Author: Jeff Zurschmeide

Jeff is a lifelong automobile enthusiast with a penchant for sports and racing cars. He has raced SCCA, local circle track, and stage rally as a co-driver. He makes his living as a freelance automotive journalist and is the author of six books on automotive topics. As a rule, he practices catch-and-release fishing when it comes to collectible automobiles, trying to leave each one in better condition than he found it. Enduring passions include his MGA and Austin Mini, and his 1969 Corvette. He recently purchased a 1920 Ford Model T Touring because “you just have to have one of these once in your life.”

Stamp of Approval

Last month, we looked at various factory-supported programs that provide certifications of originality, condition and provenance of collector cars. But those are not the only “stamps of approval” out there. There are also third-party services that provide inspections and documentation to help establish authenticity, although these vary in scope even […]

Factory Blessings

Among the many qualities that confer value upon a collector car, none is as important — or open to dispute — as provenance. The term refers to evidence that a vehicle is what a seller claims it is, and that any notable history of the car can be proven to […]

Escape Hatch

When the Volvo C30 arrived in America for the 2008 model year, it had been 36 years since production of the carmaker’s P1800 coupe ended. The new generation of sport coupe reflected the reality of its era, with an important nod to the past. The result was a 2-door hot […]

Escape Hatch

When the Volvo C30 arrived in America for the 2008 model year, it had been 36 years since production of the carmaker’s P1800 coupe ended. The new generation of sport coupe reflected the reality of its era, with an important nod to the past. The result was a 2-door hot […]

2016 Ford Shelby Mustang GT-H Coupe “Executive Car”

The run of 2016 Shelby Mustang GT-Hs for Hertz included 140 examples delivered into the rental fleet for allocation day-by-day to mere mortals, and then 16 of the “Executive Cars,” a name that to the Hertz Shelby enthusiast has a special aura. These 16 cars were not rented but were […]

One Impressive Impreza

Mention Subaru to most people and they’ll think of an Outback station wagon-cum-crossover. Tighten it up to Subaru sports cars and they will usually think of the WRX and WRX STI hot rods, or the strangely sci-fi SVX of the 1990s. But there was a brief period at the turn […]

Guest Blog: SCM Goes Gambling

The Gambler 500 Rally is in some ways the polar opposite of Sports Car Market. Where we mainly concern ourselves with highly collectible cars in top condition, the cars of the Gambler lean mightily towards the “disposable” end of the spectrum. While the event no longer has a $500 rule, […]

The Sweet Spot

BMW is well known for building performance cars, but it was the E30-generation 3 Series of the 1980s that really put the German automaker on the map for affordable performance. When the succeeding E36-generation 3 Series was unveiled, BMW fans expected something spectacular. What they got was not the lightweight, […]

Hot Hatch Fever

It takes some guts to walk away from everything that made your car company great, but that’s what Volkswagen did in the early 1970s. The 1974 Rabbit (or Golf, depending on your continent) was the replacement for the antiquated air-cooled Beetle. The all-new A1 platform was a complete departure for […]