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A Busy, If Not Boisterous, Market
Enthusiasts are buying and selling cars. Although the market is not boisterous, it is busy. The current COVID-19 situation has not eliminated or diminished our love of cranky old cars. Rather, it has caused us to find appropriate, safe ways to enjoy our cars and each other, all while modifying our collections. Look at some…
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1986 BMW M5
Sold at $102,359 (€90,200)RM Sotheby’s Online-Only — The European SaleFeaturing the Petitjean CollectionJune 3–11, 2020, Lot 358 Chassis number: WBSDC910401018399SCM Condition for this car: 2- I was shopping for a new car in 1988 and never considered the M5 until I started poking around my local dealer’s inventory of 535is and 528es. I was alerted…
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Understanding Auction Theory
Dear Legal Files: I read your article on shill bidding (“Legal Files,” November 2020) this week. It was funny because I had just bid at auction for a piece of art that I didn’t win. The bidding went to my bid limit, which was me, and then $20k higher on the next bid. I was…
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Type Righter
The motoring press went wild when Jaguar brought out the F-type in 2013. Normally sober critics such as Car and Driver described it as “the car you want to be seen in.” Even my own spouse went a little starry-eyed over the F-type the first time I brought one home. She compared the car to…
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Artistic Drive
“A roaring motor car … is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.” — Filippo Marinetti, a founder of the Futurist art movement Picture the scene: a quaint cobbled London mews that once housed the horse stables of the Kensington aristocracy but had since become a mecca for classic-car collectors, the global center in the…
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1959 Tojeiro California Spyder
A unique post-war racing car conceived by famed race engineer John Tojeiro Completed to a very high standard in accordance with Tojeiro’s original vision Hand-formed body to original designs by Coachsmithing of Blair, WI 300-plus-hp, 302-cubic-inch GMC inline 6-cylinder engine; Muncie “Rock Crusher” 4-speed manual transmission Accompanied by history files, dyno sheets, race reports, and…
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1991 GMC Syclone
One of 2,995 produced for 1991 280-hp, turbocharged and intercooled 4.3-liter fuel-injected V6 engine GMC claimed a 4.6-second 0–60 mph time and 124-mph top speed Odometer displays 2,228 miles Automatic transmission; full-time all-wheel drive Finished in black over a matching black interior with red accents Air conditioning and numerous power amenities AM/FM radio with cassette…
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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing
This 300SL Gullwing was sent new to Mercedes-Benz New York on July 13, 1955, before being delivered that summer to Chicago. It had a particularly sporty specification with all the options, including the famous overhead-cam NSL engine that offered 20 horsepower more than the standard 216-hp version, as well as center-lock Rudge wheels. In 2004,…
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2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti Shooting Brake
This stunning one-off shooting-brake conversion of a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti was commissioned by the current owner, the task entrusted to the coachbuilder Vandenbrink in Holland, who had first proposed such a modification as far back as 2009. Starting with a little-used (28,000 km) Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, the conversion took 15 months and more than 2,500…
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1969 Lamborghini Islero S
Launched at the Geneva Salon in 1968, the Islero was a development of the 400 GT 2+2, which was itself derived from Ferruccio Lamborghini’s first production car, the Touring-styled 350 GT of 1964. The Islero’s square-tube chassis was based on that of its predecessors, though with wider track to accommodate fatter rubber, while its elegantly…