One of the featured classes at last weekend’s 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was the Italian coachbuilder Frua. There was a Maserati-specific Frua class, as Maserati is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, and a class for Frua designs of other brands. My favorite car of the bunch (and certainly the largest), was this 1971 … Read more
Photo: Volkswagen As crossovers have gotten more popular, it only makes sense that a few automakers would try selling convertible versions. On paper, it’s a great idea, but the first two that we got — the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet and Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Convertible — were sales disasters and quickly canceled. And yet, … Read more
As a Los Angeles County native, we always referred to visiting Orange County as crossing the orange curtain because of the stark shift in political tendencies. We know things work a bit differently in OC, but that’s no excuse for the wacky convertible conversions that come out of Newport Convertible Engineering in Huntington Beach, California. … Read more
Image: BMW Once, there was a time where convertibles existed across the automotive spectrum. From sub-compact to full-size, there used to be a convertible for many different price points. Then the SUV/crossover was created and buyers couldn’t get enough of them , to the detriment of other segments. Today, convertibles still exist, but the segment … Read more
Image: Bonhams Coinciding with this weekend’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and taking advantage of the fact that a bunch of rich car folks would be in town, Bonhams held a high-end car auction. The results were, uh, not great, but one lot in particular was truly unique, and managed to find a new home. … Read more
Now is a good time to snap up C4 Corvettes like today’s Nice Price or No Dice convertible. Let’s see if the price tag on this low-milage and seemingly rare color example will make buying it a snap. Best Corvette Generations, According to Bob You generally can’t go wrong buying an old Toyota Land Cruiser, … Read more
Image: ebay Preston Tucker was a visionary, and his cars are cool as heck. There were so many technologies developed for the Tucker 48 Sedan, like the center headlight that pivoted with your steering wheel and the quick-change drivetrain that could be swapped out in fifteen minutes. Back in 1948 this car’s powerful Franklin engine … Read more
I have never truly understood why some convertibles are called spiders, since spiders are creepy and generally undesirable creatures and not small sporty topless fun machines. There are a few potential origins for this automotive arachnidian nomenclature mashup, one rooted in a poor translation, and one that comes from way back in the horse-drawn carriage … Read more
Porsches: 986 Boxster S. The first time ever that the Boxster posed a threat to the 911 is with the S version. More power, optional sport suspension, lighter than a 911, mid-engined. Rare because it was so expensive at the time. Get the IMS bearing mod done. 987.2 Cayman/Boxster Base or S, but especially the … Read more
If you’re wealthy — and I don’t mean just rich; I’m talking superyacht that’s bigger than most people’s homes with a helicopter pad, sub and a gold toilet with a heated seat wealthy — you have the sway to approach just about any automaker to request they design a one-off vehicle just for you. It’s … Read more
