The streets of X’ian, China are a maelstrom of transportation contraptions, from hand-drawn oxcarts laden with unopened, boxed color televisions to brand-new Mercedes S-class sedans. While the Chinese may suffer from a lack of political freedom, in terms of motorized conveyances, they are Joan Claybrooke’s worst nightmare. The rule of […]
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1959 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider (2001)
A replacement for the 1900 line, the 102-series 2000 cars first appeared in 1958 and were unusual in so far as production of the Touring-bodied Spider version outstripped that of the four-door Berlina. A Bertone-bodied Sprint coupe followed in 1960. Nowadays referred to as the “Cast-Iron 2-liter,” the twin-cam 2000 […]
The Rites of Winter
As the Pacific Northwest settles into winter and the temperatures drop below freezing each night, we dress our cars in their winter clothes just as we make sure our heavy coats and gloves are hung by the door. Cindy’s ’83 Mercedes-Benz 123-body 300 Turbodiesel, which lives outdoors, suckles nightly on […]
1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC
With a total production run of 1,000 units between 1965, when it was launched at the Geneva Salon, and 1966, the Giulia GTC Alfa was an exclusive 2+2 convertible derivative of the Bertone Giulia Sprint GT coupe. Visiting the new Arese plant when the Giulia GTC was introduced, the British […]
Legends in Kentucky
Watching Formula One Champion Phil Hill tinker with the handbrake assembly on a 1929 Bentley three-liter open tourer was like being at a rehearsal in Manhattan while modern dance choreographer Martha Graham fine-tuned her ballets. Graham had an instinctive understanding of how to put a dance together for maximum artistic […]
1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato
The Giulietta Sprint Zagato echoes the severe tumblehome roofline of the fabulous Bertone BATs and the slanted tail of the same bodybuilder’s Sprint Speciale. The BATs, however, were strictly styling exercises and the Sprint Speciales were too heavy to be race cars. It was Zagato that finally filled Alfa’s need […]
Kill It Or Keep It?
It’s hard to kill a car you care about. Case in point: two years ago we bought our son Eric, then eighteen years old, a 1978 Mercedes 280 saloon. This car was chosen after his older brother managed to hasten the path of two more sporty automobiles, a Fiat 124 […]
1951 Alfa Romeo Villa d’Este Cabriolet
Destined to be the last of the separate-chassis Alfas, the 2500 debuted in 1939 as a development of the preceding 6C 2300B. The engine was, of course, the latest version of Alfa’s race-developed twin-cam six, its 2443cc displacement having been enlarged by boring out the 2300 cylinders by 2 mm […]
Hitting the Road
Can there be any time of year better than this for the enthusiast? As this issue of SCM is being put to bed, we are preparing our 1962 Ferrari 330 America for its vintage event debut on the Monte Shelton Northwest Classic Rally, and, simultaneously, the SCM staff is packing […]
1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Cabriolet
This unique 1900 was bodied by the Swiss coachbuilding company, Ghia Aigle, specifically for the 1955 Geneva Salon. This is the earliest of eight Alfas bodied by Ghia Aigle known to survive, and as such, in many respects the most interesting and most important. After the Geneva show the car […]