On Quality & Quantity

There is something revealing in the fact that six auction houses in Monterey offered more than 150 Porsches for sale. Elsewhere in this issue, we have suggested that the bubble of investment opportunity has moved past the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, like clouds streaking across the sky, to embrace the 1980s and 1990s, heading toward […]

August Mid-Month Guest Commentator

Well folks, it’s over. The Monterey-Peninsula-ultimate-car-guy-week has come to a close. I was most interested in the auction results and they proved very thought provoking. Overall, the auction houses sold some $390 million in cars this year, compared to $410 million last year. Some will say the bubble has burst, but I will tend to […]

LONG LIVE THE BUBBLE – But Think of it Differently!

For generations, legions of enthusiasts have gathered cars of their era, vehicles they admired when they first discovered automobiles and when they first started driving. Market observers watched interest in 1960s muscle cars begin to grow again 20 years ago (after stock and investor car markets crashed). Fascination with 1970s cars soared soon after that. […]

What Happened to the Embarrassment of Riches?

Editor’s Note: I hope that by the time you see this March issue, a number of you who came to Los Angeles for the annual literature and swap meet – or Trash & Trinkets as a good friend calls it – you also will recognize the structure shown at the top of the page in […]

The Influence of Advertising and Sponsorship

Throughout Porsche’s racing history, 911s with an “R” in their model designation were dreamt up by minds inside the building. Ferdinand Piëch of course gets credit for the 911R. A broad cast of characters – motivated by company chief Ernst Fuhrmann – devised the 911 RS Carrera 2.7. But while the idea for one of […]

An Embarrassment of Riches

With total production of Porsche sports car models hovering around a million examples, perhaps it’s not unexpected how much interest the six auction houses are lavishing on this make in mid-August at Monterey. Call it an embarrassment of riches, if you like, but if you are seeking a 356, 911, 959, Carrera GT or one […]

The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Collection

How does a car collection happen? Can you actually control your collection or do your cars simply have a force of their own? Don Garlits One of the best racecar collections in the world got started because the family saved everything. Don Garlits said that his father was a pack rat and he simply followed […]

August Editor’s Note

The long-awaited Monterey “speed week” is here. For many, the only purpose is the racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. For others, the variety of shows and concours – from Tuesday’s Concours on the Avenue in Carmel, through Thursday’s Tour d’Elegance, and Friday’s Quail: A Motorsports Gathering, and the […]