In 2015, I was doing occasional, odd freelance jobs for my friend Jeff Jablansky, who ran an automotive [world] news publication at the time. Through no fault of his own, that website no longer exists, but he greenlit a number of silly ideas I pitched that year. One was to cover a Texas Concours event exclusively in... animated car gifs? Nothing memorable came of those, however the organizers of the Concours asked if I'd like an interview slot with their visiting guest of honor, legendary racing driver Vic Elford.  I said yes. Thankfully, I had another friend, Wil ..read more

A camera from 1988, an ’85 BMW, a Porsche from 1980, and a rental beach house from the 70s: if you ignored the smartphones, it could have been a postcard image of yuppies enjoying success in 1989. Last month, on a trip-within-a-trip, some friends and I headed to the Oregon coast. Daniel Sloan brought his BMW 325 E30, Chris Nguyen joined as a co-driver, and I had my 911SC (currently stored at Daniel’s house).    This post could have been about this mini-vacation, about driving and enjoying a beautiful region of the Pacific Northwest in dumb old cars. But instead I’m going to foc ..read more

This post originally appeared on Substack. Thanks to electrification, we’ve become desensitized to the idea of large, heavy vehicles gaining speed at an absurd rate. It’s commonplace now. The acceleration and horsepower figures of the latest high-performance EVs often read as if pulled out of thin air. We accept them — who am I to say that the first standalone car from a famed Italian design house doesn’t have one-thousand nine-hundred horsepower? The 2006 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG is a large, heavy vehicle that gains speed at an absurd rate. The way it delivers that performance is unlike like an ..read more

This post originally appeared on Substack. Moonstone is a rare, lilac-ish color offered by Porsche from 1979-1980. You probably have never seen it in person, because only about a dozen people ordered it. Why make an 11-minute video about a single rare, weird Porsche color?  That question never even crossed my mind. It seemed obvious to me, because I knew that Justin would be able to convey his passion and knowledge of this niche subject in an interesting, engaging way. If I could capture and edit it well, it would work. I first read about Moonstone in the pages of Panorama – the Porsche ..read more

This post originally appeared on Substack. I drive different cars, and some of them stay with me. The Porsche 914, for reasons I can’t quite understand, is one of those cars. And yes, I realize that in my previous post, I declared, “I don’t like writing car reviews.” The 914 is the last regular Porsche model I had previously never driven. (Except for the 912) It was a mid-engined, targa-top two-seater produced from 1969-1976, and a joint-venture between Porsche and Volkswagen. If you believed critics, it leaned too heavily on the Volkswagen side of things. This isn’t the time or place to get ..read more

Originally shot in Spring 2021 M&K Dual Inlet Single Outlet Sport Muffler (MKM27) installed to a Dansk SSI heat exchanger setup, and replacing the Dansk muffler.  The car has Dansk SSI heat exchangers (think headers, but with plumbing to accomodate for cabin heating), and it used to have the Dansk 2-in-1-out muffler that came with them. This upgrade to the M&K 2-in-1-out 'Sport' muffler looks about the same from outside, and is just a bit louder, but it has way more character. It screams. Can't say I feel a massive performance difference, but the volume gives it the fee ..read more

Ever wonder what gear people use to shoot fancy car auctions and listings? I've talked a lot about techniques for these types of shoots, but I've never talked about the gear, until now.  A big part of this type of shoot is being able to work quickly and efficiently, and I think I’ve gotten my kit down to the essentials that allows me shoot everything I need, at a fairly high standard, with the least amount of fuss.  Gear shown in this video (commissions earned): Nikon Z 6 II FX-Format Mirrorless Camera Body w/NIKKOR Z 24-70mm  Nikon Z 7 FX-Format Mirrorless Camera Body NIKON NI ..read more

A lesson that I’ve learned about myself (and re-learned), is that I don’t enjoy writing reviews. Cars, products — whichever. Giving impressions and showing the features is like pulling teeth for me, and I feel obligated to cover every single aspect, which, coincidentally, I’m also bad at doing. But I like creating something else — telling the history, or measuring the impact. Framing something as a story or even a documentary opens up a million possibilities for me.  It’s with this mindset that I eagerly approached the Toyota Harrier Zagato, a fascinating and weird collaboratio ..read more

“Actually, it makes a lot of sense to ship a car halfway across the country so I can drive it in a different place for the summer.”  The words sound absurd even as I’m saying them, but by the fifth or sixth run-through, my denial and confidence grow to the point where I have no trouble believing the line.  Oregon is a beautiful place to drive. Thanks to my friend Daniel Sloan, I’ve gotten to see the far reaches of the Beaver State (actual nickname) on nearly a dozen road trips over the years. When he offered to garage my 911SC for the summer, so I could experience Oregon from b ..read more

I take car photography seriously, not just as a job or hobby, but also because I believe that documenting cars and covering motorsports through the eras can be culturally and artistically significant, and as such I always want to pay respect to the people that shot the pictures that I find inspiring. And that brings me to this photo.  The title is often listed as “John Cobb drives the Napier-Railton on a record run at Brooklands”, or, in other places it’s called “John Cobb in the 24-litre Napier-Railton taking the 'bump' on the Members' Banking in 1935.” And the photographer… is unknown ..read more