If you want to drive a modern car with modern features, why not BUY ONE? But that's the thing - a whole lot of people don't really want to drive a vintage automobile, they just want to LOOK like they're driving one. While enjoying power disc brakes, air conditioning, sound insulation, alternators, fuel injection, bluetooth stereo, electric power steering, digital instruments, and God knows what else. But hey! Look at me! I'm driving an old car! ... View more

Best of all time? Seriously? Well, maybe if you're a Boomer and you only consider import cars. As for me, you can find me somewhere west of Laramie, in a Jordan Playboy. ... View more

You shouldn't. You should immediately get back to endless discussions of mechanical arcana on 50-year-old BMWs. It was an article about riding. Not everything has to be nuts and bolts. Thanks for the entertaining read, Kyle. I do miss SoCal riding, having lived there for 40 years, but I can't really say I'm sorry I left. ... View more

So.... it may be awkward and unattractive, but hey, it's got a really nice personality. ... View more

At least your self-diagnostic skills are functioning well. ... View more

The TT sale didn't really surprise me. Original, unridden, ultra-lo-miles bikes have always meant that you can throw out the price guide, depending on who's in the room. ... View more

The bottom-feeder's biggest fear is that he'll buy a car that's been hacked by someone else just like he would've done himself. ... View more

Oh my, I can't imagine how this happened. Kyle always seemed like such a sensible boy..... ... View more

That's absolutely true. Even if you have a very, very large amount of square footage, it will be so full of cars, motorcycles, project vehicles, parts, supplies, and tools (but NOT daily drivers!) that you will have to seriously consider whether to purchase a small min-bike because there's no place to put it. Don't ask me how I know this.... ... View more

Uh, that clacking sound you hear is your readers clutching their pearls. ... View more

LOL, I do exactly the same thing, but i have 3 long shallow boxes - small, medium, large - and everything goes in there. i can't count how many thingies and doodads I've built from "stuff" in those boxes. BTW, everyone has limited space in their shop, because stuff always expands to fit the space available. it's like the First Law of Stuff, or something. ... View more

You don't have amnesia. The HT4100 engine was a disaster; even well-maintained ones would grenade for no particular reason. The only Allante worth going after is the '93, and collectors know this. The 1993 model should be considered, and priced, in its own category, since it's just not comparable to the HT4100 versions. ... View more

Oh please. Conspiracy theories? Seriously? This sale on BaT is an outlier, for sure, by a couple of bidders who really wanted this particular ultra-lo-mile car, but there was nothing "false", "fraudulent", or "bogus" about it. The auctions on BaT are about the most transparent sales anywhere. Just because you can't afford something that someone else can, does not mean that they are not respectable, responsible, or knowledgeable. Get over yourself. ... View more

Correct bit or not, you're still gonna need the trusty old impact driver to get those case screws off without damage on vintage Japanese bikes. ... View more

Get yourself the "family size" bottle of anti-seize and slather that stuff all over the bolt and the inside of the sleeve when you reassemble. Works for me. You know how whenever you use anti-seize, if you get sloppy it gets all over everything and you can't get it off? That's a good thing, in this case. But you have to be careful to wipe off all but the tiniest trace on the threads, so that you don't wind up overtorquing the swingarm bolt. ... View more

Yeah. Color me a blue-collar schmuck, but none of these does a thing for me. They're just cars to brag about owning. I'll take a nice Model A, a bone-stock '56 Chevy, and a Corvette convertible, and I'll keep the change, please. ... View more

Eh, I don't know about that Pirsig reference, Kyle. Pirsig's entire treatise was about the notion of "Quality". Invoking his blessing on screwing around with a crap knock-off carb from East Cheapistan seems like a minor blasphemy to me. Especially when the proper OEM item is still available used and even NOS. ... View more

In the spirit of Christmas, I'm going to hold my fire on this article. ... View more

We all feel that "debt" to the machines, but the truth is we run it up ourselves, willingly.   To each his own.  I would have left the stock ignition, which worked fine, tossed in a Shorai six-volt, and......done. Then I would have used my time and energy sourcing and building the proper Keihin carb to replace that vile POS that's on there. ... View more

That junk drawer looks about right, with the exception of the Uni-Syn. What is that doing in there? It needs to go back to its place in the tool box or on the tool board. Sheesh, Kyle, show some respect.  🙂 ... View more

Congratulations. You've made an old Blazer with the carrying capacity of a Corvette and the performance of a Cruze. ... View more

Anyone who's ever been been part of a wacky group effort like this is slowly nodding and smiling.... ... View more

All things considered, Kyle, it was a pretty minor mistake, and even at that you had a 50-50 shot at being right. At least you didn't head off on some unrelated tangent, and you correctly assumed that the problem was likely to be the last thing messed with. ... View more

Kudos, Rob, for a very well-written and informative article. This legal tug of war has been going on for a very long time - I was involved with it when i had my independent shops, and I've been retired for quite a while.  ... View more

Come on, Hagerty - you really thought that this list, by Eurosnobs and for Eurosnobs, was going to fly here? You're getting roasted, and deservedly so.  ... View more

Don't laugh. If I had the room for it, I'd buy this. It would be great for exercising the bikes during the long rainy Oregon Coast winters when taking one of the bikes out for a 20-minute run means an hour of cleaning it up afterwards. ... View more

The Zundapp. I don't want to buy it, I want to ADOPT it.   The Ferrari station wagon is nice, too. Would fit right in with my MG station wagon. ... View more

" what happened to the car they came out of?"   RTFA. ... View more

The Chinese have NO respect for intellectual property, as this POS knock-off illustrates. It's theft and cheating. But who enables it? Do you look to see where a new tool, appliance or device was made before purchasing it? Do you actually look for a made-in USA alternative? Do you default to the cheaper price, even if it's Chinese crap?   SOMEbody is buying all those Harbor Freight tools. ... View more

With an entire 'motor-universe' of wonderful automotive experiences available to us in the vintage/collectible category, I have never been able to understand limiting oneself to one brand, particularly for a multi-vehicle collection like Rob has. Yes, there's the comfort of familiarity, but it's ultimately so constricting. Every article, every story, every acquisition, every experience in this series is all-BMW, all the time. Well written, but pretty narrow focus. ... View more

Great story. Glad to see he got it back where it belongs, and even more so that he's undoing all the "improvements". ... View more

They had to buy new fire trucks because the younger guys "couldn't drive stick".   That really says it all about where we've got to.... ... View more

Ya gotta save it at this point. It's been waiting 25 years.   Damn the rodents! Full speed ahead! ... View more

The "average value" is deceiving, particularly when your selection includes a broad age range, as it dos for the C4 Corvette. You aren't getting a '96 C4 LT4 for $6500, and probably not for $15,000 either, not a really good one that's worth owning. ... View more

C'mon, Rob. Be honest with yourself (and with us). The reason you really weren't ever a serious buyer for the car is that it was just soooo easy to run home to your BMW comfort zone. I hope you break out someday. There's a whole universe of fun and interesting cars (and motorcycles) out there for the tasting, and life is short. ... View more

Totally agree with the decision to go back to the factory grille. When dealing with slightly rusty fasteners like bumper bolts, a little spray of penetrating oil ahead of time would've made things easier and possibly avoided having to cut one off. Also, it kinda made me cringe to watch you guys reinstall the front bumper with that rusty, crusty license plate frame still there. The "look" is all about the little things. Couple bucks at the local FLAPS would be well spent. Great MacGuyver-ing on the the tabs for the grille, though. Good job. ... View more

Interesting article, Kyle. But i don't think it's really about neglect, or avoidance. It's more about preserving these projects as unrealized potential - that at some point you can cash in some work (the unmet need) for some reward ( a running machine). It's not so much shirking the work as it is stacking it up for future enjoyment.   I know something about this, as over the years I've built up a collection of 78 motorcycles, about half on the road and half in various stages of restoration (not to mention a few collector cars). Every year or so a few go, but a few others show up, and the number never seems to go down. I'm lucky to have quite a large shop to work in, but as you'll discover (if you haven't already with your new garage) it's never enough - the 'stuff' and the projects expand to fit the space.    I never know in the morning when I walk into the shop what will catch my fancy and get worked on, and I've probably passed the crossover point where I could ever get it all done in the time I have left. But maybe, just maybe, - that's the point.   Thanks for the article. A personal glimpse, and something a little different from nuts and bolts. ... View more

Our family also had a '56 Chevy 4-dr, Dawn Gray and India Ivory. Pretty much defined 'the car' for me when I was a kid, and I  sort of grew up in it. It was a three-on-the-tree, but with overdrive. Cruised all day at 70mph+. My Dad traded it in at 120,000 miles mostly because of the fear of major breakdown. That was a lot of miles in those days. He got $200 for it, as I recall, in 1967. If there was one car from my past that I'd like to have back more than any other, it would be that one. I've got some pretty cool cars in my collection, and some whiz-bang modern daily drivers, but I sometimes think I'd chuck the whole lot to have that '56 back. ... View more

It takes a special kind of person to happen on to Camaro #00001 and think, "Hey, I think I'll turn it into a drag racer!" Well, at least he kept the parts. ... View more

If you get good enough at that, you could be President. ... View more

I'd say that the common thread among the cars presented here is not so much "kooky" but awkward. Really, really awkward. ... View more

I'm kind of surprised that the people's Republik of Kalifornia hasn't shut it down even given where it is. ... View more

Utter claptrap. One could easily make the converse argument that owning a low-miles survivor is a commitment to preserving it for future generations to appreciate. But in the end, if your name's on the title, the decision is up to you. ... View more

I feel your pain, Rob. This is exactly why all my "just clean up and recondition a bit" motorcycles wind up as  bare frames ready for paint or powdercoat. And then, of course, some assembly is required ... View more

Tailgate looks decent. Almost everything else is Travelall, not nearly as scarce. You'd have to be an IHC enthusiast to love this, though. ... View more

$700? I'd say you came out smelling like a rose, for a functional XL. Not quite sure what all the angst was about... ... View more