Every issue of ACC includes five best buys — the cars our staff consider to be the best deals in each issue.

For me, one of the best parts of reading the magazine is trying to pick the cars I would have bought had I been standing among the bidders at each auction. I can’t resist doing it.

Of course, reality doesn’t always support my car fantasies. Neither does my wife. And the front seats of these cars, comfortable as Read More

Do car people like sweaters and socks as gifts for the holidays? Sure. Is that what they really want? Nope.

If you’re hunting for that perfect car-related item for the motorhead on your list, ACC is here to help. Here’s a list of five cool and useful items to consider:

A good flashlight:
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: a good flashlight is a must-have item for any car person. Most of them only have a cheapie Read More

Drag racing is a funny thing. It doesn’t matter how fast your car goes — you always want to go faster, and that usually comes down to how much cash you have in your pocket. But you can pick up time by making the most of the parts you already have, and while that still costs money, it doesn’t always require completely emptying your wallet.

I haven’t checked in with my ’66 Caprice in a while, but I’ve been working Read More

Here at ACC and SCM, we keep a small collection of old cars around for our staffers to drive. In addition to that, most of the people who work here also have classics of their own, so there’s almost always an old car up and running somewhere nearby.

Since launching ACC two years ago, we’ve had two main American collector cars: the ’63 Dodge 440 Hemi drag car and our completely restored 1964 Nova wagon. The Dodge sold Read More

It’s a great time to be a car guy. While the ’70s and ’80s more or less killed the muscle car, technology has brought it back to life, and from where we sit now, the big three continue to pump out progressively more powerful monsters every year.

There are a lot of really great modern American performance cars in the secondhand marketplace. They were built in big numbers and have refined driving characteristics — no overheating or fouled plugs here. Read More

Most of the fun of owning classic cars comes from getting out and driving them. But hitting the road in an old machine that isn’t used daily can be a gamble. Will it really get you to where you’re going without an issue? If something happens out on the road, will you be ready to take care of it?

With such questions in mind, I’ve come up with a list of five things every classic car owner should have in Read More

My ’72 Chevy truck resto is now pretty much complete, just in time for Portland’s summer weather to turn rainy and nasty.

For me, this truck project was mostly about building something usable for year-round hauling. So with that in mind, it needed to be a no-nonsense rig: no overheating problems, good brakes, new tires, a good heater, decent wipers, no water leaks inside, and bright headlights for those foggy, rainy, snowy drives home from work.

All that sounds simple, Read More

It’s been a car-filled few weeks for the ACC crew. First, we took a new Jeep to Reno, and then we drove to Monterey for the annual Monterey car auctions, the Pebble Beach Concours, and this year’s vintage races. ACC Associate Editor Chad Tyson and I were on the road a total of 12 days, and in that time, we probably looked at over 5,000 different cars. Maybe even more — everything from flamed ’57 Chevys in Reno to Tuckers Read More