A Ferrari press release from the 1999 International Geneva Motor Show noted: “Following a year of record sales performance, Ferrari comes to Geneva to launch the all-new Ferrari 360 Modena. In the past six years, Ferrari SpA has completely changed its model lineup, producing no less than 12 new models […]
Visit any of the U.K.’s regional classic-car auctions, and you’ll almost always encounter at least one big Bentley or Rolls-Royce of the 1980s and 1990s — invariably with an affordable-looking price estimate. These imposing — if slabby-sided — automobiles are some of the last cars to be hand-built before the […]
It didn’t take long for the Army’s quarter-ton, four-wheel-drive reconnaissance car to catch the fancy of the American soldier during World War II — and of the American public in general. The Jeep as made by Ford (GPW) and Willys (MB) was often an object of desire for when the […]
Fiat just can’t seem to catch a break in America. The company made headlines back in 2010 heralding a splashy return to our market with the diminutive 500 hatchback. Coming about 10 years (plus or minus) after the successful return of the VW New Beetle and the reimagined MINI Cooper, […]
There aren’t many sleepers in the collector car world with the endearing qualities of the Triumph GT6. It’s a British child of the Swingin’ Sixties, it’s rarely seen, it’s a crowd-pleaser and it’s just a plain hoot to drive. If you fit in it. Produced for just seven years through […]
Arecent result from the Bonhams Padua auction on October 28, 2017, caused a bit of a stir here at the “Affordable Classic” desk. Actually, it wasn’t a stir, but more like a big messy spit-take, a coffee-spewing, head-shaking explosion of disbelief. A late-in-the-run 1988 Bertone X1/9 1500 coupe went out […]
If you were to think of a sports car that epitomized the mid-1970s, the Bricklin SV-1 would be the perfect choice. The car was the brainchild of Malcolm Bricklin, a somewhat eccentric auto-industry executive whose resumé includes bringing Subaru to North America. His idea was to build a much safer […]
The 996 is the pit bull of 911s — but not in a dispositional or aesthetic sense. However, like the odd pit bull that inexplicably snaps, the 996 can be a car that’s perfectly fine — until it’s not fine. An infamous bearing The source of the Porsche 996’s reputation […]
The old saying of “Can’t see the forest for the trees” also applies to good deals at the Monterey Car Week auctions. Despite auction houses working to get high-end cars for record-setting sales prices, there are inevitably a few consignments that don’t fare as well as hoped. Throw in car […]
Picture a sunny summer afternoon on the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Cruz, CA. It’s the late 1980s, and two new sport sedans are cruising to the spot where a passing lane opens up. The challenge is to be ahead of the other car by the end of that […]
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