#classic

“The Grand Daddy of Them All” hot rod show will feature famous car builders from all over.

The North American International Auto Show hosted in Detroit is one of the most important places for automakers to showcase their new cars, but as much as we like seeing the newest tech, sometimes the best things at the show are the cars from the past.

British coachbuilder David Brown Automotive has put a modern-day twist on the classic Mini with its new Mini Remastered.

In 2004 Mazda did something truly special. It took the already highly praised MX-5 Miata roadster and improved upon it in nearly every possible way.

Every once in a while this job affords us the opportunity to do something truly exceptional. Something that doesn’t just speak to the inner car geek nestled within our soul, but more like scream at it through a mega phone. Visiting the Honda America museum is one of those days.

The 1990s was a great time for Japanese sports cars. Pretty much every manufacturer was building a world class performance machine including Mazda, with the third generation RX-7. But that was twenty years ago and what may have been great then, might not be any good today. So, we have gotten our hands on a pristine, low mileage 1993 Mazda RX-7 to see if it was all hype, or the real deal.

The 1990s is a decade known for things like flannel shirts, grunge music, Barney the purple dinosaur and Napster. But for those who live and breathe high octane fuel, the ‘90s was also a great time for performance vehicles. With the world economy in fine shape, manufacturers everywhere were producing some impressive machinery. This is the decade that gave birth to the Dodge Viper, McLaren F1 and Lamborghini Diablo.

With nothing new to show off at the 2012 LA Auto Show, Lincoln decided to buck the trend by bringing a collection of fine, classic Lincoln models to its booth.

There are custom cars… and then there are custom classic cars. This 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air is by far one of the nicest resto-projects we’ve ever set our eyes on, blending classic Chevy styling with modern Chevy power. With an LS6 small-block Chevy engine under the hood that’s been stroked to 383-ci, this ’55 Bel Air packs 520-hp and 531 lb-ft of torque.

Now the Santa Monica Police are seeking the public’s help in finding this rare car. The vehicle in question is a 1970 model, and while it was originally a light silver, it now has a custom brown paint job. It’s license plate is 3RBZ737.

Now a British tuning shop by the name of Frontline wants to bring you the old with a some new technology, so you can enjoy your classic on the road, rather than it steaming on the hard shoulder.

Last Sunday, Malcolm Pray, now 82, opened up his collection for a fund-raiser to benefit the Transportation Association of Greenwich. This group provides transportation for elderly and disabled people. Tickets were $275 a couple, and $15,000 was raised within those two hours for the charity. Pray’s cars are staples of the annual Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. His collection is housed in two garages, in Banksville, N.Y, one for sports cars, and the other for American classics.

Peter Mullin, who has collected more than 30 Bugattis at his Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard California, is receiving an appropriate body to be fitted to one of the last remaining 1939 Bugatti Type 64’s.

This red 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, known as the “Newman Bug”, isn’t your typical old Beetle, and it’s price tag of $250,000 should reflect that. The drop top Bug, owned by Paul Newman, is fitted with chrome bumpers and a black cloth top in good condition but the beauty of this car is in the rear engine compartment. A mid- mounted 351- cubic inch Ford Windsor engine has been shoe-horned into the little car to make it a deadly hot rod.

Looking to spend over $150,000 on a true collectible? This 1980 BMW M1 was spotted on eBay sporting quite the price tag, but with good reason. Not only is it just one of 456 M1s ever produced, the original owner of this vehicle has kept it completely pristine and it only sports 2,745 miles on the odometer. The vehicle is completely stock and unrestored, its original Henna Red still shining brilliantly.

It sounds too good to be true…but it isn’t. As part of a new PR campaign for BMW faithful in the Munich area, you can book a tour of the historical city in one of the company’s museum cars.