After languishing for years in California’s high desert, the 1948 Norman Timbs Special — a Motor Trend cover car in October 1949 — was restored to a fare-thee-well and won its class at several major concours. Timbs was an acclaimed race-car engineer who’d designed the Indy 500-winning Blue Crown Specials […]
Collecting Thoughts
Old Goat, New Guy
Even among collectors, it is perhaps unusual to own the exact same car twice, with 40 long years separating the two experiences. I first bought this Pontiac GTO in 1981, after discovering it with a scattered clutch in a Sierra Nevada meadow. After torturing it for a summer, I sold […]
Drive It Like You Stole It!
In 2005, I bought a Ford GT in what I consider the heritage colors — Midnight Blue with white stripes. These echo the Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes livery of the 1964 GT40 that won the Daytona 2000 km Continental. Even after more than 18 years and 20,776 miles, […]
Understanding Resto-Mods
Resto-mods have become prevalent, particularly at sales conducted by Barrett-Jackson and Mecum Auctions. At the annual giant Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas last November, every crate-engine variant or upgraded component possible for resto-mod conversions was on display, even drop-in electric powerplants. There are many websites and […]
Grab Your Popcorn
I love movies about cars, racing, real events, real people and lots of drama. I’m also old enough to remember Dad taking me and my brothers to see “On Any Sunday” at the theater when we were children living in Southern California. That movie, directed and produced by Bruce Brown, […]
My Path to Pebble
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been in love with the automobile. I find the sights, sounds, smells and sensations intoxicating. Long before I had the financial wherewithal to begin collecting cars, I was an enthusiast. I was born in 1960, and my earliest automotive “education” came from […]
East Bound and Down
SCM’s editorial staff has plenty of opportunity to get out of the office over the course of the year. You’ll find us following the action in Scottsdale, on the concours lawn at Amelia Island, and dashing from event to event during Monterey Car Week. But our favorite annual outing is […]
Big in Japan
It was bound to happen someday. I have been interested in Japanese cars since I was 7 years old, but up until now, I have only owned models that were sold here in the U.S. I have driven right-hand-drive JDM cars, and friends have imported cars from Japan. I even […]
Plugging In
Change is inevitable. It can be a difficult truth, but what works now won’t work forever. Converting classic cars to electric power isn’t entirely new — half-baked electric Porsche 914 conversions and the like have been home-brewed in garages for decades. But today’s evolved electric vehicle technology means that electrified […]
Unconsciously Bought
I bought a new addition for my automobile collection from RM Sotheby’s at its recent Amelia Island sale. Parked in a corner of the viewing tents was a dark blue 1934 Tatra 77 that, through some combination of pheromones and kismet, I knew was going home with me. I have written […]