History lauds volumes of praise to those who are first. Thinking back to 1964, many will recall a short wheelbase,...
Vintage Roadcar Columns
Since first offering its wares to the automotive public, Lancia has excelled at engineering some of the most technically advanced...
When first introduced in 1959, the Mini Cooper was a revelation of automotive simplicity, economy, and delight. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, primarily called upon to respond to the 1958 fuel crisis plaguing the UK and much of Europe, the diminutive Mini instantly won hearts, charming a wide range of...
I stumbled across a story the other day that caught me off guard. It was a report that a three-man...
There may be a cold wind a-coming… There’s nothing worse than a pundit, bragging, “I told you so.” So, I...
Parachute pants, rollerblades and the archetype of the boutique Supercar Not sure what the water cooler talk around your office is like, but in ours it tends to revolve around the obscure minutiae of cars and racing. Things like what driver had, or has, the longest continuous professional career (arguably...
With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays and the prospects of another Scottsdale auction week, it may have...
Le Mans, 1960. You can imagine the scene. The coming decade was cresting the ’50s into oblivion. The vast high-speed straights of the new decade revealed technology and design that was radically different from the previous era. No one was slowing down, even in the corners. Materials and processes were...
My friend had done well that year. He was quite a bit older, but we’d bonded over cars, especially as...
Just how far are you prepared to go for exclusivity? In January, Bentley announced that its famed Mulliner coachbuilding team...
Does the recent passing of a cornerstone in the Lotus community mark the end of an era? Just as we were going to press with this issue, at the end of August, I was heart broken to learn of the passing of Lotus enthusiast Dave Bean. Over the course of...
Not too long ago, a very good friend called me about his 1967 4.2 Jaguar XKE OTS. He had two...
You may have read the news piece we posted a week ago about Jaguar’s announcement that their Classic division will...
We’re all creatures of water. Millions of years ago we emerged from a boiling primordial stew as multi-cell organisms, evolved in the oceans, and then ambitiously emerged from the water to become oxygen breathing land inhabitants. Our living bodies are 60-percent water. Our brain is a whopping 75-percent water. Yet,...
I’ve been revisiting a series of cars recently from the period of my youth. There’s something to be said about...
I’ve had a fortunate car life. I’ve owned a wide range of cars, enjoying various shows, events and the pleasure...
Do these bellbottoms make my car look fat? Show of hands…how many of you sported a pair of bellbottoms in the 1970s? That was the fashion, so it seemed like a good idea at the time, right? Would you dig those out of the bottom of your closet and squeeze...
Thorough Events Ltd, organizer of last year’s inaugural UK Concours of Elegance at Windsor Castle, has announced an equally prestigious...
After several false starts, the U.S. is finally getting a major classic car exhibition of its own… A little over a year ago, I lamented in this space [“5-year Paradigm, VR, June 2015] about the U.S.’s lack of a major classic car show, such as France’s Retromobile or the UK’s...
In the 1980s, the idea of a Japanese Luxury Sedan was a radical concept. Most North American perceptions around Japanese...
Ercole Spada was one of the most prolific sports car designers of the post-war era. Though his name is not...
Living in Southern California, we’re admittedly pretty jaded when it comes to the classic cars we see on the road, on a day-to-day basis. Porsches, Ferraris, Cobras (real and re-imagined) for sure, but even exotic pre-war machinery. It’s like living in an alternate dimension when you see a Type 35...
The genius of Colin Chapman is evident in every one of his cars. Each of his creations were uniquely endowed,...
You really have to be cautious when you read the April issue of an automotive enthusiast’s magazine Did you enjoy...
Quintessential adjective quin·tes·sen·tial | \ ˌkwin-tə-ˈsen(t)-shəl :of the pure and essential essence of something :of or relating to the most perfect embodiment of something By the time the second world war came to an end, the quintessential sports car featured a long rectangular hood, suspended headlights, flowing separate fenders, a flat wooden dashboard and wire wheels. For motoring enthusiasts, the SS Jaguar, Morgan, or vintage MG...
What if you could change cars as frequently as your wardrobe? Since I’m currently single-handedly underwriting the University of Southern...
If you’ve spent any kind of time in the collector car world, then you’ve certainly heard the word “provenance” bantered...
Throughout the 1950s, American automobile manufacturers developed some of the most extravagant concept cars. While many of these efforts were styling exercises and prototypes, a great many were visionary, featuring futuristic (if not dream-like) scenarios including self-driving cars, flying and nuclear-powered cars. With enormous resources behind them, car designers had...
