Profiles
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BMW 2002
Light steering, reasonable acceleration and braking, a delightful gearbox and above-average build quality have led the BMW 2002 to cult car status. With its cohorts, the Austin Mini-Cooper and the Lotus Cortina, these classic cars reinvented the simple box as automotive performance art. In BMW’s case, the 2002 probably saved this now Bavarian powerhouse from…
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1952 Jaguar XK 120 Roadster
During the Second World War, Sir William Lyons and his colleagues envisioned a new car that would feature the world’s first high-volume twin-cam engine. Called the XK series, it would be a short-wheelbase chassis mated to a two-seat sports roadster body. When combined with the new engine, the result would be nothing less than sensational-a…
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1976 Lancia Stratos
The Lancia Stratos represents a high point in Lancia sporting history and showed the world a new definition of the ultimate rally car. Yet its birth was merely a matter of coincidence. At the 1970 Turin motor show, Bertone displayed a futuristic design study, a fabulous creation of Marcello Gandini. The Italian coachbuilder had built…
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1967 Ferrari 330 GTC
What might have been called patina a decade ago had slipped to scruffy Unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Salon, the Ferrari 330 GTC allied the 275GTB chassis with a 330 2+2 engine. The Pininfarina coachwork blended the 400 Superamerica front with the tail of the 275GTS. This produced a very elegant car that is by…
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1966 Volkswagon 21-Window Microbus
The boxy Volkswagen Transporter arrived on American shores circa 1949. Using regular Beetle mechanical components, Transporters quickly evolved into mini people carriers. Dubbed the Microbus, Volkswagen’s unique vehicle became the trademark of a burgeoning hippie counterculture. The combination of economy and practicality made them an instant hit with the flower-power generation. Before long, their slab…
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1918 Stutz Series S Roadster
The general public could be forgiven for thinking that the Stutz Bearcat was the only model made by the company. However, since 1911 when Harry Stutz had set up his own firm, there had always been two-seat roadsters and touring cars to keep the limited number of Bearcats made each year company. Mechanically there was…
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1967 Ferrari 330 GTC
Intended to fill a gap in Ferrari’s line-up between the four-seat 330 GT 2+2 and the racer-on-the-road 275 GTB, the two-seat 330 GTC debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966 and in essence was a closed version of the 275 GTS. Pininfarina’s understated coachwork combined elements of the latter at the rear, with…
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Jaguar XJ-S V12 Convertible
When does a car cross the line from used car to classic? If you can figure that out, you may be able to buy that older car you’ve always admired at the absolute bottom of the market, after it has ceased depreciating and before it has started to accrue a collector’s premium. We think the…
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1921 Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
Count Louis Zborowski was a Polish nobleman and sportsman who lived in England during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His most lasting automotive legacy was four aero-engined high-performance hybrids, called “Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bangs.” The cars were constructed with the help of Captain Clive Gallop, later to become one of the famed “Bentley Boys.” Tragically, Zborowski…
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1984 Lamborghini Countach
The sensation of the 1971 Geneva Salon, the Countach was styled by Marcello Gandini. Lamborghini’s four-cam V12 was retained, though this time installed longitudinally. To achieve optimum weight distribution, designer Paolo Stanzini placed the five-speed gearbox ahead of the engine between the seats, and the differential, driven by a shaft passing through the sump, at…