For Sale: 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL500 in Kentwood, Michigan

More than 20 years ago, a 1996 Mercedes-Benz SL500 was purchased at the Normand of Mayfair dealership as a birthday present for a woman in England.

Resto-mods have become hot commodities in the collector car market, offering the style and splendor of vintage vehicles with the drivability and reliability of the modern stuff.  And while mid-century American cars are fading in value as their constituency ages, there are those 1950s cars that still excite any generation, such as the ‘55 Chevy.  […]

There was much trepidation going into Arizona Auction Week 2020 following the bummer results from the Monterey collector car sales in August, when gross figures were down by nearly a third, and after a disappointing 2019 in general.   But the numbers are in (mostly) and the overall results for Arizona’s collector car extravaganza and its […]

“Reclaimed Rust” is the title of an exhibition of custom cars, guitars and memorabilia from the James Hetfield Collection that opens February 1 at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Hetfield is co-founder, lead vocalist and songwriter for the heavy-metal band Metallica. He also is a lifelong car enthusiast. “Hetfield’s vehicles assert both a […]

When is a motorcycle not a motorcycle but instead a car?  Vintage motorcycle enthusiasts likely would say that the Ner-A-Car came closest. Carl Nearcher’s 2-wheelers were built on a low-slung steel chassis and had center-hub steering and some other car-like details. They were built in England and the U.S. in the 1920s, and there were […]

There are resto-mods and electra-mods and now we appear to need a name for what TDF is doing, taking Formula One racing chassis and installing its own powertrain with the promise of providing customers with “a package that is more reliable, useable and affordable to maintain.” That package is is TDF-1, which uses a 2011 […]

The Caballero was, of course, a Chevy El Camino by another name.  GM’s love for rebadging extended to its rear-wheel-drive, car-based pickup truck that was sold from model years 1978 through 1987.  While trim levels and names differed, the El Camino and Caballero were largely the same aside from badging and grille design, which could […]

Bonhams is back in Las Vegas for its 10th annual collector motorcycle auction. But this year, the sale takes place in a bright new venue, the Caesar’s Entertainment Studios just off The Strip and behind the Paris Las Vegas complex and its faux Eiffel Tower. The new venue has a vintage feel that fits well […]

The recently completed Arizona Auction Week 2020 saw some weaknesses and also some surprising strengths in the collector car market. Prior to auction week, I fully expected American classics, and especially those from the pre-war era, to take a serious dive. No one was more surprised than I was when I saw the Tucker at […]

“There may be other ‘32 Fords out there, but not all cars are created equal,” says the seller of the Pick of the Day, a 1932 Ford custom roadster. Indeed, this street rod seems like a superb rendition of a classic highboy Deuce, known as the Texas Playboy and good enough to earn a full […]