Columns


  • 2017 Jaguar XKSS Continuation

    2017 Jaguar XKSS Continuation

    There are few modern sports cars around which legends gather more thickly than the Jaguar XKSS. Following the company’s withdrawal from racing after the 1956 season, a number of both completed and incomplete D-types remained in factory stock and unsold. The decision was made to convert these cars to road-going specification, for sale to the…

  • 1970 Buick GS 455 Stage 1

    1970 Buick GS 455 Stage 1

    This 1970 Buick GS Stage 1’s full frame-off restoration was completed by Thornton Autoworks of Telford, PA, and is one of 2,465 Stage 1 hard tops produced in 1970. It’s powered by its matching-numbers 455-cid/360-hp V8, which puts out 510 ft-lb of torque backed by the matching-numbers M21 close-ratio 4-speed manual transmission and 3.64 Positraction…

  • SCM’s Oregon Odyssey

    SCM’s Oregon Odyssey

    To celebrate his magazine’s 30th anniversary, SCM Founder and Publisher Keith Martin, a veteran of countless driving tours in vintage cars, planned a tour of his own — and invited magazine subscribers to join him. Keith’s impressive guest list included Miles Collier, SCM columnist and founder of the Revs Institute; David MacNeil, chairman of WeatherTech;…

  • Nissan 240SX, Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Xtra Cab

    Nissan 240SX, Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Xtra Cab

    1991 Nissan 240SX LE #38150. S/N JN1MS36P7MW009141. 33,000 miles shown. “2.4-liter inline 4, 4-speed automatic transmission, Cherry Red Pearl, gray leather, sunroof, air conditioning, active speaker system.” Condition: 1. SOLD AT $12,553. Bring a Trailer, 10/22/2020. Brian’s take: In the November 2020 issue, I covered another similar 240SX with twice as many miles as this…

  • 2000 BMW 540i Sport Wagon

    2000 BMW 540i Sport Wagon

    Sold at $19,250RM Auburn FallSeptember 4, 2020, Lot 4128Chassis number: WBADR6340YGN91231 With a 4.4-liter V8 making 284 horsepower, this car is a hybrid of the common grocery-getter station wagon with a BMW sport sedan. Its ultimate driving machinery includes stiffer sport suspension with a one-inch drop from the base model and staggered 235/45R17 front and…

  • Is This a Ferrari TdF — or Something Else?

    Is This a Ferrari TdF — or Something Else?

    My interest was immediately aroused when I saw this in my inbox, a letter on which I had been cc’ed, from a renowned Ferrari expert and historian:  Attn. Mr. Rod Egan, Worldwide Auctioneers: I have been reading the January 2021 issue of Sports Car Market magazine and saw the Worldwide ad for the Arizona auction,…

  • America’s Bargain

    America’s Bargain

    Rip Van Winkle wasn’t a car guy, but if he had been, his longform napping would’ve put him in good stead as a collector. By most reckoning, new cars depreciate for the first decade or two of life, then after they’ve bottomed out for a while, they start to climb in value — assuming, of…

  • 1959 Cooper-Climax Monaco T49 Mk I

    1959 Cooper-Climax Monaco T49 Mk I

    Successor to Cooper’s center-seat “Bobtail,” the Cooper Monaco T49 was named for the win at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix by famed British privateer Rob Walker’s Cooper-Climax Formula 1 car. The Monaco was Cooper’s first production rear-mid-engined sports-racing model, designed expressly to meet FIA requirements of two seats, two doors and a windshield, with a…

  • 1996 Mercedes-Benz SL70 AMG

    1996 Mercedes-Benz SL70 AMG

    At a time when the price of a standard Mercedes-Benz SL600 was just 5% less than a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, it is unsurprising that the SL70 always was an extremely rare car; the engine upgrade alone cost roughly the equivalent of $60,000. Nevertheless, the reward was staggering: a hand-built 7.1-liter AMG-tuned version of the exquisite…

  • 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300Sc Cabriolet

    1956 Mercedes-Benz 300Sc Cabriolet

    The elegant 300Sc cabriolet presented here was dispatched to the New York Mercedes-Benz distributorship in early 1956 and, according to a copy of its factory build record, was finished in dark brown with a beige leather interior. While little has been documented about its earlier years, in about 2001, the car was discovered in Ohio…