Oscar Wilde wrote, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” This sounds a lot like the car hobby to...
There is a warehouse in Houston, Texas, that is the automotive equivalent of Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. There are no...
There is no hidden racecar in this story, but there are four treasures, one mechanical and three human. I love this one. The mechanical treasure of this month’s installment is the 1953 Siata 208S (#BS520). Painted in a lovely shade of white, BS520 was the E-Production Class Winner at the...
Then. Southern California is home to a seemingly endless supply of astounding cars hiding in garages, warehouses and barns. For...
Then. I must have called the guy dozens of times, year after year for more than a decade. It was...
By 1969 Formula Vee had become the most popular racing class on the planet. The cars were relatively economical to run and the competition was intense due to the single-spec nature of the formula. At the time, Volkswagen of America was posting record sales with the Beetle and was poised...
One of the most intriguing post-war American automotive tales has largely been forgotten. It was a car story that began...
Chris Wickersham is a Devin expert who has restored nearly ten Devin-bodied cars including seven of the original Devin SS...
Don Blenderman is koo-koo for Kurtis cars. And why not? Frank Kurtis is arguably the greatest American racecar builder of all time. His career spanned four decades, and his cars regularly dominated the competition. The Kurtis midget was the car to have in the ‘30s and ‘40s, and the lovely...
What is this thing they call Contessa? The term Contessa originates from the Italian language and translates as “countess.” In...
Veda and Karl Orr are legendary Hot Rodders. They were among the early racers who took to the dry lakes...
The year was 1980; the place, Road Atlanta. During the parade lap, Motor Racing Network’s sportscaster Mike Joy set the stage for one of the most memorable SCCA Championship races of all time. “C Production Class. These are production sports cars with a limited number of modifications allowed in the...
Terry Bennett says he grew up as both a nerd and a motor-head. It was hardly his fault. His father...
The lunacy of automotive collecting has no bounds. My personal journey has taken me from Italian coach-builts to vintage racecars...
Since the doors opened in 1924, the MG Car Company of Great Britain has been producing interesting and innovative automobiles. The decade of the 1950s was a particularly magical time for sports and competition cars, and MG was in the thick of it with factory racers and experimental cars. While...
Then. Nardi of Torino, Italy, did not manufacture only steering wheels. They also built wonderful automobiles for use on both...
The origins of the Packwood Special can be traced to California aerospace engineer Steve Mulholland, who gathered components over a...
David Duthu’s appetite for interesting and eclectic cars seems to be boundless. He vintage races a Bugatti Type 35A and a Talbot Lago T-26C. He also owns Chet Herbert’s 1953 Beast IV Bonneville Streamliner, a Porsche 356 Art Car, a series III Lotus Super 7, a 1958 300SL Roadster and...
Ever wonder what it must’ve been like way back when during those early shade-tree mechanic days when racers would vanish...
Then I have a friend living in the Sunshine State with a spectacular collection of historic racing cars from the 1950s. For years I’ve been needling him about letting me write an article about one of his wonderful machines, but he has been steadfast in his resistance. Last week he...
It’s confession time again. For my entire automotive collecting career, now entering its third decade, I’ve been both intrigued and...
Austrian born Karl Alberto Abarth did so many things so very well. He was a motorcycle racing champion, multiple land...
How many of you would journey 500 miles across country to race a freshly built car whose engine had never even been fired? That’s exactly what California-based James Kamboor did in 1954, and the lack of preparation didn’t seem to slow him down one bit. Become a Member & Get...
Greg Smith is a long time vintage racing enthusiast and runs a restoration shop that has traditionally specialized in European...
Then Hundreds of small automobile manufacturers sprouted from the ruins of World War II. Energized by peace and engineering skills...
In almost all parts of the world street racing is illegal. It’s unsanctioned, unregulated, and often extremely dangerous for participants and bystanders. Although street racing in the United States may have been most widespread in the early post-war period, the activity dates back to the dawn of the automobile and...
Myron Vernis has a problem. Oh, he seems normal enough at first blush…terrific career, amazing wife, two wonderful loving daughters....
Then. I’ve been hiding something from you. I’m not proud of it, and it’s been going on for way too...
I want to be Rich Plavetich. Is he cool? Check. Does he have a wonderful and beautiful wife who also loves cars? Check. How about a fabulous career? Check (General Manager, Nissan Design America). But does he have a car collection? Check, and it’s awesome! (see Hidden Treasures, December, 2016)....
