Profiles
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1975 Maserati Merak SS
In the creative environment that coincided with the beginning of the 1970s, Maserati began work on the design of a car with high-performance sporting characteristics capable of dominating the hard-fought 3-liter class of the market. In order to avoid risks, the layout of the Merak, the name of a star in the constellation of Ursa…
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1970-71 Porsche 917K
{vsig}1998-10_1813{/vsig} This Porsche 917K coupe is one of the most historic available survivors of this titanic breed. Most significantly, it is one of only five World Championship-level race-winning 917s outside factory ownership.In 1971, entered by the Martini-Porsche team and co-driven by Vic Elford and Gerard Larrousse, it won America’s most charismatic World Championship-qualifying endurance race:…
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1963 Ford Thunderbird Sport Roadster
When Thunderbird designer Frank Hershey set out to design a sports car with “banker appeal,” he unknowingly created a legendary automobile that was so popular in its first year, it outsold the Chevrolet Corvette four to one. When Hershey left Ford for General Motors in 1960, the Thunderbird had sold over 90,000 units in the…
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1961 Ferrari 250 GT Fantuzzi NART Spyder
By the early ’60s, Scaglietti was at capacity building street cars for Ferrari, and so Fantuzzi, a Modena-based coachbuilder, built most of the bodies for Ferrari’s formula and sports/racing cars.One of the exceptions was a car built to a special order By the early ’60s, Scaglietti was at capacity building street cars for Ferrari, and…
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1960 Aston Martin DB4GT
Tractor and gear manufacturer David Brown took over the Aston Martin and Lagonda companies in 1947. His first DB2 series and variants sold well from 1949 to 1958, and served to re-establish the marque as a builder of soundly engineered, quality motor cars. In 1959 the much-improved DB4 model made its debut. Chief designer Tadek…
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1959 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage
The Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61, with proper team preparation and organization, would undoubtedly have won more classic races. It led every round of the 1960 World Sports Car Championship – at Buenos Aires, Sebring, the Targa Florio, Nurburgring and Le Mans – but only won a single event, and was sidelined by mechanical failure in…
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1952 Porsche 356 Pre-A Cabriolet
In 1952 there were only four Porsche 356 Cabriolets sold in the United States out of 294 produced by the Porsche Werke in Zuffenhausen. Back in ’51, about the only way to buy a 356 in this country was through New York importer Max Hoffman. The early cabriolets were among his best-selling cars, helping to…
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1962 Lotus Elite Series II SE
Launched at the 1957 London Motor Show – when metal panel work was the sports car norm and all-independent suspension the domain of racing cars – the strikingly pretty Lotus Elite boasted a fiberglass monocoque bodyshell with rear suspension first seen on the Lotus 12 Formula 2 single-seater. A steel front subframe, bonded into the…
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1961 Porsche RS61 Spyder
Porsche Spyders are excellent dual-purpose collectibles, equally at home on the track or on road tours such as the Colorado Grand One of the last 4-cam Spyders built, this tidy RS 61, chassis 718070, possesses a proud racing pedigree, an impressive list of owners, and a degree of authenticity found in few others. Constructed in…
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1956 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster
In 1956, Ford was building the two-seat Thunderbird, and outselling Corvette four to one. After two disastrous sales years, the Corvette had to change or die. And change it did. First, it received a new body to replace the classic roadster style body of the previous three years. Still in fiberglass, it now had external…