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A Red Egg for Christmas

Our day started innocently enough. Seven-year-old daughter Alexandra and I headed to a local swap meet in search of a pre-’55 American car to use in Martin Swig’s La Carrera Nevada event. While wading through the rusting junk, a.k.a. valuable restorable collector cars, she pulled suddenly at my sleeve.“Look Daddy, […]

1978 Alfa Romeo 2.0 Spider

The 1966 Geneva Motor Show saw the debut of the Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, which replaced the existing 101 Series Giulia Spider. The Duetto’s Pininfarina-designed body was inspired by a styling exercise on a 3.0 litre Disco Volante chassis seen at Geneva in 1959, and sported an extremely attractive and […]

From the Speedway to Syracuse

Our circuitous, car-filled week started with a trip to the Autofair at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, where I was co-host of a Speedvision special, “Muscle Car Mania,” to be broadcast Thanksgiving weekend. The swap meet and car show occupied the entire infield of the Speedway, and presented […]

1965-1966 Alfa Romeo TZ2 Berlinetta Corsa

{vsig}1998-11_1583{/vsig} The jewel-like Alfa Romeo TZ2 model is in effect “The Baby GTO,” simply one of the most charismatic smaller-capacity Gran Turismo car designs of all time. Furthermore, the car pictured here has hardly been seen in public since the late 1960s, and it retains all the distinctive TZ2 componentry […]

The V12 in the Driveway

Now that the annual Monterey convention of dealers and stealers, gearheads and tire-kickers, lookie-lous and wallet-flashers is over, it’s time to reflect. For several years, the weekend’s events have overlapped, but this year the congestion was ludicrous. The traffic jam to the track on Saturday rivaled the Bronx expressway on […]

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint Series II

Its factory devastated by wartime bombing, Alfa Romeo did not resume car production until 1947, the pre-war 2500C standing the Milan marque in good stead until 1952. The firm’s first all-new offering of the post-war period arrived in 1950. Designed by Dr. Orazio Satta Puliga, the 1900 was the first […]

Collapsed

We’ve just returned from a grand three days, participating in the 10th Annual Monte Shelton N.W. Classic Rally. Our ’68 Porsche 911L performed splendidly for the 1,000 miles through Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, and never missed a beat until it was three miles from home. We stopped to pick up […]

1963 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider

Bodied by renowned Italian coachbuilder, Touring, known for creating some of the most exquisite early Ferrari and later Maserati designs, the Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider closely resembled the Vignale-bodied 3500 Maserati roadster. The 2600 was introduced in late 1962 and although similar to the 2000 series in design it offered […]

Enjoy the Ride

If you’ve been dabbling in collector cars for a decade or more, you’ve been through the meteoric highs and the dismal, depressing lows. Eight years ago, carbureted Ferrari 308s sold for over $70,000, and Boxers passed $250,000. Porsche Speedsters were bringing $100,000, and flat-floor Jaguar E-type convertibles even more. If […]

1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ

When Carlo Leto di Priolo wrecked his Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce on the 1956 Mille Miglia, he had the car rebodied by his friend Elio Zagato, with lightweight and aerodynamic aluminium coachwork. The rebuilt car was further campaigned in races with such success that 18 further examples of the “SVZ” […]