Romeo’s concessionaire in England, Fred Stiles, imported four “works” cars with Zagato racing coachwork, chassis numbers 0312871 to 0312874. The cars were…
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1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Ghia Coupe
Even without the connection to President Juan Peron, this would still be an important car as it is one of the rare 212s with Ghia coachwork. This car was exhibited at the 1952 Turin Show with a right-hand drive Ghia Cabriolet body. On July 16th it was sold to a Milan publishing house. Just three…
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1921 Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
Count Louis Zborowski was a Polish nobleman and sportsman who lived in England during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His most lasting automotive legacy was four aero-engined high-performance hybrids, called “Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bangs.” The cars were constructed with the help of Captain Clive Gallop, later to become one of the famed “Bentley Boys.” Tragically, Zborowski…
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1984 Lamborghini Countach
The sensation of the 1971 Geneva Salon, the Countach was styled by Marcello Gandini. Lamborghini’s four-cam V12 was retained, though this time installed longitudinally. To achieve optimum weight distribution, designer Paolo Stanzini placed the five-speed gearbox ahead of the engine between the seats, and the differential, driven by a shaft passing through the sump, at…
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Ferraris & Blue Jeans
We’ve been using our 330 America as a daily driver. Picking up our daughter, Alexandra, from elementary school and taking her to gymnastics. (“Daddy, are you going to drive me in the noisy red car today?”) Going shopping. Running errands. A 29-gallon aquarium, perfect for rearing Apistogramma agassizi cichlids, fits nicely in the back seat…
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Jaguar XJ-S V12 Convertible
When does a car cross the line from used car to classic? If you can figure that out, you may be able to buy that older car you’ve always admired at the absolute bottom of the market, after it has ceased depreciating and before it has started to accrue a collector’s premium. We think the…
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1973 Porsche Carrera RS
The Carrera ‘RS’ was the first phase in Porsche’s production car racing program, started in 1972. The ‘RS’ was based on the 911S, and one of the first concerns was to save weight. This was accomplished mainly by removing the rear seats, by making the body of thinner steel and by using fiberglass bumpers. Another…
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1955 Packard Caribbean Convertible
It is ironic that Packard should fail just as the company introduced what may be the most innovative and well-designed product line in the history of the company. The blame lay not with the product, but rather a series of management misadventures, including the ill-fated merger with Studebaker.The Caribbean featured a new, high output OHV…
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1953 Alfa Romeo 1900 CS Farina
With its unitary construction-the first on an Alfa Romeo-the 1900 was Alfa’s first mass- producedt car, introduced in 1950. It was assembled on a new production line at Alfa’s original Portello works that was funded in part by the Marshall Plan.Initially powered by a 1844cc, 90 hp twin overhead camshaft 4-cylinder engine and offering fine…
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1951 Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta
The example shown here is a very rare “Export” model intended for racing in the GT and Sports classes. Chassis number 0141/T is unique, being the only 212 to have been built with a “Tuboscocca” type chassis, an early attempt by Ferrari to give three-dimensional rigidity to the ladder-type chassis. Wheelbase for the Inter model…