My wife is on a hunt for a new car, and she’s not listening to my suggestions at all.

We agree that we’ve got a budget of about $40,000 or so, but we don’t agree on much else.

I’m corroded with lust for a fire-breathing 2013 Dodge Challenger SRT8, one of the hottest modern muscle cars, with a 6.4-liter HEMI V8 engine with a 6-speed Tremec manual transmission. This car is a thunder wagon that is tailor made for midnight runs on Interstate 84 through Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge.

OK, the mileage is 23 miles per gallon on the highway, so this car is more for fun than practical commuting.

My wife, who loves refined European cars, is mooning over the 2013 Audi A3, which is a spiffy, small station wagon with Quattro all-wheel drive and a turbocharged diesel engine. This car isn’t a thunder wagon, but it does get 42 mpg on the highway and will march through Oregon’s rain, mud, snow and ice.

I suspect we’re getting the Audi — mostly because it’s a car that fits our needs and budget.

Choosing a new car often means you have to compromise between what you really want and what you really need and can afford. So, the first step on your new car journey is to make a list of what you want the car to do.

Next, figure out how much you can reasonably afford. It makes no sense to buy a car you can’t afford, as that monthly payment will feel like slavery after the new-car glow fades in your mind.
Truth be told, the Audi fits our lives better than the Dodge Challenger. We spend a lot of time outdoors — fishing, surfing, camping and traveling — and having all-wheel drive is a must in the Pacific Northwest. It doesn’t make sense to buy a car that can’t haul our gear or can’t handle a snowy road.

Both of us prefer station wagons over sedans, as we can haul more stuff. Heather, my wife, likes a little refinement in a car, and the Audi’s plush interior makes her happy.

So, once you had a list of what you want the car to do — and a budget — it’s time to go looking — not shopping. We’re going to look hard at Audi A3, but we’re also going to check out Volvo and Subaru wagons.

Find several cars that meet your needs and budget — and then go online and research the car’s ratings for safety, reliability and performance and operating costs. It’s a good idea to www.safercar.com and check the U.S. Government’s safety ratings on your possible choices.

It also pays to check Consumer Reports or some other car-rating publication for reviews of the car.
Then it’s time to get out there and play hardball with a dealer. Don’t forget to search on eBay for your car. Good luck!

Do you have a new car story or tips? Feel free to share in the comment section.

Lots of people dread holiday shopping, but nothing is easier than finding a gift for a gearhead.

Why? Because gearheads always need something for their cars or trucks. Those somethings can range all the way up to a $1 million Bugatti Veyron, but we’re going to focus on things that come in handy — and won’t bust your budget.

Luckily, eBay seethes with great things your gearhead should tuck into every glovebox. Here’s a few suggestions to get you started:

No one needs a flashlight — until they really, really need a flashlight. This 400 Lumen LED ultra bright flashlight is waterproof, made out of aluminum alloy, bright, has a strobe feature and different light focus ranges. This is just the light to have if you need to change a tire on a dark night, want to look at a map outside the car or just need to find something in the dark. It’s also very affordable and will easily fit in most gloveboxes or center consoles.

We should all check the air pressure in our tires, but we usually don’t. Why? Well, most of us don’t keep a tire pressure gauge in our cars. You’ve got a choice of old-school tire pressure gauges, which has a rubber guard around the dial and lets the user bleed air out of the tires, which is nice if you’re going to drive off road. Digital gauges, such as this one from Michelin, tend to be very accurate — and cool — you can program it remember the settings for your tires. But you’ve got to keep them going with batteries. If your gearhead is the type who will keep his gear charged-up — and loves a touch of high-tech — this kind of gauge might be perfect.

Flat tires are a fact of life, but not many people are prepared for the chore of removing the useless tire and putting on a spare by the side of the road. A pair of thermal work gloves will keep your hands clean and warm while you’re wrestling with grubby rubber.

A folding shovel won’t fit into any glovebox, but it will fit into a car trunk or maybe even in the compartment for the spare tire. It may just sit there until it’s time to dig the car out of the snow or mud. Then this rugged, inexpensive tool becomes a precious object.

Just about everything in modern cars runs on electricity, and blowing a fuse can ruin a trip — unless you have a set of replacement fuses tucked away in the glovebox.

Finally, we can’t carry a toolbox in the glovebox, but we can carry a multi tool. The Leatherman Wingman is a compact set of pliers, wire cutters, scissors, screwdrivers, a bottle opener, a can opener, a file and, of course, a knife. You can use this gadget for small repairs — or just whip it out when everyone else has forgotten the can opener or bottle opener on a picnic. This tool can get you out of a jam, and it even looks cool nestled in the glovebox.

You can spend thousands of dollars making your car look great, but why not start out by taking care of the obvious needs for less money? Here are five low-cost moves to keep your car or truck looking good:

A brand-new set of wheels and tires looks great, but the thrill vanishes when the wheels and tires look grubby. Veteran concours d’elegance detailers use tire shine and wheel cleaners to buff out what can be the dirtiest part of a car.

Cars spend most of their time enduring cycles of rain, snow, ice — and scorching sun. Black plastic bumpers or trim pieces can quickly bleach out and look like something from the junkyard. Squirting on some Meguiars Plastic & Vinyl Coating and wiping it off with a soft cloth will make your car’s plastic trim and bumpers look showroom fresh — and this fix won’t cost you a ton of money or time.

Modern headlight lenses quickly weather to a sickly yellow shade or fuzzy haze, but a headlight restore kit will quickly bring back the clear, sparkling look of new lens. And, to keep everything looking good, use some headlight protectant to keep the lenses clean and clear. Again, this fix is inexpensive and fast, but it brings pop back to your car.

How the inside of your car looks is just as important as the outside. A lot of us practically live inside of our cars for hours at a time, especially if there’s a long work commute. All the commute gunk — food crumbs, loose hairs and other yucky stuff — quickly nestles into seat and trim crevices. Detailers use soft paintbrushes to whisk the crud out of seat covers and trim seams. Then, get out a soft cloth and use a spray-on cleaner to shine things up again.

If you own a truck or SUV, say a 2002 Toyota Tundra, a lot of gunk gets tracked inside during every season of the year — especially during winter. The stock floor mats take a beating, and it often looks like the floor of your ride could grow a lawn. The solution is an after-market mat with lips that contain dirt — and that are easily removed for cleaning. High-quality floor mats for just about any car, SUV or truck are easy to find on ebay.

Do you have any tips on inexpensive ways to keep your car looking great? Share them with us in the comments section!

It’s safe to say that eBay Motors has completely changed the way millions of people buy and sell cars — and car parts, accessories and collectibles.

Most car transactions used to be very local, and it was rare to buy a vehicle that at the other end of your state — or the world.
But now many of us are global car buyers and sellers on eBay Motors. Some of us, like Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market and American Car Collector magazines, are veterans at the game.

Some of us are newbies, and that’s always a weird place to be. So, here are a few things we’ve learned about buying and selling cars on eBay.

Selling

Keith Martin has bought five cars on eBay and sold another 10 or so. All told, he now has 212 transactions on eBay, including an inflatable turkey he just bought for his yard.

Here are Keith’s tips for selling a car:

Be thorough and honest in your description. I suggest dividing your comments into “strengths” and “weaknesses” or “pluses” and “minuses.”

Avoid flowery language. People want to buy cars from people, not from meaningless prose about how: “The 1965 Mustang turned the American auto industry on its ear.” Really? All I want to know is whether THIS Mustang has rust in its rockers.

Post good pictures. I am not a fan of posting hundreds of photos, but I think good ones of the exterior, interior and underside (especially the underside) are critical.

Set your reserve reasonably. If you really will take $15,000 for your Mustang, don’t start with a reserve of $20k and figure you will lower it later. Set your number at the absolute bottom you will take and sit back. After all, you really do want to sell the car, right?

Make it very clear that once the auction is over, the new owner owns the car, no ifs, ands or buts. The time to have a car inspected is NOT after the auction, when all the other bidders have gone on to something else. The time to have it inspected is DURING the auction. Buyers need to know that placing a winning bid is not “buying an option to decide if they really want the car or not.” Placing a winning bid is committing to buying the car, period.

Buying on eBay

At Sports Car Market, we believe that buying a car is more fun that selling a car — especially if you’ve wanted this car for a long, long time. And that brings us to our first tip, which is to figure out what make and model of car you want — and then keep logging onto eBay until you find one that makes your heart race.

Searching and scrolling through eBay’s massive selection of cars is easy, as you can use the search tool, and it will bring up all the cars that fit your criteria. Sooner or later, your car will show up, as eBay sells a classic car every four minutes. That means lots of cars get sold – and listed – every day of the year.

Use the “watch this item” tool to track sales.

Try to resist bidding on a car that kinda sorta is what you want. Find a car you really want before you bid.

When you do find an interesting car, read the seller’s description very carefully — and look at the photos very carefully. Do you see rust? Is there a lot of oil or grunge on the engine? Or is the underside clean and clear of rust? This auction of a barn-find 1962 Porsche 356B coupe is a good example of a thorough set of photographs. The written description is not extensive, but the seller provides a link for an email or telephone contact.

If you still like the car after reading the description and examining the photos, make the call and talk to the seller. It’s a good idea to make a list of questions before you pick up the phone. It’s also a good idea to check out the seller’s feedback rating. This is a giant marketplace, and bad eggs get thrown out the door pretty quickly.

Ask the seller if you can cancel a bid if the pre-purchase inspection shows the car has too many problems. It’s usually best to get the inspection done before placing a bid.

It’s also a good idea to see if there is a AutoCheck vehicle history report, which is available from eBay. In fact, eBay offers fraud protection, vehicle history reports, and inspections. Just go to the Customer Support tab at the top of the page.

If the seller answers all your questions — and you’re still interested — try to arrange for a pre-purchase inspection, especially if the car is collectible or if unforeseen repairs may cost a lot of money. Some sellers have no idea that their car needs a lot of work on the suspension or the power train, but you, as the buyer, should find out before placing your bid or bids.

It’s usually pretty easy to find a local mechanic who will check out the car. And eBay offers the Inspect My Ride program to buyers. Inspect My Ride is a 150-point inspection of the car you’re interested in.

Check sales of similar cars on eBay through www.collectorcarpricetracker.com, which tracks hundreds of thousands of eBay Motors sales. This free service from us here at Sports Car Market will give you an idea of what the current market is for your car.

Don’t forget to add in travel or delivery costs. It’s always nice to pick up your car yourself. If you decide to fly out for your own inspection, buy round-trip tickets, as they are often less expensive that a one-way fare — and you’ve got a way home if the car doesn’t pan out.

Resist the temptation to stay in a bidding war when the numbers travel north of the car’s value — or your budget. Don’t go underwater on a car, especially as chances are good that you’ll get another chance on another car really soon.

Follow these tips, and you’ll find that buying and selling cars on eBay is fast, efficient and fun. You may even find yourself checking eBay every day, just like all of us do here at Sports Car Market and American Car Collector.

Matter of fact, I’m in the market for a fairly clean 1968-72 Chevrolet C-10 pickup right now….

Photo credit: Norman Woo

SEMA turns Las Vegas into Gearhead Heaven every October, and I was lucky enough to stumble upon an unassuming little 1971 Datsun 510 parked outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The green car looked very clean and original — pretty much like the econobox, grocery-getter it was born to be, but it was really a sleeper.

First, a Chevrolet 350-ci engine was crammed into that tiny engine compartment. Second, the owner and builder is the famous Peter Brock. Yes, that Peter Brock — the guy who developed the original Corvette Sting Ray race car, the ultra-famous Shelby Daytona race car and the guy who originally turned Datsun’s modest 510 coupes into world-beating SCCA TransAm race cars. BMWs and Alfa Romeos couldn’t keep up to the Brock’s 510s. Brock is also a world-famous car designer.

It appears that, after all these years, Brock still loves 510s.

“It started as a father-son project, but my son lost interest,” Brock said with a laugh. “So, I just made it kind of a sleeper.”

That 350 engine, much like the ones you can so easily find on eBay cranks out 300 horsepower, which really makes the light 510 scoot.

Brock installed a Braille Lithium battery, which is a lightweight racing battery that weighs less than 10 pounds, which is much lighter than the stock battery, which weighs 41 pounds.

“It’s expensive, but it makes a big difference to a racer,” Brock said.

A front end from a 280Z also is in the car.

Brock’s company, the famous Brock Racing Enterprises, which is based in Henderson, NV, built that sleeper of a 510. But if you look closely, you can see two big exhaust pipes under the car. And, when that 350 Chevrolet engine wakes up, everyone knows that car isn’t a grocery-getter anymore.

Now might be the time to hunt down a 510 — whether you want a good economy car that made history — or you want to build a sleeper of your own.

“There used to be lots and lots of them, but they’re getting hard to find,” Brock said.

Photo credit: Norman Woo

Every fall, the biggest, brightest and best car designers, builders, restorers and customizers flood into the mammoth Las Vegas Convention Center to show off their stuff at SEMA.

SEMA stands for Specialty Equipment Market Association, and it’s a group that promotes just about any kind of part or service that has to do with cars. SEMA is one of the biggest shows of the year for gearheads, but it’s not open to the public. Only members of SEMA can tear themselves away from the casinos, nightclubs and lavish pools to see acres of cool car stuff. The trends we see at SEMA are coming to a street near you very, very soon.

This is a show for people in the car business, and there are hundreds of amazing cars everywhere you look.

A resto-mod 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air sporting a gleaming, six-inches-deep red paint job caught my eye. Shoebox Chevys — Bel Airs from 1955 through 1957 — have been classic cars for decades, but some younger gearheads say the weak, old-school brakes and engines make the cars less appealing these days.

The solution? Install modern technology and turn the car into a head-turner for any age.

William Posey of Big Oak Garage in Hoke Bluff, AL, took nine months to build the car into a showpiece of speed, safety and style. While some of the components, such as the pedals, trim, door handles and A/C vents came from custom shops — in this case, Clayton Machine Works of Madison, AL, you can find most of the car’s parts right on eBay.

A Chevrolet LS3 engine that cranks out 540 horses pushes this monster down the road. Here’s a similar engine on eBay: Chevrolet Camaro Engine 6.2L LS3

All that power takes some stopping so those old Chevy drum brakes were replaced with high-tech disc brakes from Wilwood, such as these: Wilwood Disc Brakes 4-Piston Caliper GM Kit

There are a lot of old, run-of-the-mill cars out there that just aren’t that valuable — unless they are 100% original or survivors.

These cars are good candidates for a new life as a resto-mod, said Gary Bennett, Vice President of Barrett-Jackson, the huge, Arizona-based collector car auction company. Bennett talked with me at Barrett-Jackson’s SEMA display, which showcased resto-mod cars and trucks that will cross the auction block during the Scottsdale, AZ auction in January 2013.

“You keep the great looks of the old car, but they’re modern underneath,” Bennett said. “They start when you want them to start, and they drive great.”

Original collector cars should probably stay original, but there are a lot of cars out there that are no longer original, and they’re great candidates to become a gleaming old car with modern mechanicals — just like the 1957 Bel Air that caught my eye at SEMA Tuesday morning.

Wanting to improve what you have is a human trait — even if you just bought that new or old car.

I first noticed this way back in 1977, when I was 16 and drove my rebuilt 1965 Mustang on the road to my high school. I was pretty stoked with the black-on- black car that first entered my life during a visit to a Southern California junkyard.

But, when I pulled into the parking lot — and blew my first attempt at hopping the rear wheels off a speed bump — I saw my car couldn’t compete with the other cars rumbling around.

First off, I needed to make more noise, so I vowed to install an exhaust header system with bigger pipes.
Second, I just had the stock AM radio, while the cooler guys had top-of-the-line cassette tape decks.

Finally, my car’s rear end wasn’t jacked up.

I knew my car would never blow the doors off the hot-rodded Chevelles and Mopar monsters, but I needed to up my game. I did get the headers, some Cragar wheels and a tape deck, but I never got around to pushing up the rear end.

All this happened 35 years ago, but people still want to upgrade their cars — often just days after driving a new car off the dealer lot.

Colin Comer, who writes for Sports Car Market and American Car Collector — and is the author of “Million Dollar Muscle Cars,” “The Complete Book of Shelby Automobiles: Cobras, Mustangs and Super Snakes,” and “Shelby Cobra Fifty Years” — talks about how many muscle car owners in the 1960s and 1970s upgraded their cars — to the point where it’s kind of weird to find a muscle car that didn’t undergo changes back in the day.

Nowadays, upgrading is part of the deal for almost all car buyers. Even truck buyers are quick to install custom wheels, and the wheels and tires from the factory — often with less than 100 miles of wear — show up on eBay, like this OEM Chevy Silverado 17-inch wheel. It’s a good bet that the owner of those almost-new wheels and tires pulled them off to install something like this 20-inch Chrome Gunner 6 wheel.

Is it crazy to pull off perfectly good tires and wheels just so you can install custom wheels and cooler tires? Sure it is — if it makes you happy.

Upgrading happens with engines, suspensions, exhaust systems, paint jobs, lights, and interiors — just about anything that’s on a car.

So, how have you upgraded your car or truck — and why?

Watching two guys wash and wax a car usually isn’t very interesting — until you realize that they’re doing a terrific job.

This happened to me at the Sports Car Market house in Monterey, CA back in August. SCM and American Car Collector staffers spend the entire week racing from auctions to car shows to auctions all day, and our wheels get really grungy.

The two Pickerings — ACC Editor Jim Pickering and his dad, Jim Pickering Sr. — started washing the younger Pickering’s Dodge Charger SRT8 late one afternoon, and it was a ballet. One guy sprayed down the car — going from the top all the way down to the rockers — and the other guy spread the suds with a soft towel.

They dried and buffed the car the same way.

“You start at the top and work down, as there are always little rocks that can scratch the paint down at the bottom, so you don’t want to start there,” Pickering Junior said.

We’ve all got our own rituals when it comes to taking care of our rides. For me, my idea of a perfect car wash is on a late Saturday afternoon. The ball game is on the radio, and there’s enough shade to make waxing easy. I’ve done it this way since washing my car was a pre-date ritual in high school.

I like to use top-notch car wash supplies, such as Mothers California Gold Car Wash — yeah, I know — and follow that with a good liquid wax. I love buffing out the wax with a soft, worn-out towel — and seeing that deep shine start to glow. It’s easy to find lots of car-car products on eBay, and they’re often sold at bargain prices. When I’m on the road — usually with Sports Car Market or American Car Collector in Monterey, CA; Scottsdale, AZ or even Las Vegas — I bring along a bottle of Meguiar’s Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere spray to clean things up if I’m not near a hose.

I also like to keep my car in the garage, as I live in Oregon, where it is rainy eight months of the year and dusty the other four months. It rains so much here that cars kept outdoors all the time — and not washed — grow mold and slime on their bumpers just like an old stump in the forest.

I keep the truck outside all the time. After all, it’s a doggone truck. But I do wash it regularly.

I’m less picky about the car interior. I vacuum it every couple of weeks and wipe things down every month or so.

What are your care-care rituals? Do you lavish car on the seats and dashboard? How often do you wash and wax your ride? What products work best for you, and do you have any tips to share? Finally, how do you store your cars — especially as the dark days of winter approach? I’m particularly interested to see how different parts of the United States — and the world — deal with car care in the snow and ice.

And it’s always cool to see someone’s car-care rituals.

This is going to sound weird, but cars — and the fascinating world of car parts, accessories and social events — aren’t enough for most car people.

Car people like to hang out with other car people, and it’s that way at eBay Motors. It’s that way at Sports Car Market and American Car Collector magazines as well.

I’m executive editor of both magazines, which are based in Portland, OR, and we’ve participated in eBay for years. Truth is, all of us fritter away lots of work time on eBay Motors — especially our boss, Publisher Keith Martin.

Just in the past year or so, Sports Car Market bought a rugged 1984 Land Rover Defender 90 on eBay Motors, and we sold three MGBs and a Volvo 544 as well.

I recently bought a new Yakima surfboard rack for my 2008 Subaru Outback – the surf and snow car of choice in Oregon – on eBay. ACC Editor Jim Pickering is always parts shopping for his hot-rodded 1966 Chevrolet Caprice or the 1972 Chevrolet K-10 he and his father are restoring. Associate Editor Chad Tyson recently found his 1967 Chevrolet Impala 4-door hard top on eBay, and I often find him surfing for parts on the site. Auctions Editor Tony Piff is famous for finding cool cars that we then all lust for.

We’re interested in hearing your eBay stories — and helping you share them with this fast-growing group. I think of eBay Motors as a giant, always-open cruise-in.

Right now, we’d love to hear what you have to say about taking care of your vehicles — and storage tips. And, while we’re at it, what are the must-have tools and accessories in your garage? Do you hook your car up to a battery charger when it’s in winter storage. If so, which charger works best for you?

Are you into upgrading your ride? If so, what cool things have you found on eBay? What is it about upgrading that rings your bells? What are your tips for improving the looks and performance of your car? We’d also like to hear your tips on buying and selling on the site.

We’d love to see your comment below, but if you’d like to reply off-line, click here.

Welcome to the web’s never-closed cruise-in!

Photo credit: Ridebyme.com / Pikesan

Pickups from the 1960s and early 1970s are soaring in value these days, and Chevrolet trucks are cruising at the highest altitude.

So, that means clean Fords are flying a bit under the pricing radar, and this clean, rust-free F-100 looks like it just drove in via a time warp.

But it looks like the truck made a stop at a custom shop on the way, as it’s sporting a 302-ci Mustang High Output V8 engine, which were made from 1982 to 1987. The engine is fitted with a roller cam, so this truck is probably a bit of a sleeper.

Then again, the original 4-speed — with a stylish 8-ball mounted to the floor shifter — is still installed. This means navigating a granny gear, which is not a recipe for a fast start. But this is a truck – a red-and-black truck that looks pretty faithful to what was considered stylish during the Gemini Space Program. It looks period-correct until you look at the fairly plush interior, which features two bucket seats. To my eye, the bucket seats look jarring and completely out of character for the rest of the truck. I’d ditch the bucket seats and carpet and install rubber floor mats a full-width bench.

The truck has a new fuel pump, water pump, belts and hoses, alternator and 2-barrel Holley carb. The brakes are rebuilt, but those skinny whitewall tires roll on original steel wheels.

The newish paint looks good, but there are some chips and cracking — but no rust, thanks to life in the Arizona desert. This truck would get lots of smiles at any cruise-in, and it’s perfect for hauling parts.

Additionally, this truck carries a “Buy It Now” price of $8,500, which seems a little steep, but the overall good condition and warmed-over engine may account for that price bump. It’s hard to find a rust-free F-100 truck, especially after 48 years on the road.

During the last year, 561 1964 Ford F-100s sold on eBay Motors. Good examples averaged over $4k and excellent ones almost $7k. In contrast, 564 1964 Chevrolet C-10s sold on eBay motors during the same time period, and good examples averaged $6k and excellent trucks averaged almost $11k. So, Fords are still flying under the value radar — for now.

Click here to see the auction listing: 1964 Ford F-100

The calendar tells us that there’s about month of summer left, and few cars are better for summer cruising than a 1965 Ford Mustang coupe equipped with air conditioning. Early Mustangs — even those with the less-powerful straight six engine — are iconic time machines that effortlessly take us back to the early 1960s.
And so it is with this car.

This is a 1965 Mustang that hasn’t changed much since it rolled off the line sometime in late 1964. The orange paint is definitely a respray in a new color, but the body panels look crisp and straight. The chrome bumpers and trim look great. The black vinyl interior looks very original – and it good shape. The air conditioning and stereo system — AM/FM and cassette tape — are aftermarket additions. The engine also looks as though it was resprayed.
The seller claims that the car is rust-free, but it never hurts to crawl over and under any car to find any lurking corrosion before writing the check.
In all, this is a very attractive Mustang, and while it won’t tear up the road, it will take you into the time machine.

Ford produced a whopping 506,956 1965 Mustangs. This may well be a later 1965 model, as it has the 200-ci, straight-six engine, which was an option on late 1965 cars (those built after August 17, 1964). The car has the standard automatic transmission with the floor-mounted shifter. The car also is equipped with an alternator, which may be a replacement.

The odometer reads 27,760 miles, which would be a near-miracle figure for a 47-year-old car — especially one with the sturdy, turn-key reputation of a first-gen Mustang. The seller published a telephone number, so you can call with any lingering questions.

In the last year, 658 1965 Ford Mustangs sold on eBay Motors. Good examples averaged over $11k and excellent ones almost $30k. Click here to see this one’s auction listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Florida-Classic-1965-Mustang-Coupe-Automatic-AC-Nicely-Restored-Extra-Clean-Car-/150883731700?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item23215f08f4

MONTEREY, CA — In a world where many marriages implode in less than a decade, John Maclay has spent 33 happy years with his 1964 Alfa Romeo Spider.

“It’s Italian panache — industry, engineering and artistry all at once,” Maclay, of Walnut Creek, CA, said during the show. “I’ve owned the car since 1979, I’m the third owner, and it’s a lifetime car.”

Maclay was just one of hundreds of Italian car owners who showed off their treasures to a crowd of more than 8,000 sun-drenched spectators during the Concorso Italiano at Rancho Canada Golf Ranch in Monterey, CA on August 17.

Now in its 27th year, Concorso is one of the high points of the yearly Monterey Car Week, a whirlwind of car shows and high-end collector car auctions that ends with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, August 19.

For many at Concorso, the relaxed day with fellow Italian car addicts — and hundreds of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos, Lancias and other sleek cars — is the best part of Monterey. Many see their Italian cars as lifetime sources of pure pleasure.

Many of the cars are worth six — or even seven figures — but many of those showing off their cars aren’t interested in cashing in.

Jeff Meier, of Woodland Hills, CA, savored the mellow rumble of his 1970 Lamborghini Miura S as he waited to drive onto the award stand.

Meier’s Miura was part of a display of immaculate centerpiece cars invited to show off the best designs of Bertone, a famous Italian design house which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Other famous Bertone cars on display included the 1967 Jaguar Pirana car and the sleek, wedge-shaped 2012 Bertone Nuccio concept car, which reminded many of the famous Bertone Lancia Stratos Zero of the 1970s.

Meier’s orange Miura, an iconic sports car that can sell for close to $1million in today’s red-hot market for blue-chip collectible cars, is almost completely original, and it looks almost exactly as it did when in left the Lamborghini factory 42 years ago.

“This is a completely unrestored car,” Meier said. “I bought it seven years ago from a 97-year-old man who bought it new to celebrate his retirement in 1970.

“In my will, it states that if the car is sold after my death, an urn with my ashes will go with the car, so this is beyond a lifetime car.”

The Italian cars are beautiful and addicting to drive, but they’re also a way to meet new, like-minded people who often become — you guessed it — lifetime friends, Maclay said.
“The crowd is nice, and it’s great to just talk to about all their beautiful cars in this beautiful place,” Maclay said as he gestured to the green fairways, the shining cars and hillsides draped with oak trees. “I’ve been coming to Concorso pretty much from the beginning.”

Finding an original woodie these days — more than 50 years after California surfers starting using the then-cheap-and-roomy cars as beaters to haul their boards, beer kegs, friends and sleeping bags from one salt-encrusted parking lot to another — is a tough task. Surfers rammed their cars down rough roads and didn’t expect them to last. Maintenance was usually performed only when the car broke down. Salt spray bathed many woodies on a daily basis.

So, this woodie — which is advertised as a mostly original “Collector Classic Authentic Time Capsule” — is worth a long look. The owner, a dealer in La Jolla, CA, claims the rebuilt Flathead V8 is original to the car, as are the chrome and wood body parts. The steel wheels — along with the steel cover of the rear-mounted spare tire — also are billed as original.

The car comes with a column-shift 3 speed transmission, but there is no mention if this equipment is original, rebuilt or replaced.

The photos show a beautiful car with period burgundy paint, which is billed as “Original Burgundy refinished correct color condition” — whatever that means — and the wood body and interior appear in exceptional condition. The car has had three owners since 1955 and comes with a complete history, so there is an excellent chance that it never hauled surfers, surfboards or took long, rugged trips to Mexico.

Woodies are extremely popular in modern-day surf culture, although most owners don’t use the cars as everyday rides. This car would fit right in to any beachside woodie show, especially if a couple of old balsa longboards or early foam-and-fiberglass logs are carefully poking out the window. If you must install a surfboard rack on the roof, make sure the board fins are pointing toward the hood — or you will be seen as a kook, albeit a kook with a lot of cash on hand. This car comes with a Buy It Now price of $100,000.

The market for Ford Super Deluxe woodies in good condition is percolating upwards these days, although condition drives prices, and woodies are usually really, really good or really, really bad. It is best to buy the best car you can afford, and never believe that you can restore the wood body in your own garage. The wood bodies are curved and fitted like fine furniture.

Good to excellent Ford Super Deluxe woodies have brought prices ranging from $76,214 to $83,962 during the last year on eBay Motors. Follow the bidding and see the listing here.