The BMW 507 is frequently cited as one of the most beautifully designed cars regardless of era, origin or classification. Designer...
Vintage Roadcar Columns
Parachute pants, rollerblades and the archetype of the boutique Supercar Not sure what the water cooler talk around your office...
How do you restore a car without mechanical parts? Some in the historic car community gripe about FIVA (the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens) and its efforts to regulate the hobby with initiatives like the Historic Vehicle Identity Card. While some consider this overreaching, this international organization does do a...
Cleverly Proportioned & Intuitively Perfect Let’s be clear about one thing. The Shelby Cobra is one of the most iconic...
You really have to be cautious when you read the April issue of an automotive enthusiast’s magazine Did you enjoy...
We’ve seen visions of the future before. Cars that can fly, jet-powered cars, atomic-powered cars, robotics within cars, and a host of other wild but inspiring concepts for our future vehicles. As a car designer and historian, I’m often asked what the next big shift in transportation design might be....
There may be a cold wind a-coming… There’s nothing worse than a pundit, bragging, “I told you so.” So, I...
Studebaker was an innovative company. In the pre-war years, it built some of the finest and most elegant art deco...
Just how far are you prepared to go for exclusivity? In January, Bentley announced that its famed Mulliner coachbuilding team would now offer interiors trimmed in…slate and quartzite. You read that right, you can now order your Continental or Flying Spur with a dashboard and trim made from paving stones....
Could the passing of a new law breed an entirely new segment of “classics”? The terms “Kit Car” and “Replica”...
While you might think this article is going to address the Chrysler Norsman, we are instead going deep sea diving, but not for the wreckage of the Andria Doria…at least not this month. Nearly every show and production car is designed with a main theme. Sketched and rendered by the...
The 1953 Turin Auto Show must have been quite a sight. It presented cars of what would become a landmark...
Can a fictional spy save the world…and a car company? I write this column on the eve of Halloween. While...
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...
For some in the automotive world, apparently cheating is a core value From the first day we start kindergarten, we...
It’s hard to imagine any scene from “Americana” that does not include a wood-bodied station wagon. Not only were wood...
…I was jumping up and down on the hood, like a chimpanzee in heat I think, like a number of enthusiasts, I started restoring and working on classic cars because I loved the cars, but couldn’t afford a pristine example, so I had to buy an inexpensive beater and do...
Among car collectors, enthusiasts, even kids who’ve yet to master driving, the Chevrolet Corvette needs no introduction. Introduced in 1953,...
Being ejected from the car…that’s half the appeal! As I’ve mentioned off and on, I’ve found that my automotive tastes...
In 1962 the worlds of fashion, design and cultural norms were changing faster than we were sending a man to the moon. Television was in more than 90 percent of all American homes. We welcomed the dashing and hatless John F. Kennedy and the European-influenced First Lady Jackie into the...
Apparently, you can only dodge so many bullets… I’m cruising down the road, nestled in a big, comfortable leather seat....
The Ghia 450 SS challenge arrived at Ghia studios as one of the first assignments offered to their newest employee,...
Fighting a virus can be a lifetime affair… Viruses can be insidious things. They initially infect you, you’re sick with its disease for who knows how long and then, finally, you clear it from your system. Yet, some viruses can lay dormant in your system for days, months or even...
We’re all creatures of water. Millions of years ago we emerged from a boiling primordial stew as multi-cell organisms, evolved...
…or why America lacks an international show One of the things I really enjoy, each month, is poring over all...
The Earth is round. These days we say this with reasonable certainty (thanks in part to space travel) and considerably less caution than 500 years ago when it might have gotten our heads cut off. Strangely, all that planetary curvature has a big impact on everything we see. Even the...
Conundrums of nomenclature in the automotive world Each month, I end up reading every word—on both sides of the magazine—at...
My Top Ten list changes every year. I know what I like, but once in a while new cars creep...
Is the world really hankering for a return of the Borgward? I see a lot of automotive press releases, every single day. Eight times out of ten, they are about something fairly mundane or of no interest to those of us in the classic car world. However, every once in...
