Columns

BRISTOL, CT – The 2024 Spring Egg Stravaganza Car Show might more aptly be called the “No-Show Car Show” as the event certainly laid an egg today. Maybe it was the chilly and overcast weather. Maybe it was the exorbitant entry fee. Maybe it was the lingering salt on the …

TORRINGTON, CT – It’s not often that a classic car is spotted on the sales lot of new car dealer, much less a mid-engine, two-seat 1974 Porsche 914 sports car. Unexpectedly, Torrington Hyundai has had one out front for the past couple of weeks. I spotted it Friday morning after …

HARWINTON, CT – No doubt about it, I got scammed. Ripped off. Snookered. Taken to the tune of $500. That was the sum subtracted from my checking account soon after I hit “send.” I only have myself to blame for reacting to a come-on in my Facebook feed last month. …

JUPITER, FL – It’s a challenging problem involving a luxury SUV that has a potentially high price tag to rectify; as much as $20,000 or more. There’s no easy solution for a friend who owns a 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL 63 AMG that has developed an engine issue. Simply put, my …

SOMEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA – Whether they have classic beauties or more modern models that somehow stand out, car owners tend to be proud of what’s parked in their garages. And, over the years, most of us have learned to be diplomatic when commenting on another person’s vehicle, especially if …

THOMASTON, CT – Long before so many classic car enthusiasts adopted their preferred hobby, they built model cars and played with electric train sets as kids. The renown Lionel toy train brand has long produced locomotives and other rolling stock bearing familiar railroad names. It’s now adding a boxcar bearing …

HARWINTON, CT – The buyer of a blue 2008 Ford Ranger pickup that I parked in July because of frame rust that had made it unsafe to drive in the opinion of a local mechanic is now trying to flip it after purchasing it for $1,600 and giving it a …

WATERBURY, CT – He first poked his nose out in an issue of “Car Craft” magazine in 1963 and he’s been part of car culture ever since. On Sunday, the hot rod character of Rat Fink, a cartoon creation of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth who died in 2001, was seen …

SOUTHBURY, CT – Wesley Knecht doesn’t need a large garage to park his heavy-duty trucks. He keeps two inside his house. At the time we met, a third was in the process of being assembled and sat atop a bench in a workshop behind his home in Southbury. Others that …

HARWINTON, CT – An astute salesperson or someone with greater knowledge of the automotive marketplace probably would have foreseen what happened, but I’m not that person. It’s unimaginable to me that 12 hours after posting a Facebook Marketplace ad for my 2008 Ford Ranger pickup that Messages would still be …