Automotive

The morning light at the Bentley salon in Arundel was doing the red Corvette no harm at all. I'd wandered the rows for a while, coffee going lukewarm in my hand, but this one stopped me cold. There's a difference between a car that's been kept and a car that's been kept right, and the second-generation Sting Ray sitting under the trees with its hood up was clearly the latter. The first thing you notice is the color. It's a deep, confident red — not orange-red, not candy — and on those long fenders it pulled in the dappled sun and threw it right back. The hood was raised, both halves propped like a butterfly mid-spread, and a small knot of people drifted past behind it, one in a sun hat, taking their time. Behind the Vette sat a...

Tuesday evening I drove out to Bentley's Saloon in Arundel to see what rolled in for the weekly cruise-in. The lot was already filling up by the time I got there — a row of pickups, a few muscle cars, the usual mix of gravel dust and the smell of hot dogs and exhaust fumes. Parked near a vintage pickup, low and unmistakable, sat a red 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera that belongs to my buddy Mark Ettinger. That red catches the eye from across the lot, and the big whale-tail spoiler seals it. This is the look people picture when they think Porsche from the eighties — the wide hips, the round headlights tucked into the fenders, the Fuchs-style wheels. Mark's is all original. No restomod nonsense, no swapped engine. Thirty-five years he's...

This story really begins all the way back in 1998, I was only 14 when I saw my first BMW Z3. It was driving up Congress St in Portland ME, a beautiful Estoril Blue Zed with a matching convertible top. I later saw one in the James Bond film “Goldeneye”, albeit a good movie the car was a pleasant sight indeed. I was reminded of these beautiful cars again in 2017 while visiting Bar Habor ME with my wife, we saw a gorgeous Z3 M in hellrot red parked on the street. Through the years I always wanted one of these roadsters, though eventually forgetting about cars as a hobby until I was older. I purchased my first BMW with my now-wife back in 2018, a silver 2015 BMW X5, the itch had begun, and the childhood dream was reignited. As we enjoyed...

When I purchased my Z3 back in May of 2022 I had a state inspection done, they found the car to be in immaculate condition apart for the valve cover gasket. If you’re in the BMW community, you know these particular engines leak oil. As the car is used repeatedly and time is a constant enemy, the gasket slowly hardens from rubber to plastic causing the seal to degrade. Changing these gaskets is considered a maintenance item by some, in particular myself, while others or non-enthusiast will merely call this a flaw with the engineering of the automobile. What tools do I need to perform the replacement? You need very few tools to change the gasket, it’s a surprisingly simple job assuming you’re comfortable working on your own vehicles; if...

There's a poster that hung on a lot of bedroom walls in the late '80s and early '90s, and for me it was a Testarossa. Mine wasn't even on a wall, though. It was on a TV screen. I first fell for this shape playing the original Need for Speed on PlayStation back in the mid-'90s, picking the Ferrari every single time, learning the lines of it before I ever understood what any of it meant. So when I rolled up to Bentley's Saloon in Arundel for their Tuesday night car show and saw a red 512TR sitting out front like it owned the place, I more or less stopped walking. This is the car. The wide hips, the strakes running down the doors, the flat nose with the prancing horse front and center. The 512TR is the evolution of the Testarossa, a...

What started out as a “barn find” of sorts regarding performance parts on a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, lead me unknowingly on a path of automotive performance obsession. This is the story of my 2003 Mercury Marauder, and how it became what is known today as, one of the baddest Marauder’s around… The Beginning The madness, if you’re so incline to call it that, started in the spring of 2015 when I was told about some performance parts on a Marauder clone at the junk yard my step father owns. Without hesitation, but with much skepticism, I made my way down the path to where one heavily totaled black 2005 Ford Crown Victoria lay. The car was as you can see almost unrecognizable, the front was so mangled that the frame came up about 16...

Some stories aren’t just about the cars — they’re about the journey they spark, the moments they create, and the people you share them with. This past April, my dad and I embarked on one of those unforgettable adventures. The reason? A 2005 BMW M3 (E46) in Mystic Blue with a cinnamon interior and a 6-speed manual transmission. The car was far from pristine perfection, but it was a driver’s car — solid, well-maintained, and most importantly, rust-free. The Journey Begins The trip started with an early morning ride on the C&J Bus from Portsmouth, NH to Boston Logan Airport. The anticipation buzzed through me, mingling with that familiar excitement of pre-trip jitters. My dad and I shared quick glances, knowing this would be one for the...

This story really begins all the way back in 1998. I was only 14 when I saw my first BMW Z3 — a beautiful Estoril Blue roadster cruising up Congress Street in Portland, ME. Later, I saw one again in the James Bond film GoldenEye. While the movie was great, it was the car that stuck with me. Years later, in 2017, while visiting Bar Harbor with my wife, we came across a stunning Hellrot Red Z3 M parked on the street — and the spark was reignited. Through the years I always wanted one of these roadsters, though the dream faded as life moved on. I rekindled my interest in cars after purchasing a 2015 BMW X5 with my now-wife in 2018. That car brought back the excitement — and soon, the search for a fun second car began. I test-drove...