Classic Cars
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Next year marks several important anniversaries, one of which is the centenary of storied British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. Yes, it was in 1913 that British entrepreneurs and avid racing fans Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford first decided to join forces and build their own car. They initially called their company Bamford & Martin, later changing it to Aston Martin to acknowledge Robert Bamford’s success at the Aston Clinton Hillclimb in Buckinghamshire, where he had successfully raced the company’s very first cars. The very first Aston Martin was the 1915 Coal...
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From The 1602 To The i3: 40 Years Of BMW ElectricsNext year BMW will introduce its new i3, the first of a new range of models developed by the automaker’s new i division that focuses on sustainability and future mobility. The arrival of the i3 marks a new direction for a brand that for decades has built up a reputation based on performance...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Want A Turnkey Aston Martin DBR1 Replica For As Little As $33,000?If you want to buy an original Aston Martin DBR1, expect to pay as much as $32 million for a car with a significant and documented racing history. Even the non-functional DBR1 scale model kit sculpture created by the Evanta Motor Company drew a pre-auction estimate close to $50,000, so what can an...
Kurt Ernst -
Bill Ford, Jr. Is Buyer Of Oldest Ford Still In ExistenceLast October the world’s oldest known Ford in existence, a 1903 Model A Rear Entry Tonneau, sold at auction for the relative bargain price of price of $264,000 (the car had previously been sold in 2007 for almost $700k). It’s now been revealed that the lucky buyer of the red 1903 Model...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Nissan's GT-R Isn't Just About Godzilla: VideoIf you're new to the car game, or just not that into the current R35 GT-R or the previous R32-34 models, you might not know about the car's history, born of a racing heritage in cars called Skylines. Though the Skyline name has been dropped from the current GT-R, the three-letter performance...
Nelson Ireson -
A Lamborghini 350 GT visits Jay Leno’s GarageEvery journey needs an origin, and for Lamborghini that starting point was the 350 GT coupe. Conceived by Ferruccio Lamborghini as a grand-tourer capable of going head-to-head with rival Ferrari, the success of the 350 GT paved the way for better known Lamborghini automobiles, such as the Miura and...
Kurt Ernst -
Twenty-five years ago today, the last Buick Grand National came off a General Motors assembly line in Pontiac, Michigan. The event also marked the closing of GM’s oldest plant, and despite the fact that dozens of workers were about to lose their jobs just two weeks before Christmas, the vibe was anything but negative. It was almost as if the workers involved in building the last Grand National knew they’d be a part of something bigger, and that the final car off the line was more than just another automobile. Now, two and a half decades later, a newly-released documentary called...
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Bailey Cars Now Offers Stunning Racer Replicas In North AmericaIf you’re not a track-day regular or vintage race car fan, you may never have heard of Bailey Cars, or its predecessor, Bailey Edwards Cars. The South African manufacturer builds replicas of classic endurance racers like the Porsche 917, the Ford GT40, the Lola T70 and the Ferrari P4, and...
Kurt Ernst -
1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Redefines What A Muscle Car Can Be: VideoMuscle cars are loud, juvenile, socially irresponsible and, sooner or later, harmful to your health. Like binge drinking and death metal, they’re an obsession generally meant for the young, before things like raising a family and not frightening the neighbors become meaningful. Or are they?...
Kurt Ernst -
Rare 1969 Lamborghini Miura Fails To Meet Reserve Price At AuctionAristotle Onassis, the Greek shipping magnate, was the kind of man you wanted as a friend. One of the richest men in the world during the 1960s, Onassis wasn’t shy about spending money on those he cared for. Singer Stamatis Kokotas fell into that category, as Onassis was both a friend and a...
Kurt Ernst -
Gullwing America Builds La Carrera Panamericana Tribute CarsGullwing America (GWA) builds replicas of classic sports cars like the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL/R and (now) the Ferrari 340 M/C, both of which were campaigned in the famous La Carrera Panamericana open-road race. Now, in tribute to the storied event, World Car Fans says that GWA has built a tribute 300...
Kurt Ernst -
What's Better Than A Vintage Nissan Skyline? Two Of Them: VideoIvan Jaramillo is our kind of car enthusiast. Not only do we admire his passion for early Nissan Skylines, we agree that an audio system has no place in a car like this. Sometimes, the mechanical symphony of gears, carburetors, linkages and a in-line six-cylinder engine are all you really need...
Kurt Ernst -
In 1963, the Ford Motor Company very nearly became the owner of Ferrari. Ford reportedly invested millions of dollars on due diligence, only to have Enzo Ferrari back out of the deal after learning his cars would be ineligible to compete in the Indy 500 under Ford’s ownership. That didn’t sit well with Henry Ford II, who then directed his racing division to develop an endurance racer capable of beating Ferrari on the world stage. The end result was the Ford GT40, which went on to win at Le Mans in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. The car proved so popular that it’s been replicated...
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Tracing The Mercedes-Benz S Class’ RootsNext year a brand new generation of the Mercedes-Benz S Class will be launched. The new car, the W222 series, will be the sixth generation of the S Class, but the tradition of large flagship sedans from Mercedes-Benz dates back much farther than just six generations. In fact, it goes all the way...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
To Illustrate Its Future, Lincoln Honors Its PastIf all you know about Lincoln automobiles comes from what you’ve seen in its dealer showrooms over the past two decades, it would be easy to write the brand off as a pseudo-luxury automaker reselling badge-engineered Fords. The demise of the Mercury brand was supposed to clarify the line...
Kurt Ernst -
Jay Leno Shows Off His Unrestored 1918 Cadillac Type 57: VideoWe’ll admit to being impressed by unrestored and original muscle cars, dating back (in some cases) nearly 50 years. That’s why Jay Leno’s unrestored and original 1918 Cadillac Type 57 Victoria is even more amazing, as its in nearly pristine condition for its nine-plus decades of...
Kurt Ernst -
1969 AMC AMX Defines What A Pro Touring Car Should Be: VideoIn 1968, American Motors introduced a short-wheelbase, two-seat sports car called the AMX that many saw as a shot across the bow of the Chevrolet Corvette. Despite serving up reasonable performance (especially when equipped with the 390 cubic-inch V-8, rated at 325 horsepower) at bargain-basement...
Kurt Ernst -
1967 Chevy Camaro RS/SS Barn Find Is Tired, But TrueThe problem with most barn find stories is that they generally start out with “I knew a guy who’d heard of a guy whose neighbor bought a mint-condition Cobra at a garage sale for $500.” The further away from the point of origin, the taller the tale generally gets. In reality that...
Kurt Ernst -
If you don’t like the style of cars on the market today, there are plenty of reproduction steel bodies on the market that will allow you to build your own vintage car with modern mechanicals. Just two weeks ago, Ford announced a steel body reproduction of its 1940 Coupe, priced from $11,900. That joins the product catalog alongside steel bodies for various Mustang models, including the 1965 Mustang Convertible. If your taste runs more towards truck and SUVs, Hemmings Daily has some good news to report: Dynacorn has announced that it will build a reproduction steel body for the...
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Sergio Pininfarina Exhibition Draws Record Crowds: VideoTo celebrate the lifelong contribution of Sergio Pininfarina, who passed away earlier this year at age 85, Ferrari is running an exhibition dedicated to the late designer at its museum in Maranello, Italy. The exhibition features examples of most of Pininfarina’s creations for the Prancing...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Spitfire-Engined Bentley Meteor, Seen On Top Gear, For Sale: VideoIn the last season of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson relived the Battle of Britain by once again pitting the Germans against the British. This time, it would be contested on a runway, between a German car powered by a Heinkel He 111 bomber engine (the Brutus) and a British car powered by a Rolls-Royce...
Kurt Ernst -
Paul McCartney’s Aston Martin DB5 Fetches Over $490,000 At AuctionWhile it may not have drawn the same $4.1 million selling price as the heavily-modified Aston Martin DB5 used in the filming of Goldfinger, the DB5 formerly owned by former Beatle Paul McCartney commanded a respectable £307,000 ($490,463) when the hammed fell at RM Auctions’ recent...
Kurt Ernst -
1940 Ford Coupe Joins List Of Ford-Licensed Products: VideoThe popularity of the reproduction Mustang body shells, including one for the 1965 Mustang Convertible and another for the ’67 model, has prompted Ford to approve yet another reproduction of one of its most cherished models, this time a 1940 Ford Coupe hot rod. Like the previous Mustang...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Paul McCartney's 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Up For AuctionWhether you're a Beatles fan or not, you can't help but love the lines and details of this classic 1964 Aston Martin DB5 once owned by Sir Paul McCartney. A stunning example of the DB5 with custom touches, RM Auctions expects the car, bearing chassis number 1653/R, to bring between...
Nelson Ireson