If you had to pick the most challenging era of sports cars development, it would have to be the late...
Credit – BarnFinds.com I saw my first Bricklin in 1974. Lit up under the Southern California sun, a local specialty...
If you’ve never seen a Lancia Stratos in person, you owe it to yourself to seek one out. The Stratos is one of those cars that must be experienced in person to fully understand its design audacity, stance, and visceral presence. Initially conceived as a concept car of dramatic proportions,...
It’s tough being British. The lackluster cuisine and stoic monarchy don’t help. Though they did give us the Beatles, Fish...
If you had to pick a singular, quintessential Ferrari to represent the pinnacle of their ascendance to the best in...
The Shelby Daytona Coupe is the best American car ever built. Maybe even the best in the world. I can say this with a fair measure of confidence as this is my 100th car design article for this publication! That’s just over eight years of articles evaluating the automotive design...
History lauds volumes of praise to those who are first. Thinking back to 1964, many will recall a short wheelbase,...
Long before books were sold online, before you could shop for anything and have it delivered to your door, or before we were masters of trivia via Alexa, the other Amazon quietly went about changing the world from a then small Swedish company with a penchant for safety. Now owned...
In the 1980s, the idea of a Japanese Luxury Sedan was a radical concept. Most North American perceptions around Japanese...
After suffering what must be called the worst five years of American car design 1974-1979, the 1980s ushered in the...
The modern startup gets a lot of attention these days. Investors hoping to ensnare the illusive “unicorn” status that might lead to astronomical growth, put their eye on the latest patented tech with hopes of a highly profitable exit, awash in vast sums of cash. And while these adventurous thinkers...
I’ve been revisiting a series of cars recently from the period of my youth. There’s something to be said about...
We purchased a 1964 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL in the early 1980s. The car came out of Dekalb, Georgia, so it...
In the mid 1990s, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Carroll Shelby. After walking through his LA based shop and viewing the latest in development, Shelby was entertained enough to invite me to dinner. We saddled up and landed at an Italian restaurant in West LA. Old...
The Steelers Wheel 1973 pop tune “Stuck in the Middle with You” could very well have been the theme song...
The end of the century was a big deal. Now that more than two decades have passed, it’s quaint to...
It’s that time of year. When we celebrate that hallmark of Americana, Father’s Day. Get out the smoker, grill some burgers, whip up a giant pot of Dad’s Secret Chili, and get ready for an onslaught of eye-roll worthy puns. Whatever your family traditions, if you have kids, siblings, or...
I graduated from Art Center College of Design in 1987. MTV was in full swing, Compact Disc players were the...
Toyota has been around a long time. They know what they are doing, and they make more cars than any...
More than half a century ago, Porsche shocked the world with a brand-new sports car design. The now iconic 911 would not only define a new type of performance car, it would further establish a lasting history of unique signature architecture; one that continues to inspire designs today. The Frankfurt...
Ercole Spada was one of the most prolific sports car designers of the post-war era. Though his name is not...
If you had to pick the ten most beautifully designed sports cars, chances are most of the list would contain...
If you had to pick just one icon of American sports car performance, it’s a safe bet that the Corvette would be on everyone’s list. And while there are many examples from nearly 70 years of history, perhaps the most exciting Corvette to ever come to market was the 1963...
If you went looking for the true father of the Sunbeam Tiger, you might surmise that American Carroll Shelby would...
Every year flocks of determined swallows return to mission San Juan Capistrano, California – a journey of 6,000 miles. It’s...
I don’t often reference values when discussing design, but a great deal of the success of a sports car resides in the price/value relationship experienced under ownership. If you poll most sports car enthusiasts and ask them to name a beautiful 1960s era open British sports car with a six-cylinder...
When car companies build futuristic concepts for tomorrow, they are usually exotic cars with sporty, low-profile bodies, and technologically advanced...
Italy and France each have beautiful and robust cultures with diverse offerings and unique perspectives. And while each is unique...
Automotive history is riddled with innovators and entrepreneurs seeking the very best, most powerful, and dynamic sports cars bearing their own name. And while we are familiar with many of those names operating on shoestring budgets, hopes, and dreams, there are a few lesser-known examples that achieved premium levels of...
