Members of Hagerty Classic Insurance’s Driver’s Club were recently asked what car was the most luxurious ever. The answers ranged from Studebakers to Rolls-Royces. No one suggested either Hispano-Suiza or Isotta Fraschini, the world’s truly most luxurious marques. Of those two, Isotta Fraschini is my pick. Gianni Rogliatti wrote an article titled “The Fabulous Isotta...
We had spent the previous evening at Justin Marshall and his wife Shirley’s spectacular hilltop home overlooking their winery in Paso Robles, California. It was a warm beautiful summer night. We sipped a bit of Marshall’s award-winning wine, took in the incomparable view with the Pacific Ocean in the distance, while baroque chamber music was...
I bought both a Volkswagen Type 1 and a Morris Minor more than 20 years ago when we started coming to New Zealand to escape the winter months in the United States. I acquired the 1966 Morris convertible first, and it turned out to be a big mistake. One that pushed me into the purchase of the 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. It happened like this: I bought the Morris after looking it over quickly and test-driving it. The body seemed sound, the engine ran well, and it was inexpensive for an open car. I should have known better. Being a…
Years ago, a friend and I were in an old Dodge plumber’s van on our way to the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance, doing about 65 mph on Interstate five, when a magnificent, classic, close coupled sedan blew past us. We were surprised, because though it appeared to be stock, and indeed magnificently restored, it was...
Though Detroit is world-famous as the capital of American auto production, when it comes to electric cars, Des Moines, Iowa beat the Motor City to the punch. A Scottish immigrant who settled in Des Moines, in 1880, William Morrison began as a chemist, but his main interest was in electricity, and specifically, batteries. Laboring in...
Throughout history, French manufacturers have created some of the most unusual automotive designs ever made. Most will agree that many of them had brilliant engineering, however the French approach to styling, especially in the mid-century era, is interesting to say the least. Weird, beautiful, ugly, strange, fantastic, modern, and eclectic are words than could be...
The role the 700 placed in the history of BMW is complicated. Some say the 700 saved the company, but it isn’t that simple.Immediately after the end of the war, BMW produced bicycles, kitchen equipment and other mundane products; mostly made from melted down aluminum airplane parts. The first post-war motorcycle was introduced in 1948 and sold well through its peak sales year of 1952, dropping quickly after that. The 501 baroque angel was put into production in 1952, but it was too expensive for most German families at that time and the styling was from the 1930s. A bigger…
The numbers alone on the Brumos Collection are impressive, starting with a collection of cars numbering in the 60s, two-thirds of which are on display at any one time. These cars occupy over 35,000 square feet of display space and include Brumos’ legacy of racing and collecting Porsches stretching back to the ’50s and coming forward into the present day. All of this combined, somehow, still doesn’t prepare you for the reality of the collection. Guided by signs displaying the iconic red and blue stripes and Brumos logos, you turn onto the meticulously manicured grounds. Anticipation builds as you are…
Back in 1982, I bought a 1940 Packard coupe and spent the next couple of years restoring it. Once I had the engine extracted, I decided, upon sober reflection, to have a pro do the rebuild. The guys at the parts house referred me to classic car expert Paul Schinnerer in Long Beach, California. He...
If you are an old car buff, love beautiful scenery and friendly people, and want to visit a place where they speak English and you can drink the water, then New Zealand is the place for you. These are classics from various events in the land down under, the land down under. A friend and...
More Cylinders: Jessie Vincent and the Packard Twin Six engine “The greatest piece of machinery that ever went upon the highways,” proclaimed Henry B. Joy, Packard president in 1915, extoling the virtues of the recent release of his company’s new engineering marvel, the Twin Six. Jessie Vincent, the brainchild of the Packard Twin Six, came...