Columns
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1964 Aston Martin DB5
The DB5 Aston Martin rapidly became the very essence of the hand-built English classic car. Very expensive, built in tiny numbers by dedicated craftsmen, it was also an apt choice of mount for the suave secret agent James Bond. Equally deft was the director’s decision in 1995 to hark back 30 years, nostalgically providing a…
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1966 Lancia Flaminia Zagato SS
A left hand-drive model first registered in France, this striking Zagato-bodied Lancia features the Milanese styling house’s renowned double-bubble body form in which low overall lines and rounded streamlined shape are achieved by the simple but ingenious A left hand-drive model first registered in France, this striking Zagato-bodied Lancia features the Milanese styling house’s renowned…
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Bring on the Mosquitoes
Would you have bought it anyway?That’s what we seem to be asked most frequently about our 1964 Ferrari 330 America, pulled from a barn in Butte, Montana last October.As the bills pile up, and the car remains stationary, that’s a fair question.Since taking delivery of S/N 330GT5077, we’ve had Nasko of Nasko’s Imports put in…
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1969-76 Triumph TR6
The loss of the Healey 3000 Mk III at the end of 1967 left a void in the six-cylinder sports car line-up. Sure, there was the Jaguar Series II XKE ($5,500 in 1969) and soon a new upstart from Japan, the Datsun 240Z, would show the world how much GT car $3,500 would buy. Still,…
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1958 Porsche 356A Cabriolet
Having commenced manufacture with a short run of aluminum-bodied cars built at Gmund, Porsche began volume production of the steel-bodied 356 coupe at its old base in Stuttgart. The work of Ferry Porsche, the 356 was based on the Volkswagen designed by his father. Like the immortal Beetle, the 356 employed a platform-type chassis with…
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1949 Mercury V8 Lead Sled
The car pictured sold at Dana Mecum’s Arlington Premier Auction in Arlington, Illinois on November 7, 1998 at no reserve, bringing $23,625, including buyer’s commission. Estimated at $30k–$35k, a value that even at this level is probably less than half what’s invested in it, this is typical of the re-sale performance of hot rods. The…
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1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spring Zagato
Alfa Romeo’s successful Giulietta range debuted in 1954 with the arrival of the Bertone-styled Sprint coupe, the Berlina saloon not appearing until the succeeding season. Veloce models with improved performance followed, and the agile Giulietta SV quickly established an enviable record in production car racing, notable victories including a Granturismo class win in the 1956…
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1958 Austin-Healey 100-6
It was with an Austin-Healey 100-Six in basic production trim that Tommy Wisdom and Cecil Winby won their class in the 1957 Mille Miglia, while three factory entered 100-Sixes went on to take the Manufacturers’ Team Prize at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hour race. The same year saw the first factory rally team of 100-Sixes…
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1912 Bugatti 5-Liter Race Car
In 1910, aged 28, Ettore Bugatti resigned his position at the Deutz works in Cologne and moved to Alsace, renting an old dye works in Molsheim where he began making his own automobiles. He took with him a prototype car of 1208 cc which he had built in his basement workshop in Cologne and which…
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They Shoot Pintos, Don’t They?
Although Peter Egan at Road & Track probably doesn’t pen his monthly column just to goad us into philosophical musings about the hobby we share, nonetheless he’s done it again. In a recent column, he writes of stumbling across a derelict TR4 in a barnyard, and making the obligatory $50 offer for it, rationalizing that…