Having commenced manufacture with a short run of aluminum-bodied cars built at Gmund, Porsche began volume production of the steel-bodied 356 coupe at its old base in Stuttgart. The work of Ferry Porsche, the 356 was based on the Volkswagen designed by his father. Like the immortal Beetle, the 356 […]
Profiles
1949 Mercury V8 Lead Sled
The car pictured sold at Dana Mecum’s Arlington Premier Auction in Arlington, Illinois on November 7, 1998 at no reserve, bringing $23,625, including buyer’s commission. Estimated at $30k–$35k, a value that even at this level is probably less than half what’s invested in it, this is typical of the re-sale […]
1958 Austin-Healey 100-6
It was with an Austin-Healey 100-Six in basic production trim that Tommy Wisdom and Cecil Winby won their class in the 1957 Mille Miglia, while three factory entered 100-Sixes went on to take the Manufacturers’ Team Prize at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hour race. The same year saw the first […]
1912 Bugatti 5-Liter Race Car
In 1910, aged 28, Ettore Bugatti resigned his position at the Deutz works in Cologne and moved to Alsace, renting an old dye works in Molsheim where he began making his own automobiles. He took with him a prototype car of 1208 cc which he had built in his basement […]
1962-80 MGB Roadster
The very large production numbers and strong aftermarket parts support make the MGB a superb entry-level, low-stress sports car. It was built in the days when cars still had ignition points and grease fittings; any reasonably deft enthusiast with a copy of the factory manual can maintain one of these […]
1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Drophead Coupe
The merger of Daimler and Benz in the mid 1920s came at a time of acute difficulty for the German motor industry. Competition success such as Rudolf Caracciola’s 1930 European Hillclimb Championship in a supercharged SSK helped sales, which had risen to 6,000 in 1932 from a workforce reduced to […]
1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS Convertible Pace Car
Desirable to collectors, this Indianapolis 500 Pace Car replica Camaro is, like the original, an RS/SS convertible. As is usually the custom with Indy 500 pace cars, 100 examples were built for use by press and dignitaries during 500 Month at the Speedway. A further 3,674 Camaros equipped with the […]
1963 Ferrari 250GT Berlinetta Lusso
Arguably the most beautiful product ever to carry the Maranello marque’s prancing horse emblem, the Ferrari 250GT Lusso Berlinetta debuted at the Paris Salon in October 1962. Styled by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti, the Lusso (luxury) combined race-track looks with new standards of passenger comfort. Beautifully proportioned, the new […]
1938 Jaguar SS100 Roadster
In the early ’30s, William Lyons’ design influence began to take its full effect. The Swallow Sidecar Company evolved into Swallow Coachworks with a highly successful line of Lyons-designed bodies, mostly for the Austin Seven and 6-cylinder Wolseley-Hornet. Swallow’s first complete car, the SS-I, based on the Standard (later to […]
1970 Lamborghini Espada SII
After first the Miura, then the Marzal, Lamborghini once again stole the Geneva show in 1968 with the Espada, styled by Marcello Gandini, the genius who heads Bertone’s design studio. Despite its incredible styling the car was comparatively conventional, incorporating a pressed steel semi-monocoque built by Marchesi in Modena, into […]