Great Cars Available…Get It Before It's Gone. Check the date of the post. If it is a few weeks old, it is probably too late.

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Our First Month…

Today marks the end of our first month and it has been very rewarding to see our readership grow. We made it to 4,324 visits and the feedback has been positive. We will keep on finding great cars for you to consider or just enjoy reading about. Hopefully in a style that keeps you coming back. Part of what we envision for Mint is a dialogue between our readers through an active comments section in each offering. You will see things we missed or perhaps relate a story about a similar car you’ve owned. If you keep it fun and instructive, we will all benefit. And sending us a candidate for Mint is another way to participate. We can’t possibly cover the entire universe.  Last and most important, we proved in our first month that we can sell a car at a great price. The Bertone X1/9 is proof. Someone got it and now it’s gone!

If you haven’t subscribed to our daily emails, it’s easy. Just go up to the menu bar and visit the Sign-up section. It takes no time!

Michael Maddalena and the enthusiasts at Mint.Ciccio Buonosera II

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U-Boat Commander: ’83 Porsche 928S – 24,000 miles

Porsche 928

Some say the origin of the 928S had something to do with the Corvair. Nuts, you say. Really. Rumor has it Ferry Porsche was afraid that the US Government might ban the sale of rear engine cars because of perceived safety reasons. He lobbied for a V-10 powered front engine, rear drive car with 50/50 balance. That engine would have been developed by mating 2, Audi 5-cylinders together but the Porsche Board feared the relationship between Porsche and VW/Audi was getting too chummy and no Porsche should have an engine born from a lowly Golf. So they developed the big V-8 instead. Porsche 928SPorsche 928SPorsche 928SBut huge horsepower ratings for the 928 would be reserved for Euro cars – US getting 234hp. Anatole “Tony” Lapine, an American, led the design team and it still maintains a presence on the road today. Now this offering is special. It has only 24,000 miles and is in mint condition. But the real rarity here is the 5-speed manual transmission. Since the 928S was a GT car, about 80% were built with an automatic gearbox. This car has an excellent color combination and is completely new in appearance according to the extensive photo presentation. The 928S is a fairly complex car and one that has sat around so much needs to get fully sorted to get back in top shape – like a couch potato who decides to run the marathon. Porsches are very durable and reliable and a good Porsche will keep you smiling for decades. If we were in the market for a high performance GT, we would check this one out. A Private Auction – See it here on eBay. Porsche 928SOh, and U-boat Commander is a line from the movie Risky Business where Tom Cruise drives his dad’s 928 into Lake Michigan. After inspecting the soggy 928, the service manager at the dealership asks “who’s the U-boat commander?” 

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The Colonel: Mercedes-Benz 230S Rally Build Update

Mercedes-Benz 230S

This is what he (his name is The Colonel after his first owner) looked like after he left Auto Turismo Sport

For new Mint readers, we’ll give you a little background on this car. It is ours and not for sale. We looked too long to give him up any time soon. He came from Seattle by way of Brussels and Puerto Rico as he was the family car of a Colonel Stan Swanson – US Army. He remained in the family until 2010. We purchased it from the 2nd owner (rescued the better word) and after a long journey cross-country, he arrived at our first stop – Auto Turismo Sport. There, he was made road worthy and we began some modifications for his life in the Northeast. We will be careening around this neck of the woods at vintage rallies, club events and multiple trips to Lime Rock Park for the races (we’re 24 miles away). Here is where we are today:

– 4 Koni Adjustables set medium – 4 lightweight (rare) aluminum 14″ wheels shod with 195X70 Michelin Defenders – New brakes – Upgraded alternator – Optima battery – All new halogen bulbs (DanielSternLighting.com) – Rebuilt Becker Grand Prix (with iPod adapter)(beckerautosound.com) – A working clock (repair by clockwrks.com) – Refinished wood dash – Simpson Racing Belts

Mercedes-Benz 230SWhen we got him to Mint Headquarters, we added a vintage license plate frame heralding his roots in US Army history, a B country tag for his original home with Colonel Swanson in Brussels and a Marchal fog-pattern lamp we will use as a work light if necessary.

Mercedes-Benz 230SBefore we get him over to Rogers Racing in Roxbury (a retired race car mechanic of some world-wide fame), we had instructions to mount the auxiliary lights and create templates of the center light bracket and for the control panel in the interior. We added our NOS (not a repro) hood latches that we got from Germany. All the lamps have high quality Halogen bulbs. Colonel Swanson was transfered to Puerto Rico after Brussels and that is why there is a Puerto Rico badge on the grill. The plate AW-842 is the same number from his 1st registration in Brussels (forgive us, it is a repro).

Mercedes-Benz 230SMercedes-Benz 230SThe Oscars are huge and thankfully, they came with a really cool brace to keep them stable. We mounted the hood latches for practical reasons but they also look really cool. The center light is a Marchal driving lamp in near perfect condition. No reproductions allowed anywhere.

The center control panel will replace the vinyl panel that came from the factory. It will be larger and more forward. The only thing missing from the prototype is the center battery cut-off switch. John Rogers has a vintage one he is donating to the cause. The map light is vintage Butler from England. The gauge is outside temperature.

M-B ConsoleWe just received our new Contour in-car camera with suction mount for hopefully some cool moving footage of us chasing somebody faster. The FedEx guy dropped off a box from JEGS Racing with a vintage-style Sunpro tach. Hopefully we can column mount that without messing things up. That’s it for now. When the weather improves, we’ll get some moving pictures.

For links to all of our suppliers so far visit LINKS under the Services Tab.

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More Bull: : ’68 Lamborghini Islero

Lamborghini Islero

Ferruccio Lamborghini built tractors before he built GT cars. As the story goes, Ferruccio was unhappy with the quality of his latest Ferrari and had words with Enzo. Enzo kind of blew him off and that you don’t do to a Lamborghini. He said he would show Ferrari how to build a proper GT car. It took him a few tries but he got it right. The Islero, like all Lamborghinis, is named after a bull –  Islero killed a superstar matador. He was a Miura bull and now we know where that car’s name came from. Read More

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Wagon Whoa: ’65 Buick “Gran” Sport Wagon

Buick Gran Sport

Buick called their intermediate wagon the Sport Wagon and it had a Skyroof. Maybe the reference to Skyroof is new to you. It was to us. Buick Gran Sport Buick Gran Sport These medium-size GM wagons from Buick and Olds are pretty cool (Oldsmobile called theirs the Vista Cruiser). But this offering isn’t any old Buick Sport Wagon. It is a 1-off Gran Sport Wagon. Buick made some very competitive muscle cars in the day called Gran Sports but no wagon was ever produced. Read More

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End of the Line: ’53 MG TD

MG TD

The sports car craze in the US started after WW II when the GIs in post-war Europe fell in love with the light, low slung European marques. When the GIs returned from their tour they brought home a sports car. Eventually a distribution and dealer network became firmly established and the rest is history. One of the most popular cars of the era was certainly the MG. It is a traditional sports car that evokes the romantic days of wicker picnic hampers and bucolic country roads. You remember Oliver Barrett IV falling in love with Jennifer Cavilleri and cavorting around in a MG TC, don’t you (Love Story, the movie)? MG TDMG TDWhat we have here today is an MG TD and one of the last few hundred before they ended production at Abingdon in favor of the TF. Anyone know why there wasn’t a TE? Since it is a later TD, it has a newer design XPAG Motor. It is an older restoration of good quality so it has softened with age and not fallen apart. In other words, it has patina and that is okay for a nice driver. The finish is said to be smooth and there are no known rust issues. The nice part about this offering is that it comes form one our favorite dealers. They find good cars and present them well. It is on eBay and you can get there by clicking here.1953MGTD rear

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Safe Brit: ’69 Rover 2000TC

Rover 2000TC

These are a rare sight here in the US but every once in a while, a nice one pops up. What’s so special about this old English sedan? In its day, it was a seriously advanced car bristling with interesting details. It had a sophisticated de Dion Tube rear suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes, the rear mounted inboard. It was marketed as a safe car too winning recognition for safety innovations and having seat belts for all 4 passengers. Ironically, Princess Grace of Monaco was a loyal Rover devotee. We believe she was driving a 3500 model that fateful day. Read More

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Code Name Zest: ’67 Triumph TR-4 IRS

Triumph TR-4

The folks at Standard Triumph had one mission for the engineers embarking on designing the replacement for the TR-3 – maintain the “hairy chested” image of the TR-3. The project code-name was Zest. Why car companies need code names I’ll never know. Perhaps a carry over from the war? They asked Italian design house, Michelotti, to come up with a handsome new body and they did a fine job. Read More

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Olympic Hopeful: ’64 Ford Cortina GT

Ford Cortina GT

Ford introduced their new volume sedan in 1962. They selected the name because they liked the Italian town that hosted the ’56 Olympics – Cortina d’Ampezzo. Naming a car d’Ampezzo wasn’t cool so they used Cortina. Like most new models, it took a year before the tweaks started to happen. The standard engine in ’63 was a 5-main bearing 1500cc pumping out 60 horses. The most powerful version of this engine (used in the GT Cortina) was 1498 cc (1500) and produced 78 bhp (58 kW). Read More

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1968 Ford Torino NASCAR “Grand National” Super Speedway Race Car $95,000

Ford Grand Torino

We posted a street Torino Fastback last week and we received some great comments. And this bad boy is the king of Torinos! Torino HistoricOriginally driven by  Rhea Greenwell, Decatur, built with special assistance from the Alabama Gangs; Red Farmer, Bill Hamner, Bobby and Donnie Allison in the fall of 1969. Constructed from a 1968 Ford Torino Fastback body and Holman Moody Roll cage /Chassis/Suspension Kits on NASCAR prepared 1968 Ford car frame, with a BOSS 351 Cleveland engine. The car had a checkered (pun) race history not establishing any career wins mostly due to circumstances beyond its control. It was readied for the ’72 Permatex 300 however the driver’s dad got sick so it was a non-starter. It has been freshly restored and enjoys battling the Titans once again, this time in Historic Racing. Visit the seller’s website by clicking here.Ford Grand Torino

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Budweiser #11 ’87 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Aero Coupe P.O.A.

Monte Carlo AeroThis era Monte Carlo had little redeeming qualities as a street car but it made a great race car. You know by now, we like original cars. So when you find an original Winston Cup car with original graphics still on and driven by Junior Johnson, you have to look at this one. Yes, it’s a real nice Survivor with fantastic original paint and graphics. The Interior is flawless and the exterior has a few cracks and chips that need touch up, but no real body work or paint is needed. Impressive since it accomplished 5 top 5 finishes, one pole position and 10 top 10s! Visit the seller’s website!Terry-Labonte-XL

 

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Holman-Moody 1971 Mercury Cyclone – $175,000

Mercury CycloneBuyer beware. Surviving stock cars with a race history are rare. When a team was finished with a racer, they either handed it down to a lesser series or just sold it to a novice who raced it to death at tracks around the country. After all, who would have thought old race cars would be worth anything. I guess the folks who have owned a Ferrari GTO for 40 years knew something the rest of us didn’t. We aren’t experts on Stock Cars so we defer to the seller for the details. Mercury Cyclone HistoricThis Holman Moody factory built car was born in the winter of 1968-1969 and re-bodied later with one of the super speedway’s most aerodynamic and fastest body designs, the ’71-’72 Mercury Cyclone.   Donlavey entered and ran this car in fourteen Grand National races in 1973 scoring an impressive seven top 10’s.   Jody Ridley finished the teams best 5TH at Atlanta in July.   The other drivers were Bud Moore, Ramo Stott, Ray Hendricks, Dick Brooks, Jimmy Hensley, Eddie Pettyjohn, and Charlie Glotzback. The racer was then sold to a Richmond Virginia’s Val Knight and campaigned in NASCAR’S  other east coast junior series events.   A Holman Moody enthusiast / racer from Canada retrieved the car from Knight, still in his Princess Anne Auto Sales livery, and stored it until sold in 2001.

71 Mercury Cyclone Un 
This car is currently undergoing a period correct detailed show quality restoration that includes its 427 CI. sideoiler FE engine and correct Holman Moody high performance parts.  Learn more by clicking here.


 

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Silicon Valley: ’84 Porsche 911 Carrera

Porsche Carrera

There really isn’t too much to say so here it is. It is a 100% original paint, 1-owner, spotless Porsche 911 Carrera in a great color. And it is from California. What are you waiting for? Of course, you need proof that all that is said is true. Before you spend money on a PPI – a must for a Porsche – you can look at 150 well taken photographs. Read More