Apr
18
If you ever wondered why you have a passion for great automobiles, particularly 12-cylinder red ones, then you need to see this video. It is skillfully done by our friends at Petrolicious. Mr. Chen, the owner of the subject Ferrari, has no problem expressing why his car is so delicious. Click on the image, go to full screen and turn up the volume. You can thank us later.
Apr
17
The exceptional Bertone X1/9 caused quite a stir when we listed it on Mint2Me. Well, the culmination of the sale took some time because it was a long distance transaction with a buyer who had been burned before. The seller, prince that he is, had all the patience necessary to make the buyer comfortable. We understand the buyer’s trepidation and we are happy all is well.
Dear Mint:
Larry D. inspected this car — for about two hours — more closely than a Pebble Beach judge scrutinizes a Deusenberg. He kept saying, “I can’t believe how clean this car is.” I was only a bit nervous when we went to fire it up (it hadn’t started in 19 months, and my guy who stores it had forgotten that I’d asked him to do so before Larry arrived) so he could test drive it. But after a bit of cranking to prime the fuel system, she lit right off and settled into a perfect idle instantly. Thanks, StaBil! His (very satisfying) test drive served as the first — and presumably last — time I would ever ride in the car’s passenger seat. A bittersweet feeling, but clearly the car is going to a good and loving home. So he’s now on his way back to California, title in hand, and the car will follow as soon as our friends at Reliable can fit it on a westward load. Attached snapshot shows the happy new owner and his Bertone within the delightfully gritty environs of Overseas Motors, Livonia, Michigan…
Best, David S.
Apr
13
You may not know but Mint’s headquarters is about 30 miles from Newtown, Connecticut – where Sandy Hook Elementary makes its home. So we felt compelled to support this event to raise money for the first responders and the families devastated by this tragedy. And we want to take our hats off to the folks, led by George “Spikes” Le Grice of Brockton, Massachusetts, who organized this huge car show hosted by the good people at Lime Rock Park Race Track. We attended with our Mercedes-Benz 230S and we were one of thousands of vehicles of all types. What a great turnout by our 2-wheeler brethren too. We met a gentleman, Steve H., who had just returned from the South American Rally organized by HH Rallies. It was 39 days of driving through every kind of terrain and weather in South America. He did it in his 356 Porsche. Steve said a German Industrialist with a collection valued at $300 million selected a Mercedes-Benz 230S for the rally. A very cool one indeed.
Apr
7
The day began poorly. We waited a frustrating hour inching along the highway just to park the car. At least our Media credentials were in order and we finally made it in the tents to check out what sold and what was to go on the block that day. We watched the auction action on TV Thursday so it was interesting to see the cars we saw on TV in person. 
Some cars were even more beautiful and some were not. So when a car sells for low money and you scream from your Barcolounger that you would have paid that, you might not know the entire story. Yes, there were cars we would have loved to have or at least feature on Mint. 
Some with spectacular restorations. But we saw some “nice” cars that I am sure attracted attention that were not totally done properly. For example, there were 2, 280SLs that looked pretty darn good but with closer inspection, we could see the unique details that the car were originally built with were gone. They are called “headlight notches” and they all seem to go by the wayside when a quick paint job is done. If they are gone, what else has been left at the curb? Not every Austin-Healey 3000 is a Kurt Tanner restoration or done by another fine restoration shop. There were 3, stunning Healeys parked in the tent next to each other. Two were really well done, the other tried hard but missed with unbelievable poor gaps. Someone with less knowledge might assume all 3 were spectacular.
The star for us was a VW Samba 23-window sunroof that sold for $115,000. An over the top Dodge Royal Lancer with cool details sold for $50,000 and that was a great deal. And finally, a Chrysler Town & Country Roadster Woodie – a custom but authentic creation sold for $119,000.
So we’ll sit the next Barrett-Jackson out even though it was great fun. The crowds are huge and enthusiastic so the collector car hobby is on solid footing.
Apr
3
We get that once you own a car, it is yours to do with as you please. Hey, look what John Lennon did to a perfectly good Rolls-Royce. Ditto some Swami who had money to burn. And Janis Joplin “personalized” her Porsche 356 in psychedelic colors. Some of those creative decisions may have been influenced by, how should we say this, out of body experiences. With that said, who would do this to a perfectly nice black Big Healey? We aren’t telling you who sent this in or where it was found but it actually exists and is for sale. We think the bottle of Windex is included.
What do you think?
Mar
26
We are nearing the completion of our 2nd month and the response to Mint is encouraging. Our readers are just the kind of folk we hoped to attract. The kind that have an eclectic taste in interesting automobiles. If one of our readers would have won the $320 million lottery instead of Pedro (anyone have his email address?), you would have more cars than Jay Leno. Our intention is to provide an opportunity for enthusiasts to read about and consider some of the cars we find or have been submitted by other readers. So far, we have given an assist to 3 sellers in finding a home for their car. Not bad for a 2-month old – mission accomplished.
We all love cars or why else would be reading BaT, Daily Turismo or Curbside Classic. And car lovers enjoy nothing more than talking about cars with friends. What we are a bit short on right now are Comments. They are beginning to come in but it seems like a high school dance in the 1960s – you don’t want to be the first one. Jump in, be critical of our choices or our evaluation. Tell us what you think. If we were face to face , it would come naturally.
Our passion for cars probably started in our youth. Reading articles by Warren Weith, Leo Mandel and David E. were far more interesting than Shakespeare and easier to understand. Arguing about what car you take on the next Cannonball occupied an hour of conversation while tuning up your buddy’s TR-3. If that sounds even a little like you, you are among friends.
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 
Feb
27
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
When 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.
Before 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).
The 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.
We 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.
Feb
17
Since the dawn of the automobile age, owners have always looked to craftsmen to create unique and elegant body designs. This one does not disappoint.
The Concours d’ Elegance season is just around the corner. One of the first of the big names is Amelia Island in March. The majors get all the publicity and so we thought we would give some space to the Concours d’Wal-Mart – a unique event in that it occurs simultaneously in Wal-Mart lots across the country. Here are some highlights of actual competitors…
Wood has always been used in custom coachwork. Here is a fine example that not only provides a feeling of warmth and quality but also recognizes the practical requirements of locks and license plates. Kudos!
Another example of wood used as an accent to fine coachwork. The grain is extraordinary in this example.
Many sportsmen commissioned custom hunting vehicles known as Shooting Brakes. We refer to them today as Estate Cars. This one, in a fine shade of gray metallic.
Hand-crafted interiors were the norm in the glory days of coach building. Here is a fine example of French stitching detail.
And another excellent example of interior design. This one with a special seat probably for royalty and used primarily as a parade vehicle.
Finally The Hagerty Class, sponsored by the fine classic car insurance company we all love. This class pays homage to early automobile security systems. Fine craftmanship is exhibited in this class winner.
Feb
14
We’ve always admired the 600. It was the car of choice for kings, potentates and Hollywood Moguls. We like Rolls-Royce too but during this particular period you can’t argue the 600 was the it car. So much so that during production of approximately 2100 cars, many of them went to some pretty wacky people. Read More
Feb
1
We have been honing our skills and tweaking our site. Now we feel ready to let more than just our test pilots know what’s going on at Mint2Me. We believe we have found some good cars for you to consider or comment on. Our hope is to have thousands more before the grim reaper calls. This is not an original idea, I get that. But Coca-Cola and Pepsi have co-existed for a century. So we think there is room for one more and if we do it better than others, we hope we will be rewarded with loyal free subscribers and a slew of submissions. Welcome to Mint2Me.
Jan
29
There is something special about original owner cars. Maybe it is the character of the caretaker that has been ingrained in the Landie over the years. Or maybe it is the experiences they shared. But it is special. And that is why this Landie is pretty darn cool. It starts with Landies having that indomitable spirit of an English Bulldog – and the unbroken ownership for over 46 years. The pictures don’t tell the entire story and the New York State location warrants a peek at the underside but I feel confident all is in order. It is offered at $21,000 and it would take you tons more to take a basket case to this level. But then all of the history might get washed away. See it here on Craigslist.
Jan
27
Early short wheelbase 912s are wonderful sports cars and they are finally getting some respect. Good ones sell quickly and rare examples, like the soft-window Targa, are sought after.
With that said, why would anyone do this to such a nice car? Read More
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
