Classically proportioned and instantly recognizable from the moment of its introduction in 1958, the Touring-styled DB4 established a look that would survive, with only minor revisions, until 1970.
A new design by Tadek Marek, the DB4’s all-alloy, twin-overhead-camshaft 6-cylinder engine featured “square” bore and stroke dimensions of 92 mm for a displacement of 3,670cc and developed its maximum output of 240 bhp at 5500 rpm. The David Brown gearbox was a new four-speed, all-synchromesh unit.
An immensely strong Read More
While the car’s presence is an asset to any event, it is not a factory-authorized build, which makes it ineligible for judging at many shows
Introduced in 1968 with production beginning in 1969, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona was Ferrari’s response to an evolving market and changing regulations in the United States. Compared to Ferrari’s earlier cars, the 365 GTB/4 was bigger, both in bulk and in power, more luxuriously equipped and was wrapped in a Pininfarina-designed, Scaglietti-built body that was Read More
I felt like I had entered a tinkerer’s medieval blacksmith shop. Vintage Gran Prix Bugattis from the 1920s and ’30s were strewn haphazardly about the courtyard of the tony Chaminade Resort and Spa in Santa Cruz, CA, and seemingly half of them were being taken apart and put back together.
The tap, tap, tap of a hammer came from one car as a front suspension was taken apart. Another Bug had its engine out and dismantled, and a new Read More
Bologna-based engineer Aldo Faccioli started out in 1947 when his OSFA workshop (Officina Specializza Faccioli Aldo) designed, developed, and built 750-cc specials based on the Fiat 500 chassis fitted with the Lancia Ardea engine.
The subsequently named OFSA/Lancia spider achieved numerous top-five finishes throughout the 1950s. In 1960, racing driver Massimo Bondi commissioned Faccioli to build a car to compete in the increasingly popular Formula Junior series. The result was one of the first mid-engined Formula Juniors to come Read More
My column takes a slightly different tack this month, as SCMer Aaron Greenburg sent in this letter asking for some advice on a 1988 Ferrari 328:
I’m interested in trying to put a value on a Ferrari 328 that I inspected the other day. The car in question is a 1988 targa, white over black, and I’d describe it as being in “rough driver” condition, which means:
I spotted a lot of bodywork, some paint runs, blends, and Read More
The foibles of “production” car racing and homologation rules have given rise to some rather interesting machinery over the years. Nutty Plymouth Superbirds and road-going Ford GT40s are at one end of the spectrum, and Ferrari’s first V6 engine is at the other.
Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari envisioned the V6 as an ideal Formula 2 engine before his untimely death in 1956. But the engine didn’t come to fruition until nearly a decade later. By then, there was simply no way Read More
In my October column, I wrote that the factory laptop used to diagnose electrical and mechanical systems of modern Ferraris does not give definitive answers to problems. Instead, the computer merely gives a list of as many as 1,500 options and possibilities.
To understand how this situation came about, let’s begin with a brief history lesson.
While Swedish engineer Jonas Hesselman developed mechanical fuel injection in 1925, nothing inspires industrial progress like a world war. So, fuel injection Read More
It’s not a good day when your mechanic calls and says, “Uh, I’m not sure how to say this, but I had a little accident with your car.” It’s even worse when your car is a 2006 Ford GT Heritage that had been modified to a “Twin Turbo.” (On the Internet, some claim the value of cars like this can exceed $250,000.)
This Ford GT had some running problems that were threatening the owner’s participation in an upcoming Ford Read More
The High Court in London has recently given judgment in the case of Brewer vs. Stanley Mann, Fortis Lease UK Limited and Stanley Mann Racing Limited. The judgment emphasizes the importance of accuracy when giving sale descriptions of collector cars.
The judge’s finding, heavily in favor of the private buyer and against the seller, raises some interesting issues for dealers, auction houses and buyers. This judgment has caused some waves in the U.K. trade, and is already subject to Read More
Some companies can lock one label into the consumer’s mind. This is especially true in the auto industry. Volvos are safe, Subarus are sensible, Saabs are odd and Lotuses are lightweights.
Lotus mastermind Colin Chapman’s philosophy seemed to consist of omitting, thinning and paring—until the car collapsed on itself—and then put back the last thing either omitted, thinned or pared and calling it well done. All this made for cars that handled well and extracted the maximum performance out of Read More
