It was 18 months ago that SCM Legal Analyst John Draneas and I bought a 1965 three-cylinder, two-stroke Saab 96 on eBay, plucked it out of a barn in Rimini, MT, and tried to drive it home to Portland.Readers may recall that we covered 400 of the 700 miles with […]
Latest news
1971-1975 Volkswagen Super Beetle
Any Beetle of yore is more closely related to a lawn tractor than it is to the modern auto with which it shares a name and silhouette It hardly seems believable that by 1971 the Volkswagen Beetle-the success story of the 1960s-was losing favor with the public. In earlier […]
E-Types, E55s and XR-75s
I recently spent two weeks streaking across Florida in a Mercedes E55 AMG, one of today’s definitive high-performance full-size sedans. From its 469-horsepower supercharged V8 to its crisp-shifting, manually-controllable automatic transmission, the car is a finely-tuned machine that delights in gobbling up vast distances effortlessly. Aside from its expectedly pathetic […]
1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint
This 1900 has been to more European auctions than most SCMers. But this time around, the seller really timed it right. {vsig}2004-6_1228{/vsig} The 1900 debuted with mechanical specifications worthy of the marque’s history. Fitted with a double-overhead-cam four-cylinder engine, it was a modern car that was easy to maintain. It […]
Reality TV, Barrett-Jackson Style
I like auctions as much as the next guy. In fact, I probably like them a little more than that-a good thing given my day job. But even for me, an hour or so at a time is about all I can take of the cacophonous babble emanating from most […]
1992 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Convertible
The nimble little sportster of The Graduate fame is now a mature, if slightly portly, cruiser with a tidy little tuck to its nose and tail. Sort of like what Mrs. Robinson most likely had. {vsig}2004-5_1236{/vsig} As described by the seller: One registered owner, West Coast car, totally as new […]
America By Fiat
Chalk it up to the power of the press.Two months ago, I mentioned that I was looking for a Ferrari GTC/4. In response to that, SCMer Howard Jacobs, of suburban Cleveland, wrote us advising that rather than a C/4, we should consider a 456 GTA, similar to the one he […]
1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale (2004)
The Bertone-penned Sprint Speciale version of the Giulietta first appeared in the Alfa Romeo catalogue in 1957. With super-streamlined bodywork, it was reckoned to be absolutely sensational looking, bearing a marked resemblance to some of the legendary Italian marque’s earlier competition designs, particularly the Disco Volante sports-racer and the still […]
“At The End Of The Day, The Best Car Wins”
We all love cars of such varying types, shapes and accoutrements that it’s hard to generalize what makes a car appealing when new, or to predict whether it will become collectible as it ages. The North American International Auto Show is a litmus test of attitudes, of each car company’s […]
1966 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint
As described by the seller on eBay Motors: This rare automobile has been in the body shop for six years. The exterior has been slowly and carefully rebuilt. All the bondo has been removed and replaced with body sections taken mainly from other vintage Alfas. I purchased the 2600 Sprint […]