“Will you sell me your Duetto?” It was really a two-part question. It started with, “I’m looking to buy my first Italian sports car,” and ended with, “and I wondered if you would sell me your Duetto?” There was more, of course. My friend has always owned Porsches, and recently […]

The Alfa Romeo Club of Oregon (AROO) held its annual Valentine’s Day Tour last week. For my 16-year-old son Bradley, it was his first time driving a manual-shift classic sports car on a tour. My driver-training philosophy has been to have him become competent driving automatics in a variety of […]

I’m writing this as we prepare for the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon (AROO) annual Valentine’s Day tour. There are three Alfa Spiders in the SCM garage. Our plans are to take the 1991 S4 and the 1967 Duetto. Although my son Bradley has been driving his mother’s manual Porsche […]

Our 2006 Lotus Elise needs new tires. We’ve covered some of this ground before, but here it is two-and-a-half years later and we have yet to deal with the issue. The SCM Elise now has about 22,000 miles showing. It has been driven less than 1,000 miles since I suffered […]

It’s the eternal recurring question for gearheads. How many cars to you really need? Usually, the answer is determined by how many parking spaces you have. But for the moment let’s assume you have unlimited space. I have found that when you get beyond five or six cars, you are […]

In 1964, Alfa Romeo and Porsche were roughly on par with their mass-production cars. The 356C and the Giulia Spider Veloce had similar performance. But by 1970 the two companies were worlds apart and have continued to diverge. Two things happened. First, in 1965 Porsche introduced the 6-cylinder 911. It […]

I’ve been watching a variety of online chats about selling strategies for online auctions. They revolve around whether it is better to list a car with a reserve (a minimum price that must be met or the car doesn’t sell) or no reserve (the highest bid takes the car, no […]

In a short period, my son Bradley’s access to the SCM fleet have made him a favorite of his cohorts at Lincoln High School, where he is a sophomore. He is the founder and president of the first car club in the history of the school, “The Cardinals Car Club.” […]

I bought my first car the day I turned 16, hours after I passed my driving test. (I was first in line when the DMV opened at 8 a.m.) I still think the $30 I spent for the Bug Eye Sprite with no first or reverse gear was “above market.” […]