Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
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Just Another $40 Million Buying Spree
While most of the collector car market percolates along, with prices for sound cars appreciating gradually, one segment has ignited with the fury of a Saturn V booster rocket. During the last month, John McCaw of Bellevue, Washington, who made his fortune in the cellular phone business, has spent over $40 million enhancing his already…
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1970 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm Competition Coupe
The Alfa Romeo GTAm was the racing version of the extraordinarily successful 1750 GT Veloce, the A signifying “Allegerita” or lightened and the small m indication “maggiorata” or enlarged. The Chizzola brothers had set up Autodelta to build the famous TZ Alfas and they were responsible for building just 40 of the GTAm cars during…
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1954-1955 Ferrari 2-Liter 500 Mondial
This delightful little Ferrari sports-racing car is a very low-mileage historic competition car from the Maranello marque. 0468MD comes from a European ownership which it entered as a two-owners-only vehicle in 1988 when it was purchased at auction in Monte Carlo. The car had been supplied originally in late 1954 as-new to an Italian amateur…
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Completely Original (Mostly)
What constitutes an original car? Decipher the following advertisement: “Completely original except for new paint, fresh interior and redone engine.” Exactly what is original about this car? Is the new paint enamel when the original was lacquer? Have the seats been upgraded from vinyl to leather? Has a higher-performance camshaft been fitted when the engine…
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1967 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC 1600
A direct evolution of the 1954 Giulietta Sprint, the Bertone-designed Giulia Sprint GT soon established a fine reputation on road and track following its introduction in 1962. Compared to its predecessor, it was a much more refined and relaxed car to drive, reflecting the changing nature of Europe’s roads as higher cruising speeds became more…
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1957 Alfa Romeo SVZ
During the 1956 Mille Miglia, Carlo Leto di Priolo badly crashed his Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce, destroying the body. He then had the car rebodied by his friend Elio Zagato. The new bodywork bore all the hallmarks of Zagato’s mastery – low drag, beautiful lines and lightweight, tipping the scales at some 110 kg…
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1995 Alfa Romeo RZ
In 1990 Alfa Romeo unveiled the SZ, a name evoking memories of their most successful production racer, the Sprint Zagato from the early ’60s. Powered by Alfa’s silky smooth and classic 3.0-liter V6 engine which transmitted its power to the rear wheels via a 5-speed transaxle, the car could hit 152 mph and sprint from…
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1962 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster
For those insufficiently wealthy to afford its expensive race-bred sportscar, the 300SL, Mercedes-Benz offered the less-exotic 190SL. Based on the 180 saloon, the 190 made use of the latter’s running gear; this comprised independent front suspension by means of wishbones and coil springs, single-pivot swing axe at the rear, plus drum brakes all round. Announced…
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1971 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV Coupe
As was appropriate to a marque with a long and illustrious racing history, Alfa Romeo consistently provided its road-going automobiles with engines closer than most to racing specification. Alfa Romeo’s seminal engine was Vittorio Jano’s historic 2,300 cc supercharged twin overhead-camshaft eight-cylinder of 1930, which powered their famous monoposto P3 racer to so many victories…
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1997 Jaguar XJ 220 Coupe
The magnificent looking and lavishly-specified Jaguar XJ220 coupe is absolutely the modern-day successor to the multiple-La Mans-winning C-Type and D-Type Jaguars of the 1950s, and it is derived directly from the double-Le Mans-winning TWR Jaguar Group C The magnificent looking and lavishly-specified Jaguar XJ220 coupe is absolutely the modern-day successor to the multiple-La Mans-winning…