It seems to be the latest craze. If you’ve ever dreamed of driving an exotic car the way it was built to perform, if you’ve ever had delusions that you could compete with a Formula One driver, or if you just think it would be a kick in the pants […]
Author: John Draneas
John practices law in the Portland, OR, suburb of Lake Oswego, where he focuses on tax and estate planning, business organizations and transactions, and representation of collector-car owners. He is a past president of the Oregon region of the Porsche Club of America and served as the chairman of the PCA’s 2006 parade. His collection includes two Porsches, a Ferrari, an Alfa, a Lotus, a BMW daily driver, a John Deere tractor — and one increasingly famous Jaguar E-type. This month’s “You Write, We Read” on p. 20 is full of SCMer advice on whether Draneas should restore his Jag.
More Valet Parking Miscues
James Fowler, an Orlando, FL, attorney, drove his yellow 2014 Ferrari Italia Spider to a lawyers’ meeting at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club — a Marriott property in Florida. He parked the Ferrari and left the keys with the valet, an employee of the parking lot […]
The New Tax Landscape for Collectors
The Republican Party’s Christmas present to all of us was a new tax law. It made good on several promises, the most notable being President Trump’s promise to get it done before Christmas. Ballyhooed as the most significant tax reform measure since 1986 — that it definitely is, although reasonable […]
Ford GT Speeds Into Litigation
Ford just started delivering its brand-new supercar: the Ford GT. The car makes 647 horsepower — the most ever out of a V6 engine — yet it still carries Ford’s EcoBoost label. Built entirely out of carbon fiber, this spectacular supercar weighs in at 3,054 pounds, a lightweight by today’s […]
Shoddy Repair Costs Shop $42m
A lot of people will be surprised to learn that a dealer body shop’s shoddy repair work resulted in a $42m negligence verdict. And it wasn’t even the shop’s customer who sued, but a downstream purchaser of the car. Matthew and Marcia Seebachan purchased a used 2010 Honda Fit from […]
Neighborhood Battleground
Houston attorney Tony Buzbee found himself in a war of words with his Homeowners Association — the River Oaks Property Owners. For some reason, the HOA isn’t very keen on his authentic World War II Sherman tank. In Buzbee’s words, “This particular tank landed at Normandy, it liberated Paris… and […]
Racing Blues
I’m a racer, but I’m not a historic — or vintage — racer. My observations are definitely unscientific, but it does appear to me that historic racing has grown more crash-prone than before. It seems that historic racers have grown more competitive, take more risks, and suffer greater damage to […]
Who Pays for Short-Lived Cars?
We’ve all been here before. You’ve just bought a new collector car — one you’ve wanted for some time. You write the check, sign the paperwork, shake the seller’s hand, jump in the car and take off for some immediate fun. Unfortunately, most of us don’t stop to think that […]
Registering Danger
As we work with many car collectors, our firm has run across a lot of errors on titles and registrations. They run the gamut: incorrect VINs, incorrect models, incorrect model years, engine numbers shown as the chassis numbers, incorrect manufacturers and so on. Almost everything on the registration can be […]
Damaged at the Concours
“Bob” was pretty excited about showing his car at a concours. His 1967 Alfa Duetto Spider Veloce was in exceptional condition. Never wrecked, it still sported the shiny, original red lacquer paint with no significant flaws from the car’s 120,000-mile life. It was highly original — all the way down […]