
Sporty cars


Revealing photos of AMC Javelins that didn’t make it
The most poignant part of Javelin Photo Archive is a set of proposals for a lovely Gremlin-based hatchback intended for introduction in 1973 or 1974. The designs look like they could have sold quite well. […]

Standard Catalog about muscle cars screwed up its photos
The Standard Catalog folks offer a nice-looking book about muscle cars. Alas, the reference guide’s credibility is hurt by incorrect photos. The format for the Standard Catalog of American Muscle Cars: 1960-1972 has a lot […]

AMC Javelins look better without badly redone stripes
Hemmings’ current “Find of the Day” (2020) is a 1968 AMC Javelin in a lovely metallic blue. Unfortunately, this car — like all too many surviving sporty coupes from the 1960s and 1970s — does […]


Audi R8 : More beast than sports car
(EXPANDED 12/14/2022) An Audi R8 in the wild is an eye-opening event. Everything about the car is over-amped, from the child-eating grille to the showy display of V10 power just beneath the rear window. The […]

Why not a spiritual heir to the Datsun 510?
“Oh how I wish that an automaker of today would give this formula a try, once again: Decent performance, decent handling, impeccable materials and build quality in a light, no nonsense, affordable package. Problem is, […]

Steph Willems: Acura NSX choice of freedom fighters?
Steph Willems (2018) has joined the “they’re coming for our performance cars!” scare campaign. Much like a recent column by Keith Crain, Willems is vague about how this imagined dystopia shows up except to say […]

Keith Crain: They’re coming to take our fast cars!
Keith Crain sounds sad. The editor-in-chief of Automotive News predicts that governments will “do their best to try to ban any vehicles that have even the slightest hint of performance using conventional fuels such as gasoline” (Crain, […]

Avanti: Looking forward, looking backward
A circa 1987 Avanti coupe still looks remarkably contemporary even though the basic design was roughly a quarter-century old when this car was built. This photograph highlight’s the Avanti’s Coke-bottle curves. I’d suggest that the […]