46 posts, newest first.
Linda J. Stone photos I went to a most wonderful car event over the weekend (more on that once I get the photos from my shooter) and ran into a couple of car community celebs, they being Mike and Edd, the creators and stars of the popular, “buy ’em cheap, clean ’em up, and sell…
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Words and photos by Kirk Gerbracht So, my wife and I decide to take a trip around Oregon. After a quick morning flight from Los Angeles to Portland, we spend the next day sightseeing in Portland. Then it’s off to Tillamook – cheese, cows . . . and the Tillamook Air Museum. This museum is…
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It’s time again for one of my very favorite car shows; something for everyone, a low key day, and all for a great cause. This year’s show and pre-show dinner/gala are dedicated to the Steve McQueen motorcycling classic, On Any Sunday. The location, and charity benefactor is again the Boys Republic School in Chino,…
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Family, Friends and Colleagues, Thanks to the so many of you that have contacted me asking whether I’ll be working Barrett-Jackson collector car auction coverage on TV when coverage of the events moves to the Disovery’s Velocity network for 2015. I’m disappointed to tell you that, as it stands today, I will not. I was…
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I love full sized vans, particularly Ford Econolines. Now the outgoing 2014 version of the Ford E-Series (nee Econoline) has been around a while and served well, but Ford has been long planning to replace them with a lineup of commercial level vans that are more…
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photos by Kirk Gerbracht As you know, I love Cars N Coffee style morning cruise-ins. Get your car out of the garage, see some other cool cars, have a cuppa, BS with your pals, and be home in time to get after your weekend schedule or chores. These things are a great invention, and now…
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And in case you weren’t there yesterday, the Best of France and Italy car show was fantastic. And if you were there you know that. Be back to you soon, I promise; have lots to share with you. MS…
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One of my very most favoritest local car shows is The Best of France and Italy coming up this Sunday November 2, in the San Fernando Valley’s not so famous Woodly Park. This show is free to attend and cheap to enter. French cars, Italian cars, lots of car talk and a day in the…
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Guest Blog: Words and photos by Kirk Gerbracht ARCADIA, CA – Ultimately, it is cars that make a great car show. But sometimes the venue just adds a little something extra. Such was the case with Mustangs in the Garden. Celebration of the Mustang’s 50th birthday continued, and the “garden” was the famed Los Angeles…
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A Century of quintessentially Italian Carmaking and Motorsport This year one of the world’s most-expressive and best-loved car companies celebrates its first full century in business and forges confidently into its second hundred years. Maserati’s history is filled with equal measures of passion, speed, elegance and style, and was recently celebrated in Italy with…
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I’m pleased to announce that my newest book is off the press and ready for you. It’s the third in my now somewhat trademark trilogy of Hollywood’s True Car Guys biographies. First was McQueen’s Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon, next was Winning! The Racing Life of of Paul Newman, and now,…
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John Steinbeck is of course among the world’s great authors. I enjoy his immaculate writing and grand sense of humor and drama. And I thought you might enjoy a read of this classic he wrote about cars, as published in the July 1954 issue of Holiday magazine. It’s a trademark bit of Steinbeck…. RECENTLY I…
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James Garner, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman. My three original Hollywood Car Guy heroes. Somehow I wrote books about them in reverse alphbetical order. Steve McQueen first, then Paul Newman, and now the trilogy is complete, as my piece on the car guy life of James Garner is off the press and will be out…
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The original Cadillac CTS of two decades ago convinced me that GM hadn’t forgotten how to develop a car, and that it wasn’t going to make every vehicle in its lineup a badge-engineered clone of a half dozen others. It hasn’t always stuck with that mantra, but the CTS proved that it was committed to…
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I love big game sportscar racing. Or even small time, not so big game sportscar racing. Over the years I’ve had ebbing and flowing interest in drag racing, NASCAR, and off-road racing, but I’m a road racer at heart. Probably from spending many a dusty Sunday afternoons at the late and perennially great Riverside International…
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The 1994 Indy 500 was special for me for many reasons. First was that it was planned as my here and friend Mario Andretti’s final crack at the Brickyard. Second is that I planned to be there, with my now late father; we’d gone twice before and had a blast. Another reason was a very…
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Sir, your four door Camaro SS is waiting… The new Chevrolet SS Super Sport sedan has lived many lives in many different countries under several names and badges. In Australia, it’s a Holden. In England, A Vaxhuall, and an Opel in Germany. It was here in the United States a few years back as the…
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My friend, photographer Evan Klein and I were having lunch one day and he said “hey, what would you think about a car show at Franklin Canyon Lake Park?” That’s easy; the Beverly Hills location is beautiful, rustic, casual, genuine, and historic. The park has been there for decades, and the site of countless movie…
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I’m not plugging this DVD set because I appear in it. I’m happy to tell you about it because it’s very good, well done, and every Mustang enthusiast will enjoy it and needs one for their DVD collection. This documentary is very entertaining, and contains lots of solid information about the Mustang’s birth, development, and…
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It all began last March on a hotel rooftop parking lot in Amelia Island, Florida. We were cruising the lot during Concours weekend, checking out cars as they rolled into and out of the RM auction that was taking place in the Ritz’ ballroom, as were Bev and Bob Steinhagen; one of them recognized…
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The San Marino Motor Classic has become more than simply a great “regional” car show in a pretty park setting; it’s a really big deal show that draws magnificent cars. The primary organizer, Mr. Aaron Weiss, is a supremely knowledgeable car guy who has a fleet of wonderful cars himself, and he and his committee…
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By now you must know that I have a very deep relationship with and affection for this fabulous show, which honors the memory and bitchiness of Steve McQueen, and benefits the Boys Republic, where he wound up as a wayward teen, cleaned himself up and decided to make a life for himself. Held…
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Say the name Bugatti and most enthusiasts will think of the great French cars, past and present. But there’s far more to the Bugatti story. Several of patron Ettore’s family members were gifted artists, in a variety of mediums. Oxnard, California’s Mullin Automotive Museum, itself already dedicated to the history of Art Deco, and largely…
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I want to clue you in on a what I’m positive will be a great new car show that you’ll want to attend either as an entrant or spectator. It’s called Highway Earth, and it’s a show by and for real enthusiasts of any sort or stripe. You’ll see some fabulous high dollar cars there,…
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Two of my favorite SoCal car show weekends are nearly upon us; The Friends of Steve McQueen Car & Motorcycle Show, this year honoring that classic McQueen flick, The Thomas Crown Affair, takes place June 6/7 at the Boys Republic School in Chino California. You’ll be amazed at the variety and quality of cars and…
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Nearly every garage I’ve owned has had a lousy, or at best, very average floor. I once bought a new house that had clean, pristine, uncracked concrete, and I covered it with a giant piece of tight loop commercial carpeting that a contractor friend of mine pulled out of an office building remodel job he…
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Photos by Kirk Gerbracht Yes it has, and we’ve no reason to suspect this event will ever cease to be the world’s greatest one day gathering of Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Ford-powered cars, trucks and racing machines. Ford Motor Company and the Ford Car Club Council did it again on Sunday, April 27, 2014, putting…
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I’ve finally decided to write a “barnfind car stories” book. It’ll be called Exotic Barnfinds, and true to that name, will focus on wonderfully derelict Aston Martins, Ferraris, Maseratis, Mercedes, Porsches and anything else that fits reasonably within that definition. And I need your help, please, to find the best of those stories to include…
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I’m pleased to be resuming my collector car auctions television commentating career beginning something new for me next week, working Auctions America’s Auburn Spring sale in Auburn, Indiana for the NBC Sports Network. The sale runs May 8-10, 2014, with many hours of the sale broadcast live over NBCSN; check with your cable or satellite…
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This new book, out May 6, was a good fun read. I won’t spoil it for you but in so many words, the focal point is a ’57 Chevy wagon, built and bought new by owner number one, then a…
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Carwise, I’m an omnivore; in that I eat all automotive meats. I can usually find something to appreciate in nearly any sort, form, brand, or era of automobile. I love Bugattis and Ferraris, and old trucks too. I’m not stuck on rare, fancy, fast, high priced or otherwise usually desirable machinery; steam powered,…
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Among my very favorite car shows in the world is Concorso Italiano, which takes place on the Monterey Peninsula each August, all wrapped up in the Monterey Car Week that encompasses the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Rolex Motor Sports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Conc Ital is all about Italian cars, bikes,…
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I have great interest, and great faith, in the future of the electric car. You may or may not remember that at the birth of the automobile, way early in the last century, electric cars were common. But battery and electric motor technology wasn’t very advanced, and all the electrics were replaced by longer ranged,…
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Photos by Kirk Gerbracht Imagine your favorite five-star country club; magnificent golf course, great pro shop, luxurious clubhouse, comfortable relaxation areas for your family and guests, pool, fabulous weather, lots of palm trees, gym, spa, and gourmet food too. Now replace the greens and fairways with 4.5 miles of Alan Wilson-designed, purpose built, FIA level…
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Let’s begin with the Big Statement: The Amelia Island Concours d’elegance is among the world’s finest car shows. That is a no-longer questioned fact. Happysnap photos here by me! It’s a concours at a Ritz-Carlton golf club, on the beach, no less; what, indeed, could be bad? But instead of just giving you the usual…
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As you may know, I’m a big fan and supporter of this wonderful show and events. You’ll see great cars, meet great folks, and support a good cause. The spirit of the day is wonderful, low key and fun, very cool and family friendly. Plus you never want to miss the In N Out Burger…
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I miss those phone calls. My cell would ring and it was that unmistakable, I’d-know-it-anywhere-in-the-middle-of-the-night, rich yet raspy Texas voice, announcing that it was “Carroll Hall Shelby, here” – as if it could possibly be anyone else. He’d follow up with “Hey Matt – it’s time for lunch” to which the answer was always, always,…
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Here’s the dealio on a killer great new racing career history book you won’t want to miss. It’s a large and semi expensive book but worth every penny in terms of the whole story about one of our greatest ever road racers, and beyond that, the rich history of a couple of wonderful decades in…
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Photos by Kirk Gerbracht The Mustang 50th Anniversary celebrations have begun and will certainly build to a fever pitch during the rest of this year as countdown to the 2015 Mustang’s arrival in dealer showrooms (and enthusiasts’ garages) this fall. Some of those festivities will be large, like the ones being planned by Ford itself.
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An impressive collection of V-8, Neue Klasse and high-performance models from the famed Bavarian marque, many to be offered without reserve From my friends at Gooding & Company, and I thought you’d enjoy this…MS SANTA MONICA, Calif. (February 4, 2014) – Gooding & Company, the auction house acclaimed for selling the world’s most significant and…
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I will disclose to you that when General Motors came out with its new lineup of mid-sized 3-row seat SUV Crossovers some years back (the Chevrolet Traverse, the Saturn Outlook, the GMC Acadia, and the Buick Enclave) I wasn’t all that crazy about them. The Buick was the nicest, but the others left me flat.
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Win a new 2014 Mini Cooper at the Steve McQueen Car Show in a unique charity raffle, with all proceeds benefiting Boys Republic. The car will be raffled off Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 2:00 PM The cost of the tickets is $20.00 each or 6 tickets for $100.00 Want to Pre-Purchase Tickets? Call Boys…
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I thought you might enjoy this auction week summary from my friends at Hagerty collector car insurance. I have my special cars insured with them, and you should too. Visit www.hagerty.com. Overall from all auction companies; 2014 Total: $248.6M 2,321/2,815 lots sold: 82% sell-through rate Average Sale Price: $107,096 Overall 2013 Results Cumulative Total: $223.9M…
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As you may or may not know, I’ve spent the last seven Januarys working for SPEED then FOX Sports TV covering the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona. And I’m somewhat disappointed to advise you that great run has come to an end, at least for now. Like everything in life, things evolve, and…
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Please let me share with you a little story, that causes me modest concern. Two young dudes were hanging out in the driveway. Dude One, leaning against his car, lamented to the other, “ Dude – I need your help. I just can’t get it to run right. I’ve downloaded fresh software from the factory,…
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In my life and career, I’ve been lucky enough to attend, and/or participate in the world’s greatest car shows: Pebble Beach, Concorso d’eleganza Villa d’Este, Amelia Island, you name it I’ve likely been or judged there. So I know classic car show greatness when I see it. And Pasadena, California’s annual Art Center Classic is…
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