Columns
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It’s Not a Restoration, It’s a Build
Let’s make one thing clear right from the start: A car is only “as-born” once. It can never be returned to that state. Any attempts to do so result in a fictional re-creation, done to please the owner and whatever standards he is aspiring toward. And that’s okay. We can’t go back in time. We…
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Unredeemable Jackpot
The Dillon County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina announced that a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spyder, valued at $23 million, was stolen during the early morning hours of July 25, 2022. Detective Sara Albarri said that the 8C was inside a 2009 Haulmark trailer pulled by a white 2002 Ford F-350 dually pickup…
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The $500 Million Endowment
In early November 2022, McPherson College announced that an anonymous donor had made an extraordinary endowment gift to the school. This record-breaking, potentially $500 million donation is the largest single commitment ever made to a liberal-arts college. This news thrust the small Kansas-based school into the headlines. It is notable in the collector-car community because…
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Middle Manager
If you want to out-Miata the Miata, there’s really only one option. You’ve got to pull out all the stops for mass reduction and centralization. You’ve got to go lighter and more focused. You’ve got to make a mid-engine sports car. So, some 23 years ago, that’s what Toyota did. The 2000–05 MR2 Spyder was…
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1954 Cunningham C-3 Vignale Coupe
The Cunningham car of the early 1950s was the product of revered sportsman Briggs Cunningham’s determination to win the 24-hour race at Le Mans with an American-built automobile. Cunningham had attempted the feat with production-based Cadillacs, but finding them not sufficient to the task, endeavored to build his own car, backed by his not-inconsiderable fortune…
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1951 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Limousine by Hooper
The English coachbuilder Hooper produced many types of bodies upon the Silver Wraith chassis, but among its rarest and most formal designs is the 7-passenger limousine, as offered here. Just 10 examples of these hand-wrought aluminum beauties were created between 1947 and 1951; the first was built for Lord Louis Mountbatten in his service as…
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1947 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S Cabriolet Pinin Farina
The 6C 2500 Sport offered here is one of the most classic and desirable examples of coachwork on the standard-wheelbase chassis, the svelte cabriolet by Pinin Farina. Like the chassis itself, an elegant evolution of pre-war design, the body is steel with aluminum doors, hood and rear deck, and features smooth lines with covered headlamps…
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2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti 6-Speed Manual
The 612 Scaglietti was named for the fabled coachbuilder favored by the factory, and its dramatic styling was inspired by the famed 375 MM built as a gift from Roberto Rosselini to his great love, actress Ingrid Bergman. Honoring both the Hollywood provenance of the design and the model’s appeal to the U.S. market, it…
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1991 Porsche C4 “Reimagined by Singer”
This 1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 coupe was modified by Singer Vehicle Design between August 2018 and August 2020 and was purchased by the seller through Singer after the commissioning customer was unable to take delivery. Finished in Fiona Metallic over a custom Blue Charcoal leather interior, the “Gratitude Commission” is powered by an air-cooled…
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2016 Ford Shelby Mustang GT-H Coupe “Executive Car”
The run of 2016 Shelby Mustang GT-Hs for Hertz included 140 examples delivered into the rental fleet for allocation day-by-day to mere mortals, and then 16 of the “Executive Cars,” a name that to the Hertz Shelby enthusiast has a special aura. These 16 cars were not rented but were instead purchased by Hertz executives…