Conundrums of nomenclature in the automotive world Each month, I end up reading every word—on both sides of the magazine—at...
Not sure why, but I seem to be having a number of automotive epiphanies lately, as a result of driving...
Volkswagen recently sent out a press release announcing that production of the iconic T2 VW Bus would soon be coming to an end. Huh? Volkswagen is/was still making the ultimate Baby-Boomer, Hippie-wagen? As VW aficionados will be well aware, despite being discontinued long ago, VW Beetles and Transporters (nee buses),...
Driving in to the office the other morning, I was listening to a comedian on the radio. His name is...
During the early days of the automobile (1890–1940), coachbuilding—the construction of bodywork for a vehicle—was as vital a part of...
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...
…or why America lacks an international show One of the things I really enjoy, each month, is poring over all...
You may have read the news piece we posted a week ago about Jaguar’s announcement that their Classic division will...
I don’t know if it was coincidence or not, but at least a half dozen times—throughout the course of this August’s Monterey car week—I was asked my opinion of where tomorrow’s collector car enthusiasts are going to come from? In one case, it was a concours organizer, in another it...
Despite what have been arguably the worst economic times in over a generation, the mantra of the auction world for...
As you’ll read in this month’s news, Bloomberg News recently confirmed that a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO has been sold...
After 117 years, I’m finally getting around to figuring out Opel… I enjoyed speaking with Rich Taylor last month about his long involvement in the hobby and automotive journalism. I found it fascinating that he originally started working for Car and Driver because he won a car from them! Even...
I pulled my Alfa over into a little layby, off the twisty road that climbs from the Pacific Ocean, up...
Over the past several years, I’ve waxed whimsical in this space about various historical, psychological and emotional aspects of the...
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...
As brought home in living color on your television screen—or sadly perhaps your front room if you live on the...
The automotive prophets predicted the coming end times…wish I bought the destroyer of the classic car world when I had...
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...
Do these bellbottoms make my car look fat? Show of hands…how many of you sported a pair of bellbottoms in...
Could the passing of a new law breed an entirely new segment of “classics”? The terms “Kit Car” and “Replica”...
Casey Annis Editor/Publisher Jaguar is apparently a cat with more than six lives to live. Last month is this space, I spoke about the significance of Alfa Romeo making a return to the United States and, in a broader sense, what that might mean for all automotive enthusiasts. Just after...
For some in the automotive world, apparently cheating is a core value From the first day we start kindergarten, we...
“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the...
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...
One of the more interesting developments in the classic car hobby, over the past few years, has been the broader...
There’s an old adage about “the steady march of progress.” The truth, in fact, is that when it comes to...
Over the course of the past month, a surge of activism has swirled through the American car collecting community. What has triggered this rallying cry to action, you might ask? Preservation? Youth involvement? Nope…taxes. On May 23, the U.S. Department of Commerce posted a request for public comment on “Section...
Last November, in this space, I addressed the hot button issue of where tomorrow’s enthusiasts and collectors will come from....
Can you hear that sound? It’s me, beginning to climb way out on a limb. Like most enthusiasts, I was...
It’s come to my recent attention that I have an alcohol problem. Truthfully, I had no idea, but apparently, I’ve had one for at least the past two years. It was insidiously gradual. At first, it was just occasional, but then as time progressed, it became pretty much every weekend....