by Bruce Valley The following is an excerpt from Bruce Valley’s book “Zen and the Art of Collecting Old Cars,” available on Amazon and in select bookstores. Settling into our home on California’s Monterey peninsula, I felt certain that my British car collecting was concluded. British cars simply didn’t move me like they once did….
by Michael Mascelli My story starts in about 1965 when I was 13 and saw my first funny little English car in a local gas station lot in Latham, New York. All of my friends were the younger brothers of hard-core American Muscle motorheads, and yet somehow I was captivated by what I later learned…
By Ken Tanner My MG number 1 is a 1951 MG TD. I started to rebuild it in 1962 at the age of 15 when my Dad said, “If you can fix it, it is yours”. Unfortunately, my brother had a minor accident and damaged the front-right section of the car. It was…
Story by Carol Joy Patterson and photos by Ralph Saulnier It started with a trembling right hand. Or, maybe much earlier, after a serious head injury when I permanently lost my sense of smell. Anyway, there I was with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. I’d already beaten four cancers and was in a holding pattern with…
By Barry and April James I was a six-year old fascinated with rocks. I collected them all around our neighborhood in Long Island, New York. My first fossil—a shell—I discovered when my dad was digging a hole in the backyard to plant a tree. The foundations for my future were being cast. In 1969, as…
By John Russell The 1930 Ford Model A pickup truck sat in the woods, surrounded by trees, its canvas roof hanging like Spanish moss. I had put a lot of time into my brother’s 1928 Model A pickup—he could drive and I had no license, being too young. But I wanted my own. “Would $50…
By Derwood Schrotberger A friend recommend that I send you photos of my car from when we ventured a 200-mile trip to a British car outing at a farm in western North Carolina where they have a large private lake. I was inspired to make a “splash” impression. Did this canoe carrier surprise folks? Yes… at…
It’s easy. Just tell a proud owner you’re putting their car in this class, when they want to be in that one. I’ve seen it happen before, and likely been responsible myself. After hosting the British Car Festival in California for five years, and now preparing for our second Motorfest next summer, we’re still trying…
Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of the Atlas-Allied Swallow. Don’t be concerned if the car looks a little familiar – it should – it’s a doppelgänger for one of the most iconic shapes ever designed. But what you are looking at isn’t the same car that has been in the New York Museum…
Last year we asked you to determine the greatest British sports car of all time and after spirited voting the Jaguar E-Type – not unexpectedly – emerged victorious ahead of the Austin-Healey 3000 and Triumph TR6. This time we changed the call of the question: name your favorite British sports car manufactured since the end…
