Mar
23
We are fascinated by these cars. Fascinated doesn’t mean we actually want one but we understand why someone would. These were revolutionary cars using monocoque construction making them the strongest, most stable cars on the road. Coil springs at all four corners made it smoother riding than the competition. Read More
Mar
22
Probably the single most important trend in automobile collecting is the barn find. Opinions vary on whether or not it will continue at this pace. But some very well known collectors have embraced the trend. We support it when it makes sense. Lets be clear – we support leaving a barn find as original as possible and making it fully operational again. If it can’t be restored and it is not a seriously important car, we would part it out so others may live. Read More
Mar
22
No, we haven’t been watching reruns of Downton Abbey. There are other houses of Windsor you know. We refer to Ford’s Engine Facility at Windsor Ontario. The V8 Ford Windsor motor family is considered by many to be one of the greatest and most successful engines of all time. Introduced in ’62 as the halo engine to Ford’s Total Performance program, finding its way into almost the entire range of Ford products. In the early days of the WIndsor, the 289 was the sweetest. Read More
Mar
22
The new Continental was not intended to be the largest nor the most powerful automobile; rather, the most luxurious and elegant American car available, designed to recapture the spirit of the great classics of the prewar period—with prices to match. The Mark II’s inspiration was the celebrated V12-powered Lincoln Continentals of the 1940s. It was never to be known as a Lincoln but a separate division. However it was sold through Lincoln dealers and used many Lincoln parts. Go figure. Read More
Mar
21
We like to mix things up here at Mint but when you find another really nice car similar to one recently posted, you have to you have to make a call. So when we reviewed this TR-3 sent in by Mike M., we were impressed. This one is a fine example of a 1959 Triumph TR3A with factory “overdrive” and wire wheels (# TS61141LO). Read More
Mar
21
Many of our readers have race or show cars and what to trailer them with is sometimes a more practical decision than a creative one. And then someone comes up with an inspired concept like taking a ’48 Mack Truck Body and placing it over a Ford E-450, 14,000 GVW chassis. Its powered by a 460 Ford Big Block mounted aft of the cab! And it can carry! The ramp is 18’6 with self-storing ramps. See the eBay Auction by clicking here.
Mar
21
Ransom E. Olds is the genesis of the name of this car company. First introduced in 1915, production continued through 1953. Although the basic design and styling of the chassis remained consistent, the Speed Wagon was manufactured in a variety of configurations (pickup and panel truck, passenger bus) to serve as delivery, tow, dump, and fire trucks as well as hearses and ambulances.
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Mar
21
We love small, nimble, Italian sedans like this Alfa. The Giulia Super is the perfect little 4-door. When you think about it, you could buy a BMW 1600 and they are both very rewarding cars to drive. But the Alfa has soul. It’s lively like a young labrador. 
It just wants to go go go. Here in the USA, we could buy Giulia 1600s but in Italy you could order a lower caste version with a 1300cc engine from the GT 1300 Junior. The 1300 had rubber mats on the floor too. So 1300s are not here in any great numbers. A few made it here with returning servicemen, others were imported. Unfortunately, many of the 1300s fell victim to engine swaps by well meaning owners. We had a GT1300 Junior and yes, it required a whipping to keep up with bigger cars but it was happy doing it. Today’s offering is a Craigslist find and it by no means perfect. But we think it is an inexpensive way to get into a great event car. Hey, 4-wheel disc brakes, 5-speed, dual Webers – all in good health. There has been a color change but it isn’t a Porsche 911S so who really cares? And the rust issues, if it is not worse than described, shouldn’t be a big deal to get right again. The asking price is $11,000. See it here on Craigslist.
Mar
20
At Mint, we try harder. We give our opinion on cars that either we find or are submitted to us from readers (keep those coming!). But we don’t compile statistics on pricing – we research pricing trends either at Hagerty’s site (they insure our Alfa and Mercedes) or Sports Car Market Price Guide. We think it puts things in perspective. So if we do have credible information, we will add a thumbnail. That Thumbnail will take you to the valuation analysis.
The Thumbnail looks like this 
Mar
20
The Corvette C3 was patterned after the Larry Shinoda’s Mako Shark Concept Car. It was a mid-engine design that excited everyone who saw it. But concept cars are supposed to be pre-cursors of the future. In this case it was, but the mid-engine was ditched in favor of the existing Sting Ray’s layout. Shinoda’s car was sent to Chevrolet Styling, where Harry Haga’s studio adopted it for production. 
The C3 also adopted the “sugar scoop” roof treatment with vertical back window from a Duntov design. The C3 was accidentally introduced to the motoring public not at some big hoopla reveal at the Detroit Motor Show like this year’s new Sting Ray. Mattel’s Hot Wheels was given permission to release an authorized model of the C3 called the Custom Corvette. Seems they didn’t get the memo on the release date. Read More
Mar
20
Who is Metric Mechanic and why do we care? We care because they provided the guts that make this build special. Metric Mechanic was created out of necessity when the founder, Jim Rowe, set out to build an indestructible transmission for his autocrossing efforts. He was so successful it became a business. And that business grew to include complete drive trains – all race quality built. This ’75 BMW 2002 has a Metric Mechanic engine (details on the listing) , dual 45 DCOE Webers, Tii mechanical advance distributor, MSD 6AL and plug wires, IE Motorsports step header, 325I lightened flywheel with 228 mm clutch. The transmission is a rare dog-leg 5-speed conversion from Metric Mechanic with limited slip differential, new drive axles and drive shaft. Read More
Mar
20
Still available but at a much more reasonable price. Is it because it is in South Dakota?
There is no denying the beauty of a vintage Jaguar Saloon. They adhered to Sir William Lyon’s philosophy of “grace, pace and space”, when they conceived this elegant 4-door. Like many old luxury cars, they were not respected by collectors as much as sporty coupes and convertibles. We get that. However with the increasing popularity of historic rallies and enjoyable classic car tours, they are gaining some serious respect. Why not be comfortable while you’re having fun. We are not suggesting taking Grandpa’s Buick Electra 225 on the New England 1000 mind you.
Mar
20
We wanted to find something to balance today’s finds. All three cars are English and could potentially satisfy the requirements of a majority of our readers. The other 2 listed below, are not too expensive, have loads of character and are fun. So we needed something big and big we got. Read More
Mar
20
Here is a restored, 4-seat, English convertible aka Tourer, cute as a button for only $24,900. Sure, you can find other 4-seat English convertibles but they will be called Dropheads or something snotty like that. It could be an Alvis TA 14, an Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane or Daimler Conquest. Read More
Mar
19
Here at Mint we try to select interesting cars while recognizing the diverse tastes, interests and budgets of our readers. The decision to select one car over another may have to do with where it ranks in the collector car/special interest market or simply “we had one of those yesterday”. Read More
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