Collecting Thoughts

You Meet the Nicest People by Accident

As I sat on the pre-race grid, I did the same thing I’ve done for 42 years while waiting for the race to start. I cinched up my helmet strap, tightened the seat belts and checked my mirrors. And worried about how the race might unfold. My 1964 Corvette was […]

Podium or Pebble?

I have vintage-raced for nearly half my life, judged at concours events from Lime Rock Park to Amelia Island, and restored more than 50 cars, including some fairly significant old race cars. I have also worked with vintage-race-car shops in most of the U.S. states as well is in Europe. […]

Twins Peak

We were recently witness to an amazing confluence of events, where two Corsica-bodied Bugatti Type 57S cars were auctioned within a month of each other. That both of these cars should come up for auction — and sell — is a strange twist of fate indeed. The first example offered […]

My Dream Come True? Or Was it a Nightmare?

My “poster car” growing up was a silver 2002 Porsche 996. It was actually on a calendar on my bedroom wall. I remember hitting that month and never flipping to the next. Perhaps it was because my dad is a Porsche enthusiast, or maybe that car was just special. In […]

Scratching the Itch

Sitting in a marketing meeting in Detroit one day not so long ago, I recall seeing a presentation that explained how the Corvette’s primary competition was the Porsche Boxster and 911. There were some other cars mentioned as well, but I had already tuned out. As a guy in my […]

The Rise of the Collector-Car “Influencer”

Many of us enthusiasts who enjoy performing basic repairs on our collector cars have discovered that a play-by-play tutorial is usually only a click away on YouTube. Indeed, the Google-owned video website has become a go-to for open exchange of information and opinions among fans of nearly everything. Videos about […]

SCM’s Oregon Odyssey

To celebrate his magazine’s 30th anniversary, SCM Founder and Publisher Keith Martin, a veteran of countless driving tours in vintage cars, planned a tour of his own — and invited magazine subscribers to join him. Keith’s impressive guest list included Miles Collier, SCM columnist and founder of the Revs Institute; […]

Artistic Drive

“A roaring motor car … is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.” — Filippo Marinetti, a founder of the Futurist art movement Picture the scene: a quaint cobbled London mews that once housed the horse stables of the Kensington aristocracy but had since become a mecca for classic-car collectors, […]

La Vita Riprendo

As many who read this column know, I am a retired opera singer. One of my favorite composers is Giuseppe Verdi — not least because he wrote amazing music for the baritone voice. Verdi loved Shakespeare, and one of the best baritone roles he created was that of Macbeth. In […]

Beware the Jabberwock

Way, way back in 1968, I suddenly found myself in a hospital bed. I was 7 years old, and my tonsils had to come out — right now. It was an emergency. I was forced to put on a smock that tied in the back. The room was cold, and […]