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Is It Time to Sell?
As most SCMers know, the collector-car market is way up, we are likely in a transition period for taxes, and we are getting older. All things end. Is it becoming the time to consider how we phase out of car collecting? Let’s consider the various forces that may or may not be affecting that decision.…
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Fake It Till You Make It
I am obsessed with the Mille Miglia, so when I was pondering my next collector car, I set my sights on a ’50s-era Italian sports car. Immediately, I ran into a chicane: The top-tier cars were far north of my $150,000 budget. My search downshifted and I began chasing a few Stanguellinis, Bandinis and other…
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Stung by a Scorpion
With regard to cars, I’m a sucker for two things: Italian sports cars and a perceived good deal. I scraped my knuckles on Fiat X1/9s, 124s and 850s. I’ve owned not one, but two Alfa Romeo Milanos. As a friend likes to joke, I provide food and shelter to the most needy, unloved, misunderstood and…
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2008 Oreca Dodge Viper GT3
Originally built in 2008, this Viper GT3 was initially raced in the British GT by Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkins. It was subsequently repurposed for the 2011–14 Dutch Supercar series and appeared in the U.K. again in 2018 to contest the GT Cup in the hands of David Krayem and Speedtec Motorsport. Under the bonnet…
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1994 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport
Forty years after Ettore Bugatti’s death in 1947, the once-legendary but moribund marque, one of the most renowned in automotive history, was acquired by ambitious Italian businessman Romano Artioli. His aim was nothing less than a resurrection of Bugatti in the form of a state-of-the-art supercar. Artioli chose Modena, home to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati,…
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1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet
For the buyers who were in the market for a convertible in the early 1970s, there was no finer choice in the world than the 280SE 3.5 cabriolet. It was the fastest, most lavish, and most expensive convertible offered by Mercedes-Benz, arguably the finest automobile manufacturer in the world at the time, making this a…
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2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello
This 2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello is finished in Argento Nürburgring over two-tone natural and blue leather, The car was factory equipped with an F1 electrohydraulic transaxle and received a 6-speed manual conversion at GTO Engineering of Los Angeles in 2017. Equipment includes the optional Fiorano Handling Package along with 19-inch wheels, Novitec-KW coil-overs, a Tubi…
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1974 Citroën SM Coupe
Combining Citröen’s advanced chassis technology and Maserati’s unrivaled engine know-how, the SM (Série Maserati) featured DS-style hydro-pneumatic self-leveling suspension; power-assisted all-around disc brakes; self-centering steering; and steered headlamps. Maserati was responsible for the 90-degree V6 engine, and after some juggling of bore/stroke dimensions, a capacity of 2,670 cc was settled on for a power output…
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1955 Jaguar XK 140 Coupe by Ghia
Although it had one of the best sports-car chassis available, and unquestionably one of the best engines, the XK 140 was already looking somewhat dated by the time it arrived in 1954. The XK 140 had inherited its body essentially unchanged in overall appearance from that the preceding XK 120, which had been designed by…
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1931 Duesenberg Model J Roadster “Green Hornet”
The Classic enthusiast will behold this Duesenberg at first glance and wonder what looks so familiar. Finally, it will click: The body resembles a Packard roadster of 1930–31. The reason, of course, is that the body is a Packard roadster of that vintage. The body, as noted by prominent Duesenberg historian Ray Wolff, was bought…